Yailata

Yailata is a shelf of ground between the cliff and the sea on the northern Black Sea coast, about a kilometre long, where the soft limestone has been cut into more than a hundred chambers used as dwellings, storerooms and tombs from the fifth millennium BC onward, along with a necropolis and a late Roman fortress on the plateau above. The rooms have doorways, niches, benches and hearths cut into the rock and open onto the terrace with the sea directly below. Steps lead down from the plateau. It is a protected area for its flora and for the birds using the cliffs, and it sits on a stretch of coast that has remained largely undeveloped.

What you actually see

• Over a hundred rock-cut chambers - dwellings and stores in the cliff face.
• A rock-cut necropolis - tombs along the terrace.
• A late Roman fortress above - the fort on the plateau.
• The undeveloped coast - cliffs and terrace with no building.

When to go

April to October, with spring for the steppe flowers on the plateau and autumn for migration. Half a day. The descent to the terrace is on steps and rough ground. There is no shade.

Honest expectations

The path down and along the terrace is rough and exposed with drops. There is no shade and no water. Interpretation is limited. The site is unstaffed much of the time. Kamen Bryag has almost no facilities.

Nearby

Tyulenovo is north; Cape Kaliakra lies south.