Tyshlar rocks. Temple of the Sun
About 30 km from Sevastopol, in the Laspi Valley, there is a place called
Temple of the Sun. Few centuries ago the Monastery of St. Elias stood on a cliff right above the
Bay of Balaclava in the Crimea. It was built by the Greeks in the XII century.
Later, the cliff was named after the monastery - Ilyas-Kai. The temple is long
gone and destroyed. However, the location remains to be sacred and mysterious,
and it has become the place of pilgrimage. Most often, the area is called the
Temple of the Sun. Sometimes, people call it the Stone Flower and even Crimean
Stonehenge. According to some legends, the temple was built by giants.
They say once it was a mountain, but from an overabundance of inner strength,
it opened up like a flower. Tyshlar Rocks is one of the wonders of Sevastopol
nature and is a complex of small pyramidal stones. The flower has seven petals
and symbolizes the Sun. There is the altar in the center. Flower petals reach
up to 8-10 meters and are inclined at an angle of 60 degrees from the central
stone-altar. There is a belief that the Temple of the Sun has ancient power.
People come here with requests, desires and questions. If the desires are
sincere, then they certainly come true. It does vaguely resemble a flower,
but similarity between the Crimean Stonehenge and the British one is
questionable.
|