{{Short description|Mountain in Sochi, Russia}} {{Infobox mountain | name = Mount Akhun | image = Akhun Sochi.JPG | image_caption = Mount Akhun | elevation_m = 663 | elevation_ref = | prominence_m = | prominence_ref = | location = Khostinsky City District, Sochi, Russia | range = | listing = | map = Russia | range_coordinates = | map_size = | label_position = right | coordinates = {{coord|43|33|02|N|39|50|36|E|type:mountain_region:RU_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | coordinates_ref = }}
'''Mount Akhun''' (Ахун) is a stand-alone mountain in the Khostinsky City District of Sochi, Russia. Wedged between the Matsesta and Khosta rivers, this karst massif is the highest point of the Sochi littoral.
The peak of Greater Akhun is {{convert|663|m|ft|0}} above sea level.<ref name="guide"/> Its summit is marked by a 100-foot-tall Romanesque tower. It was built in 1936 from limestone ashlar. The tower offers panoramic views of the Western Caucasus as far south as Gagra and Pitsunda.<ref name="sochiadm">{{cite web|url=http://old.sochiadm.ru/about_the_city/attractions/detail.php?ID=10853|title=Îðëèíûå ñêàëû è âîäîïàäû âñåãî Àãóðñêîãî óùåëüÿ (ñ ïîäúåìîì íà ã. Àõóí)|publisher=old.sochiadm.ru|accessdate=9 March 2014}}</ref> An 11-km-long serpentine road leads to the tower from the Sputnik Hotel.
Lesser Akhun rises to an elevation of {{convert|501|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}. Nearby are the ruins of a medieval Christian church. The entire massif contains about 20 caves. The forests support 200 species of higher plants.<ref name="culttourism">{{cite web|url=http://culttourism.ru/krasnodarsky_kray/sochi/object4508.html|title=Гора Ахун и башня Большой Ахун | Сочи и Красная поляна | Культурный туризм|publisher=culttourism.ru|accessdate=2014-03-09}}</ref> The scenic Eagles' Rocks stretch along the right bank of the Agura River toward the Agura Falls.
The mount was apparently sacred for the local Ubykh community.<ref name="sochi2014">{{cite web|url=http://www.sochi2014.com/zritelyam-mesto-vidovaya-bashnya-na-gore-bolshoy-ahun|script-title=ru:Видовая башня на горе Большой Ахун - Зимние Олимпийские игры Сочи 2014|publisher=sochi2014.com|language=Russian|accessdate=2014-03-09|archive-date=2014-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309105624/http://www.sochi2014.com/zritelyam-mesto-vidovaya-bashnya-na-gore-bolshoy-ahun|url-status=dead}}</ref> Its name translates from the Ubykh dialect as "the mountain giant".<ref name="guide">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vFR0AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT85|title=My Olympic Sochi: Travel Guide|author=Zdobnova, Marina|year=2013|accessdate=2014-03-15}}</ref>
<gallery> Image:View from the top of Akhun mountain.JPG|View from the top File:Tower on the Akhun mountain.JPG|The Akhun Tower <!--File:On the way to Akhun mountain.JPG|Statues of a man and a tiger. The type of tiger that inhabited the region of the Black Sea was ''Panthera tigris virgata'',<ref name=Geptner1972>Geptner, V. G., Sludskij, A. A. (1972). ''Mlekopitajuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza.'' Vysšaia Škola, Moskva. (In Russian; English translation: Heptner, V.G., Sludskii, A. A., Komarov, A., Komorov, N.; Hoffmann, R. S. (1992). [https://archive.org/stream/mammalsofsov221992gept#page/698/mode/2up/search/cheeta ''Mammals of the Soviet Union. Vol III: Carnivores (Feloidea).''] Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation, Washington DC).</ref> which was closely related to ''Panthera tigris altaica''.<ref name="Driscolletal2009">Driscoll, C.A., Yamaguchi, N., Kahila Bar-Gal, G., Roca, A.L., Luo, S.-J., Macdonald, D. and O’Brien, S. J. (2009). Mitochondrial phylogeography illuminates the origin of the extinct Caspian tiger and its relationship to the Amur tiger. PLoS ONE 4: 1–8.</ref>--> </gallery>
== References == {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akhun}} Category:Sochi Category:Mountains of Krasnodar Krai Category:Natural monuments of Russia