Yessentuki ( rus, Ессентуки́, p=jɪsɪntʊˈkʲiˑ) is a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in
Stavropol Krai
Stavropol Krai (russian: Ставропо́льский край, r=Stavropolsky kray, p=stəvrɐˈpolʲskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a Krais of Russia, krai) of Russia. It is geographically located in the North ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, located in the shadow of
Mount Elbrus
Mount Elbrus ( rus, links=no, Эльбрус, r=Elbrus, p=ɪlʲˈbrus; kbd, Ӏуащхьэмахуэ, 'uaşhəmaxuə; krc, Минги тау, Mingi Taw) is the highest and most prominent peak in Russia and Europe. It is situated in the we ...
at the base of the
Caucasus Mountains
The Caucasus Mountains,
: pronounced
* hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ,
: pronounced
* az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced
* rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ
* tr, Kafkas Dağla ...
. The city serves as a railway station in the
Mineralnye Vody—
Kislovodsk
Kislovodsk (russian: Кислово́дск, lit. ''sour waters''; ; krc, Ачысуу) is a spa city in Stavropol Krai, Russia, in the North Caucasus region of Russia which is located between the Black and Caspian Seas.
Population:
History
I ...
branch, and is located southwest of Mineralnye Vody and west of
Pyatigorsk
Pyatigorsk (russian: Пятиго́рск; Circassian: Псыхуабэ, ''Psıxwabæ'') is a city in Stavropol Krai, Russia located on the Podkumok River, about from the town of Mineralnye Vody where there is an international airport and about ...
. It is considered the cultural capital of
Russia's Greek population and even today close to ten percent of its population is of Greek descent. Population:
History
Research by the Soviet archaeologist M.E. Masson and excavations of eight mausoleums showed that there was a large
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fr ...
settlement near the present-day Essentuki in the 13th-15th centuries. Masson believed that the name Essentuki came from the name of a certain Khan Essentug from the names "Yesan Forest" and "Yesan Field" that have survived to this day.
In 1798, the Russian military and border redoubt of Yessentuksky was laid on the right bank of the
Bolshoy Yessentuchok River, near its
confluence
In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...
with the
Podkumok River
The Podkumok () is a river in Stavropol Krai, Russia, right tributary of the Kuma. The length of the river is . The area of its basin is 2,220 km2 (857 mi2). The Podkumok originates in the Greater Caucasus.
It is widely used for ir ...
. After the construction of the
Kislovodsk fortress in 1803, the redoubt was abolished, and only the
Cossack
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
post was kept on its site.
The mineral waters of Yessentuki were first probed in 1810 by the
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
doctor
Fyodor Gaaz. Gaaz found two small wells with salty water (the present
Gaazo-Ponomaryovsky spring) in the valley of the stream of Kislusha, about northeast of the Yessentuksky post. A detailed study of Bugunta mineral waters (the original name of the waters, after the
Bugunta River flowing nearby) was made in 1823 by the Russian doctor and pharmacologist A. P. Nelyubin, who found twenty more mineral springs on the slopes of the mountain he referred to as Shchelochnaya (Nelyubin's numbering of the Yessentuki mineral waters is still maintained). In 1825, General
Yermolov founded the ''
stanitsa'' of Yessentukskaya on the Bugunta River northeast of the former Yessentuksky post; its inhabitants were engaged in trade, trucking, and serving arriving patients. In 1839, water from springs ##23-26 was led to the common pool, where the first two baths of the wooden bathhouse were built at the expense of the Cossack Regiment Management.
Since 1840, springs ##4 and 17 have come into use and become especially popular. Yessentuki was recognized as one of the best health resorts for treatment of the digestive organs. In 1846, Prince
Mikhail Vorontsov, the ''
namestnik
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...
'' (
vicegerent
Vicegerent is the official administrative deputy of a ruler or head of state: ''vice'' (Latin for "in place of") and ''gerere'' (Latin for "to carry on, conduct").
In Oxford colleges, a vicegerent is often someone appointed by the Master of a c ...
) of
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
, ordered to extend the territory of the ''stanitsa'' of Yessentukskaya to the northeast to approach the springs. Since then, Buguntinskiye mineral waters were referred to as Yessentukskiye. In 1847, some grounds closely adjacent to the springs were transferred to the newly established state Management of Waters in Pyatigorsk. In the late 1840s, bottling of Yessentuki waters and their dispatch to other cities of the country began. By the early 1870s, regular sale of the water was carried out in most of the large Russian cities. Construction of the
Rostov-on-Don
Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East Eu ...
–
Mineralnye Vody railway in 1875 and the Mineralnye Vody–
Kislovodsk
Kislovodsk (russian: Кислово́дск, lit. ''sour waters''; ; krc, Ачысуу) is a spa city in Stavropol Krai, Russia, in the North Caucasus region of Russia which is located between the Black and Caspian Seas.
Population:
History
I ...
highway (via
Pyatigorsk
Pyatigorsk (russian: Пятиго́рск; Circassian: Псыхуабэ, ''Psıxwabæ'') is a city in Stavropol Krai, Russia located on the Podkumok River, about from the town of Mineralnye Vody where there is an international airport and about ...
and Yessentuki) contributed to increase in the number of guests coming to Yessentuki for treatment. In 1883, the resort was visited by about 5,000 people; in 1900, by more than 13,000; in 1913, by 38,000. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, medical establishments, hotels, and summer residences were intensively built. In 1902, a seventy-bed sanatorium for the poor, the first one within the Caucasian Mineral Water system, was opened; in a year, the first departmental twenty-bed sanatorium for postal workers was built. In 1905, drilling of holes resulted in discovery of new springs (main spout of spring #17, new discharges of the water similar to the one of spring #4).
In 1917, the resort area was separated from the ''stanitsa'' of Yessentukskaya and was granted town status. During the
Russian Civil War
, date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...
, resort facilities of Yessentuki fell into decay. Restoration work began only in 1920. In 1922, the clinical branch of Pyatigorsk Balneal Institute (the present
Pyatigorsk Research Institute of Balneology and Physiotherapy) was opened. In 1925, the health resort operated six sanatoria and treated the total of about 13,000 patients. During the
Great Patriotic War
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sout ...
of 1941-1945, the health resort was heavily damaged by
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
occupation from August 10, 1942 to January 11, 1943 and was restored at the end of the 1940s.
In 1991, Yessentuki provided rest and treatment for more than 217,000 patients. In 1991, the health resort operated twenty-five sanatoria, including ten belonging to the trade unions; the number of beds totaled over 10,000. It also provided outpatient treatment and board and treatment authorization. Service of guests involved such facilities as a resort polyclinic with aerosun rooms and climatic pavilions; a therapeutic mud bath; three bathhouses: Nizhniye (lower) baths (50 baths), Verkhniye (upper) baths (90 baths), and a new bathhouse (110 baths); 4 drinking galleries and well-rooms of springs ##4 and 17; an inhalatorium shared by all the resorts; a department of mechanotherapy, applying special techniques of therapeutic physical training.
Administrative and municipal status
Within the
framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as the
city of krai significance of Yessentuki—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
.
[Resolution #63-p] As a
municipal division, the city of krai significance of Yessentuki is incorporated as Yessentuki Urban Okrug.
[Law #88-kz]
Mineral springs
Of all
mineral springs of Yessentuki, about twenty are of medical value. Sodium carbonic hydrocarbonate-chloride (i.e. salt-alkaline) water of springs #4 and #17, which have made the health resort popular, are the most famous and therapeutically valuable. The
hot spring
A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...
s (35.5°–46 °C) similar to the waters of springs #4 and #17 in their structure have been led to the surface in the vicinities of the village of Novoblagodarnoye ( north of Yessentuki). The water of springs #4 and #17 and their analogues are used for peroral treatment. Carbonic hydrogen-sulphide water of holes #1 and #2, as well as calcium-sodium hydrosulphuric sulphate-hydrocarbonate (the so-called sulphur-alkaline) water of the Gaazo-Ponomarevsky spring are used for baths, lavages, inhalations and other balneotherapeutic procedures. Calcium-magnesium sulphate-hydrocarbonate water of spring #20 is used for baths. The water of springs #4 and #17 is bottled by a local bottler as a healing water (#17) and as a healing table water (#4) under the name of ''Yessentuki''.
Alongside mineral waters, the medical establishments of Yessentuki use sulphide silt muds of
Tambukan Lake ( southeast of
Pyatigorsk
Pyatigorsk (russian: Пятиго́рск; Circassian: Псыхуабэ, ''Psıxwabæ'') is a city in Stavropol Krai, Russia located on the Podkumok River, about from the town of Mineralnye Vody where there is an international airport and about ...
). Besides,
climatotherapy
Climatotherapy refers to temporary or permanent relocation of a patient to a region with a climate more favourable to recovery from or management of a condition. Examples include:
* The partial pressure of oxygen is lower at high altitude, so pers ...
,
electrochromophototherapy, etc. are widely used. The health resort specialises in treatment of patients with diseases of digestion organs as well as those with metabolic disorder.
Economy
The town has food-processing enterprises (a
cannery
Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although un ...
, a
dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...
factory, a
brewery
A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...
, a meat-processing plant, etc.), a knitting mill, a clothes and a shoe factory.
Points of interest
The oldest architectural monument of Yessentuki is the wooden St. Nicholas' Church (built in the mid-1820s, presumably by the architects
Giovanni and Giuseppe Bernardacci) in the centre of the former stanitsa. The orthogonal lay-out of the town, dating back to the middle of the 19th century, and a regular residential building-up of the second half of the 19th and the early 20th centuries, have been preserved here, in the southern end of Yessentuki. The resort area is to the north-east of the stanitsa part of Yessentuki. Its core is the extensive Kurortny (Glavny) Park (planted mostly with
ash
Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...
,
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
,
hornbeam,
chestnut
The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.
The unrelat ...
,
maple
''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...
,
poplar,
linden, etc., decorative bushes, flowers), laid in 1849, with springs of mineral water and numerous constructions: the building of the drinking gallery (1847–1856, architect S. Upton,
Moresque style), the Nikolayevskiye (the present Verkhniye) baths (1899, architects N. V. Dmitriyev and B. V. Pravzdik), the Commercial gallery (1912, architect Y. F. Shreter, neo-classicism; the present
Electroheliotherapy Institute), the wooden observation pavilion with colonnade referred to as Oreanda (1912), four pavilions above drinking well-rooms (1912–1913, architect N. N. Semyonov, neo-classicism), etc. The majority of sanatoriums and boarding houses are concentrated around Glavny Park. The area to the north of the Park (between the latter and the railway line) was developed since the end of the 19th century as a zone for private sanatoriums, villas (Orlinoye gnezdo, 1912–14,
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
), and resort constructions; the monumental building of the therapeutic mud bath in the spirit of ancient Roman
thermae
In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...
decorated with a mighty
Ionic portico and numerous sculptures (1913–1915, architect Shreter, sculptors L. A. Ditrikh and
Vasily Kozlov). In 1903, the Angliysky Park was laid out behind the railway line.
The main area of modern industrial and residential building is the so-called Novye Yessentuki. Among the significant structures of the middle of the 20th century are four solemn entrances to the Kurortny Park (mid-1950s, architect P. P. Yeskov), the drinking gallery of spring No. 4 (1967, architect V. N. Fuklev), the Ukraina sanatorium (1972), etc.
Climate
The climate is moderately continental. Winter is mild, with thaws; the temperature in January averages to ; severe frosts sometimes take place; mists are frequent. Spring is short, sometimes the weather is cool, rainy (mostly in April). Summer is warm, with a large number of hot and dry days; the temperature in July averages to . Fall is warm and lasting; the temperature in September averages to about 15-20 °C. Precipitations of about a year. A large number of clear, sunny days (280 a year on average) is typical. The open position in the east and in the west makes Yessentuki accessible for winds prevailing here: dry eastern ones, which are hot in summer and cold in winter; and wet south-west ones, cool in summer and warm in winter.
Notable people
Fast growth of the Yessentuki health resort in the last third of the 19th and the early 20th centuries attracted famous representatives of Russian culture, including the writers
Vladimir Korolenko
Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko (russian: Влади́мир Галактио́нович Короле́нко, ua, Володи́мир Галактіо́нович Короле́нко; 27 July 1853 – 25 December 1921) was a Ukrainian-born ...
,
Aleksandr Kuprin
Aleksandr Ivanovich Kuprin (russian: link=no, Александр Иванович Куприн; – 25 August 1938) was a Russian literature, Russian writer best known for his novels The Duel (Kuprin novel), ''The Duel'' (1905)Kuprin sc ...
,
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...
and
Konstantin Balmont
Konstantin Dmitriyevich Balmont ( rus, Константи́н Дми́триевич Бальмо́нт, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin ˈdmʲitrʲɪjɪvʲɪdʑ bɐlʲˈmont, a=Konstantin Dmitriyevich Bal'mont.ru.vorb.oga; – 23 December 1942) was a Rus ...
; the composers
Sergei Taneyev,
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...
and
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...
; the singer
Feodor Chaliapin; and the theatrical figures
Maria Savina
Maria Gavrilovna Savina (russian: link=no, Мария Гаври́ловна Са́вина, née Podrame′ntsova, 11 April 1854, Kamenets-Podolsky, Imperial Russia – 21 September 1915, Petrograd, Imperial Russia) was a renowned Russian stage a ...
,
Vera Komissarzhevskaya and
Konstantin Stanislavsky.
Boris Petrovsky
Boris Petrovsky (27 June 1908 – 4 May 2004) was a Russian general surgeon who was the health minister of the Soviet Union in the period 1965–1980.
Early life and education
Petrovsky was born in Yessentuki on 27 June 1908. His parents were V ...
, a well-known surgeon and long-term Soviet health minister, was a native of Yessentuki.
References
Notes
Sources
*
*
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Stavropol Krai
Spa towns in Russia
Populated places established in 1825