Alushta is the second largest town on the Crimeas Southern Coast after Yalta. Its population is 40 thousand people. The town is situated in the largest hollow on the Southern Coast.
Alushta attracts tourists by its unusual climate, pleasant beaches and picturesque surroundings. It is not so hot here in summer as in Yalta because air flows ventilate the hollow.
At the end of the 19th century it became a health resort. The territory from Mt. Ayu-Dag /Bear Mount/ to Privetnoye is called Greater Alushta. It is the second to Yalta in importance but is very popular among the holiday-makers.
More than 30 sanatoriums and holiday homes stand on its territory. In the center there is the largest of them "Sevemaya Dvina" /Northern Dvina/. Most of the sanatoriums are concentrated in amazingly beautiful places like Rabochy Ugolok /Workers Nook/, Utyos /Cliff/ and Partenit.
Greater Alushta is famous for its vineyards of remarkable grapes such as Chaush /Superior/, Shabash, Pink Taifi, Bastardo, Shaslu, Magarach and others.
Many outstanding poets and writers came to rest and work in Alushta. The great Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz, travelling in the Crimea in 1825, visited Alushta. Impressions of this beautiful Crimean nook inspired him to write several sonnets.
The same year the author of the immortal comedy "Vow from Wisdom" A.S. Griboyedov was in Alushta and twice climbed Chatyr-Dag /Marquee Mount/. In his letter to his friend he described the grandiose panorama which he had seen from the top of the mountain.
In 1896 the great Ukrainian writer M.Kotsyubynsky spent four months in the vicinity of Alushta being a member of a phylloxera-fighting expedition. Two short novels were written after his stay. Among the admirers of Alushta were V. Bryusov, A.Kuprin, M.Gorky, and K.Paustovsky. The name of a well-known writer S.Sergeyev-Tsensky is inseparably linked with the city. In 1961 a memorial museum was opened in the house where he lived and worked. Five years later a white marble monument to the writer was erected by the famous artist N.Tomsky .
The residents of Alushta maintain close contacts with people and public organizations from other countries. The town is twinned with Capri /Italy/, Janekoski /Finland/, Santa Cruz /USA/, Sinop /Turkey/.
Under the administrative authority of Greater Alushta there are six settlements and some villages. Malorechenskoye /Small River/ lies on the South Coast of the Crimea in the valley of the mountain river of Kuchuk Uzen /Small River/ 25 km from Alushta. In the outskirts of the settlement there are the Tauri burial grounds. There are the rests of 5 Middle Ages settlements, a castle, monastery and a burial ground. The Greeks founded here a settlement and called it Mikropotamos /Small River/. Then it was called Kuchuk Uzen. The farmers of Malorechenskoye grow vines and fruits.
Izobilnoye /Abundant/ is situated 8km from Alushta at the high way Simferopol-Yalta. The village came into being in the 15th century. Near the village there are the rests of the settling of the Late Stone Age. The farm center specializes in vine-growing.
Luchistoye / Ray/ lies 11 km from Alushta. In the VI century on the place of the village there was a settlement of smiths Funy, in the XIII century it was called Demerdzhi /Smith/. Near the village there are the rests of two settlings of the Late Stone Age, settlings of the Age of Bronze, three Tauri burial grounds, the rests of the settlement of Funy with a fortress and a burial ground of VI-XV cc. The center farm of Luchistoye is engaged in gardeningand vine-growing.
Maly Mayak /Small Lighthouse/ is 120 km far from Alushta. The village came into being in the XIII century. Near to the village there are the rests of settlings, of the Paleolithic Age and the Age of Bronze, the ruins of a monastery of the X-XII cc. The farm of the village is engaged in vine and essential oils growing.
Privetnoye /Friendly/ lies between Alushta and Sudak. The settlement of Skuty is mentioned in the Genoese Acts of 1380. The farmers of the village are engaged in gardening and vine-growing.
Frunzenskoye/originally Partenit/is situated in the valley of Partenit 16 km from Alushta. On the territory of the valley there are the rests of the Partenit basilica of the monastery of XIII-XVcc, the fortifications of which can be seen on the top of Ayu-Dag. In the village there is a research farm of the Nikitsky Botanical Garden. The farmers grow decorative saplings mainly of subtropical origin.
The Partenit born teacher Abdul Taifuk/1915-1945/ during the Great Patriotic War performed a feat of valour at the forcing of the Dnieper on September 24-25, 1943. The Hero of the Soviet Union captain Abdul Taifuk fell on March 3 1945 and buried in the Mound of Glory in Lviv.