Chemal is a village in the Altai Republic of the Russian Federation. The administrative center of the Chemalsky district and the Chemal rural settlement.
There is a widespread opinion about the origin of the toponym Chemal from Yuzhno-Alt. chymal - "ant"; "anthill"; "With ants." There is a version of the connection with the ancient Persian "shamal", which means: wind.
Chemal is one of the recreational centers of the Altai Republic. There are a large number of tourist bases and campsites in the village and its surroundings. Known as a mountain resort.
In the southern part of the village is the Chemal hydroelectric power
station, one of the first hydroelectric power stations in the region,
built in 1931-1935 by the prisoners of the Siberian Directorate of
Special Purpose Camps (SibULON). In its vicinity there are a large
number of stalls with souvenirs, cafes, and various attractions. In
2013, the water conduit of the hydroelectric power station was unfrozen,
and the flood of 2014 caused significant damage to the station's
facilities. In 2015, the hydroelectric power plant was decommissioned,
the reservoir was completely emptied. Currently, the dam functions as a
museum.
Downstream of the Katun from the mouth of the Chemal
River, not far from the hydroelectric power station, on the picturesque
rock-island of Patmos, standing in the middle of the river, is the
female skete of St. John the Theologian of the Barnaul Znamensky
Monastery. The island is connected to the river bank by a pedestrian
suspension bridge. Next to the temple, an image of the Virgin and Child
is carved into the rock.
In Chemal, there is the Altai Center,
created by the aga-zaisan of the Altai people Alexander Kindyshevich
Bardin, whose expositions tell about the history, beliefs and life of
the Altaians.
The history of Chemal, the year the city was founded, attractions,
hotels, entertainment, reviews of city guests.
Chemal is a mountain
village in the north of the Altai Republic. It is located about 100 km
along the highway from the capital of the region, Gorno-Altaisk. The
village is famous for its unique climatic conditions, beautiful natural
scenery and developed tourism industry. Thanks to local balneological
complexes, the village is one of the most popular resorts in the Russian
Trans-Urals.
Gorny Altai has always been a sparsely populated
area. There are very few lands suitable for arable farming, few
convenient roads and water resources. Therefore, the first Russian
settlers who settled in the wild land did not appear here until the end
of the 18th century and belonged to fugitive serfs. According to a local
study of local lore, there were 18 peasants, and they did not establish
a permanent settlement.
The first documented settlement in the
Chemal region was organized by Orthodox missionaries in 1842. To do
this, they had to enlist the approval of the local natives, and after
receiving it, a small village was founded, at first consisting of 30
households. Almost all the new settlers came from the Smolensk province,
and they made the modest church of St. John the Evangelist the center of
the village. It exists to this day, although the temple had to go
through temporary complete oblivion.
By the very end of the 19th
century, Altai began to gain popularity as an important Russian health
resort. The local clean air, useful for the treatment of pulmonary
diseases, especially consumption, which was rampant at that time, was
especially valued. Travelers also stopped in Chemal, and among them
there were enough representatives of the scientific class, the creative
intelligentsia. Among the most famous, for example, are the geographer
V.V. Sapozhnikov, the writer V.Ya. Shishkov and many others. There was
no hotel and other infrastructure in the village, so there was no need
to talk about the emergence of the tourism industry.
The village
gradually grew, and in 1875 a new church of St. Nicholas was built at
the expense of local parishioners. The population gradually increased,
and a convenient road connected Chemal with Gorno-Altaisk. This gave
impetus to the emerging balneological resort - healing springs are
located in the immediate vicinity of the village. At the very beginning
of the 20th century, the first sanatorium complex was put into
operation, local industries were also built - workshops, a bakery and
much more. And since 1905, at the initiative of the local episcopate and
at the expense of Bishop Macarius, a tuberculosis complex was opened -
the first medical institution of Chemal.
In this form, the
village met the changes that came with the establishment of the
dictatorship of the soviets. The unique balneological treatment complex
was transferred to the status of government institutions in the 1930s;
guests even from the country's leadership often visited here.
A
new page in the history of the village begins in the 1930s. Since 1935,
a large hydroelectric power plant began its work, blocking the mountain
river Chemal, a tributary of the Katun. The construction site is
infamous for the widespread use of prison labor, among which there was a
high mortality rate from poor working and maintenance conditions.
However, a powerful power plant was put into operation in the shortest
possible time, thus becoming the first hydroelectric power station on
the territory of Soviet Siberia.
Chemal HPP today is a popular
attraction of Chemal. The station has been turned into an open-air
museum. It is unique due to the colossal strength of the structure
incorporated into it during construction. The concrete frame has
survived several major earthquakes and two devastating landslides.
As a resort, the village continues to exist today. During the 2000s,
some transformations were carried out here, in particular, since 2001,
the church of St. John the Evangelist has again received parishioners,
the Altai Center, a museum of culture of the indigenous population of
the Altai Republic, was opened.
It is located 60 km in a straight line to the south of Gorno-Altaysk, about 100 km along the road. It is located on the right bank of the Katun, at the confluence of the Chemal River. It spreads out in a relatively wide valley surrounded by spurs of the Iolgo ridge. Peaks Krestovaya (1336 m) and Camel (928 m) stand out.
Average annual air temperature: +4.4 ° C, atmospheric pressure ranges from 718 ... 736 mm Hg. Art., relative humidity: 66.6%, average wind speed: 1.4 m / s. The average annual maximum is: +12 degrees. Hair dryers blow 163 days a year in Chemal.