Yana Vinetskaya, exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
Sochi, host of the Winter Olympics in 2014, the most famous city of the Black Sea coast of Russia, became known as a resort recently - only in the early 20th century. Curiously, at the very beginning of the development of Sochi as a resort, the future of the "first-class seaside resort" was predicted to it. In 1913, Grigori Moskvich in his guidebook for the Caucasus described Sochi as "a small district town of the Chernomorskaya province, one of those which have recently started to attract general attention... The town is nestled on a beautiful beach and buried in the greenery of gardens and the surrounding forest. Some streets represent a number of elegant, whimsical architecture of villas and cottages, peeking amiably from behind the green of the surrounding trees."
Moskvich explained the popularity of Sochi by such essential features as the subtropical climate, proximity to the sea and rich, beautiful natural surroundings. Mountains adjacent to the north of Sochi protect it from cold winds, giving access to heat and moisture from the south. For this reason, in Sochi there are no hot summers or cold winters. The climate of Sochi also has an extremely wet spring and long warm autumn. Sometimes in Sochi, "often in the winter the May weather is almost set, and roses and mass growing wild flowers bloom in December." However, despite the great climate, the authorities of Sochi, according to Moskvich, paid little attention to beaches and culture in the early 20th century.
Travelers can get to Sochi from Tuapse by sea, which takes about 4 hours of sailing, or on the highway from Sukhumi. The lack of a port in Sochi gave rise to some discomfort for holidaymakers: ships often sailed past the harbor and arrived only in favorable weather. Because of poor communication between Sochi and large trade centers "in Sochi, even for big money, you can't always get eggs, cheese, etc., and often even ordinary but good quality provisions, so all the restaurants in Sochi, as well as on the coast do not provide good quality food."
Moskvich wrote that often in winter the prices for basic necessities could not reach any boundaries and products were sold to anyone who was willing to pay a great price for them. "In Sochi there is often no kerosene in winter, all is plunged into darkness, the streets are not lit, in homes prudent lucky people sit by candlelight, night life fades, until the sea has mercy and allows a passing steamer to unload a few barrels of kerosene," the guidebook of the early 20th century described winter life in Sochi. One of the main attractions of Sochi is the "Caucasian Riviera", built in 1909. The resort consists of four hotels for 360 beds, a concert hall for 600 people, a luxury casino, restaurant and cafe. The complex also includes two lounges, a reading room, several terraces, over 170 covered balconies, a power station and drainage, a water supply, a small park planted with sub-tropical plants and a beach. "The Riviera" also included various bathrooms and hospitals with the latest equipment. As Moskvich noted in 1913, "there are no such beautiful and appropriate facilities in the Crimea or the Caucasus."
Sochi also lived a normal city life. Thus, in the city there was the progymnasium, the Black Sea trade school of the Ministry of Finance, the Church, the People's House, a bank, a pharmacy, a city hospital, a chemical and bacteriological institute, the museum of the Sochi Agricultural Society and the Pushkin Sochi Public Library with a fairly rich collection of 4,000 volumes. At the same time, Sochi was divided into several areas: upper, lower, Hludovsky and Vereschaginsky. The upper part of the city was the most "noble" and was a series of dachas. In the valley there was the commercial and industrial center, as well as a museum and a library. Interestingly, in the urban areas the village of Navaginka, populated by Germans who supplied the Sochi residents with dairy products and vegetables, also existed. The village even had a Lutheran school.
The Sochi neighborhood was famous for luxury villas. Among the most popular walking tours there were the tours on the mountains of Krajewski and Byht and famous Matsesta sulphur springs. Adler and Khosta, which are now part of Sochi, were separate settlements at the beginning of 20th century. In 1913, in Khosta, situated 29 versts from Sochi, there was "great swimming, life is still inexpensive, but not very comfortable." According to Moskvich, this town promised "to become a seaside resort, thanks to its excellent swimming in the bay with a beautiful flat sandy bottom, completely free of stones." Adler, situated 11 versts from Khosta, at the beginning of 20th century was an extremely picturesque village with 1,700 inhabitants, which was just beginning to be a resort: "Burning south, bright sun, sea, blue sky and green mountains - that's a live scene of this large village, with a vast square, wide, straight streets, with convenience stores, local wines, pubs and fairly numerous cafes."
