Krasnaya Polyana (Russian: , ; , "Gwbaadwy"; , "‘atquaj", ) is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) in Krasnopolyansky Settlement Okrug, which is under the administrative jurisdiction of Adlersky City District of the City of Sochi in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. Population:  (2010 Census);  (2002 Census);  (1989 Soviet census)
Located in the Western Caucasus, it is home to the new Rosa Khutor alpine ski resort, with a base elevation of along the Mzymta River, from its influx into the Black Sea 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 in Sochi, having previously hosted World Cup alpine events from February 2012, two years earlier.
Etymology.
The name "Krasnaya Polyana" (lit. "Red Glade") was given by the Greek settlers in 1878 because of the thick overgrowth of fern, the leaves of which had a reddish-brown color in fall. Walter Richmond, a historian of the Circassian genocide, notes that Krasnaya Polyana was named after the last stand by the Abkhaz Akhchipsou tribe, of whom many died there in 1864.
History.
Although the vicinity is rich in prehistoric dolmens and contains ruins of about twenty medieval forts, the settlement first appears in recorded history in 1835, when a Russian spy, Baron Fyodor Tornau, 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 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.
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 Western Caucasus. A royal hunting lodge was erected in 1901, followed by the chalets of Counts Sheremetev and Bobrinsky, 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 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, despite limited hotel capabilities and installations, and difficulty of access through narrow mountain passes.
Location and facilities.
Krasnaya Polyana is sited against the scenic backdrop of the Caucasus Mountains, which exceed in elevation, 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 2014 Winter Olympics, a railway line was built, connecting the area with the airport, Sochi Olympic Village, and central Sochi.
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.
References.
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