traveling on vacation in Sebastopol, you have the opportunity to stay in close proximity to the monuments of the history of ancient Crimea - George beam.
George beam - Fault on the southern side of Sevastopol Bay. According to legend, there was an ancient cave monastery of St. George. Since
AL Bertier de la Garde is believed that the cave complexes in the St. George's beam had been destroyed during the construction of the railway. That's how he described the process of destruction: « Further, on the southern bank of the raid is still better to say was, the cave in two places. Almost directly above the water on the west side (left) George beam abruptly issued limestone cliffs nummulitovogo, which was a church with several caves, the foot of this rock was pierced a little water tunnel ... For the laying of the railway had to cut a significant portion of this rock, and almost disappeared and the tunnel and the church with caves, was left only a trace at a height of 7.6 fathoms from the ground. Since this group of caves near the city, easily accessible and met the first of many visitors, it has been described in some detail Montandon, Dubois, Arcas and Strukov. Especially detailed description of Dubois, with plans and sections, was given Strukov apse plan and a fairly complete description; Arcas limited number of sizes and type of rock on the outside. I will add that the above description and size is largely do not agree among themselves. At present we can only determine the direction of the altar that was on the east net - a rare case of cave churches, nothing more and not visible to check the description can not ...».
In recent years the area has been re-examined by YM Mogarichevym and TA Bobrovsky. The first of them writes that « this place remained only traces of several areas ... that are visible to this day ». In a personal conversation with this author in October 2008, he also confirmed that the remains of cut areas that are above the railroad tracks, are the only known him a rock monuments of St. George's bar. As for the TA Bobrovsky, he dedicated the monuments of the valley Inkerman two special papers in the first of which notes that « in 2002-2004. we have carried out inspection of these sites, as well as examination of the surrounding rocks in the mountains and ridges Mekenzievyh Sapun Hill to fix the overall situation in speleoarheologichskoy Inkerman Valley ». Indeed, even in separate rooms are fixed and natural caves. However, in the ancient rock structures and beams of St. George in this paper reads as follows: « complex at the mouth of the St. George's bar. About a dozen punching premises (including the Cave Temple), located in 2-3 tiers. Currently, the complex is almost completely destroyed by construction work ». Obviously, by this researcher in a forthcoming paper devoted to the monuments of Inkerman Valley (where he also recorded, even individual rooms like the hermit's cell on Sapun Hill), St George's monastery is mentioned only in the transfer of monuments and in the summary table with the repetition of statements about the number of buildings "near the 10 ", where he qualified as" cenobitic monastery ».
About ten years ago we began to photographic images of architecture monuments of religious rock Crimea. During the October 2008 visit St. George Beam. In this case we decided to look at the top who rock grottos and clarify, not whether they had the monastery of any relationship. To our utter amazement it turned out that just below the footpath leading there is a well-preserved complex of artificial caves, mention of which we have never met.
We went to the Crimean leading archaeologists. But none of them knew anything about these facilities. As we see, again found a cave complex George Beam was not entered in the scientific revolution.
rocky massif, which is carved cave complex, forms a left (west) side beams and consists of three tiers. The first tier is now cut off by construction work and a steep cliff. The caves carved in the second tier at a distance of about 150 meters south of the tip of the cliff and the railway. Climbing out of the second tier is a typical limestone nummulitovogo smoothed natural action "ram's forehead," and is oriented from north to south with an average deviation of the counter-clockwise about 10 degrees. Its location within 3-5 meters from the edge of the precipice of the first tier and located on the edge of the dense thickets of blackberries make the cave almost invisible from any angle.
cave complex today consists of four rooms.
room number 1 is now allied with the room number 2 and has an irregular trapezoidal shape. The total length of the 1 and 2 amounts to 10.3 m. The room number 1 Paul piled earth and stones, and this level is at 0, 25 - 0.3 m below the floor level of the room number 2.
maximum height of the room number 1 above the ground, covering the floor is 2.1 m. The eastern wall is almost completely absent, was preserved only its northern stretch of 0.8 m. The length of the missing parts - 3,44 m. The direction of the wall - from north to south with a deviation of 10 ° counterclockwise. There is reason to believe that at some point the wall was built of stone, the disintegration of which still exists today. From the outside on the front of the room survived horizontal undercut. It is not known whether there has been a building originally a separate entrance.
North wall is oriented exactly east to west and has a width of 2 and 24 m. Near the wall are two large boulders.
the northwest corner of the room there is a characteristic karst erosion gully. Under this ravine carved a small niche, the size and shape of which suggests that it was placed a vessel to collect water. The lower edge of the niche is located at a distance of 0,73 m from the ceiling of the room [5], the height of 0.27 m, width 0.17 m and depth 0.16 m.
Western Wall in its northern part for about 1.5 m is oriented exactly north-south, and then deflected counterclockwise by 10 degrees and holding a direction for a distance of about 1.5 m, and then again begins to deviate to east and south-west corner of the deviation reaches 22 degrees. At a distance of 2.9 m from the north wall there is another karst gully with a niche for the catchment tank. Niche triangular shape has a height of 0.5 m, 0.24 m wide base and a maximum depth of 0.17 m. Its base is at a distance of 1.2 m from the ceiling of the room.
At a distance of 1.08
from the north wall of the room in the west wall there is a wide (0.43 m) vertical cutting height from floor to ceiling and 0.14 m deep. The floor space along the axis of the cutting an oval hole size of 0.12 x 0.1 m and a depth of 0.1 m. A similar depth of the hole is 0.12 m and in the ceiling. Judging by the nature of cutting the holes, it is possible that there was a massive door or movable partition, the axis of rotation which has been fixed in the holes of the floor and ceiling, and which is separated from the rest of the room space. Next to the vertical cutting of the floor is a large lump of stone.
southern wall for the most part destroyed and preserved in its eastern part to a width of about 0.6 m. The preserved fragment of the wall is oriented from east to west with a deviation of 10 degrees counterclockwise. It remained horizontal undercut length 0.5 m, height 0.15 m and a depth of 0.1 m. The width of the destroyed part of about 2.1 m. The western part of the opening and the southwest corner of the room number 2 piled a heap of stones.
room number 2 has the shape of an irregular polygon. The southern part of the room is rectangular in shape and orientation of the wall just to the cardinal. The northern part trapezoidal. The maximum length of the room - 6.5 m, width - 3,8 m, height - 2.1 m.
North Face has a direction from east to west with a 22 degrees clockwise for the most part has been destroyed (seen on the ceiling) and contains a passage in room number 1. Opening width - 2,1 m, width of the west pier - 1.55 m, east - 0.43 pm on the west pier floor littered with heaps of stones, the rest of the floor space was cleared to bedrock, and the cultural layer is absent. Northwest corner is a niche of complex shape.
Western Wall in its northern part is oriented exactly north-south. Here there is a ledge on it like a bench length 1.45 m, height 0.35 m and a width of 0.4 m.
Northern tip protrusion is destroyed, it is possible that once he reached the north wall. Then, on a site approximately 1.5 m west wall smoothly deflected clockwise by an angle of 10 degrees, and then takes a purely southward. In the southern part there is an opening width of 1.8 m, leading to the room number 3. Paul premise number 3 raised in steps of 0.3 m of floor space number 2, the height of the access opening of this step is 1.65 m. In the floor of the room number 2 is almost on the threshold of the room number 3 in the north-north-east stretches the groove, or maybe crack. Above the opening, there are two undercut. The right (most) of them has a size of 0.1 x 0.1 m with a depth of 0.12 m, and this undercut match: a poorly articulated undercut the threshold premise number 3, and clearly visible change in the nature of processing the western wall of the room number 3. 0.5 m to the right of the entrance to the building number 3 at a height of 1,44 m in the west wall of the room number 2 is arched niche. The depth of the niche 0.22 m, width 0.66 m and height 0.5 m.
In the southwest corner of the room number 2 in the floor there is a circular depression with a diameter 0.34 m, the ground asleep, over which the wall at different heights of the arrangement two pocket-HN undercut. Two similar round deepening located in the southeastern part of the floor space, along the south wall. The diameter of the eastern depth - 0, 2 m at a depth of about 25 meters, diameter of the West - 0.25 m
at a depth of 0.3 m.
The southern wall of the room oriented exactly east to west and has a length of 3.2 m. Processing of the wall is heterogeneous: in the lower part of south-western section of the machining grooves are oblique intersecting grooves, while the rest of the plane - point scoring. Almost in the center of the southern wall of the room number 2 cut two arched niches - one at a height of 0.8 m, width 0.42 m, height 0.38 m and depth 0.27 m - is from the east wall 1.28 m. Another - at the height of 1,04 m, width 0.58 m, height 0.58 m and a depth of 0.3 m - situated at 1.67 m from the east wall. Under each of the niches below it by about 0.4 m, a poorly preserved undercut. Over most (Western) has a niche carved in stone like a rectangular frame. Perhaps this part of the wall at one time was added something like a cabinet or rack. To the left of niches in the walls of the plane are reviewed three small undercut.
eastern wall space number 2 has a complicated form and, apparently, bears the traces of numerous changes. Almost in the center of the wall is a rectangular doorway height of 1.77 m and a width of 1.52 m. The lower part of the opening destroyed the natural effect. On the facade above the opening of the complex bears the undercut in the form of the pediment.