Gurzuf
It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea. It is the site of a 6th-century fortress built by Justinian I and called by Procopius the fortress of the Gorzoubitai. The fortress was later restored by the Genoese who called the place Garzuni, Grasni, and Gorzanium, and appointed it the seat of a chief magistrate. It was a former Crimean Tatar village, now a part of Greater Yalta. Alexander Pushkin visited Gurzuf in 1820 and ballet master Marius Petipa died here. The International Children Center Artek (former All-Union Young Pioneer camp Artek) is situated just behind the mount of Ayu-Dag (Bear Mountain). The World Organization of the Scout Movement's Eurasian Region is headquartered in the town.
Between Gurzuf and Mount Ayu-Dag is Cape Suuksu. At the top of the Cape is a tower, a medieval cemetery, and a small monument to Pushkin.
Name
The origin of the name is not reliably established. Some researchers believe that it comes from the Latin Ursus "bear", as the "Bear Mountain" (Ayu-Dag) is located near the town. Others believe that the name Horzuv, Horzuvaty has Taurian or Gotho-Alan roots and decipher it as "gor dzakkh" - mountain valley, valley among the mountains. Gradually, the place name "Gorzuvyti" was transformed into Kursaity, Gorzovium, Yurzuf, and Gurzuf.
People from Gurzuf
- Cengiz Dağcı (1919–2011), Crimean Tatar novelist and poet
- Mansur Mazinov (1906–1983), Soviet air force officer, the first Crimean Tatar pilot
- Natalia Popovych (born 1968), Ukrainian politician
Gallery
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View of Gurzuf -
"Goddess of Night" fountain in Gurzuf -
Statue -
Statue -
"Pier in Gurzuf" by Konstantin Korovin, 1914 -
Gurzuf in the fall
