Sochi: Olympic Park and Imereti Lowland. Imereti Lowland in Sochi. Where to go, what to see

Throughout the Olympic construction period, pickets and rallies took place at the Rossiya state farm. Their inspiration is the chairman of the local TOS “Psou”, member of the Public Environmental Council of Sochi Natalya Kalinovskaya. The activist is one of the Sochi residents who perceive the 2014 Games exclusively negatively.

“We endured construction for five years”

Natalya Kalinovskaya and her friend Svetlana Beresteneva are sitting in a tiny kitchen. Here, in an apartment of less than 30 square meters. m, eleven people are registered - her family, her daughter’s family, her ex-husband. Svetlana, who has been on the waiting list for improved housing conditions since her birth in 1966, is still knocking on the doorsteps of the administration. Recently she was offered an apartment in Krasnaya Polyana, but the woman does not want to move there: she does not like how she claims that there is no social infrastructure in the mountains and it is difficult to get there. He continues to seek an apartment here, in the remaining houses for displaced people and volunteers.

“We received lack of money and unemployment from the Games (Rosstat also recorded an increase in unemployment. - Gazeta.Ru”), says Kalinovskaya. — Do you know how our acquaintance with the IOC (International Olympic Committee) began? In April 2008, the first commission of the Olympic Committee was supposed to arrive. Governor Tkachev said that not a single house will be demolished, not a single family will be harmed. And before the IOC’s visit, talk about demolition had just begun. We prepared posters and hid them in the Old Believer cemetery. When the IOC commission appeared there, they took it out and tried to unwrap it. The police ran towards us and a fight broke out. This is how local residents met the Olympic Committee. We realized that there was no one on our side.

“I,” Beresteneva adds with a smile, “had hope that because of this cemetery the stadium would not be built.”

Built. A couple of tens of meters from the Fisht stadium is an active churchyard fenced in, which was closed with red screens during the Olympics.

“We endured construction for five years,” the women continue. “We brought in thousands of migrant workers who stole everything edible from the houses at night. A friend left a frying pan with cutlets on the stove, so they swept them away and threw the frying pan in the garden.

Olympic construction also had a detrimental effect on the holiday season. It was cheaper to relax in “Russia” than in the popular Adler and Sochi itself. Having arrived during the first year of construction, tourists did not return: the entire site was buzzing with bulldozers and excavators around the clock, and it was impossible to open the windows due to the dust. Tourists who came for many years in a row shrugged: the village was unrecognizable.

However, after construction was completed, tourists began to return.

— This summer people went. For example, a couple from Moscow settled with me, who had previously traveled to Berdyansk in Ukraine. It’s dangerous to go there now, they were looking for a cheaper place,” the interlocutors add.

State farm "Russia" in Sochi before the Olympics

Last fall, in an interview, Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov agreed that the Coastal cluster, which includes the former state farm, “requires additional presentations” - at the height of the season, the number of rooms in the Imereti Lowland was 55% full.

Today, by the way, on many fences at the Rossiya state farm there are large “For Sale” signs hanging on them.

I’m trying to at least point to something positive, because roads were built in the Imereti Lowland, a gas storage tank was built, and flower beds were planted.

— Do you know that even the Olympic flame burned from a cylinder? - Kalinovskaya interrupts. — We didn’t have network gas and still don’t. After every rain, the Ministry of Emergency Situations comes to pump water out of the yards. When the captured Germans built the state farm, the roads were paved with cobblestones, and water was absorbed into the ground. Now everything has been covered with asphalt, it flows in streams into the lowlands. There were concrete power poles on the state farm - they were replaced with wooden ones.

“Adler jumped forward a hundred years”

Having said goodbye to the activists, I walk through the residential areas that have grown up on the site of the greenhouses. Smooth roads, neat houses against the backdrop of snow-capped peaks and blue skies. There are almost no people. All this is bright, beautiful, but completely uninhabited.

Not all residents of Imeretinsk are dissatisfied with their proximity to the Olympics. I find Viktor Altunyan in the new Tavrichesky microdistrict. An Olympic station was built on the site of his former yard, and in return he was given a standard house and plot.

State Farm Russia after the Olympics

— They sent a decree in advance and explained: either take the money or new home. I like to do housework, so I chose the second option,” explains the man, looking up from the construction site. Planed boards and tools lie on the ground. At the back of the yard he is finishing off a two-story utility block.

“We’ve been living here for four years,” shares Altunyan.

At the previous place there were no communications, except for light. Now there is gas (albeit imported: it is pumped into a storage tank, from there it is distributed to houses), sewerage, and water.

“Adler jumped a hundred years forward,” the Sochi resident lists. — Previously, it took an hour and a half to get to the city, now I can get there via new junctions in 20 minutes. Of course, there are dissatisfied people. But the person was given everything new - say thank you, among my friends, the majority moved on a positive note.

Olympic torch

He also brushes aside complaints about five years of continuous construction: when a house is being renovated, one has to endure inconvenience; such an Olympics cannot be built without noise and dust.

And the dissatisfied, he adds, most likely fed from the demolished greenhouses where radishes and other vegetables were grown. He says that there are no problems with employment in Imeretinka.

I leave Rossiya in the evening. On the embankment, where the sun hid in the sea in ten minutes, couples are strolling, several mothers with babies, and cyclists are leisurely pedaling. There are not many people, despite the warm Saturday evening. A little more vacationers are on the square in front of the central fountain: about thirty people are watching a bright musical show with foam jets and lighting. Rest Olympic Park empty, you can wander along the illuminated paths completely alone.

Cemetery of the Old Believers (circle on the left side of the frame)

This week, Gazeta.Ru will also launch a special project dedicated to the anniversary of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. Readers will be presented with a panoramic interactive map Olympic venues in Sochi, which will depict three main periods Olympic Sochi: 1 ) the moment of preparation for the Olympics, construction of facilities and infrastructure; 2) the competitive period of the Games, the number of medals awarded at each venue, the successes of Russian athletes; 3) the Olympic legacy and how Sochi lives now, how the facilities are used, what competitions are held and planned.

2014.

Geographical characteristics

In the system of physical-geographical zoning of the Caucasus (Gvozdetsky, Smagina, 1986; Devdariani, 1986), the Imereti Lowland is part of the Transcaucasian depression region of the Colchis province (subprovince of the Colchis foothills of the Sochi-Adler district, the continuation of which in Abkhazia is the district of the North Colchis foothills).

The Imereti Lowland is part of a wide coastal plain between the Psou and Mzymta rivers. The plain is located in the altitude range from 0 to 50 m above sea level. The origin of the lowland is accumulative; it is composed of Pleistocene and Holocene alluvial, marine, lacustrine and swamp deposits. The lowland is separated from the sea in places by a raised coastal sand bank. In the foothills, the Imereti Lowland abuts hills composed of Paleogene and Neogene rocks.

A special feature of the area is the presence of deep swamps, which are overgrown lakes filled with silt and peat. The Mzymta River had a significant influence on the formation of the Imereti Lowland, which, during periods of repeated large floods, formed narrow estuarine accumulations of pebbles far in front of the shore line.

On the territory of the lowland, before the construction of the Olympic facilities for the 2014 Olympics, there were settlements: Nizhne-Imeretinskaya Bay, state farms "Russia", "Southern Cultures", the village of Mirny.

Climate

In the area of ​​the Imereti Lowland there is a fairly high average annual air temperature of + 13°C, which is close to the average annual temperature of the planet. This territory, due to high absolute air humidity and reduced effective radiation, has average annual temperature 3°C higher in relation to the solar climate, and 3-5° higher in relation to the mid-latitude sum of the annual radiation balance, which equates it to areas located 300-400 km closer to the equator. Average temperature the coldest month in the village. Leselidze +5.5°С, the number of frost-free days in this area is from 250 to 294.

Flora and fauna

The Imereti Lowland is the only landscape of Colchis lowlands and swamps for the territory of Russia, their extreme northern variant. As of 2009, data from an analysis of the vegetation of the swamp-peaty lowland, carried out in the Abkhazian part of the plain, showed that the floristic similarity with other phytolandscapes of Abkhazia is very low and amounts to 19% for alder forests and only 5.9% for the main core of wetland vegetation , characterized by sharp ecological localization. It should be noted that there are unique species of flora and fauna known in the Russian Federation only, or mainly in the Imereti Lowland. Several dozen species of plants and 17 species of various animals are listed in the Red Books of various levels.

Thanks to geographical location The Imereti Lowland, the peculiarities of its landscape elements, have formed unique avifaunal communities here. In total, 214 species of birds were recorded on the territory of the Imereti Lowland, most of which are wintering and migratory. The Imereti Lowland is one of the few areas of the Black Sea region where 26 rare bird species listed in the Red Book of Russia are found. Periodically, in the Imereti Lowland, significant concentrations of wintering birds were noted (up to 3 thousand individuals per 1 sq. km), migrating to Black Sea coast from the plains of Ciscaucasia during cold, snowy winters. In such years, the area between the Psou and Mzymta rivers is one of the few, and for some species, the only point of stopping and waiting out unfavorable events. weather conditions.

The uniqueness of the Imereti Lowland was recognized by the tsarist government, in 1911 assigning it the status of a specially protected natural zone.

Currently on site natural park There are 179 species of birds; they nest here, winter or stop during migrations. 18 of them are listed in the Red Book of the Krasnodar Territory and 16 species are listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation

Development of lowland territory and modern use

The Imereti Lowland occupies an area of ​​about 1300 hectares.

On the territory of the lowland there are the remains of a Christian temple of the 9th-10th centuries, on the basis of which it is currently planned to build a museum.

One of the first in the area of ​​the Nizhne-Imeretinskaya Bay was the Nekrasov Cossacks who formed the village of Marlinsky, most of the population of which in 2011 was resettled to the village of Nekrasovskoye, as their houses and land plots were withdrawn for Olympic purposes.

Currently, the main sports facilities of the coastal cluster of the XXII Winter Olympics in Sochi, the Olympic Park, a theme amusement park, a large number of hotels, and a railway station have been built on the territory of the Imereti Lowland. Also, at the mouth of the Mzymta, the port of Sochi Imeretinsky was built, which after the Olympics is planned to be transformed into a yacht marina.

In order to maintain the status of a key ornithological territory of international importance, as well as the conservation, restoration, reproduction of fauna and their habitat, a natural ornithological park was created in the Imereti Lowland total area 298.59 hectares. The natural ornithological park consists of 14 clusters, 6 of which are located on low-mountain hills in the valley of the Psou River and another 8 directly on the Imereti Lowland.

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Literature

• Igor Petrovich Balabanov, Semyon Prokopyevich Nikiforov, Igor Stepanovich Pashkovsky.. - M.: Nedra, 2011. - 281 p. - ISBN 5836503885, 9785836503888.
• Akatov V.V., Akatova T.V., Bibin A.R., Grabenko E.A., Eskin N.B., Zagurnaya Yu.S., Zashibaev M.V., Kudaktin A.N., Loktionova O A.A., Perevozov A.G., Spasovsky Yu.N., Tilba P.A., Timukhin I.N., Tuniev B.S., Tuniev S.B., Chumachenko Yu.A.-Krasnodar: Copy-Print LLC, 2009. - 93 p.

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An excerpt characterizing the Imereti Lowland

01. Torch, “Big” and “Ice Cube”.

Sochi Olympic Park is the main site of the 2014 Winter Olympics. It was here that all the main action of the Games took place, and after their completion, various sports 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 skating rink for figure skating and the Iceberg.

The most important thing in the park are the sports facilities. Six stadiums are located in the form of a circle: “Fisht” (opening and closing of the Olympics), “Shaiba” (second hockey arena), “Bolshoi” (main ice palace), “Ice Cube” (), “Adler Arena” () and "Iceberg" ( and ). In the center of the circle there is a huge torch in which the fire of the games burned. A wall of champions of the games was also installed on the square and a Formula 1 track was built. An amusement and amusement park, Sochi Park, was built next to the sports facilities.

03. Torch and “Fisht”.

Such a cluster 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 were prefabricated and would be transported to other regions of Russia. This immediately seemed absurd, and after construction it became completely clear that nothing could be transported. Everything was left standing on the Black Sea shore.

04. Formula 1 track. Because of it, the Olympic Park is now constantly covered with a large number of fences and it is best to move around it on bicycles. By the way, they are allowed on the track once a week and you can ride like a real F1 pilot before the race.

The Fisht is undergoing expensive construction work again: it is being prepared for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. 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, Sergey Galitsky, is new and pure 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 a World Cup, despite the huge interest in football. In Sochi football team no, there was no interest from fans even longer, but it was the resort city that won the World Cup.

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

The Shaiba ice hockey arena with 7,000 seats is one of the most modest construction projects of Sochi 2014. They spent “only” 3.4 billion rubles on it, which is about 1.5 times more expensive than its analogues. Minor matches of the Olympic hockey tournament were held here. Nowadays the All-Russian Children's Sports and Fitness Center is located here.

07. Next to the “Shaiba” there is the most grandiose object of the Olympic Park - the Bolshoi Ice Palace.

The 12,000-seat Bolshoi Palace cost almost 10 billion rubles, which is 2.5 times higher than its analogues. A spectator seat at the Bolshoi stadium costs as much as 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 work for the Bolshoi cost 1 million rubles, which is a fabulous amount. They are trying their best to load the facility even after the Olympics. The 2014 Channel One Cup (Euro Hockey Tour stage) and the 2015 KHL All-Star Game took place here. Since the 2014/15 season, Bolshoi has become the home arena of the newly created Sochi hockey club. Also, for the second year now, the arena has served as a venue for the final festival and Gala match of the Night Hockey League, a project personally sponsored by the President of Russia.

The Sochi hockey club was organized very quickly in the summer of 2014. Coach Vyacheslav Butsaev immediately managed to lead the team to the playoffs of the Kontinental Hockey League, where in the spring of 2015 they lost to the regular season winners CSKA Moscow in the first round. Haste is very noticeable in everything that concerns the club itself. Unsuccessful logo and corporate identity, unclear marketing, mediocre attributes, 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 of the governor in April 2015 Krasnodar region Alexandra Tkacheva. 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 “unexpectedly” ran out. Resort Sochi the team, of course, is more important and in June the debts were repaid. Despite all the disadvantages, HC Sochi is interesting both as one of the features of an all-season resort, and as simply an interesting participant in the KHL championship, where fans can enjoy a pleasant trip, and where the same KHL All-Star Game can be held.

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 Russian curling competitions, educational and training events for Russian national teams, as well as the emerging super cups (qualifying tournaments for the European and world championships) were transferred to it. There was so much desire to load the facility that some athletes were already tired of Sochi. In April 2015, the arena hosted the world championship among mixed pairs (double mixed) - a discipline included in the 2018 Olympic program.

10. Last May was the Russian Curling Championships, in which I had the 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 is an interesting solution. There are plenty of large concrete spaces around, expensive chain hotels and small guest houses too, and the airport is nearby. IN walking distance The Black Sea spreads out. To go to Sochi for the weekend for the Russian Grand Prix, to “touch the history” of the Olympics, to swim in the sea and visit the mountains in Krasnaya Polyana - the public who has money should be happy. There are enough wealthy people in Russia and directing their flow to Sochi, forcing them to spend money on expensive pleasures (and F1 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, “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. The Sochi Wall consists of two pyramids, symbolizing snow-capped mountains. The pyramids contain multi-colored plaques with the names of Russian Olympic and Paralympic medalists.

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

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 first in the medal standings of the Games. Of the total 33 medals, 13 are gold, 11 are silver and 9 are bronze.

16. Nearby are the Olympic rings - the object of constant photo sessions for tourists.

An indoor speed 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 (“Krylatskoe”), and Chelyabinsk (“Ural Lightning”). The facilities are extremely in demand for training and competition by speed skaters, as modern speed skating has gone under the roof. And now the fourth center was built in Sochi - Adler Arena. Alas, its only one of all the Games facilities was repurposed into a tennis academy. Of course, tennis in Sochi has great traditions, but it can be practiced at other facilities that are not as unique as the skating center.

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

18. Tennis is worth being 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 an 8,000-seat arena cost 925 thousand rubles.

19. Anna Chakvetadze finished with tennis and... Maria Sharapova Surprisingly, she turned out to be one of the last torchbearers of the Olympic flame. It has nothing to do with Sochi, it’s a summer sport, but come on! Born in Sochi, Olympic champion (Sharapova did not win the Olympics, although they are not particularly rated in tennis) and winner of Grand Slam tournaments Yevgeny 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 pairs figure skating. Here is training center for figure skating and short track. For example, in May 2015, the Russian short track national team trained there. There is also public skating for everyone.

21. Many consider the Iceberg to be the most beautiful arena of the Games. This is definitely the most successful arena, as it hosted competitions in figure skating and short track, where Russia won a scattering of medals. The 12,000th "Iceberg" cost 9 billion rubles - 2.3 times more expensive than its analogues. At first they wanted to transport it to another region, then repurpose it into a cycling track, and then they said that such a base was needed by athletes. Before the Games, the arena hosted test Grand Prix Finals in figure skating and Russian championships in short track speed skating and figure skating. After the Olympics, figure skaters came here only once with a national championship. Representatives of both sports are no longer going to hold competitions at the facility. Only commercial ice shows stage their performances here. The spending of the Olympics is clear.

The problem with the Olympic Park and its facilities is the distance from where people live. Directly from here it takes from 40 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on traffic jams in Adler. Even from neighboring Adler, and the park lies behind it, you need certain time to get there. was good because all its objects are located close to residential areas and are people-oriented. Yes, by Kazan standards, something is located on the outskirts, but this is not an option with 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 OI Park. In October 2014, for the first time in Russia, the Formula 1 Grand Prix took place on a local track. This year was marked by the Olympic Sky air show held at the end of May, and in April, racing drivers competed here as part of the Russian Rally Cup stage. Sochi Autodrom also serves as the venue for the Arctic Cup stages 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 region Mitjet 2L - “Victory Cup” took place 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. Black Sea coast of the Imereti Lowland. Five minutes from the Olympic Park.

27. Abundance of fishermen. Don't forget that people live here.

28. From the park almost to the border with Abkhazia there is an embankment. It's a pleasure to ride bicycles on.

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. I am happy to return here.

34. At the beginning of May, the Russian national beach soccer team conducted its training sessions at the hotel site. Who doesn’t know, unlike regular football, the guys are the strongest in the world. Russia won the last two World Cups, breaking the hegemony of the Brazilians. She also has “gold” at the 2014 European Championship 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 “Locoball” we had a station (interregional tournament) named after him. It's funny that the captain of the team 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 teams of Azerbaijan and Belarus, held a mini-tournament here called the RFU Cup. I thought about taking a photo, but someone was already taking pictures for the BeachSoccerRussia portal and I decided to postpone photographing beach soccer until next time. It would be interesting, of course!

37. Mountains can already be seen from Abkhazia, a part of Georgia controlled by an unrecognized government supported by Russia. The latter traditionally provides assistance to separatists - in addition to Abkhazia, in South Ossetia and Transnistria. There are people 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. Colorful musical fountain. Average and the repertoire is monotonous. This is not Barcelona.

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

In the year since the Olympic Games, little has changed in the coastal cluster. Only the Formula 1 track has been added. The objects are all standing, do not appear to be falling apart and are more or less in use. The only exception is “Fisht” - an eternal construction site. The layout of all this is not the best, especially for subsequent operation, imperfections, endless fences and fences, empty checkpoints and parking lots - it’s all there. And, of course, endless asphalt spaces along which you walk and don’t see the end.

44. "Fisht".

During the Olympic Games, a number of media outlets published photo collections of objects from past Games that are no longer in use. Like, “they” also have objects standing idle, like this is an Olympic feature. Moreover, the selections contain the same arenas: Sarajevo 1984 (thirty years ago!), Athens 2004, Beijing 2008. Using as an example the capital of a country that was formed from the fragments of the former Yugoslavia and survived a major war is very appropriate, yes. As well as remembering the laziest nation in the EU, whose services in organizing the Olympics the IOC decided to honor. Nobody really remembers “winter” Vancouver, Turin or Salt Lake City.

45. The park is deserted in the evening.

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

47. Recruits from CSKA sports companies are preparing to take the military oath. 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. We can still download sports ones. Things are not so rosy with non-sports people. Instead of adapting everything to a new life, demolishing something, rebuilding and repurposing something - everything remains as at the Games. Like a gradually decaying symbol of past victories. Several times a year, the old man will continue to be dressed in a military jacket with awards, reminding him of how good it once was. The taking of the military oath by athletes and the amusing 8 goals of the head of state in the gala match of the Night Hockey League fit well into this series. Alas.

49. A hotel behind several walls of fences. They make me feel uncomfortable.

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 the summer it is very hot. Ice complexes in the subtropics are expensive. Moreover, 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 got a one-time event, whose effect on the country’s image was dissipated by its own hands literally a couple of weeks after the end of the Games. The lucky ones will visit Sochi, but what should the rest of the residents do?

50. Iceberg is especially beautiful at night.

51. But looking at its decoration up close, you can’t perceive it as the most beautiful object. Unattractive 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’s difficult to find places there, 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 come back here. I don’t know in what capacity and for what event. It is warm here, pleasant air, beautiful sea, there is a place for cycling, beautiful and majestic mountains- this is another reason to go to

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

I came to Sochi for double decker train, this train, plying the route Moscow - Adler, was specially allowed for the Olympic Games. It is still possible to get to the south on it, and for exactly the same money as from Moscow to St. Petersburg, despite the distance being twice as long. Leaving the comfortable carriage, in which I could use, albeit slowly, but still working, along the way wireless internet, I didn’t believe that I was in Russia. On one side is the sea embankment 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 him are snowy mountain peaks.

From a special machine I purchased a ticket for the Lastochka train to the Olympic Village station for 17 rubles. A few minutes later, a silent Siemens carriage was taking me towards post-Olympic Sochi.

MIRLNY VILLAGE – STATE FARM “RUSSIA”

I stayed in the village of Mirny, one of the suburbs of Adler in the Imereti Lowland, surrounding the Olympic Park. Mirny is separated from the sea by brand new Olympic facilities, which means a dozen three-meter-high fences. Neat fences - made of boards, metal mesh, barbed wire - are the first thing that catches your eye. “Fenced edge,” the locals joke. The time is still early, around 9 am, and there are almost no people on the streets

Passers-by. Occasionally there are people who look more like visiting workers than local residents or tourists. A couple of times I see women with strollers. In the shade of nice wooden fences, the same throughout the village, dogs are resting - it is not clear whether they are domestic or stray. All buildings have been recently renovated, every third one was built just a year or two ago. The roofs of most houses are 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 neighborhoods of the village of Mirny. Victor is a large, fair-haired man who looks more like a Siberian than a Sochi resident. It turns out that he was born on Far East, studied in Omsk, but has only lived here for the last ten years.

I share with Kobylin my first, quite favorable impressions.

– I agree, at least they built excellent roads. Gas will probably be provided eventually. They built a thermal power plant in Adler - problems with electricity almost stopped. The village has become much cleaner, although before construction began it was greener. All that remains is to remove the various black touches. The administration should end the euphoria that they were not dispersed, and they should take care of our problems.

A sprinkler passes by, washing away dust from the asphalt path. It was impossible to imagine such a thing in the village just a few years ago, and there was nothing special to wash.

Kobylin is clearly an optimist, and an active optimist at that. As it turns out, there are plenty of black little things, it’s just that 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 Games guests, was promised sewerage and gas. Gas pipes are connected, they stick out of the ground in almost every house. But there is no gas in them. “The gas workers were in a hurry, and as a result the pipe was simply laid incorrectly,” explains Kobylin. – When the test pressure was given, the pipe began to level out and float due to 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 buried almost two meters. 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 it doesn’t go further because it’s simply dangerous.”

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

“The initial project was prepared by an organization from Rostov that deals with some kind of nanotechnology,” says Kobylin. – We wanted to make some kind of special vacuum sewer, because we are located in the lowlands, below sea level. We thought for a long time, then we realized that there was not enough money in the budget for this. As a result, the project was finally closed a year ago. What now - I don’t know, maybe there is a sewerage system on paper, maybe it was reported somewhere that it was built. I have no doubt that this is so.

From Kobylin’s point of view, the problem is not even that the promised sewerage system does not exist. What angers him much more is that the residents of Mirny were fed with promises until the very last moment. People built large houses, hotels with 3-4 floors. It is simply impossible to service these without a central sewer system: the only reasonable alternative, a septic tank, requires careful control of the drain, into which detergents and toilet paper should not fall. How to achieve such accuracy from hotel residents? As a result, most owners pour dirty water directly into the drainage system; So,

Apparently, they do it in my hotel, judging by the aroma spreading from the open hatch for some reason right there on the corner. From the drainage, wastewater flows into nearby lakes - wintering grounds for migratory birds - and from there into the Black Sea. Such a system in itself is not something unprecedented for Russians. seaside resorts, but Kobylin explains that in the Imereti Lowland, located four meters below sea level, it is especially dangerous: “Drainage pipes become clogged and stop letting groundwater in. In three or four years, after a good rainfall, the village of Mirny will simply drown. Of course, the management will say: they shit in the drainage, so it’s their own fault. Where else to shit? The alarm needs to be sounded now. And who will do this if everything is already over, everyone has reported and the picture from the helicopter is beautiful?”

Sounding the alarm would not be enough for the energetic Kobylin. Looking out of his window onto the street at the end of 2012, he noticed that the gas pipes had already been laid, nothing was being dug under the sewer pipes, and at the same time they were going to lay asphalt. He realized that the Rostov vacuum nanosewage system was preparing to share the fate of many other innovative projects and remain, at best, a beautiful drawing, and sent a request to the local administration. The answer was extremely cynical: for such and such reasons there will be no sewerage system, but if you want it, build it yourself.

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

Having agreed with the owners of houses in his part of Mirny, Victor, with the help of a former classmate at the Omsk Automobile and Road Institute, made a sewer network project, and within several months, “opening the doors of offices with a horn,” in his own words, he received numerous approvals. As a result, over the summer and part of the fall of 2013, residents installed a private sewer network. The planned Olympic asphalt had already been laid on top of it, and now in the right half of Mirny, when looking from the sea, the air is much fresher than in the left.

I look at photographs that chronicle the construction in detail. Kobylin, who in some photographs stands in person at the bottom of a ditch with a shovel in his hands, apparently carries this photo album in his car all the time. 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 system, we would have reached an agreement with the entire village and would have built a network for everyone ourselves. Now we are ready to sell our sewer system to the administration so that they can continue to build it for everyone, at the price at which it cost us - it’s definitely cheaper than if they had built it themselves. But so far no one is having such conversations with us.”

Construction cost each of the cooperators approximately 185 thousand rubles. A lot of money, but many here, apparently, thanks to the holiday season and the wonderful climate, which allows them to harvest three vegetable crops a year, could afford it. “People here 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 our lives better.” For him, the Olympic Games mean an opportunity for change that should be taken advantage of, regardless of the incompetent government. “I do this to my guys.” and said at the meeting: if there were no Olympics, Mirny would never have become so beautiful on the outside. Inside, a lot needs to be changed, and we will start doing it from below. changes, and then we will put pressure on management and get from them what we need.”

State Farm “Russia” is another village in the Imereti Lowland, it is located behind the Olympic Park, right on the seashore not far from the border with Abkhazia. Unlike Mirny, “Russia” has its own section of the beach, and with it its own problems.

Here we meet local environmentalist and social activist Natalya Kalinovskaya. I tear Natalya away from her conversation with the man in overalls - this is a representative of the responsible economic service who came at Kalinovskaya’s request to inspect the clogged storm drains. Kalinovskaya makes him lean straight towards the drainage holes, showing leaves, candy wrappers and empty plastic bottles packed under the bars. She has the loud and energetic voice of a person who is confident in her rightness and accustomed to defending her opinion. Clogged drains can lead to flooding - the most feared and most likely disaster here in the lowlands. Having dealt with the water utility, Kalinovskaya drops into the house for an impressive stack 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 are already familiar to me, in which there is no gas (Kalinovskaya claims that the Olympic flame burned “from a cylinder,” although I am inclined to think that this is a local myth). Here are wooden pillars installed instead of old reinforced concrete ones. Here

Drying cypress trees, new asphalt laid close to their trunks. Here are yellowing palm trees, stuck, as the ecologist explains, directly into a two-meter layer of crushed stone and sand, which was used to fill the lowlands 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 tooth and nail, and sometimes this struggle ended in victory. Here, as in Mirny, at first glance it is very clean and cozy; I can only notice the shortcomings after prompting. However, I guess that it was precisely for the sake of this first positive impression that everything was done.

We're going out to central square. Around the brand new but non-working fountain, teenagers with toy pistols are running after each other. Elderly women are sitting on a bench.

– Are you admiring the fountain? - Kalinovskaya calls out to them, who seems to know all the local residents without exception.
– Yes, Natasha, we just wanted to talk to you about him. We come here every single day, but it doesn't work. Well, at least watch it once!
- And this is a gift to us from the governor, singing and dancing fountain, costs eight million rubles. To turn it on - there's a special booth - guys from Krasnodar must come, we don't have such smart ones here. They press the button and it starts working. This is if there is a holiday or someone important is coming. Very beautiful, by the way!
“Well, we can’t find these boys,” the women get upset.

In general, there is a special attitude towards Krasnodar residents here: according to local views, it is not so much the distant Moscow government that is to blame for all troubles, but the middle link, most often at the level of the administration of the Krasnodar region. A mythology has developed according to which somewhere there, in Krasnodar, the full-flowing financial Olympic Amu Darya diverged to irrigate the pockets of officials and businessmen, never reaching the Imereti Lowland.

Having learned that I am a journalist, the grandmothers immediately report that someone worked on the construction of stadiums and built “two two-story and one four-story” here on the state farm. This “someone,” of course, is from the outside, while the locals were left with only debts - people took out loans from banks to get a hotel license for 200-300 thousand rubles, and much fewer guests came to the Olympics than they expected.

– Has there been a season in recent years? - I ask.
“It’s been four years since I’ve been gone.”
- Will it happen this year?
– Have you turned on the TV at all lately? There they send everyone to Crimea, but here in Sochi everything is supposedly very expensive, everything is for the rich.

Vladimir Putin said exactly this during a recent direct line: “After all, you yourself said that world-class and high-level hotels were built in Sochi. This means that there will be different categories of vacationers 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 the stereotype, because of which many Russians did not even seriously think about going to their 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 day per person. To normal summer season You can spend the night for 250.

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

In my opinion, the word “embankment” is more consistent with the city bank of the Neva or Moscow River. I can imagine the sea embankment in Odessa or Nice. At the seaside state farm “Russia” you expect to see a beach. However, there is no beach here anymore.

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

“And here we had a hundred-meter beach,” Kalinovskaya ironically points to the concrete slide.
- 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 in stones, these benches hang on those trees, and then the Ministry of Emergency Situations pumps out water in the village.
– Where will people rest now?
– Walk along the embankment
– Where can we put umbrellas and sunbeds?
- That's all. Walk or lie on concrete at 37 degrees in the shade.

Clean pebble beach was a competitive advantage of “Russia”, distinguishing the village from most coastal resorts. 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 wide public beach, for which many tourists stopped here, thirty kilometers from the temptations of the big city. The embankment on a concrete embankment, 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, was stopped

Lathering on coastline river pebbles. Without this natural process, the entire Imereti Lowland, and with it the stadiums, risked being washed away into the sea. The multi-kilometer embankment should serve as protection from storm waves, but, according to Kalinovskaya, it copes with this function poorly. Alternative projects that use world experience in the construction of such structures, the ecologist is sure, could preserve the beach and provide reliable protection to the lowlands. “We are not against beauty, we are normal, adequate people. We're just saying it could have been done differently. Leave the beach at its width and then make 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 significance, 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 our lips,” Natalya sums up. “I said right away: they’ll catch up with the bears and gypsies, play the balalaika, treat them to caviar and pour vodka. And so it happened. They say it right on TV, people, go to Crimea before they mess it up. They are happy there now, and then, like us, they will live at the construction site for three or four years.

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

- Darling, have you been to the beach lately? Come on in, otherwise our beautiful youth have gotten naughty.

I ask if she is too strict: Friday evening, south, sea, and no one seems to be fighting yet.

“They’re not fighting yet, and they’re not drowning anyone yet.” And let them at least clean up after themselves and take care of at least the good things that are left.

Kalinovskaya sets off home with a firm gait, along the way greeting everyone she meets and discussing in whose pockets the village gas could have ended up. I decide to walk straight along the embankment to the Olympic Park to finally see the stadiums familiar from sports broadcasts without looking through the fence. The area is quite crowded: rare off-season tourists, local fishermen rushing on bicycles to the pier for the evening bite, athletes (apparently undergoing some kind of training here) on evening jogging. I pass the pier, gradually there are fewer and fewer passers-by, and a disgustingly familiar three-meter fence grows on the right. Soon the Olympic venues appear behind it. I hope that somewhere in this fence there will be a wicket or gate leading to the desired Olympic Park, I walk a kilometer or two and come to 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 crash 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 in the dusty gravel, until in the distance, illuminated by fishing lanterns, like a Christmas tree, appears again. New Year's garland, pier.

Since many people get to Sochi by plane or travel through this resort to Abkhazia, probably every 3rd Russian had a chance to explore Adler. The Imereti Lowland is the southeastern third of the huge 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 Ottoman Empire. They were replaced by Russian Old Believers and Armenians. Aboriginal villages disappeared from the map due to the construction of the 2014 Olympics venues. Just like two successful state farms, which left us only their names. The private sector and the agricultural plain have been replaced by stadiums, creative exhibitions, a Formula 1 track, entertainment complexes and sun loungers...

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

Geographical location, nature and climate

The location that will be discussed is a 7.5-kilometer plain, interfluve mountain rivers Mzymta and Psou. In administrative terms, this is the most south-eastern patch of the Sochi urban district, including several areas 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 forested hills (the residential sectors of Blinovo, Zorka, Selsovet and Veseloye lie on the foothills). The southern borders of the object are two Imereti bays, separated by the “Olympic” cape.

The weather in the Imereti Lowland is the same as throughout the entire Caucasian humid subtropics (in this zone, in addition to Sochi, lie the coastal parts of Abkhazia and Georgia). We are talking about 5 degrees positive temperature in winter and 25 in summer. As well as an ideal ratio of sunny and cloudy days and 2,000 millimeters of precipitation per year. Strong winds avoid 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. Imeretinsk is covered with Carian figs, pterygoplastic lapina, pyramidal anakamptis, rare species of reed (in the Colchis swamps), eucalyptus, plane tree, as well as walnut, laurel and hornbeam (in the foothills). The area is home to 26 species of birds (migratory meadow and swamp) and 17 names of animals.

Sights of the Imereti Lowland

The Imereti Lowland is a park. Entertainment, sports, resort, culture and recreation, and even historical in places (there are museums, after all). And the undeveloped parts of Imeretinka are special natural areas. That is how natural park The Imereti Lowland is protected by relevant articles of the law. 1300 hectares of tracts fall under their influence. However, first things first.

Olympic Park

First of all, the Imereti Lowland is known to compatriots for its perfectly round cape between the Upper and Lower Imeretinsk bays. It was made that way on purpose. After all, inside there is now a low-lying Olympic cluster, in which six stadiums and a training arena are inscribed in an ideal circle. In the center is the Olympic Square (torch and fountain), and in the area leading to the local railway station there is a Formula 1 track.

Sochi Park

The Imereti Lowland in Sochi is also considered the location of a unique complex of children's and extreme attractions, as well as a Ferris wheel (“Wheels of Times”), from which the entire valley between the mountains, the sea and 2 reservoirs is visible. Inside the fenced fairy-tale town: the roller coaster “Serpent Gorynych”, as well as the amazingly high rise “Firebird”. 15 harmless fun. They also managed to cram a landscaped theme park, three bistros, a pond and even a dolphinarium here. Outside there is a bright hotel-castle “Bogatyr” and a test for the very brave “Quantum Leap”.

Natural ornithological park

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

Nekrasovskie Lakes Park

To the south, if you walk through the Sochi Park Hotel quarter, the Imeretinskaya Lowland will show you another of its protected areas. Two lakes were named in honor of the Old Believers village (Nekrasovo). By the way, the elite sector of residential apartments, located further south, has the same name. The ponds are surrounded by lawns, streets, and benches.

Imereti yacht port

A yacht marina, a universal sea terminal and elegantly equipped beaches of the Imereti Lowland form its immediate coastal edge. The maritime terminal is universal – for both freight and passenger transport. And the yacht marina is considered the largest in Russia. Built here maritime club. Several leisure facilities for yachtsmen, surfers and other water extreme sports enthusiasts.

Parks "Southern Cultures" and "Imeretinsky"

Let us note that the weather in the Imereti Lowland is conducive to preserving unique relict plants and planting subtropical and tropical trees, shrubs, and flowering flora. Ancient landscape gardens include well-groomed thickets and plantings of fir, pine, cypress, rhododendron, and hundreds of flowers. There is a pond with swans and fish. Find " Southern cultures" and "Imereti" simply. 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 indicated, swimming recreation facilities on Imeretinka are well equipped. There are 10 of them. Almost each one has EMERCOM towers (rescuers with equipment and a paramedic on duty), a rental point for sun loungers and parasols, and showers. But toilets, changing rooms and trash cans are located in all parts of the Imereti Riviera.

Mzymta Beach

The beaches of the Imereti Lowland, like this one, are distinguished by the fact that they are both sea and river. So, the westernmost swimming pool lies along the mouth of the Mzymta, near the relay tower. The water is colder here. But what picturesque views! Its length is only 100 m, however, the width of the strip is the most record-breaking - over 70 m.

Imeretinsky Beach

The next 150 meters belong to the Imeretian Club. For 400 rubles. spend the whole day here! Capacity 90 people. Sun beds, umbrellas, cafes, sports and children's playgrounds, sanitary cabins and water activities. Animators also work.

Radisson Blu Beach

Admission is free, but all services are paid. Size 200 by 30 m. Considering all the beaches of the Imereti 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 splash pools.

Rosa Khutor Beach

Looking around 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 this “highlight”, we emphasize: at your disposal is what was on the previous beach. Let us also add that the space is long (400 m), and the pebbles are small.

Olympic Beach – Gorki Gorod

How the Olympic and entertainment park Imereti Lowland will give a head start to similar complexes Western Europe and the USA. Foreigners themselves admit this. The double beach area covers the rest of the coast of the round Olympic cape. Holidaymakers get here from the stop named after the specified stadium.

Sirius Beach

Equipped indoor beach and entertainment complex. Intended for students of the educational center of the same name (its name is in the title, and access is from the terminal bus 125C and 135). It extends 175 meters - to the Sochi Park harbor.

Sochi Park Beach (Bogatyr Hotel Beach)

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

South Star Beach

This is the coastline, which is looked after by workers of the same name. hotel complex. That’s why it’s always clean here, and it’s still free for customers. The length of this pleasure is 450 meters, width is 35 meters. The bottom is without holes and grows gradually. And the pebbles here are comfortable.

Velvet Seasons Beach

Named after an elite residential complex that occupies a decent-sized block. For tenants of “velvet” apartments everything is included. The size is the same.

Beaches of the microdistrict "Sovkhoz Russia" (formerly "Psou")

Now it's 3 beach areas. And yet the aborigines stubbornly continue to call this farm (some services here are common with “ Velvet seasons) – “Psou”. The main attraction of the bizarrely curving 2-kilometer shore is the fence through which the neighboring state, Abkhazia, can be seen.

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) that is no different in characteristics, to remember the 2014 Olympics...