Krasnaya Polyana ( rus, Кра́сная Поля́на, p=ˈkrasnəjə pɐˈlʲanə; , ''Gwbaadwy''; , ''‘atquaj'', ) is an urban locality (an

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the So ...

) in Krasnopolyansky Settlement Okrug, which is under the administrative jurisdiction of Adlersky City District of the

City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and is administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the t ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Population: Sochi Olympic ski venues NASA

Located in the

Western Caucasus The Western Caucasus is a western region of the North Caucasus in Southern Russia, extending from the Black Sea to Mount Elbrus. World Heritage Site The Western Caucasus includes a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site (named Western Caucasus), ...

, it is home to the new Rosa Khutor alpine

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area–a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North Am ...

, with a base

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

of along the Mzymta River, from its influx into the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

in Adlersky City District of Sochi. The lift-served summit climbs to , giving a vertical drop of over a mile at . The resort hosted the Alpine and Nordic events of the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

, having previously hosted

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

alpine events from February

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, two years earlier.

Geography

Krasnaya Polyana is set against the scenic backdrop of the

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains * * Azerbaijani: , * * * * * * * * * * * is a mountain range at the intersection of Asia and Europe. Stretching between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, they are surrounded by the Caucasus region ...

, which exceed in

, at a distance of from the center of Sochi by road and from the Adler-Sochi International Airport. The settlement has been plagued by transport problems: in order to improve this for the

, a railway line was built, connecting the area with the airport, Sochi Olympic Village, and central Sochi. Krasnaya Polyana 05

Etymology

The name "Krasnaya Polyana" (lit. ''Red Glade'') was given by the Greek settlers in 1878 because of the thick overgrowth of

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

, the leaves of which had a reddish-brown color in fall."Знай свой край. Словарь географических названий Краснодарского края." Составитель: И. П. Лотышев. Краснодарское книжное издательство, 1974. Walter Richmond, a historian of the

Circassian genocide The Circassian genocide, or Tsitsekun, was the systematic mass killing, ethnic cleansing, and forced displacement of between 95% and 97% of the Circassian people during the final stages of the Russian invasion of Circassia in the 19th centur ...

, notes that Krasnaya Polyana was named after the last stand by the Abkhaz Akhchipsou tribe, of whom many were killed there in 1864.

History

Although the vicinity is rich in prehistoric

dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...

s and contains ruins of about twenty medieval forts, the settlement first appears in recorded history in 1835, when a Russian spy, Baron

Fyodor Tornau Fyodor, Fedor () or Feodor is the Russian-language form of the originally Greek-language name "Theodore" () meaning "God's gift" or "god-given". Fedora () is the feminine form. "Fyodor" and "Fedor" are two English transliterations of the same Ru ...

, visited the Sadz Abkhazian village of ''Artquaj'' in the guise of a Circassian mountaineer. Having spent several days in the village, he recorded his observations in a journal. By the 1860s, the village was known as Kbaade and became populated with the Akhchipsou branch of the Sadz. In 1864, the area was the scene, significant in Circassian history, of the last battles of the

Russian–Circassian War The Russo-Circassian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Circassia, was the 101-year-long invasion of Circassia by the Russian Empire. The conflict started in 1763 ( O.S.) with Russia assuming authority in Circassia, followed by Circa ...

. The village was the site of a massacre, where Russian forces slaughtered the disarmed Circassians, and their families, as they attempted to retreat. The hill the village was located on has since been known as Krasnaya Polyana or ''Red Hill'', due to the blood split there. The abandoned '' aul'' was replaced with the new settlement of Krasnaya Polyana in 1869. Vladimir Putin 5 January 2008-12

On June 19, 1899, Krasnaya Polyana was visited by an official commission under Nikolay Abaza, with a view to transforming it into Tsarskaya Polyana, Nicholas II's hunting ground in the

. A royal hunting lodge was erected in 1901, followed by the

chalet A chalet (pronounced in British English; in American English usually ), also called Swiss chalet, is a type of building or house, typical of the Alpine region in Europe. It is made of wood, with a heavy, gently sloping roof and wide, well-su ...

s of Counts

Sheremetev The House of Sheremetev () was one of the wealthiest and most influential Russian noble families, descending from Feodor Koshka. History The family held many high commanding ranks in the Russian military, governorships and eventually the ra ...

and

Bobrinsky The Counts Bobrinsky or Bobrinskoy (''Бобринские'') are a Russian nobility, Russian noble family descending from Count Aleksey Grigorievich Bobrinsky (1762–1813), who was Catherine the Great's natural son by Count Grigory Orlov. The ...

, among other nobles and high-placed dignitaries. Although it was never visited by the Tsar, the village was renamed Romanovsk (), after the ruling imperial dynasty. Following the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

of 1917, the retreat reverted to its former name and status and gradually dwindled into obscurity. The proximity to Sochi, the "summer capital" of Russia, eventually revived its fortunes in the last quarter of the 20th century, when it achieved a modicum of popularity across the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, despite limited hotel capabilities and installations, and difficulty of access through narrow mountain passes.

Climate

Structures

*An electricity pylon looking like a snow leopar

Economy

The economic activity in the village is based on serving tourists and visitors in winter and summer. Krasnaya Polyana is a skiing and snowboarding center.

2014 Olympics venues

* Sanki Sliding Center, luge, bobsled, and skeleton (moved to Rzhanaya Polyana in May 2009) * Laura Cross-Country ski and Biathlon Center, biathlon, cross-country skiing, and Nordic combined *

Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort The Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort ( rus, Ро́за Ху́тор, r=Roza Khutor, p=ˈrozə ˈxutər) is an alpine ski resort in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located at the Aibga Ridge of the Western Caucasus along the Roza Khutor plateau near Krasna ...

, alpine skiing *

Rosa Khutor Extreme Park The Rosa Khutor Extreme Park (''Russian language, Russian'': Роза Хутор) under license from The Extreme Sports Company and part of the Extreme Hotel, Sochi development, is a skiing venue located west of the Rosa Khutor plateau in Krasna ...

, freestyle skiing, snowboarding * RusSki Gorki Jumping Center, ski jumping and Nordic combinedGuidebook "Sochi Olympic Games" by Federal Agency for tourism

Gallery

File:Vladimir Putin 23 February 2008-14.jpg, Cable car File:GorkiGorod960m.jpg, Gorki Gorod and

Gornaya Karusel Gornaya Karusel () is a sports and tourism area on the Northern slopes of Mount Aibga in Estosadok, Sochi. Skiing area From the launch pad in the valley bottom (540m) three new gondola type ropeways bring the tourists up to three transfer levels ...

File:LauraPsekhako.jpg, Ski-biathlon complex Laura on the Psekhako Ridge File:SlidingCenterSanki.jpg, Sledge-bobsleigh track File:Krasnaya Polyana summer.JPG, Summer at Krasnaya Polyana File:AlpicaService.jpg, Bottom station Alpika Service

References

External links

History of Krasnaya Polyana
on the Alpika Service website

in the '' Sankt-Peterburgskiye Vedomosti''
Krasnaya Polyana

Красная Поляна

Krasnaya Polyana photos

Krasnaya Polyana tourist information
{{Authority control Urban-type settlements in Krasnodar Krai Adlersky city district Venues of the 2014 Winter Olympics Ski areas and resorts in Russia