Mount Monk

Mount Monk - a bizarre creation of nature - is located near the village of Khamyshki in the Maikop district of the Republic of Adygea. This mountain with a flat top with a height of almost five hundred meters, is a spur of the Azish-Tau ridge. The name of the mountain was due to the similarity of its relief with a giant human face – a sullen, cheeky old man looks down into the valley.

There is a legend, according to which a monk carved his face on the mountain, who fell in love with a girl from a neighboring village, and for this love betrayed his vows. The girl’s angry relatives demanded that the monks punish their brother. In atonement for sin, the unfortunate monk carved the face of the saint in stone all his life, never having time to finish this work.

Of course, this legend is fiction, and the face on the rock is created by nature itself. But, as is often the case, there is some truth to it. At the very top of the rock at the spring there are small grottoes covered with a rock visor. In the grottoes there are traces of ancient stonework. They say that on the mountain, indeed, once lived hermit monks. In addition, at the top of the rock you can see about twenty mound dolmens.