The Soviet protected area had good tradition– create at sanctuaries museum complexes, telling about the reasons for the protection of a particular territory, its riches and the history of protection. The Museum of Nature of Karadag is one of the oldest in the Crimea. What is the peculiarity of this place and why does it deserve tourist attention?

Where is the Museum of Nature located on the map

It is located in the village of Kurortnoye, not far from the mini-hotels "Aravan", "Rodina", "Parus", "Sevil", "Iskander" and "Elina". Nearby you will also find the Karadag Dolphinarium.

Worthy Veteran

The fact is that there is reason to believe that the indicated tradition of naming museums in this way was born just in Karadag. In 1914, shortly after the creation of a scientific station near the ancient volcano, a decision was formulated by the trusteeship commission on the speedy formation of museum collections and expositions.

The center was opened the following year. True, it consisted of only two special exhibition cabinets located in the basement of the laboratory. But the institution began to bring benefits almost immediately - in 1916, students of the Mining Institute from Yekaterinoslav (famous in Soviet times Dnepropetrovsk Mining Institute).

Since then, the museum has come a long way. The original two closets turned into 100 sq. m of exhibition space, plus there is a special room for storing funds. It underwent a major renovation in 2004 (creating the right conditions for preserving historical documents and natural materials is not as easy as casual visitors think), and since then the average number of visitors per year has reached 25 thousand people.

Preparing for a walk

A visit to the Karadag Nature Museum is usually included in the programs of tours of the object passing through its administration. Such a visit helps future guests of the protected area to better understand where they will go and what exactly they should look at.

You can visit the museum just like that - for certain categories of tourists (the elderly and people with poor health), walking along the ecological trail over rough terrain may not be possible. Some species of animals and plants can be found in Crimea only in hard-to-reach places or at specific times of the year, and a visit here is the only way for the average tourist to get to know them. Ticket prices here are very modest, and discounts are provided.

Also, the employees of the institution are constantly engaged in educational work and popularization of knowledge about. Various kinds of lectures, specialized classes for young students and tourists of various categories turn the complex into the most important organization engaged in promoting environmental ideas to the masses. This is also typical of the Soviet " natural museums" in .

For a long time, the premises of this place were also used for their original purpose - as a research laboratory. Such an application does not contradict the concept in any way.

A photo museum halls allow you to make sure that the institution has gone far from the original two cabinets. The biological department presents flora and fauna in the form artistic compositions showing real objects(herbarium specimens or stuffed animals) and their natural habitat. The picture is complemented by photographic illustrations showing examples of landscapes typical for the habitat of a particular species. The coastal area is presented in a similar way - with installations and photographs. And a collection of colorful Crimean insects can cause an attack of envy among jewelry lovers.

The richest part of the museum is geological. tourists,
Those who come to rest in one of the resort villages located next to the reserved mountain traditionally bring home beautiful multi-colored pebbles - the local shores are very rich in it. After visiting, you can do it consciously and distinguish single-colored jaspers from brocade agates. Valuable stones found in the surroundings in nature are also presented - amethysts, moss agates, rock crystal. Many samples of sedimentary rocks are exhibited, including those with imprints of ancient organisms.

There is also a historical section. It contains documents telling about the creation and development of the station and personal belongings and books of its founders published by the monograph staff. A separate stand is dedicated to the first in the USSR and scientific work based on it. A large part of the department tells about the geological discoveries made on the local materials, and about the scientists who made these discoveries.

The museum welcomes visitors all year round.
Working mode from May 1 from 8.00 to 17.00, break from 12.00 to 13.00 seven days a week.
Acceptance of group applications by phone. +7-36562-26287, +7-978-75-61-454.
Tickets for adults - 100 rubles, for children (from 7 to 14 years old) - 50 rubles, children under 7 years old - free of charge, adult ticket - from 14 years old.

On September 23, 1914, the Karadag scientific station named after T.I. Vyazemsky. The Board of Trustees for the Karadag Scientific Station of the Society for Promoting the Advances of Experimental Sciences and Their Practical Applications, consisting of the chairman Academician A.P. Pavlov, manager T.I. Vyazemsky, his assistant A.F. Sludsky set one of the tasks of the station to create a museum that "determined the properties and composition of local scientific material, would give indications of possible scientific work at the Station."
The Museum of History and Nature of Karadag was founded in 1915. For it, a bright and large room was chosen in the basement of the laboratory building and "two large museum-type cabinets were purchased for storage and exhibition of collected collections in geology and zoology." In April 1916 A.F. Sludsky writes to A.P. Pavlov: “The museum has already begun its small business: the other day, an excursion of students from the Yekaterinoslav Mining Institute arrived ... and the students got their first acquaintance with the rocks and minerals of Karadag in our museum.” About successful scientific and educational activities extracts from 1923-1927 testify. from the Guest Book of the Station Museum, which are preserved in the archive of its first director A.F. Sludsky.
Later, in the prewar and post-war years, the exposition of the museum was changed and supplemented, and by the 70s of the last century it had a full-fledged (more than 1000 exhibits) geological collection, about 200 hydrobiological exhibits, as well as a small (10 pieces) number of stuffed birds. The museum held lectures with schoolchildren, students, visitors, which contributed to the promotion of scientific knowledge.
At present, the Museum of History and Nature of Karadag occupies an exposition hall with an area of ​​103 sq. m and a depository of funds with an area of ​​22.5 sq. m. The following sections are presented in the exposition: historical, geological and mineralogical, nature of the land, the Black Sea. The total number of exhibits is more than 600 units. Over 25,000 people visit the museum during a calendar year.
The Museum of History and Nature of Karadag continues the traditions of scientific and educational activities in the structure of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "KNS - PZ RAS" and is not only a repository of natural values ​​​​and local history relics, but also an object of environmental education. The purpose of museum work, first of all, is the dissemination of complete, versatile and objective information about the state and dynamics of natural processes; formation of a personal, interested attitude of visitors to the nature of the Crimea. The ecological component in the work of the museum is determined by the specifics of the collections.
The exposition of the Museum of History and Nature of Karadag is a well-organized system of information about the nature of the southeastern Crimea, it is aesthetically and emotionally attractive and is designed for an audience of different ages. A large textual, illustrative and cartographic material has been prepared for each section of the exposition. To ensure that sections of the exposition are interesting for visitors different ages and training, experts offer three levels of information presentation. The first level is the external form: scenery, collections rocks and minerals, stuffed animals, insects, multimedia, photographs. Second level information - descriptions, maps, diagrams, drawings. Information for specialists is the third level and is stored in the information and reference apparatus of the museum. All the main elements of the exposition (forests, steppes, reservoirs, etc.) are interconnected and function together as part of one big picture - a natural reserve system. This approach helps visitors to understand how all parts of the ecosystem are interconnected and to see that even its small components play an important role in its functioning.
The tour of the exposition hall of the Museum of History and Nature of Karadag begins with an acquaintance with the layout map "Karadag and its environs". Visitors get acquainted with the toponymy and orography of the area, as well as receive information about the environmental significance of the territory.
The historical section of the exposition tells about the main stages in the development of a scientific institution at the foot of Karadag. On stands and in showcases are demonstrated rare photos and personal belongings of the founder of the Karadag scientific station - Terenty Ivanovich Vyazemsky. Many materials about the life of the station and its employees were obtained from the archives of the family of the first director, Alexander Fedorovich Sludsky.
The following is information about the history of hydrobiological research in the Karadag water area and the first dolphinarium in the USSR, built in 1977. modern life and activities of the institution.
Stands with names and discoveries of several generations of geologists represent the centenary history of research of the Karadag mountain range. The logical continuation of this topic is the acquaintance with the geological and mineralogical part of the exposition, which presents typical samples of the main groups of igneous rocks of the Karadag mountain range. These include basalts, andesites, trachytes, and dacites. A significant group of rocks is distinguished under the name of volcanic tuffs. In all its diversity, the minerals of the group of zeolites, alkaline and alkaline earth elements are demonstrated. Most Interest visitors are evoked by minerals of the quartz group (SiO2). In addition to rock crystals with perfect natural cut and samples of milky white quartz, chalcedony is widely represented here, distinguished by its individuality: agates with concentric and linear patterns, moss agate with carnelian, multicolored agate. They surprise with the play of red-pink shades of carnelian. A special mood is created by a scattering of variegated pebbles found in the bays of the reserved Karadag, which until recently was called “Koktebel pebbles”. The museum's collection contains single-color jaspers - green, yellow, wax, pink, as well as spotted (brocade) and striped agate. The latter have beautiful patterns and picturesque landscape drawings. Varieties of calcite - a companion of chalcedony and zeolite - are represented by regular whole crystals in geodes, Icelandic spar, coarse-grained aggregates in placers. Samples of sedimentary rocks are quite fully represented in the collection: sandstones, clays, gypsums, etc.
The location of Karadag on the border of land and sea, mountains and plains, at the junction of temperate and subtropical climatic zones led to the formation of a complex boundary natural complex. The museum displays seasonal photographs, botanical and zoological exhibits and collections in accordance with their belonging to the following protected landscapes:
- mountain and forest landscapes;
- shilyakovy (from drought-resistant heat-loving deciduous shrubs and stunted trees) and steppe landscapes at the foot of low-mountain ranges;
- landscapes of sea coasts with a strip of beaches, with abrasive cliffs and halophytic (capable of tolerating high levels of soil salinity) vegetation.
The exposition of the museum, dedicated to the mountain-forest landscapes of the reserve, contains photographs and herbarium samples of tree species - downy oak with acorns, sessile oak, tall ash in autumn decoration, common hornbeam; shrubs are represented: flowering and fruiting dogwood, elegant tannery, euonymus, privet. The decoration of the Karadag forest in spring is rare protected plants: folded snowdrop, two-leaved blueberry, Crimean peony. Special attention attracts a plant that is dangerous to human health - the ash-tree golostyolbikovy.
The fauna of the reserve is represented by skillfully created exhibits of artistic taxidermy. Excellent work by taxidermist O.B. Spivakov absolutely fully can be used for demonstration, educational and scientific purposes. In each of them you can see the distinctive characteristics of the species, the uniqueness of the animal and the features of its behavior in nature. Mammals of the mountain-forest landscapes of the reserve are represented by the composition "Fox with cubs", exhibits: wild boar, stone marten, badger, squirrel. More than 50 stuffed animals demonstrate the variety of forest birds. The attention of visitors is attracted by a miniature yellow-headed beetle on a pine branch, hard-working handsome woodpeckers, and a bright jay. Behind the glass of shop windows, you can see the singers invisible in nature - the nightingale and the thrush, and also compare the features of the appearance of the Crimean owls: the smallest - splyushka and the largest - the eagle owl.
The atmosphere of the spring flowering of the mountain slopes is conveyed by a series of photographs representing shilyak and steppe landscapes at the foot of the Karadag ridges. The population of fragrant tulip and fine-leaved peony pleases with its brightness, photographs of rare endemic species - Transhel's navel and Poyarkova's hawthorn attract attention. Compositions of skillfully preserved herbarium specimens make it possible to examine and study the communities of herbaceous plants growing in fescue-feather grass and petrophytic (stony) steppes. In addition, vegetation of rocks and stony outcrops is represented: ephedra, ironwort, thyme, etc., adapted to harsh soil and climatic conditions.
The caves and grottoes of the reserve have become a habitat for very vulnerable animals in need of protection. It - the bats- land echolocators belonging to the order of bats. Thanks to high-quality photographs and stuffed animals of a large horseshoe bat and pointed-eared bat, you can get acquainted with external features these unfamiliar nocturnal mammals.
Other representatives of the fauna of the reserve's steppe landscapes are demonstrated no less naturally and vividly. Nowadays, only in the museum you can see typical steppe dwellers - rodents - a large jerboa and a gray ground squirrel that lived on Karadag in the last century. Among the variety of birds (more than 60 stuffed animals), large exhibits stand out: a rare guest of Karadag - a black vulture, two predators from the Red Book - peregrine falcons and saker falcons. The mountain slopes are nesting places for the stone partridge - keklik, in the bushes they find shelter for whitethroats and buntings. Examining the exhibits, one can determine the features of adaptation of animals to their environment.
The entomological section of the museum's exposition is represented by a collection of insects (more than 200 species). Among the butterflies, large exhibits of the hawk moth family stand out, they delight with the amazing heavenly color of the wings of the blueberry, attract attention: a rare handsome podalirium, elegant peacock eye and swallowtail. On the gray stone there is a bright purple Crimean ground beetle - a relict protected endemic of the peninsula. Bandaged empusa froze among the grass - the rarest among praying mantises.
Amphibians are presented in small compositions and photographs: green toad, tree frog, spadefoot and reptiles: Crimean gecko, Crimean lizard, yellow-bellied snake, snakes and snakes of Karadag.
The section of the museum exposition dedicated to the landscapes of sea coasts and fresh water bodies in the vicinity of the reserve consists of more than 90 exhibits, compositions and photographs. The bird population of Karadag reaches its maximum species diversity during spring and autumn migrations. For the migration route, many migratory birds use the border between land and sea, therefore, the shores of the Karadag mountain range and the non-freezing coastal water area were chosen not only by permanent feathered inhabitants, but also by many waterfowl migrating from the north. Looking at the exhibits, you can get acquainted not only with the external signs of the species, but also make sure that the life of these birds depends entirely on the aquatic environment. The description of the coastal strip is supplemented by a series of photographs of the flora of the seashores: the Koktebel katran, the yellow machka, and seaweed.
The water area of ​​the reserve is presented in the exposition section of the museum, which acquaints visitors with the main characteristics of the Black Sea. Cartographic and schematic materials contain information on area and volume, depth and currents, salinity and chemical composition sea ​​water of one of the most inland seas of the Atlantic. The uniqueness of the deep-water Black Sea basin is noted - the presence of the lower hydrogen sulfide layer. Tables of the composition of marine flora and fauna contain data on the water area of ​​the Karadag nature reserve, as a typical area of ​​the open coast. In a separate showcase there is a herbarium collection of algae - macrophytes of the Black Sea. In addition to poster information, the section contains a model of the underwater part of the rocky shores of Karadag.
A visit to the museum gives tourists, students and schoolchildren the opportunity to get acquainted with the world of protected nature, to slightly open the unknown and inconspicuous pages of the life of plants and animals at different times of the year.