Svir Gorge

The Svir Gorge (Svirskoye Ushchelye) is a small canyon of the Svirka River on the northern edge of Lazarevskoye, in the Lazarevsky District of Sochi, Krasnodar Krai. The gorge is part of Sochi National Park: an eco-trail runs along the river to three waterfalls, an ancient dolmen and the Moon Stone.

The river and the gorge

The Svirka is a short mountain river that rises on the spurs of Mount Boztepe, on the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus, and flows into the Black Sea at Lazarevskoye. Over thousands of years it has cut a narrow canyon into the rock, with sheer walls, rapids and stone pools.

The cliffs shade the bottom of the gorge so much that sunlight barely reaches it, and even in summer the water stays below 15 °C. In summer the river runs low and can be forded. The slopes are covered with hornbeam, chestnut and hawthorn woods with ivy and ferns, and Crimean and Pitsunda pines grow here too. From spring to autumn primroses, cyclamens and mountain lilies are in flower. The river is home to freshwater Potamon crabs, rare in Russia's fauna.

Waterfalls of the Svir Gorge

There are three main waterfalls on the trail, one after another upstream:

• The Svirsky waterfall, the lowest, about seven metres high. The water falls into a natural pool, and a wooden bridge leads to its foot. Local belief says that bathing under it washes away one's sins.
• Mother-in-Law's Tears (Teshchiny Slyozy), the second waterfall. Below it lies a clear pool with gently sloping banks where people swim. A joking custom says every mother-in-law should bathe here.
• Adam and Eve, the upper waterfall at the very end of the gorge. It is a double cascade of two streams of different heights running side by side down the rock: the stronger one is called the male stream, the calmer one the female.

The dolmen and the Moon Stone

The valley holds a half-ruined trough-shaped dolmen, a Bronze Age megalith of which the walls and fragments of the roof remain. Nearby, on the slope, stands the Moon Stone, a lone boulder about five metres high of unknown origin. Legend has it that if you touch it, especially at full moon, and make a wish, the wish will come true; esoteric enthusiasts regard the stone as a place of power.

Getting there

The entrance to the Svir Gorge in Lazarevskoye is at the end of Svirskaya Street, about 3 km or a 30–40 minute walk from the centre of the village. Buses and minibuses from Sochi and nearby resorts run along the Sochi–Tuapse highway to the Kafe Minutka stop, from where Svirskaya Street leads to the gorge. Suburban trains run from Sochi to Lazarevskaya station. Cars are left at the parking area by the entrance.

Good to know

• Entry is paid; tickets are sold at the national park's ticket office at the start of the trail, and the price varies by season.
• The walk to the upper waterfall and back takes 2–3 hours. The trail has signposts, information boards, footbridges and stairs with handrails, and the route is marked with paint on stones and trees, so it is hard to get lost.
• In places the trail is rocky, with steep descents and climbs: wear comfortable closed shoes.
• The waterfalls are fullest in spring and early autumn. Near the waterfalls there is a meadow for resting with wooden tables, benches and barbecue grills.