Divnogorye

The name means roughly the wondrous hills, and it refers to the divy - freestanding chalk pillars left standing where softer rock around them eroded, rising out of the slope above the Don and the Tikhaya Sosna. Into two of them are cut churches: the Sicilian icon church in the Great Divy, a chamber hollowed out with a passage circling it, and the church in the Small Divy, both worked into soft chalk with hand tools. Their dating is argued over, with claims running from the seventeenth century back to much earlier. Above the pillars is a plateau of chalk steppe with its own flora, and on it an excavated Khazar-period fortress and a horse burial site. The whole is a museum reserve rather than a park, so movement is on marked paths and the churches are entered on a guided visit.

What you actually see

• The chalk pillars - freestanding divy above the river valley.
• The cave churches - chambers hollowed by hand into the chalk, entered on a tour.
• The chalk steppe - plateau grassland with a distinct flora on top.
• The Khazar fortress - excavated remains of a ninth-century site on the plateau.

When to go

May to September; the steppe flowers late spring. Half a day. Winter access is limited.

Honest expectations

The cave churches are entered only with a guide at set times and the interiors are cold, damp and dim. Climbing to the plateau is a steep exposed slope with no shade. Weekends are crowded. Facilities at the reserve are basic and the nearest food is in Liski.

Nearby

The Don and Tikhaya Sosna meet below; Kostomarovo cave monastery is south.