Monument of nature (1947). It rises (440 m) a few kilometers southwest of Alushta. In ancient times, a fortress was located on the top of the mountain, hence the name ("Kastel" in Greek fortress, fortification). A Crimean legend tells about the fierce battles that flared up here for the last refuge of Empress Theodora.

Large, rounded boulders, like a necklace, border the foot of the mountain. In some places, among the boulders, there are interesting minerals sparkling in the sun (calcite, pyrite), beautiful weathering figures. It is no coincidence that these places have long attracted the attention of geologists and geographers.

The seaside slopes of Mount Kastel are covered with dense thickets of evergreen bushes of needles, cistus, and jasmine. And the unique habitats of relic plants - small-fruited strawberry (the most north-eastern population in the world), juniper, anogram fine-leaved fern - help to better understand the history of the formation of the flora of the mountainous Crimea. In 1979, the Kastel nature reserve was formed nearby, where folded snowdrop, medicinal herbs grow under protection ...