Sochi

Sochi (Krasnodar Region)The ‘Russian Riviera’ offers boating, meditation, Olympic sightseeing, and gambling. Sochi is one of Russia's most southern cities, located on the Black Sea coast almost 1,000 miles south of Moscow. It's Russia's busiest seaside resort, attracting more than 4 million visitors every year to its mountains and sweeping beaches. It is perhaps most famous for hosting the Winter Olympics in 2014.“If there is a heaven on Earth, it’s the Krasnodar Territory.” This is a popular proverb in Russia, which was proved by about 16 million domestic tourists in 2019. Indeed, this region in the south is a great place for summer holidays -it’s situated on the coasts of two seas -the Black Sea and the Azov Sea -and has lots of resort cities (such as Anapa, Gelendzik, Novorossiysk, Eisk, etc.)

Sochi was established in 1896 on the site of the former Navaginskoye fort and began developing as a resort area in 1902. The presence of mineral springs, attractive coastal and mountain scenery, long beaches, and warm (humid subtropical) climate have made Sochi a large and popular holiday and health resort for Russian vacationers. Sochi has dozens of hotels, tourist centres, and campsites and more than 50 sanatoriums. The primary industry is food processing, though few of the city’s workers are employed in industry. Sochi’s streets and gardens are filled with exotic subtropical trees and shrubs. Greater Sochi, created in 1961, includes resorts stretching for some 90 miles (150 km) along the coast.

Kavkazsky Nature Reserve, established in 1924 and occupying 1,017 square miles (2,633 square km), lies approximately 45 miles (72 km) northeast of the city. A major recreation site of the Russian government is located northwest along the Black Sea coast at nearby Dagomys. The city hosted the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, for which sports and lodging venues were constructed in the city and in the Krasnaya Polyana mountain area of the Caucasus to the east of Sochi.