Maps of the Imereti Bay before the construction of Olympic facilities. Ornithology

01. Torch, "Big" and "Ice Cube".

The Sochi Olympic Park is the main venue for the 2014 Winter Olympics. It was in it that all the main movement of the Games took place, and after their completion, various sports and mass events are held here. The park is located in the Adler region, in the Imereti lowland, right on the Black Sea coast.

02. Part of the "Adler-Arena", a training rink for figure skating and "Iceberg".

The most important in the park are the sports facilities. Six stadiums are arranged in a circle: "Fisht" (opening and closing of the Olympics), "Puck" (second hockey arena), "Big" (the main ice palace for), "Ice Cube" (), "Adler-Arena" () and "Iceberg" ( and ). In the center of the circle is a huge torch in which the fire of the games burned. Also, a wall of champions of the games was installed on the square and a Formula 1 track was built. An amusement park "Sochi Park" was built next to the sports facilities.

03. Torch and Fisht.

Such an accumulation of objects of the same type in one place is beneficial during the Olympic Games themselves, but what to do with them after is a big question. For many years it was said that the objects are prefabricated and they will be transported to other regions of Russia. This immediately seemed absurd, and after the construction it became completely clear that nothing could be transported. Everything was left to stand on the Black Sea coast.

04. Track "Formula 1". Because of it, now the Olympic Park is constantly covered with a large number of fences and it is best to move around it on bicycles. By the way, they let you on the track once a week and you can ride like a real F-1 pilot before the race.

Expensive construction work is again at Fisht: it is being prepared for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. An amazing thing: in Krasnodar there are two football clubs playing in the RFPL - Krasnodar and Kuban. The owner of Krasnodar and the Magnit chain of stores, Sergei Galitsky, a new and purely football stadium for his club, which in the spring of 2015 became the bronze medalist of the Russian championship. But the regional capital was left without the World Cup, despite the huge interest in football. There is no football team in Sochi, there is no interest from fans even longer, but it was the resort city that received the World Cup.

05. 40,000th Fisht stadium, where the opening and closing of the 2014 Olympics took place. It cost about 20 billion rubles, which is 2.5 times more expensive than analogues.

The hockey ice arena "Puck" for 7,000 seats is one of the most modest construction projects of "Sochi-2014". “Only” 3.4 billion rubles were spent on it, which is about 1.5 times more expensive than analogues. The secondary matches of the Olympic hockey tournament were held here. Now the All-Russian Children's Sports and Health Center is located here.

07. Next to the "Puck" is the most grandiose object Olympic Park- ice palace "Big".

The 12,000th Bolshoi Palace cost almost 10 billion rubles, which is 2.5 times higher than its counterparts. The audience seat at the Bolshoi Stadium is like a Toyota Corolla. But building is not enough: you also need to maintain the object. During the Olympics, the Russian Hockey Federation complained that one day of the Bolshoi's work costs 1 million rubles, which is a fabulous amount. They try to load the object in every possible way even after the Olympics. It hosted the Channel One Cup (Euro Hockey Tour stage) in 2014 and the KHL All-Star Game in 2015. Since the 2014/15 season, Bolshoy has become the home arena of the newly created Sochi hockey club. Also, for the second year, the arena has been used to host the final festival and the Gala match of the Night Hockey League - a project personally patronized by the President of Russia.

The Sochi Hockey Club was organized very quickly in the summer of 2014. Coach Vyacheslav Butsaev immediately managed to bring the team to the playoffs of the Continental Hockey League, where in the spring of 2015 in the first round they lost to the winners of the regular season CSKA Moscow. Haste is very noticeable in everything that concerns the club itself. Unsuccessful logo and corporate identity, indistinct marketing, mediocre merchandise, lack of a school and youth team, weak press service, etc. During the debut season, Sochi began to experience financial problems, which became even more acute after the resignation in April 2015 of the governor Krasnodar Territory Alexander Tkachev. It is likely that this year the team from the regional capital, Kuban, which played in the VHL, will cease to exist. There the money “suddenly” ran out. The team is, of course, more important to the Sochi resort, and in June the debts were paid off. With all the minuses, HC Sochi is interesting both as one of the chips of an all-season resort, and as just an interesting participant in the KHL championship, where fans can “break through” a pleasant trip, and where you can hold the same KHL All-Star Game.

The most modest object of the Games is the Ice Cube, a curling arena. The 3,000-seat stadium cost a billion rubles. After the Olympics, almost all domestic curling competitions, training events of the Russian national teams, as well as the super cups that appeared (qualifying tournaments for the European and world championships) were transferred to it. The desire to load the object turned out to be in excess, that some athletes were already tired of Sochi. In April 2015, the arena hosted the World Championship among mixed doubles (double-mixed) - in the discipline included in the program of the 2018 Olympics.

10. Last May there were the Russian Curling Championships and in which I had a chance to participate.

If the decision to hold the Winter Olympics in the subtropics was absurd, then using the Olympic Park as a Formula 1 track should be considered an interesting way out. There are enough large concrete spaces around, expensive chain hotels and small guest houses - too, the airport is nearby. The Black Sea is within walking distance. Going for a weekend in Sochi for the Russian Grand Prix, "touching the history" of the Olympics, swimming in the sea and visiting the mountains in Krasnaya Polyana - the public that has money should be satisfied. The number of wealthy people in Russia is enough and directing their flow to Sochi, forcing them to spend money on expensive pleasures (and F-1 is always expensive), is a good option.

A year after the Games, the Wall of Champions of the Games was opened in the Olympic Park. By the way, the “Wall of Champions” is the name of the wall at the circuit in Montreal, Canada, where in 1999 three Formula 1 champions crashed their cars at once. The Sochi wall consists of two pyramids, symbolizing snow-capped mountains. The pyramids contain multi-colored plates with the names of Russian medalists of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

13. At the 2014 Paralympic Games, also held in Sochi, immediately after the Olympics, Russia confidently won the medal count. Out of 80 medals, 30 gold, 28 silver and 22 bronze were won. The closest pursuer - Germany, has only 9 gold awards.

14. 88 countries of the world were represented at the 2014 Olympics, which is a new Olympic record for the winter games.

15. Russia became the first in the medal standings of the Games. Out of a total of 33 medals, 13 are gold, 11 are silver and 9 are bronze.

16. Near the Olympic rings - the object of constant photo shoots of tourists.

An indoor skating center with an Olympic 400-meter track is a rare phenomenon in the world. On the territory of the former USSR, there are such in (Belarus) and Astana (Kazakhstan). Russia had three: in Moscow (Krylatskoye), and Chelyabinsk (Ural Lightning). The facilities are extremely in demand for training and competition by skaters, as modern speed skating has gone under roofs. And now the fourth center was built in Sochi - "Adler-Arena". Alas, it was the only one of all the facilities of the Games that was repurposed to become a tennis academy. Of course, tennis in Sochi has great traditions, but it can also be practiced at other facilities that are not as unique as the skating center.

17. "Adler-Arena" is one of the most beautiful objects of the Games, because the skating stadium cannot but be beautiful.

18. Tennis is something to be happy about, but it was realistic to find another place for the tennis academy. About 7.5 billion rubles were spent on the facility (2.5 times more expensive than analogues). One spectator seat in the 8,000-seat arena cost 925,000 rubles.

19. Anna Chakvetadze graduated with tennis and. Maria Sharapova surprisingly turned out to be one of the last torchbearers of the Olympic flame. It has nothing to do with Sochi, the sport is summer, but you go! Born in Sochi, Olympic champion (Sharapova did not win the Olympics, although they are not very quoted in tennis) and the winner of the Grand Slam tournaments Evgeny Kafelnikov remained out of work. Ugly!

20. Between the "Adler-Arena" and "Iceberg" there is a training arena for figure skating - now it is the "Volosozhar and Trankov Figure Skating Center". Tatyana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov became Olympic champions in pair figure skating. There is a training center for figure skating and short track. For example, in May 2015, the Russian short track team trained there. There is also a mass skating for everyone.

21. Many consider the Iceberg the most beautiful arena of the Games. This is definitely the most successful arena, as it hosted figure skating and short track competitions, where Russia won a scattering of medals. The 12,000th Iceberg cost 9 billion rubles - 2.3 times more expensive than its counterparts. At first they wanted to transport it to another region, then repurpose it into a cycle track, and then they said that athletes needed such a base. Before the Games, the test Grand Prix Final in figure skating and the Russian championships in short track and figure skating were held at the arena. After the Olympics, only once did figure skaters come here with the national championship. Representatives of both sports are no longer going to hold competitions at the competition site. Only commercial ice shows arrange their performances here. About spending the Olympics clearly.

The problem of the Olympic Park and its facilities is their remoteness from the place where people live. Directly from here to go from 40 minutes to an hour and a half - depending on traffic jams in Adler. Even from neighboring Adler, and the park is located behind it, you need some time to get there. was good because all its objects are located close to residential areas and focused on people. Yes, by Kazan standards, something is located on the outskirts, but this is not an option from Sochi, where you need to go not just to another city, but even further. By the way, the winter one is also being built more or less within the city and not far from residential areas.

Nevertheless, they try to hold all sorts of events in the Olympic Park. In October 2014, for the first time in Russia, the Formula 1 Grand Prix took place on the local track. This year was marked by the holding of the Olympic Sky air show at the end of May, and in April, race drivers competed here as part of the Russian Rally Cup stage. Sochi Autodrom also serves as the venue for the Arctic Cup rounds of the Mitjet 2L touring car series. On October 11, Sochi will again host Formula 1, with which a contract has been signed for racing until 2020.

24. The fifth stage of the open championship of the Krasnodar Territory Mitjet 2L - "Victory Cup" was held on May 9 and 10. 9 cars took part in the race.

25. Igor Muravlev became the winner of the race in the Semi PRO category.

26. The Black Sea coast of the Imereti lowland. Five minutes from the Olympic Park.

27. An abundance of fishermen. Do not forget that people live here.

28. From the park, almost to the border with Abkhazia, there is an embankment. It's nice to ride bikes.

29. Road to the clouds. BAR, Jaguar and Joradn? :)

30. Black Sea.

31. A site next to one of the hotels.

32. Bridge Resort is among the most decent local hotels. High quality, but also very expensive. The food is excellent. If finances allow - feel free to choose it.

33. The hotel has several buildings, in addition to the main one. They are named after world capitals: Tokyo, Beijing, Istanbul, Paris, London, Vienna, Sydney. Happy to be back here.

34. In early May, the Russian national beach soccer team held their training sessions at the hotel site. Who does not know, unlike ordinary football, the guys are the strongest in the world. Russia has won the last two World Cups, breaking the Brazilian hegemony. She also has the “gold” of the European Championship 2014 and four victories in the Euroleague. All the stars were in Sochi. Goalkeeper Andrey Bukhlitsky I remember it very well, because at the coolest children's festival "Lokobol" we had a station (interregional tournament) named after him. It's funny that the team captain Ilya Leonov, if I'm not mistaken, I regularly wished for a pleasant appetite at meals. At the end of the training camp, from May 11 to 13, two teams of the Russian national team, as well as the national teams of Azerbaijan and Belarus, held a mini-tournament here called the RFU Cup. I thought about taking pictures, but someone had already taken pictures for the BeachSoccerRussia portal and I decided to postpone the photography of beach soccer for the next time. It would be interesting, of course!

37. The mountains are already visible from Abkhazia - a part of Georgia controlled by an unrecognized government supported by Russia. The latter traditionally provides assistance to the separatists - in addition to Abkhazia, in South Ossetia and Transnistria. There are those who like to travel to such territories, but it’s safer to stay where at least some laws apply.

40. Mountains in Abkhazia.

41. Beautiful!

42. Let's return to the evening Olympic Park. Musical fountain. Mediocre and monotonous repertoire. This is not Barcelona.

43. "Big" in the night. Notice how massive the staircase and the arena itself is. It takes a long time to get to your place from the parking lot or from the bus stop (in addition to the long trip from the same Sochi).

Little has changed in the coastal cluster since the Olympic Games. Only the Formula 1 track has been added. The objects are all standing, outwardly they do not fall apart and are more or less exploited. The only exception is "Fisht" - an eternal construction site. The layout of all this is not the most successful, especially for subsequent operation, imperfections, endless fences and fences, empty checkpoints and parking lots - all this is there. And, of course, endless paved spaces where you walk and do not see the end.

44. "Fisht".

During the period of the Olympic Games, a number of media outlets came out with photo collections of objects from past Games that are now not used. Like, and "they" objects are idle, like this is an Olympic feature. Moreover, the selections contain the same arenas: Sarajevo-1984 (thirty years ago!), Athens-2004, Beijing-2008. To cite as an example the capital of a country that was formed on the fragments of the former Yugoslavia and survived a big war is very appropriate, yes. As well as remembering the laziest nation of the EU, whose merits in organizing the Olympics decided to honor the IOC. About the "winter" Vancouver, Turin or Salt Lake City, no one really remembers.

45. The park is deserted in the evening.

46. ​​Even to the Olympic rings, the queue is not too busy.

47. Preparing to take the military oath of recruits sports companies of CSKA. The patriotic frenzy intensified in connection with the May 9 holiday. For several days in a row, the same 10 songs about the war were played in the park from morning to evening.

The main message of the country's leadership: the facilities must be used. Sports are still downloadable. With unsportsmanlike things are not so rosy. Instead of adapting everything to a new life, demolishing something, rebuilding and re-profiling something, everything remains the same as at the Games. As a gradually decrepit symbol of past victories. Several times a year, the old man will continue to be dressed in a military tunic with awards, reminding him of how good it once was. The military oath taking by the sportsmen and the amusing 8 pucks of the head of state in the gala match of the Night Hockey League fit well into this series. Alas.

49. Hotel behind several walls of fences. They are uncomfortable because of them.

Although the stadiums are occupied, huge amounts of money are spent on their maintenance. In Sochi, the temperature is above zero almost all year round, and in summer it is very hot. Ice complexes in the subtropics are overhead. Especially built on such a grand scale. At the same time, the internal debt of the Krasnodar Territory is about 130 billion rubles. Of course, it's great that several thousand children and young athletes have the opportunity to go to camps in Sochi, but at whose expense? The effectiveness of all this is very low. Throughout Russia, it was possible to build tens of thousands of sports grounds, palaces and swimming pools, and maintain them for many years. Instead, they received a one-time event, whose effect on the country's image was dissipated by its own hands just a couple of weeks after the end of the Games. The lucky ones will visit Sochi, but what about the rest of the residents?

50. Iceberg is especially beautiful at night.

51. But looking at its finish close up, then you can’t perceive it as the most beautiful object. Unsympathetic materials.

52. Behind the Adler Arena, the Olympic Media Center was built, accommodating up to 8,000 people. In November 2014, it hosted the World Chess Championship Match between Norwegian Magnus Carlsen and Indian Viswanathan Anand.

53. Nearby is the most beautiful local hotel - Tulip Inn. Surprisingly: it is difficult to find places in it, despite the very high cost of rooms and the unfortunate location at the intersection of two highways.

Of course, like any sports fan who also works in it and sometimes even competes, I would like to return here again. I do not know in what capacity and for what event. It is warm here, pleasant air, beautiful sea, there is a place for cycling, in the distance there are beautiful and majestic mountains is another reason to visit

In the Imeretinskaya lowland, which stretches along the Black Sea coast for 8 km between the mouths of the Mzymta and Psou rivers, an unprecedented destruction of the previously formed natural communities occurred, but a natural disaster in this biotope, unique for our country, was avoided.

Swan lakes are part of the natural ornithological park in the Imeretinskaya lowland. The density of the bird population is very high here, during the year the presence of 56 species of birds is noted, including 11 rare and endangered. In the photo: Swan Lakes in 2007 and 2015

Colchis swamps

The landscape uniqueness of the Imereti lowland was noted at the beginning of the last century by prominent scientists of that time, Professor A.N. Krasnov and Academician I.P. Borodin, speaking about the need to preserve the Colchis swamps here. Such a relic landscape was found on the Caucasian coast only in one more place, much to the south, in the Poti region.

In the first decades of Soviet power, the development of the lowlands only accelerated. Over time, nesting species disappeared here, described at the beginning of the century by researchers of the fauna of the Black Sea region A.A. Brauner, K.V. Launitz, A.E. Kudashev, in particular the osprey, the white-tailed eagle and the gray heron. Active plowing of land led to a reduction in the areas of forests and Colchis swamps, in their place appeared meadows, fields, thickets of shrubs, drainage channels, small lakes. But all this created favorable conditions for stopping migratory and wintering birds here. Their numbers and species diversity increased, especially in cold, snowy winters or during prolonged cyclones. At the end of the last and the beginning of the present centuries, mass gatherings of geese, ducks, herons, wood pigeons, quails, various waders and small passerine birds were repeatedly observed in the Imeretinskaya lowland.

Robin Erithacus rubecula is a small songbird from the flycatcher family, its ringing song is one of the most beautiful bird songs.

Photo: Natural ornithological park in the Imereti lowland

Construction and birds

In 2007, a large Olympic construction began in the Imeretinskaya lowland, it was here that the main ice palaces and stadiums of the XXII Olympic Winter Games. Under pressure from the public, who advocated the preservation of the Colchis swamps, and with the support of the Russian Geographical Society, in the "Application book of the city of Sochi" as an event to compensate for the negative impact of the Games on environment, the creation of a specially protected natural area of ​​regional significance - the Natural Ornithological Park was included. In fact, it is the same Olympic facility as stadiums, only designed to preserve the ecosystems of the Imereti lowland.

The Natural Ornithological Park in the Imereti Lowland was established in 2010. For obvious reasons, its total area of ​​298.59 hectares is not a single protected area, but consists of 14 disparate sites (clusters) ranging from 1 ha to 72.41 ha. Eight of them are located directly in the Imeretinskaya lowland (Adlersky district of the city of Sochi), and six more up the Psou river valley in the Nizhneshilovsky rural district.

The management of the natural park is carried out by a specially created state institution of the Krasnodar Territory with a staff of 21 people. The main areas of activity are ensuring the functioning of the park, observing the regime of special protection, research work and environmental education of the population. In order to create comfortable conditions for birds, employees carry out a number of biotechnical measures: regular laying out of feed throughout the year, installation of feeders, artificial nests and shelters. These activities play an important role, especially during the cold winter months, when the concentration of birds in the natural park is maximum.

A number of sections of the natural ornithological park in the Imeretinskaya lowland were not affected by the Olympic construction and are preserved in their natural state, forming "protected islands" surrounded by tourist infrastructure. Photos from 2006 and 2014
Photo: Natural Ornithological Park in the Imereti Lowland

Natural ornithological park

From the former vast seaside lowland, now there are small areas of natural park with lakes, meadows and shrubs, surrounded by roads, buildings, sports and recreational facilities. As a result of large-scale development, the total area of ​​natural and agricultural landscapes has decreased by 15 times. As a result, the absolute number of birds has expectedly decreased. Compared to the period of 20 years ago, now (data for the middle of 2017) 42 species of birds have ceased to be observed here. 13 species, which were quite widespread earlier, no longer winter in this territory. 8 species have disappeared from the nesting population.

But, as our studies have shown, even in the post-Olympic period, the lowland remains attractive for nesting, migratory and wintering birds. There are 16 species of birds that have not previously been found in this area. Among them are black-tailed swallow, red-rumped swallow, masked shrike, yellow-fronted wagtail and desert wheatear. Before the Olympics, 25 species included in the Red Books of the Russian Federation and the Krasnodar Territory were celebrated here. Now there are 17 species in this group of birds. Regularly occurring species include the little cormorant, Egyptian heron, loaf, white-eyed duck, white-headed duck, stilt, little bustard, and pale mockingbird.

Undoubtedly, most of the changes that have occurred in the population of birds are associated with an unprecedented scale of anthropogenic transformation of their habitat. But thanks to the protective measures taken within the framework of the possible, a natural disaster was avoided. Moreover, the composition and structure of the local ornithocomplexes continues to demonstrate the preservation of common features of the bird fauna of the Black Sea plains. The results of our research indicate that the Imereti Lowland remains attractive for nesting, migratory and wintering birds. Their modern communities as part of a natural ornithological park correspond to the status of this specially protected natural area.

Lev Shagarov, Candidate of Geographical Sciences, Deputy Director for Research of the Natural Ornithological Park in the Imereti Lowland, Associate Professor of Sochi State University; Petr Tilba, Candidate of Biological Sciences, Leading Researcher at Sochi national park, Associate Professor of the Sochi Institute of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia

Since many people get to Sochi by plane or go through this resort to Abkhazia, probably every 3rd Russian had a chance to explore Adler. The Imereti lowland is the southeastern third of the vast Sochi region. Once upon a time, the ancestors of the Abkhazians and the ancient Greeks coexisted peacefully in it, who first accepted the power of Byzantium, and then the Ottoman Empire. They were replaced by Russian Old Believers and Armenians. Aboriginal settlements have disappeared from the map in connection with the construction of venues for the 2014 Olympics. As well as two successful state farms that left us only their names. The private sector and the agrarian plain have been replaced by stadiums, creative expositions, a Formula 1 track, entertainment complexes and sun loungers…

You can easily find here luxury apartments for rent, a cozy hotel (of any size and category) or an elite hotel in Sochi on the seashore. Entire guest cities have grown up around the Olympic and resort and entertainment sectors.

Geographic location, nature and climate

The location that will be discussed is a 7.5-kilometer plain, the interfluve of the mountain rivers Mzymta and Psou. In administrative terms, this is the most southeastern patch of the Sochi urban district, which includes several arrays of the Adler microdistrict (the nature of their infrastructure is described above). This also includes the Sovkhoz Rossiya microdistrict bordering Abkhazia. From the north, the lowland is already limited by hills overgrown with forests (on the foothills are the residential sectors of Blinovo, Zorka, Selsovet and Veseloe). The southern borders of the object are two Imeretinsky bays, separated by an "Olympic" cape.

The weather in the Imeretinskaya lowland is the same as in the entire space of the Caucasian humid subtropics (in this zone, in addition to Sochi, there are coastal parts of Abkhazia and Georgia). Talk about 5 degrees above zero in winter and 25 in summer. As well as the ideal ratio of solar and cloudy days and 2,000 millimeters of precipitation per year. Strong winds bypass this place. The water is suitable for swimming from May 16 to September.

The weather in the Imereti lowland also explains the composition of the flora and fauna. Imeretinka is covered with carian figs, winged lapina, pyramidal anakamptis, rare species of reed (in the Colchis swamps), eucalyptus, plane tree, as well as walnut, laurel and hornbeam (in the foothills). 26 species of birds (migratory meadow and marsh) and 17 animal names.

Sights of the Imereti lowland

Imeretinskaya lowland - park. Entertaining, sports, resort, culture and recreation, and even historical in places (there are museums, after all). And the undeveloped pieces of Imeretinka are special natural areas. So how nature Park The Imereti lowland is protected by the relevant articles of the law. 1300 hectares of tracts fall under their action. However, first things first.

Olympic Park

First of all, the Imeretinskaya lowland is known to compatriots as an ideally round cape between the Upper and Lower Imeretinskaya bays. It was made that way on purpose. Indeed, inside now there is a low-lying Olympic cluster, in which six stadiums and the Training Arena are inscribed in an ideal circle. In the center is the Olympic Square (torch and fountain), and on the territory leading to the local railway station, there is a Formula 1 track.

Sochi park

The Imeretinskaya lowland in Sochi is also considered the point of location of the unique complex of children's and extreme rides, as well as the Ferris wheel ("Wheel of Time"), from which the entire valley between the mountains, the sea and 2 reservoirs is viewed. Inside the fenced fairy-tale town: the Zmey Gorynych roller coaster, as well as the Firebird, which is amazing in its height. 15 harmless fun. They also managed to cram a landscape theme park, three bistros, a pond and even a dolphinarium here. Outside - a bright hotel-castle "Bogatyr" and a test for the very daring "Quantum Leap".

Natural ornithological park

In its center (already across the road from the Olympic circuit), the Imeretinskaya Lowland has a protected swampy meadow (Colchis swamps), where such rare birds as the whooper swan, the mute swan, one of the varieties of the Red Book bustard, as well as many other endangered (in including migratory) fauna. The territory is fenced, has warning stands and signs.

Park "Nekrasovskie Lakes"

To the south, if you pass the Sochi Park Hotel quarter, the Imeretinskaya lowland will show its other reserved tract. Two lakes were named after the village of the Old Believers (Nekrasovo). By the way, the elite sector of residential apartments, located to the south, has the same name. Reservoirs are surrounded by lawn, streets, benches.

Imereti yacht port

A yacht marina, a universal sea terminal and elegantly equipped beaches of the Imeretinskaya lowland make up its immediate coastal edge. The sea station is universal - both for cargo and for passenger transport. And the yacht marina is considered the largest in Russia. A nautical club has also been built here. Several leisure facilities for yachtsmen, surfers and other water extremes.

Parks "Southern Cultures" and "Imeretinsky"

It should be noted that the weather in the Imereti Lowland favors the preservation of unique relic plants and the planting of subtropical and tropical trees, shrubs, and flowering flora. Ancient landscape gardens include well-groomed thickets and plantings of firs, pines, cypresses, rhododendrons, hundreds of flowers. There is a pond with swans and fish. Finding "Southern cultures" and "Imeretinsky" is easy. You will find a double "paradise" between the residential areas of the Mzymta embankment and the Olympic Park. These are the bus stops "Park Southern Cultures" and "Imeretinsky Quarter".

Imereti resort

As mentioned, the bathing recreation areas on Imeretinka are well equipped. There are 10 of them. Almost each has towers of the Ministry of Emergencies (rescuers with equipment and a paramedic on duty), a rental office for sun loungers and sun umbrellas, and showers. But toilets, locker rooms and rubbish bins are located in all sections of the Imeretinskaya Riviera.

Mzymta beach

The beaches of the Imeretinskaya lowland, like this one, are distinguished by the fact that they are both sea and river at the same time. So, the westernmost bath lies along the mouth of the Mzymta, at the relay tower. The water is colder here. But what scenic views! Its length is only 100 m, however, the width of the strip is the most record-breaking - over 70 m.

Beach "Imeretinsky"

The next 150 meters belong to the Imereti Club. For 400 rubles. spend all day here! Capacity 90 people Sun loungers, umbrellas, cafes, sports and playgrounds, sanitary cabins and water activities. There are also animators.

Radisson Blu Beach

Admission is free, but all services are paid. The size is 200 by 30 m. Considering all the beaches of the Imeretinskaya lowland, this one will be chosen by those vacationers who need not only a toilet, lifeguards and sun loungers, but also water attractions, decking and paddling pools.

Rosa Khutor Beach

Observing this piece of water area of ​​the bay, it should be noted: you can get to it directly from the main stadium of the Olympic zone - "Fishta", you just need to cross the roadway. After the specified "zest" we emphasize: at your disposal is what was on the previous beach. We also add that the space is long (400 m.), And the pebbles are small.

Olympiyskiy Beach - Gorki Gorod

as an Olympic and amusement park The Imeretinskaya lowland will give odds to such complexes Western Europe and USA. This is recognized by the foreigners themselves. The double beach area covers the rest of the coast of the round Olympic Cape. Vacationers get here from a stop named after the specified stadium.

Sirius Beach

Equipped indoor beach and entertainment complex. Designed for pupils of the educational center of the same name (his name is in the title, and the passage from the final bus is 125C and 135). It stretches for 175 meters - to the harbor of Sochi-Park.

Beach "Sochi-Park" (the beach of the hotel "Bogatyr")

Further, we are met not by attractions, but by the Sochi-Park beach, whose brand is far from the size. Resort advantages - very small pebbles (at the very edge of the water), a smooth entry into the sea, its own lifeguard tower and bathrooms. The entrance is free. If you wish, pay only for extreme fun - a banana, a jumping pillow, a jet ski.

South Star Beach

This is the coast, which is looked after by the workers of the eponymous hotel complex. Therefore, it is always clean here, and for customers it is still free. The length of such a pleasure is 450, the width is 35 meters. The bottom without holes, grows gradually. And the pebbles are comfortable here.

Velvet Seasons Beach

Named after an elite residential complex, which occupies a decent-sized block. For tenants of "velvet" apartments all inclusive. The size is the same.

The beaches of the Sovkhoz Rossiya microdistrict (former Psou)

Now it's 3 beach areas. And yet, the natives stubbornly continue to call this farm (some service here is common with " Velvet seasons”) - “Psou”. The main attraction of the intricately curving 2-kilometer coastline is the fence through which the neighboring state, Abkhazia, is viewed.

The Imereti lowland is a unique opportunity to relax without any uphill climbs, to enjoy an analogue of the humid, bright and fragrant Colchis lowland (Abkhazia and Georgia), which is no different in terms of characteristics, to recall the 2014 Olympics ...

When you look from afar at the domes of the stadiums of the Olympic Park in Sochi, fenced with a triple ring of fences, you quickly forget that this is a space for sports competitions and a symbol of the success of the new Russia. Broken eggshells come to mind. Now the omelet seems to have been eaten to the last crumb, and the correspondent of Radio Liberty, having visited Sochi, fully felt the aftertaste.

I came to Sochi double-decker train, this train, plying along the route Moscow - Adler, was specially allowed for the Olympic Games. It is still possible to get south on it now, and for exactly the same money as from Moscow to St. Petersburg, despite twice the distance. Coming out of a comfortable car, in which I could use on the way, albeit slowly, but still working wireless internet I didn't believe that I was in Russia. On one side is the sea promenade behind a chain of palm trees. On the other is a huge, shiny station building in the shape of a wing. And in the distance behind it are snowy mountain peaks.

In a special machine, I bought a ticket for the train "Swallow" to the station "Olympic Village" for 17 rubles. A few minutes later, a silent Siemens car was taking me towards post-Olympic Sochi.

MIRNY VILLAGE - STATE FARM "RUSSIA"

I stopped in the village of Mirny, one of the suburbs of Adler on the territory of the Imeretinskaya lowland, surrounding the Olympic Park. Mirny is separated from the sea by newcomers Olympic venues, and hence, with a dozen fences three meters high. Neat fences - from boards, metal mesh, barbed wire - that's the first thing that catches your eye. “The fenced land,” the locals joke. It's still early, around 9 a.m., and there's hardly any on the streets

Passers-by. Occasionally there are people who are more like visiting workers than local residents or tourists. A couple of times I see women with strollers. In the shade of pretty wooden fences, the same throughout the village, dogs rest - it is not clear whether they are domestic or homeless. All buildings have been recently renovated, every third one was built just a year or two ago. The roofs of most houses are of the same brown-red color. On many gates there is a sign: “For sale”.

We meet with Viktor Kobylin, an enterprising local resident, a public representative of one of the quarters of the Mirny settlement. Viktor is a large, fair-haired man who looks more like a Siberian than a Sochi. It turns out that he was born in the Far East, studied in Omsk, and has been living here only for the last ten years.

I share with Kobylin the first quite favorable impressions.

- I agree, at least the roads were built excellent. Gas, probably, will eventually be given. They built a thermal power plant in Adler - the problems with electricity almost stopped. The village has become much cleaner, although it was greener before the construction began. It remains to remove the various black touches. The administration should end up euphoric that they have not been dispersed, and they should deal with our problems.

A watering machine drives past, washing off the dust from the asphalt path. It was impossible to imagine such a thing in the village a few years ago, and there was nothing special to wash.

Kobylin is clearly an optimist, and an active optimist. Black strokes, as it turns out, abound, just some of them are hiding behind brand new fences, while others are literally buried in the ground. Even at the beginning of the Olympic construction, the village, which was preparing to receive hordes of guests of the Games, was promised sewerage and gas. Gas pipes are connected, they stick out of the ground at almost every house. But they don't have gas. “The gas workers were rushed, and as a result, the pipe was simply laid incorrectly,” explains Kobylin. - When they gave the test pressure, the pipe began to level out and float up from vibration. In some places, it is located at a depth of 20-30 centimeters from the road surface, and according to the standard it should be almost two meters deep. That's why they don't give us gas - they don't understand how it will work. Gas comes to our distribution station in the village, but does not go further, because it is simply dangerous.”

Now Kobylin expects that “smart people will figure out how to fix this,” and, hopefully, local residents will be able to heat their homes with more than wood, diesel fuel and electric heaters. By the way, it was forbidden to heat with firewood directly during the Olympic Games, so that the smoke coming from the pipes would not spoil the decent picture. But the lack of sewerage could only spoil the atmosphere: in Mirny even now there is a specific smell in places. Unlike gas pipes, sewer pipes were not laid at all.

- The initial project was prepared by an organization from Rostov, which is engaged in some kind of nanotechnology, - says Kobylin. “We wanted to make some kind of special vacuum sewerage, because we are on a lowland, below sea level. We thought for a long time, then realized that there was not enough money in the budget for this. As a result, a year ago, the project was finally closed. I don’t know what now, maybe there is a sewage system on paper, maybe it was reported somewhere that it was built. I don't even doubt that it is.

From Kobylin's point of view, the problem is not even that the promised sewage system does not exist. He is much more angry that the inhabitants of Mirny were fed with promises until the very last moment. People built big houses, hotels on 3-4 floors. It is simply impossible to serve such without a central sewer: the only reasonable alternative - a septic tank - requires careful control of the drain, which should not get detergents and toilet paper. How to achieve such accuracy from the tenants of the hotel? As a result, most owners drain dirty water directly into the drainage system; So,

Apparently, they do it in my hotel, judging by the ambergris that spreads from an open hatch right there on the corner for some reason. From the drainage runoff enters nearby lakes - wintering grounds for migratory birds - and from there to the Black Sea. In itself, such a system is not something unheard of in Russian seaside resorts, but Kobylin explains that in the Imereti Lowland, four meters below sea level, it is especially dangerous: “Drainage pipes become clogged and stop letting in groundwater. In three or four years, after a good downpour, the village of Mirny will simply sink. Of course, the management will say: they shit in the drainage, which means they themselves are to blame. And where else to shit? The alarm must be beaten now. And who will do this if everything is already over, everyone has reported and the picture from the helicopter is beautiful?”

To sound the alarm - this would be too little for the energetic Kobylin. Looking out of his own window at the street at the end of 2012, he noticed that the gas pipes had already been laid, nothing was being dug under the sewers, and at the same time they were going to lay asphalt. He realized that the Rostov vacuum nanocanalization was preparing to share the fate of many other innovative projects and remain at best a beautiful blueprint, and sent a request to the local administration. The answer came extremely cynical: there will be no sewerage for such and such reasons, but if you want, build it yourself.

To my grunting, Kobylin replies: “Why are you laughing? That's exactly what we did."

Having agreed with the owners of houses in his part of Mirny, Viktor, with the help of a former classmate at the Omsk Road Institute, made a project for a sewer network, and for several months, “opening the horn”, in his own words, the doors of offices, received numerous approvals. As a result, during the summer and part of the fall of 2013, residents laid their own private sewer network. Planned Olympic asphalt had already been laid on top of it, and now in the right, if you look from the sea, half of Mirny, the air is much fresher than in the left.

I look at the photographs, which detail the chronicle of the construction. This photo album by Kobylin, which stands on some of the pictures himself at the bottom of the ditch with a shovel in his hands, apparently, constantly carries in the car. There really is something to be proud of. I ask how fair it is that part of the village is now in a better position. “If we had been warned earlier that there would be no sewerage, we would have agreed with the entire village, we would have built a network for everyone ourselves. Now we are ready to sell our sewerage to the administration so that they can complete it further for everyone, at the price at which it cost us - this is definitely cheaper than if they had built it themselves. But so far, no one is having such conversations with us.”

The construction cost each of the cooperators approximately 185,000 rubles. Big money, but there are many here, apparently thanks to holiday season and a wonderful climate that allows them to harvest three crops of vegetables a year, they could afford it. “Here people have the opportunity to live a little better than in many other places in Russia,” says Kobylin. “And we have a little more time to think about how we live, and how we can make this life better.” For him, the Olympic Games mean an opportunity for change, which is worth seizing, not paying attention to incompetent government. and said at the meeting: if the Olympics had not happened, Mirny would never have become so beautiful. Outside, beautiful. Inside, this is a different question. Inside, a lot needs to be changed. And we will change, and we will start doing it from below. It must happen in our heads change, and then we will put pressure on the leadership and get what we need from them.”

Sovkhoz Rossiya is another village in the Imereti Lowland, located behind the Olympic Park, right on the seashore near the border with Abkhazia. Unlike Mirny, “Russia” has its own section of the beach, and with it its own problems.

Here we meet with local ecologist and social activist Natalya Kalinovskaya. I tear Natalya away from the conversation with the man in overalls - this is a representative of the responsible economic service who came at the request of Kalinovskaya to inspect the clogged storm drains. Kalinovskaya makes him lean right towards the drainage holes, showing leaves, candy wrappers and empty plastic bottles crammed under the grate. She has a loud and energetic voice of a person who is confident in his rightness and used to defending his opinion. Clogged drains can lead to flooding - the most frightening and most likely disaster here in the lowlands. Having finished with the water utility, Kalinovskaya jumps into the house for an impressive bundle of documents and takes me on a tour of the village. Almost everything that catches my eye is criticized: here are the gas pipes that I already know, in which there is no gas (Kalinovskaya claims that the Olympic flame also burned “from a cylinder”, although I tend to think that this is a local myth). Here are wooden poles put in place of the old reinforced concrete ones. Here

Drying cypresses, close to the trunks of which new asphalt is laid. Here are yellowing palm trees, stuck, as the ecologist explains, right into a two-meter layer of rubble and sand, which was used to fill the lowland for the construction of Olympic facilities. Judging by the story, for almost every tree, for every flowerbed and piece of sidewalk, Kalinovskaya, at the head of a group of local residents, fought not for life, but for death, and sometimes this struggle ended in victory. Here, as in Mirny, at first glance it is very clean and comfortable, I can only notice shortcomings after a hint. However, I guess that it was for the sake of this first positive impression that everything was done.

We go out to central square. Around the new, but non-working fountain, teenagers with toy guns run after each other. Elderly women sit on a bench.

- Do you like the fountain? - Kalinovskaya calls them, who seems to know all the local residents without exception.
- Yes, Natasha, we just wanted to talk about him with you. We come here every single day and it doesn't work. Well, just take a look!
- And this is a gift from the governor, a singing and dancing fountain, worth eight million rubles. To turn it on - there is a special booth - lads from Krasnodar must come, we don’t have such smart ones here. Press the button and it will work. This is if a holiday, or someone important will arrive. Very nice, by the way!
“Well, we don’t fall for these boys in any way,” the women get upset.

In general, Krasnodar residents have a special relationship here: according to local ideas, not so much the distant Moscow authorities are to blame for all the troubles, but the middle link, most often at the level of the administration of the Krasnodar Territory. A mythology has developed, according to which somewhere there, in Krasnodar, the full-flowing financial Olympic Amu Darya was dispersed to irrigate the pockets of officials and businessmen, never reaching the Imeretinskaya lowland.

Upon learning that I am a journalist, the grandmothers immediately report that someone has worked on the construction of stadiums and built “two two-story and one four-story” ones at the state farm. This “someone”, of course, from the strays, the locals were left with only debts - people took loans from banks in order to get a hotel license for 200-300 thousand rubles, and there were much fewer guests at the Olympics than expected.

- And the season was last years? I ask.
- It's been four years now.
- Will it be this year?
Did you turn on the TV at all? recent times? They send everyone to the Crimea, but here in Sochi everything is allegedly very expensive, everything is for the rich.

Vladimir Putin said exactly the same thing during a recent direct line: “After all, you yourself said that world-class hotels were built in Sochi. This means that there will be different categories of tourists in Crimea and Sochi. In Crimea, the infrastructure is designed for people with low incomes, they will not be able to afford luxury hotels in Sochi.” The president's words fit into a stereotype, because of which many Russians did not even seriously consider going to the home Olympics. At the same time, residents of Mirny and the Rossiya state farm convinced me that during the Olympic Games it was possible to stay here without any problems for a rather modest amount of 500 to 1,500 rubles per person per day. In the usual summer season, you can spend the night for 250.

After briefly discussing the problem of gas (grandmothers heard on TV that they would give it in the summer, but Kalinovskaya refuses to believe in it), we say goodbye and go to the embankment.

In my opinion, the word “embankment” is more in line with the city bank of the Neva or the Moskva River. I can imagine the seaside promenade in Odessa or in Nice. In the seaside state farm "Russia" you expect to see the beach. However, the beach is no longer here.

A narrow strip - about five meters wide - of pebbles and stones separates the sea from a gentle concrete slope. Above is a pedestrian road with benches and lanterns, a red bike path is marked along it. In all this hot, even in April 22 degrees of stone construction, there is not a single tree.

“And here we had a hundred-meter beach,” Kalinovskaya ironically points to the concrete hill.
- Why was this built? For beauty?
- This beauty is washed away by the sea every time. When there is a storm, everything here is covered with stones, these benches hang on those trees, and then the Ministry of Emergency Situations pumps out water in the village.
Where are people going to rest now?
- Walk along the waterfront
- And where to put umbrellas, sunbeds?
- And that's all. Walk or lie on concrete at 37 degrees in the shade.

Clean pebble beach was a competitive advantage of "Russia", which distinguished the village from most resorts on the coast. If in Sochi almost the entire coastline is divided between hotels and sanatoriums, then the Imereti coast, from the mouth of the Mzymta to the border river Psou, was famous for its public wide beach, for which many tourists stopped here, thirty kilometers from the temptations big city. The embankment on a concrete bulge, however, was erected not only for decorative purposes: the cargo port built at the mouth of the Mzymta, which served the construction of the Olympic Park facilities, stopped

Alluvium on coastline river pebbles. Without this natural process, the entire Imeretinskaya lowland, and with it the stadiums, risked being washed into the sea. The multi-kilometer embankment should serve as protection from storm waves, but according to Kalinovskaya, it does not cope with this function. Alternative projects using world experience in the construction of such structures, the ecologist is sure, could save the beach and provide reliable protection to the lowlands. “We are not against beauty, we are normal adequate people. We're just saying that it could have been done differently. Leave the beach to its width and then make a two-tier terracing. It would be cheaper, and no one would be washed away - neither people nor the embankment. You see, a natural monument of world importance, protected by UNESCO - here it is, filled with concrete. But no one listens to us, we are locals, we are fools.”

“We know how to paint lips,” Natalya sums up. - I immediately said - they will catch up with bears and gypsies, they will play the balalaika, they will treat them with caviar and pour vodka. And so it happened. They say it right on TV, go, people, to the Crimea, before they mess up there. They are happy there now, and then, like us, they will live at a construction site for three or four years.

The sun is rapidly sinking into the sea, the cries of young people resting on a narrow rocky strip near the shore are getting louder, the sound of broken glass is heard. Kalinovskaya decisively takes out her phone and dials the number of the district police officer:

– Dear, have you been to the beach for a long time? Stop by, otherwise our beautiful youth has gone naughty.

I ask if she's too strict: Friday night, south, sea, and it seems that no one is fighting yet.

- They don’t fight yet, and they don’t drown anyone yet. And let them at least clean up after themselves, cherish at least the good that is still left.

Kalinovskaya walks home with a firm gait, greeting everyone she meets and discussing in whose pockets the settlement gas could settle. I decide to walk straight along the embankment to the Olympic Park in order to finally see the stadiums familiar from sports broadcasts not through the fence. It is quite crowded around: rare off-season tourists, local fishermen rushing to the pier by bicycles for the evening bite, athletes (apparently passing some kind of training camp here) on evening jogging. I pass the pier, gradually there are fewer and fewer passers-by, on the right, the familiar three-meter fence grows disgustingly. Soon after him there are Olympic facilities. I hope that somewhere in this fence there will be a gate or a gate leading to the coveted Olympic Park, I walk a kilometer, another one and run into a dead end: right in front of me, the same fence crosses the embankment and goes into the sea. On the left, the waves of the Black Sea beat against the stones, on the right, behind a high fence, the famous Olympic fountain dances to Tchaikovsky's waltz. I turn around and wander back along the alley of half-dried palm trees stuck into the dusty gravel, until the pier, illuminated by fishing lanterns, like a Christmas tree with a Christmas garland, is again shown in the distance.

They cut the forest - the chips fly. This Russian proverb becomes relevant every time important government construction projects come into contact with the daily life of the country's inhabitants. The global construction projects of the 20th century destroyed many unique topographic objects. Many cities, villages, villages, monasteries, temples, ancient necropolises perished in obscurity.

So, during the creation of the Ivankovsky reservoir, more than 100 settlements, including old City Korcheva. Under the pretext of flooding, many churches were blown up, including a unique Old Believer church in the village of Kuznetsovo (now Konakovo), which you can read more about on our site.

Today, serious changes in the historical landscape have occurred in Imereti lowland located near the city of Sochi, in the area of ​​construction of sports facilities for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The history of the Imereti lowland is connected with the Old Believers, in particular, the Nekrasovites. They appeared in Russia at the beginning of the 18th century, were persecuted for two centuries and were forced to leave for the possessions of Turkey. After the revolution of 1905-1907. they returned to their homeland. The first place of their settlement was the Sochi district of the Black Sea province - the least developed among other districts. As local historians point out, inviting Nekrasovites, the authorities pursued a specific goal - to oust the Turks from the fishing industry and, most importantly, to stop smuggling from Turkey, disguised as cabotage (coastal shipping). And the Nekrasovites were not only good farmers and hunters, but also excellent fishermen and coasters.

The Old Believers settled in Matrosskaya Shchel (near Golovinka), in Imeretinskaya Bay and Babuk-Aul. Most of the Sochi Old Believers by the mid-20s. 20th century left for the uninhabited Don lands. The reasons were the lack of land suitable for farming, the infertility of the soil, the difficult living conditions in the upland zone, and the increased tax pressure. By the end of 1926, the Old Believers remained only in the Imeretinskaya Bay.

The uniqueness of the Imereti lowland was recognized by the tsarist government, in 1911, assigning it the status of a specially protected natural zone. Here are the only areas of Colchis wetlands in Russia with unique flora and fauna. Many rare species of plants, birds and animals live in Imeretinka.

For the Winter Games 2014, the Olympic Park was built in the Imereti Lowland (the central stadium and five ice palaces, as well as a media center). The construction of the Olympic Park in 2008 caused serious conflicts with the local population - Old Believers and Cossacks - who lived in the area, which even led to violent clashes and arrests.

Fortunately, both sides found the patience and endurance to avoid the tragic development of events. Residents of the area received compensation to build their own housing in a new location. In 2010, three sites for new construction were allocated in the Adler district, the rest will be built up in the Khostinsky and Central districts.

It is interesting that a part of the Old Believer cemetery remained from the ancient village, which was preserved by the builders. However, this cemetery is practically invisible from the ground. A passer-by who does not know about its existence can walk a few meters from the ancient necropolis and not notice it. Access to the cemetery is open, and former residents of the Imereti Valley can visit it.

Chairman of the Old Believer community Dmitry Drofichov now says: “As a result, the village of the Old Believers Morlinsky was moved a kilometer higher from the sea. But it was not possible to raze the cemetery to the ground: the people blocked the way for bulldozers with their breasts.”

Today we publish unique pictures of the Old Believer necropolis of the Imereti Valley, taken by blogger Alexei Nadezhdin and photographer