Gelendzhik
Encyclopedia
Gelendzhik is a resort
town in Krasnodar Krai
, Russia
, situated on the Gelendzhik Bay
of the Black Sea
, between Novorossiysk
(31 kilometres (19.3 mi) to the northwest) and Tuapse
(93 kilometres (57.8 mi) to the southeast). Greater Gelendzhik sprawls for 102 kilometres (63.4 mi) along the coastline and covers an area of 122,754 ha (of which only 1,926 ha fall within the boundaries of Gelendzhik proper). Population:
In antiquity, the Gelendzhik Bay was the site of a minor Greek outpost, mentioned as Torikos in the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax
. It is unknown to Hellenistic sources, but reappears in Roman ones under the name of Pagrae in 64 BC. The colony was wiped out by the invading Huns
, which were succeeded by the Zygii
soon after. During the Middle Ages, the bay was of some mercantile importance to the Genoese traders
who referred to the seaside village as Maurolaca.
Before Russia secured the coast by the Treaty of Adrianople
(1829), a brisk slave trade had been carried on between the mountaineers and the Ottoman Empire
. Since the Circassian beauties
were usually traded for gold and other commodities before being taken to Turkish seraglio
s, the market place became known as "Gelendzhik" (from "gelincik"), literally, "little meadow" in Adyghe Language
. In 1831, one of the first forts of the Black Sea Coastal Line was set up at Gelendzhik. At the outbreak of the Crimean War
the fort had to be blown up and abandoned, but it was resettled by the Cossacks in 1864, at the conclusion of the Russian-Circassian War
, and became known as Stanitsa
Gelendzhiksaya. The town of Gelendzhik was incorporated in 1915.
During the Soviet period, Gelendzhik was developed as a spa
. It possesses sand beaches, three waterparks, two aerial tramway
lines, and two Orthodox churches (from 1909 and 1913, respectively). The environs of Gelendzhik are noted for a chain of waterfall
s, an outcrop of dolmen
s, two extremely ancient pine and juniper
groves, and the Sail Rock
, located 17 km (11 mi) from the downtown core. The coastal village of Arkhipo-Osipovka
, administrated from Gelendzhik, contains the terminus of the Blue Stream
gas pipeline. An annual hydroaviasalon
is held in Gelendzhik since 1996.
of: Blyth Valley
, United Kingdom
Angoulême
, France
Kalyvia, Greece
Hildesheim
, Germany
Resort
A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company....
town in Krasnodar Krai
Krasnodar Krai
-External links:* **...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, situated on the Gelendzhik Bay
Gelendzhik Bay
The Gelendzhik Bay is an ice-free bay located on the Russian coast of the Black Sea, immediately to the southeast of the Tsemes Bay. The entire 12-km coastline between the capes Tonkiy and Tolstyi falls within the boundaries of Gelendzhik. Beaches take up about two thirds of shoreline. Further...
of the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
, between Novorossiysk
Novorossiysk
Novorossiysk is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is the country's main port on the Black Sea and the leading Russian port for importing grain. It is one of the few cities honored with the title of the Hero City. Population: -History:...
(31 kilometres (19.3 mi) to the northwest) and Tuapse
Tuapse
Tuapse is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated on the northeast shore of the Black Sea, south of Gelendzhik and north of Sochi. It serves as the administrative center of Tuapsinsky District, although administratively it is separate from it...
(93 kilometres (57.8 mi) to the southeast). Greater Gelendzhik sprawls for 102 kilometres (63.4 mi) along the coastline and covers an area of 122,754 ha (of which only 1,926 ha fall within the boundaries of Gelendzhik proper). Population:
In antiquity, the Gelendzhik Bay was the site of a minor Greek outpost, mentioned as Torikos in the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax
Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax
The Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax is an ancient Greek periplus that ranks among the minor Greek geographers, dating from 4th or 3rd century BC. The name of Scylax applied to the text is thought to be a pseudepigraphical appeal to authority: Herodotus mentions a Scylax of Caryanda, a Greek navigator...
. It is unknown to Hellenistic sources, but reappears in Roman ones under the name of Pagrae in 64 BC. The colony was wiped out by the invading Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
, which were succeeded by the Zygii
Zygii
The Zygii has been described by the ancient Greek intellectual Strabo as a nation to the north of Colchis.He wrote:...
soon after. During the Middle Ages, the bay was of some mercantile importance to the Genoese traders
Ghisolfi
De Ghisolfi was the name of a Genoese-Jewish family prominent in the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance....
who referred to the seaside village as Maurolaca.
Before Russia secured the coast by the Treaty of Adrianople
Treaty of Adrianople
The Peace Treaty of Adrianople concluded the Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829 between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. It was signed on September 14, 1829 in Adrianople by Russia's Count Alexey Fyodorovich Orlov and by Turkey's Abdul Kadyr-bey...
(1829), a brisk slave trade had been carried on between the mountaineers and the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. Since the Circassian beauties
Circassian beauties
Circassian beauties is a term used to refer to an idealized image of the women of the Circassian people of the Northern Caucasus. A fairly extensive literary history suggests that Circassian women were thought to be unusually beautiful, spirited and elegant, and as such were desirable as concubines...
were usually traded for gold and other commodities before being taken to Turkish seraglio
Seraglio
A seraglio or serail is the sequestered living quarters used by wives and concubines in a Turkish household. The word comes from an Italian variant of Turkish saray, from Persian sarai , meaning palace, or the enclosed courts for the wives and concubines of the harem of a house or palace...
s, the market place became known as "Gelendzhik" (from "gelincik"), literally, "little meadow" in Adyghe Language
Adyghe language
Adyghe language , also known as West Circassian , is one of the two official languages of the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation, the other being Russian. It is spoken by various tribes of the Adyghe people: Abzekh, Adamey, Bzhedugh; Hatukuay, Kemirgoy, Makhosh; Natekuay, Shapsigh; Zhane,...
. In 1831, one of the first forts of the Black Sea Coastal Line was set up at Gelendzhik. At the outbreak of the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
the fort had to be blown up and abandoned, but it was resettled by the Cossacks in 1864, at the conclusion of the Russian-Circassian War
Russian-Circassian War
The Russian–Circassian War refers to a series of battles and wars in Circassia, the northwestern part of the Caucasus, which were part of the Russian Empire's conquest of the Caucasus lasting approximately 150 years, starting under the reign of Tsar Peter the Great and being completed in 1864...
, and became known as Stanitsa
Stanitsa
Stanitsa is a village inside a Cossack host . Stanitsas were the primary unit of Cossack hosts.Historically, the stanitsa was a unit of economic and political organisation of the Cossack peoples primarily in the southern regions of the Russian Empire.Much of the land was held in common by the...
Gelendzhiksaya. The town of Gelendzhik was incorporated in 1915.
During the Soviet period, Gelendzhik was developed as a spa
Spa
The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...
. It possesses sand beaches, three waterparks, two aerial tramway
Aerial tramway
An aerial tramway , cable car , ropeway or aerial tram is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion...
lines, and two Orthodox churches (from 1909 and 1913, respectively). The environs of Gelendzhik are noted for a chain of waterfall
Waterfall
A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
s, an outcrop of dolmen
Dolmens of Russia
Concentrations of megaliths, dolmens and stone labyrinths have been found throughout the Caucasus Mountains, including the Abkhazia. Most of them are represented by rectangular structures made of stone slabs or cut in rocks with holes in their facade...
s, two extremely ancient pine and juniper
Juniper
Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...
groves, and the Sail Rock
Sail Rock
Sail Rock, or Parus Rock , is a natural sandstone monolith located on the shore of the Black Sea, in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It resembles the outline of a ship's sail, hence its name....
, located 17 km (11 mi) from the downtown core. The coastal village of Arkhipo-Osipovka
Arkhipo-Osipovka
Arkhipo-Osipovka is a seaside village and a Black Sea resort under the jurisdiction of the town of Gelendzhik in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. Population: 7,613 ;...
, administrated from Gelendzhik, contains the terminus of the Blue Stream
Blue Stream
Blue Stream is a major trans-Black Sea gas pipeline that carries natural gas from Russia into Turkey. The pipeline has been constructed by the Blue Stream Pipeline B.V., the Netherlands based joint venture of Russian Gazprom and Italian Eni. The Blue Stream Pipeline B.V...
gas pipeline. An annual hydroaviasalon
Hydroaviasalon
Hydroaviasalon or in full International Exhibition and Scientific Conference on Hydroaviation is an international airshow on hydroaviation held in Russia. It's held every even year since 1996 on a seashore at Gelendzhik...
is held in Gelendzhik since 1996.
Twin towns/sister cities
Gelendzhik is a twin townTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
of: Blyth Valley
Blyth Valley
Blyth Valley was a Local government district and borough in south-east Northumberland, England, bordering the North Sea and Tyne and Wear. The two principal towns were Blyth and Cramlington...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Angoulême
Angoulême
-Main sights:In place of its ancient fortifications, Angoulême is encircled by boulevards above the old city walls, known as the Remparts, from which fine views may be obtained in all directions. Within the town the streets are often narrow. Apart from the cathedral and the hôtel de ville, the...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Kalyvia, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
Hildesheim
Hildesheim
Hildesheim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the district of Hildesheim, about 30 km southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste river, which is a small tributary of the Leine river...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...