Agura Waterfalls

The Agura rises in the Caucasus foothills behind Sochi and drops through a limestone gorge in a series of falls a few kilometres from the Black Sea, in subtropical forest of box, yew, hornbeam and liana - the vegetation is what surprises people, since this is the only part of Russia with a properly subtropical climate. The lower fall drops about thirty metres in two stages into a pool, with the middle and upper falls above it, and the path continues up to the Eagle Rocks, cliffs of some hundred and twenty-five metres. Local tradition, adopted enthusiastically in the Soviet period, places the chaining of Prometheus on those rocks, and a statue of him breaking his chains stands at the top. Flow is entirely seasonal: strong after spring rain and snowmelt, and in a dry August the falls can be a trickle over dry rock.

What you actually see

• The fall chain - a thirty-metre lower fall in two stages with more above.
• The subtropical gorge - box, yew and liana in Russia's only subtropical forest.
• The Eagle Rocks - cliffs of about a hundred and twenty-five metres above the gorge.
• The Prometheus statue - the figure set at the clifftop on the local legend.

When to go

April to June for water; the falls can be nearly dry in late summer. Three to four hours for the full walk to the Eagle Rocks and back.

Honest expectations

Flow is very seasonal and August visitors often find little water. The path has steep sections, steps and slippery rock. Busy at weekends and in the Sochi season. The Prometheus association is a modern tradition, not an ancient one.

Nearby

Sochi and the Black Sea coast are below; the Khosta yew and box grove is nearby.