Basic moments
The crystal air and the beauty of nature attract many travelers, artists and parapsychologists to Mezmay. Fans of extreme sports, ecologists and lovers of holidays in the mountains come here. In Mezmay there is a historical monument - a burial ground created in the times of Ancient Rome. And in the vicinity of the village on the Lako-Naki plateau, you can see cascading waterfalls, clear rivers, alpine meadows overgrown with flowers, thickets of boxwood and yew, picturesque caves and canyons. Due to the remoteness and inaccessibility, the mountain village is often called the "bear's corner".
Archaeologists have discovered a lot of interesting finds in the Mezmayskaya hollow, which allow us to conclude that people inhabited these places several thousand years before our era. Once there was a shelter of the leader of the Circassians Mohammed-Amin, from where the mountaineers gathered for wars with the Turks and Russians. Then the surrounding lands began to settle in the Kuban Cossack army.
The Mezmai settlement was founded in 1868, and its first inhabitants were gold miners and lumberjacks. During the years of Soviet power, a railway was laid from the village through the Guam Gorge to Apsheronsk, with the help of which valuable species of wood were exported from the Lagonaki plateau.
In recent years, the village has been actively developing as a center of mountain and ecological tourism. It has several tourist bases and guest houses, hotels and private estates where travelers can stay at any time of the year. Mezmay also has several shops, a post office and a pharmacy. And in Zavadova Polyana, on the outskirts of the village, a popular bard song festival “Clear Sky” is held every summer.
In summer, travelers prefer to hike around Mezmay. Tourists who come here are engaged in rock climbing and rafting on mountain rivers, and in winter, snowmobiling is popular.
People also go to Mezmai in order to restore health. The village is located far from the noise of megacities and highways. Clean forest air and healing thermal springs, located 18 km from the village, in the village of Nizhny Novgorod, help to heal and accumulate strength.
Climatic features
Mezmai is located in the temperate zone. The mountains and the proximity of the Black Sea have a strong influence on the weather in the village. Winters here are not severe, and the temperature stays at +1...+3°C, rarely falling below zero. There is a lot of precipitation throughout the year. In winter, a thick snow cover falls on the slopes, and in summer, especially in June, it is rainy.
The summer season in Mezmay is not hot. From June to August the temperature rises to +22...+25°С. Such conditions are most favorable for those who do not tolerate heat well.
Monuments of nature
The village stands in the valley of the Kurdzhips River, near the confluence of the Mezmai River, at an altitude of 666 meters above sea level. In the Adyghe language "Kurdzhips" means pear water. The river got its name because pears grow everywhere in its valley.
A few tens of meters from the outer houses of Mezmay, the most beautiful Upper Kurdzhip Gorge begins, in which many Red Book plant species grow. First of all, these are relic yew berry and Colchis boxwood. Unfortunately, the gorge does not yet have a nature protection status, and therefore industrial logging is carried out in it. Yew-boxwood groves in many places are cut by traces of timber trucks. According to the plan, only beeches and fir trees are being felled, however, yew trees suffer from fallen trunks and are damaged under skidder caterpillars.
Another picturesque gorge - Guamskoye - is located between Mezmay and the village of Guamka. A narrow-gauge railway was laid along it, but today it does not work. The Guam Gorge is a real ecological and botanical open-air museum.
When the ice age ended, a deep mountain lake formed in the northwest of the canyon, which occupied a large sinkhole. The Kurdzhips River flowing from this natural reservoir has carved a deep Guam canyon for several thousand years.
Rocky slopes rise 600 m above the river, and beautiful cascading waterfalls rapidly fall down from them. The gorge is overgrown with boxwood, fir, beech, ash and alpine maples, and the undergrowth is occupied by thickets of juniper, hawthorn, dogwood, azaleas and wild rose. Bears, wild boars and martens live on the mountain slopes, and soaring eagles can often be seen above the rocks.
South of the Mezmay village, the Kurdzhips River flows in a narrow picturesque canyon, above which there are several more natural attractions. A few hundred meters from the last houses, on the right bank of the river, near the mouth of its right tributary, there is Palm Falls. It has a height of about 7 meters. In August, as well as in late autumn, it dries up completely.
If you go even higher, you can see the Isichenko cave. The huge karst cavity stretches for more than 1600 m, but its lower passages are separated by a siphon, which is a serious obstacle for researchers. Near the entrance to the cave, three waterfalls flow down the slope, and the largest of them is known as the Isichenko waterfall. Both natural sites are named after Yuri Isichenko, the leader of a student group from Dnepropetrovsk, whose members were the first to visit the cave in 1973.
Mezmayskaya cave
To see the Mezmai cave, you need to go to the Glubokaya gully, which lies between the peaks of Mezmai and Uriel. The entrance to the cave is located on a steep cliff. The karst cavity is 26 m deep and over 210 m long.
Members of the North Caucasian Paleolithic detachment discovered the Mezmaiskaya Cave in 1987. Five years later, the remains of a 2-month-old Neanderthal baby were found in it. They are much better preserved than similar skeletons found in Europe.
After some time, scientists were waiting for a new sensational discovery. They found fragments of the skull of another Neanderthal child in the cave, whose age was 2 years. Neanderthals lived in these places 70-40 thousand years BC, even before the appearance of Homo sapiens. Unique finds in Mezmay are known to all researchers of the world.
In addition to the remains of people, volcanic ash was found in the Mezmai cave, formed during the eruption of Kazbek. About 40 thousand years ago, along with Kazbek, volcanoes in the Apennines and St. Anna volcano in the Southern Carpathians became more active. The Apocalypse led to the onset of a "volcanic winter" on the planet.
Paleontologists have discovered bison bones in the cave. After the research, it became known that during the Late and Middle Paleolithic, four species of these animals lived in the vicinity of Mezmay.
archaeological sites
Mezmai is a place of famous archaeological finds. Once upon a time, the Great Silk Road passed through the mountain spurs of Lagonaki. Caravans transported goods from China to Byzantium along it, and Sarmatian soldiers guarded the road.
On the northwestern outskirts of the village there is a monument of federal significance - an earth necropolis, which appeared here during the time of the Romans. Recently, in the Mezmaisky burial ground, scientists discovered an unlooted burial of a warrior aged 2.2 thousand years. The burial contained two bronze helmets, long and short iron swords, the remains of three horses, a wild boar and a cow.
On the steep slopes of the Upper Kurdzhip Canyon, the ruins of the Tmutarakan defensive rampart have been preserved. An ancient defensive structure was erected in the place where caravan trails could cross the canyon from one slope to another. For many centuries, the ancient shaft has grown into the ground and covered with vegetation. Nowadays, it is an interesting object for research, and a hiking trail has been laid along the rampart.
On the southern slope of the Guam Range you can see the ruins of ancient megaliths - dolmens.
Museum "Blacksmithing of Kuban"
In the southeastern part of the village of Mezmaia there is a museum that tells about the formation and traditions of blacksmithing. The central place in it is given to the blacksmith's workshop, recreated on the model of the forges of the late 19th century. In the exhibition you can see the works of craftsmen with personal stamps, blacksmith tools and rare archival photographs. In addition, in the Mezmay Museum, visitors are introduced to carpentry, cooperage and wheel craft.
Bard Song Festival
Every year on the first weekend of August, many guests come to Mezmai for the Clear Sky music festival. The bard song festival is often called "Podgrushinsky" and is held in a large clearing, not far from the western outskirts of the village.
Mezmay receives singer-songwriters and lovers of bard songs from different parts of the country, and guests are accommodated in tents or wooden houses of the Zavadova Polyana mountain camp. There is a well with clean spring water 200 m from the bard's glade.
How to get there
The village of Mezmay is 60 km away from the regional center - the city of Apsheronsk. To get here by car, you need to drive 180 km from Krasnodar or 80 km from Maykop.
For motorists, there are two options for getting to Mezmai. The first - through Maykop and the village of Kamennomostsky. From there you need to go towards the village. Guzeripl, and, before reaching the village of Dakhovskaya, turn right, across the road bridge laid over the Belaya River. After 2 km after the shopping mall, the cave "Nezhnaya" again turn right. From here to Mezmay is 12 km of a dirt road, which can only be crossed by cross-country vehicles.
The second version of the route runs from Apsheronsk through the village of Nizhegorodskaya. Previously, the asphalt road went only to the village. Now asphalt has been laid almost to Mezmay itself, so this route option is available for any type of transport.
From Apsheronsk to the village of Guamka can be reached by regular buses, which depart at 6.00 and 12.00 on all days except Monday, at 15.00 every day and at 14.00 on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. The rest of the way to Mezmay (9 km) is on foot along the Guam Gorge, along the old narrow-gauge road.
From Apsheronsk to Mezmay there are also direct shifts on Kamaz trucks. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays they leave at 14.00, and on Saturdays at 13.00. You can take a taxi from the bus station in Apsheronsk to Mezmay. For a group of several tourists, this option will not be very expensive.
The edge does not necessarily mean living on the coast, in large resort cities like Sochi and Gelendzhik. This region can offer a lot of interesting things to tourists who seek unity with nature and the knowledge of its pristine beauty. One of these places is the village of Mezmai, whose sights are not modern water parks and man-made sculptures, but mountain rivers, stormy waterfalls and mountains.
Mezmay is the pearl of the Caucasus!
It is hard to believe that in the Krasnodar Territory, which has been popular among tourists for more than a decade, there are still reserved corners cut off from civilization. It will be useful to know if you are planning a vacation: Mezmay is not a city of entertainment and nightlife. There are no ultra-modern hotels and large shops. However, it is here, among the mountains and forests, that you will see rare plants, hundred-year-old trees and enjoy the incredible atmosphere of the natural and calm life that the locals live. Do not think that such a vacation will be boring, there are still entertainments for tourists, and an abundance of natural attractions will please even the most demanding guest.
Geographic location
In a literal translation from the Adyghe "Mezmay" is a "garden of apples." Indeed, there are a lot of fruit-bearing trees here. At the same time, delicious apples can be picked not only in the yards of local residents or gardens, but also in the forest or just on the street. A warm climate favors the growth of all plants. In summer, medicinal herbs and berries are harvested in these places, and in autumn a rich harvest of vegetables and fruits is harvested. It is curious that the locals often call their village a bear's corner. Indeed, in the surrounding forests even today you can easily meet a bear. However, wild animals rarely visit the settlement itself, but it is better to go for a walk around its surroundings with a guide as part of a tourist group. How to find a unique village? It's simple: your goal is the Absheron region. Mezmay is located in the valley of the river called Kurdzhips, surrounded by three mountain gorges.
The history of the settlement and our days
At the beginning of the 20th century, at the confluence and Mezmay, a settlement was organized for workers involved in logging. There was also a camp for prison inmates engaged in corrective labor. Around the same time, a narrow single-track railway was built. Today, only memories remain of those times, but despite this, the distinctive feature of the settlement is predominantly wooden buildings. Stone buildings throughout the village can be easily counted on the fingers. Local residents are engaged in agriculture - they grow crops and breed animals. Despite such a short and prosaic history, Guamka, Mezmai and all neighboring points on the map have the glory of special energy zones. Very often the village is even called "Russian Shambhala". Mezmay is surrounded by three gorges: Guamsky, Upper Kurdzhipsky and Mezmaysky, each of them is distinguished by incredible beauty and an abundance of natural attractions.
Horse riding and hiking
What to do on vacation if you have chosen the village of Mezmay as your place of residence? First of all, enjoy the silence, abundance of greenery and incredibly clean and fresh air. Agree, all this is very much lacking for all residents of megacities. Walk along the quiet streets, take photos as a keepsake, chat with the locals, whose hospitality is legendary. The best way to get to know the nature of the surrounding area is to go for a walk with a tourist group on foot or on horseback. These are the most popular excursions for tourists, which you can learn about without leaving the village of Mezmay. The routes will delight you with their diversity, choose the most interesting views for you - mountain gorges, forests or everything is here. If you do not know how to stay in the saddle, rest in the village of Mezmay is the best time to learn. There is no organized riding school, but horses are still one of the main means of transportation. And almost any resident of the village is ready to give horse riding lessons to tourists.
Mezmay: sights of cosmic significance
Surroundings of the village are considered to be one of the most interesting places here - this is the "cosmodrome". This is a giant funnel, which gradually increases and continues to draw trees and large fragments of rocks into its center. Not far from this mysterious place there are two large caves. There is also a "house of astronauts", and near it there is a unique cave, from which a turbulent stream flows, dividing into two cascades. A television repeater has been installed at the highest point of the Guam mountain range. It would seem that this is a miracle of engineering, and not a mysterious landmark. However, the inhabitants of the village claim that on church holidays and the full moon, an unusual glow can be seen around this object with the naked eye.
prehistoric world
Want to see what this area looked like at the dawn of civilization? Mezmay has a variety of sights, among them there are very ancient ones. Go to the southern part of the village, this is where the relic yew-boxwood grove begins. Move up along the Kurdzhips. Scientists have confirmed that some of the trees growing here are over 2,000 years old. The laid route passes by a spring with water purified by silver. Here you can also see a picturesque waterfall, which has the equally beautiful name of the Dragon's Mouth. And very soon you will see the most interesting thing - the site of ancient people, and if you climb the rocks, you can appreciate the picturesque view of the valley from a small observation deck. In the vicinity of Mezmay there are also dolmens, ancient stone blocks of ritual significance, whose age is about 5 thousand years.
Other sights and places of interest
No other excursions in the Krasnodar Territory will give you as many impressions as exploring the area around a village like Mezmay. Nature pleases here with its beauty and diversity. Natural caves can be considered its real miracle, many of them can be accessed as part of organized groups. Underground halls amaze with their beauty. In many of them you can see underground lakes and streams. The most famous are N. Isichenko's cave and Monk's cave. If you are relaxing in such a wonderful place as Mezmay, waterfalls are a must among other excursions. The settlement is surrounded by mountain rivers and streams, and there are a lot of water cascades here. There are also stepped waterfalls, water baths, and other hydrological attractions among them.
Features of recreation in the village
The Absheron region is a real land of miracles, where different eras and cultures are intertwined into a single ball. How to get on vacation in Mezmay? In fact, the greatest difficulty lies in getting to the village. There are no hotels here, but the locals are very hospitable and gladly accept tourists to stay, and also organize full meals in the best traditions of the national cuisine for a nominal fee.
Mezmay is surrounded by a variety of sights, but consider the specifics of this area when planning a trip. If you are physically weak, cannot live without a high level of comfort, or do not like outdoor activities, consider choosing another option. It is not recommended to choose this locality as a vacation spot for the elderly or families with small children. But fans of outdoor activities will certainly like it here. Caving, climbing, hiking, hunting, fishing, picking berries, mushrooms and medicinal herbs - choose entertainment to your taste. In addition, there are two sketes of Orthodox monasteries not far from the village, and many people come here to personally touch the shrines. This area also attracts creative people; festivals of music and literature are held annually in the vicinity of the village.
How to get into the lost world?
Do not be surprised if the employees of travel agencies in your city have never heard of the village of Mezmai. The sights of this area are not always included in standard excursions around the Krasnodar Territory. It is most convenient to travel by private car or arrange a transfer. Today there are two roads. One of them, more comfortable, starts from the village of Nizhny Novgorod, the landmark is a monument to the founders of the Cossacks. The road is gravel, but despite this, in good weather, almost any car can drive here.
Another option is the exit from the highway Dakhovskaya - Lago-Naki. However, this road is in the worst condition (the length of the emergency section is about 12 kilometers), and it is better to go on it only if you are completely confident in your own car.
You can also come to the village of Mezmay by single-track railway. However, the possibility of such a trip should be clarified upon arrival, since sometimes a passenger train runs along the rails to the “cosmonauts' house”.
In early February, frosty days came, there was nothing to do at home, the TV got tired and we decided to go to the mountain village of Mezmai with a firm decision to visit all the frozen waterfalls of the Alabastrovaya, Chinarka and Burnt Balka rivers.
Have not been to Mezmay since the last Podgrushinsky festival of author's song, when in a small clearing among old pears, there was nowhere for visitors to fall. We hooked up the chains to the wheels of our car and set off on our journey. Mezmay, who was completely frozen, met us with a thirty-degree frost. Houses buried in snow were ruffled from the cold and lit their stove pipes in unison. The mountains, graying with snow, were hidden in blurry contours of watercolor behind a dense thickness of ashy fog.
The road descending to the valley of the Kurdzhips River from the Guam Pass was completely icy, and at the entrance to the narrow streets of the village it turned into a serpentine bobsleigh track. Springs flowing into the streets of the village froze and covered the road with a thick layer of ice.
Leaving the car at the fork in the road: the Russian farm - the village of Mezmai, having piled up their backpacks, together creaking crisp snow under the soles of their boots, they poisoned themselves in the direction of the village of Temnolesskaya. The forest is covered with snowy fringes, the frosty fog shrouded the houses and gardens.
On the left bank of the Mezmai River in the clearings, as on islands in the middle of a coniferous forest
the village of Temnolesskaya, covered with deep snow, stretched out. The village is in the continuous embrace of a forest of orchards, scattered with small farms along the right and left banks of the river. The locals divided it into farms Temnolessky, Kolechivka, Polyanki. In the center of the village of Temnolesskaya there is a Christian Orthodox monastery of the Holy Spirit. It is a branch of the Timashevsky Monastery. It was founded by Father George.
Everything froze in the fabulous silent frosty milk. Only pear trees gave a little greenery from the balls of mistletoe, which grew abundantly on the crowns of trees. Along a track made in a snow-covered road, we wander into a rocky gorge. Today is a holiday in the village of Temnolesskaya. Today is the day for the delivery of bread. It is delivered three times a week. So you can meet some of the locals who came out of their "lairs" for a loaf of bread.
During the years of perestroika, the once lively village of Temnolesskaya practically died out, only a dozen local residents remained. But the dacha boom began and a stream of people wishing to have a house in the mountains from Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar and Moscow poured in here. Gradually, new houses began to be built, all-terrain vehicles, apiaries and farms with cattle appeared. The population of the villages of Temnolesskaya and Mezmay changed from simple forest workers to special, educated, highly intelligent and extraordinary people. Mountain villages were filled with Orthodox believers, Hare Krishnoites, Old Believers, poets, journalists, writers and talented artists who preferred a quiet life in the wilderness of the mountains.
At the extreme houses of the Polyanka farm, the track of the snow-covered road ended, and we, drowning knee-deep in snow, began to make our way into the rocky canyon of the Mezmai River. With great difficulty, having overcome one and a half kilometers of virgin snow, they ran out of steam. The day is running out, and we were only able to get to the panoramic point above the deep canyon of the Mezmai River. The descent into the canyon along the icy, powdered rocks presents a serious obstacle at this time. The canyon with high snow-covered rocks looked menacing.
Nothing to do but set up camp and prepare for the night. We set up a tent in the snow. They kindled a fire. We prepared dinner. Potatoes were baked on the remaining ashes. If only you knew how much I love the smell of baked potatoes! It reminds me of the happy, post-war years, when potatoes were the first, second and dessert course for us.
In a thirty-degree frost, a dank dampness pulls from the canyon, and the fire does not provide the necessary heat. We decided to warm up in a tent. Having climbed into light sleeping bags, they spun from the cold for a long time, but could not fall asleep.
I had to re-light the fire and warm up. The frost began to grow stronger by night and we decided not to tempt fate, but to go through the icy canyon of the Mezmai River, another time, when it gets a little warmer. With difficulty, they tore off the frozen bottom of the tent from the icy snow and advanced to Mezmay. In the village, the famous poet, climber, member of the Union of Journalists of the USSR and Russia, Gennady Yuryevich Zavada, was waiting for us. He met us with joyful words: “There is no place in the world, just know, there is a better place than Mezmai!”. Opened a house with a stove. The temperature in the rooms was minus four, but soon the melted stove began to give a pleasant warmth and we cheered up.
We brewed hot tea, invited Gennady Yuryevich to the night light and asked him to tell us about an amazing corner of nature called Mezmai. Here is what the owner of the Zavadova Polyana tourist shelter told us:
“If the Apsheron region in the Kuban is called the “Bear Corner”, then Mezmay and Temnolesskaya can rightly be called “lairs”. Surrounded on three sides by the Azishsky, Guamsky and Lagonaksky ridges, the village of Mezmay lumberjacks recently celebrated its 140th anniversary. But with the anniversary, apparently, they were a little modest. Last spring, “black diggers” descended on the outskirts of the village and unearthed the oldest burial place. They were spooked. The scientific expedition of the Krasnodar Historical and Archaeological Museum of the Reserve hastened to arrive next. It turned out that this burial was the world sensation of the century, comparable in historical significance only to the tomb of Tutankhamun. Among other things, the grave of a king or a prominent Sarmatian commander was discovered. The abundance of gold and silver things testifies to its status. The age of the burial is approximately 2100 years.
Apparently, he fought with the Romans during the time of Mithridates of Pontus the Great. The burial place was not chosen by chance. The Great Silk Road once passed here, which connected China with Byzantium. It was called upon to guard the Sarmatian warriors. At the steep slopes of the Upper Kurdzhip Canyon, the remains of the so-called Tmutarakan Wall, a defensive structure located in the only place where you can cross the canyon along caravan trails, have been preserved. Archaeologists have already visited these places. At the end of the last century, they discovered and explored the site of an ancient man in a cave in the Dry Kurdzhips gorge, and made a number of other interesting finds. All this, as well as the presence of the ruins of dolmens on the southern slope of the Guam Range, indicates that people inhabited the Mezmai basin many thousands of years before our era.
The mountains. Forest. Remarkable and easily accessible Guam Gorge. Bottomless canyons, waterfalls, crystal rivers, caves, alpine meadows, subalpine meadows - this is Mezmay. It is good to relax here, communicate with nature at any time of the year. Mezmay is translated from Adyghe into Russian as a forest of wild apples. The settlement is located on the eve of the Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, in the northern part of the unique Lagonaki Highlands. Previously, it was connected with Apsheronsk by a narrow-gauge railway built by prisoners during the years of the first "Stalin" five-year plans. During perestroika, it was destroyed by mudflows. Now they are trying to restore it, but purely for tourist purposes.
At one time, the Apsheron timber industry enterprise was considered one of the largest European suppliers of valuable timber. And the Mezmaisky lumber camp was known as his strike unit. Now the timber industry has gone bankrupt, and numerous newly created joint-stock companies are engaged in logging. Naturally, they have nothing to do with the development of highland settlements. Roads are falling into disrepair, practically no one is engaged in them. If a freeway is paved to Guamka, then getting to Mezmay by car is sometimes problematic. Now there are two country roads. One starts forty kilometers from Apsheronsk from the village of Nizhegorodskaya (18 kilometers long), and the second - through Maykop, the village of Kamennomostsky on the way to the Lago-Naki camp site. Turn right two kilometers after the sign for the cave "Nezhnaya". After 12 kilometers - you are in Mezmay.
It is now clear to many that predatory deforestation in the sources of mountain rivers is not only unpromising, but also criminal. The future of Mezmay and the entire Lagonaki Highlands is seen in the intensive development of ecological tourism, in the construction of a network of ski and tourist bases, hotel complexes, in the creation of related tourist infrastructure. On the northern slopes of Abadzesh, Murzykal, Mount Mezmai, snow keeps almost from October to June. Once upon a time, the ski team of the Soviet Union trained in those parts. Then she moved to the Elbrus region, and everything died out.
Now the regional authorities, as if in anticipation of a miracle. Where can you find investors who are ready to invest solid money in the development of tourism, not counting on an instant return?
Of course, if Sochi becomes the capital of the future Winter Olympics, the situation will change radically, and Mezmai will become one of its strongholds. In the future, it is planned to build hotel complexes and camp sites on the territory of the municipality. Asphalt roads to the Main Caucasian Range and the Black Sea will be laid through the village. Perhaps the harbinger of the economic miracle will be the law on the development of resort business, which is now being prepared in the Duma.
In the meantime, there are two small hotels and family private camp sites in Mezmay. For more than 10 years, the non-profit organization GLUK (mountain camp for young local historians) “Zavadova Polyana” has been working here. On its basis, creative children's camps, environmental conferences, Podgrushensky (under the wild pear) festivals of the author's song "Clear Sky", which are considered one of the best in southern Russia, are held. The 11th such festival will take place from July 28 to August 6 this year. Its program includes: hikes and excursions around the picturesque surroundings of Mezmay, songs around campfires, author's concerts, master classes, a bards' tournament with archery ... On the night of August 5-6, a gala concert of laureates will take place.
Mezmai is visited by thousands of tourists all year round. The flow of vacationers is especially intense in summer. They come in their cars, many of them come on foot from Guamka along the picturesque gorge (9 km). Three times a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday) at 14.00 from the Absheron bus station departs for the rotational settlement "Ural".
There is something to see in Mezmay. To the village of Temnolesskaya, to the caves "Bolshaya Azishskaya", "Nezhnaya" and others, to many historical and natural sites can be reached by car. The initiative group has developed more than 20 one-day walking tours and overnight trips. Work began on their equipment and labeling. There is a strong belief: whoever has been here at least once will definitely come back here.”
Having warmed up by the hot stove, we went out into the snow-covered courtyard, before us appeared an amazing picture of a starry night. The flickering lights of the houses of the Mezmay village stood vertically in front of us, went into the starry sky and united in space into a single galaxy. A single snow-white canvas, decorated with the twinkling lights of Mezmay and the stars of the Big Dipper, caused great delight.
The morning greeted us with a bright sunrise. Everything around shone and shone with billions of frosty crystals. We are children of the sun. Therefore, he is always welcome. Quite unconsciously we try to stay at least a little in his arms, absorb his living healing power and gentle warmth, smile in response to the cheerful brilliance of his rays.
Mezmay teaches us to rejoice in the new day and the wonderful life, to love and admire the beauty of nature, to do good at least a little a day, to protect the sacred land from littering, to love each other, and then our days are filled with the meaning of life, happiness and joy. We will definitely return to you the amazing village of Mezmai!
Mezmay- a village in the south of the Krasnodar Territory, on the territory of the Apsheron District. It is located in an intermountain valley, on the Kurdzhips River, at the confluence of the Mezmay. Once the village and the regional center were connected by a narrow-gauge railway, but due to several landslides, the connection was interrupted. Now you can get to Apsheronsk by a detour by road (the path will be 53 kilometers), through Adygea.
Story
The name Mezmay is of Adyghe origin, meaning "forest of wild apples". The village was founded in 1922 in connection with logging. At the end of the 1920s, a branch of the Apsheron narrow-gauge railway, the largest of the mountain narrow-gauge railways in the country, was brought to the village of lumberjacks. At the end of the 20th century, forestry fell into decay, and since then Mezmay has been developing as a tourist center, since there are enough sights in the vicinity, mainly natural ones.
Tourism
To the north of Mezmay are the southern gates of the Guam Gorge - a picturesque canyon up to 400 meters deep, which is cut by the Kurdzhips River. Along the bottom of the gorge, a branch of a narrow-gauge railway went to Guamka and further to Apsheronsk. Passenger and tourist traffic to Mezmay operated until 2011. The Guam Gorge is not only a natural monument, but also a well-known rock climbing center. There are up to 200 climbing routes, competitions are held.
In the vicinity of Mezmay there are waterfalls and caves. One of them is Mezmaiskaya in the Glubokaya gully. It has a depth of 26 meters, a length of more than 200 meters, and is known as a site for primitive people. The cave was discovered in 1987, and 6 years ago, the skeletons of Neanderthal babies were discovered. These findings caused a great resonance in science and provided a lot of useful material for the study of ancient people. The Mezmaiskaya cave has been inhabited for several tens of millennia. After the Neanderthals, Homo sapiens lived here. An archeological monument in Mezmay is also an ancient necropolis - the Mezmay burial ground on the northwestern outskirts of the village.
In Mezmay there is an observation station of the Astrophysical Observatory of the Kuban State University. There are guest houses and mini-hotels in the village.
Mezmay is rich in waterfalls, but these two are the most famous - University waterfall and Chinarev waterfall. They are located far from Mezmay, closer to the neighboring Russian farm. You can get here either on foot or order a pick-up. But if you have a cross-country vehicle (an SUV will do), then you can drive almost to the very Russian farm, from here it’s not so far to the waterfalls.
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44.199074 , 40.037532 Mezmay is rich in waterfalls, but these two are the most famous - University waterfall and Chinarev waterfall. In summer they are full-flowing, and in winter they turn into icicles.Description (Calculate route)
The waterfall "works" all year round, and in winter it turns into a huge icicle - a very interesting sight. It is most full-flowing, of course, in the spring. If you wish, you can approach the water stream to swim in it.
The waterfall is located a kilometer from the beginning of the tributary of the Mezmai River - the Gorelay Balka stream. In some sources, the attraction is called that - a waterfall on Gorelay Balka. The name of the waterfall was given by the students of KubSU, who had practice in these places. At the foot of the waterfall there is a large bathtub, which is nice to take a dip in. The height of the waterfall reaches 20 m.
How to get there?
A good asphalt road leads to Mezmai, but the paths in the village itself are broken. When it rains, it is almost impossible to drive around Mezmay in low city cars. But to see the Universitetsky and Chinarev waterfalls, you don’t need to drive into the village. As soon as you see a sign on a white background, look for a left turn towards the village of Temnolesskaya. You don’t need to drive into the village itself, drive further, towards a small settlement called the Russian farm. As soon as the road surface ceases to please you, leave the car, then you need to go on foot.
Here is the track from the place where you can drive to Chinarev, and then the University waterfall:
Distance - 3.5 km.
The climb is about 200 m.
Go straight through the Russian farm, along the main road. When the village ends, the road leads further into the forest. SUV owners can drive straight to the start of the hiking trail. From the last houses of the Russian farm to the beginning of the descent to the waterfalls - 700 meters. You need to continue walking along the dirt road to a fork. At the fork, choose the road that leads to the right, a little more, and there will be an observation platform on which the monument is erected. From here, a path leads down the stairs in the rocks. For ease of descent, there are railings. Literally after 200 meters, the traveler sees the first waterfall - Chinarev.
Passing as if under a waterfall, the trail passes to the other side of the gorge and leads further. From here to the University Falls about a kilometer.
