Karachaevsk is a city of republican significance in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. The administrative center of the Karachaevsky district (which is not part of) and the Karachaevsky urban district.
Karachaevsk is located at the confluence of three
rivers: Kuban, Teberda and Mary, at an altitude of about 870 meters
above sea level. The area of Karachaevsk is 11.84 km2.
The
city is located within the North Jurassic depression, on the cape of
the river terrace. The cape is formed by the Kuban and its left
tributary Teberda. The city is also stretched along the left bank of
the Kuban to the south of the indicated cape and along both banks of
the Teberda upstream of the river. To the north of the mouth of the
Teberda, on the western coast of the Kuban, there is a residential
and, to the north, an industrial microdistrict (the latter already
borders on the village named after Kosta Khetagurov). To the south
of the city, upstream of the Kuban, the immediate suburb of
Karachaevsk is the aul of Kamennomost (more precisely, its lower
part), upstream of the Teberda is the aul of Dingirik. Along the
eastern bank of the Kuban, in the area of the mouth of its right
tributary Mary, to the north and south of it, as well as above the
mouth in the valley of Mary, the streets of the village of
Mara-Ayagy, which is part of the Karachaevsky urban district, are
scattered.
The mountains that surround the city on three
sides, except for the northern one (the Kuban valley expands to the
north), are the final spurs of the Front Range. They are composed of
volcanic rocks that break through Jurassic sediments. To the south
of Karachaevsk there is a large development zone of the Lower
Jurassic intrusions of the Teberdino-Kuban depression, in many areas
of which up to 50-60% of the outlets of mineral water sources are
concentrated. The city is dominated by the Komsomolskaya mountain,
which is the end point of the watershed between the Kuban and
Teberda and divides Karachaevsk into two parts, gravitating towards
the valleys of two rivers, being the geographical center of the
city.
The Military-Sukhum road passes through Karachaevsk, in
addition, it is connected by highways with the upper reaches of the
Kuban and Kislovodsk.
The climate of the city is temperate, mild, characterized by an abundance of sunny days. The average annual humidity is 70%. The frost-free period lasts 175 days. Winds and fogs are rare. The average annual temperature is +8 ° C. Winters are warm, with little snow, with an average temperature of -2.2 ° C. Summer is not hot, with an average temperature of +16.9 ° C. Autumn is warm, dry, sunny and calm, with an average temperature of about +9 ° C.
The initiator of the
construction of the city in mountainous Karachai was the chairman of
the executive committee of the regional council of the
Karachay-Cherkess autonomous region, Kurman Kurdzhiev (he headed the
regional executive committee in 1922-1926), while his initiative was
approved, according to some sources, by a council of elders from
representatives of Karachai villages. Then she was supported by
Anastas Mikoyan, the 1st secretary of the committee of the CPSU (b)
of the North Caucasian Territory, which included the KCAO, Anastas
Mikoyan (headed the regional committee until August 1926). The
foundation stone of the new city was allegedly laid in 1926 in the
area of the current city hospital.
In April 1926, as a
result of the division of KChAO, a separate Karachay Autonomous
Region was created, and the new city was to become its regional
center. According to the census on December 17, 1926, there were 157
residents (116 men and 41 women) in 117 households on the
construction of the regional center, of which 120 people were
Russians (76.4%), 8 people were Germans (5.1%), 8 people -
Ukrainians (5.1%), 21 people - other nationalities (13.4%). The
construction site administratively belonged to the Kamennomostsky
village council.
On July 17, 1927, the second session of the
Karachay Regional Council of Working People's Deputies, held in the
village of Uchkeken, decided to name the new city Mikoyan-Shahar, in
honor of Anastas Mikoyan, making a corresponding petition to the
administrative commission of the All-Russian Central Executive
Committee (literally Karach-Balk. Mikoyan-Shahar - "the city of
Mikoyan"). For the construction of the city, the Council of People's
Commissars of the RSFSR allocated 7 million rubles, specialists from
Moscow and Leningrad developed the layout of the settlement.
On November 7, 1927, on the 10th anniversary of the Great October
Socialist Revolution, the city was officially opened. The ceremony
was headed by the chairman of the executive committee of the
regional council of the Karachaevskaya Autonomous Okrug Kurman
Kurdzhiev (became the head of the regional executive committee in
1927, after the resignation of M.I.Batchaev), H.H.-M. Aybazov,
I.Z.Karaketov, guests from Moscow, Kharkov, Rostov-on-Don, etc.
According to some reports, a sacrifice ceremony was performed.
By a resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of
August 26, 1929, the name Mikoyan-Shahar was approved and the town
was given the status of a city. By 1931, Mikoyan-Shahar had 150
buildings with a total area of 36 thousand m2; by 1940, the
housing stock had tripled. Two schools appeared in the city (in 1930
and 1936), a pedagogical and medical technical school, a working
faculty, a hospital with a polyclinic, a dairy and a bakery
factories, a printing house, a regional museum of local history
(1930), and the Karachaevsky Research Institute of the History of
Language and Literature were founded (1935), Karachay Teachers'
Institute (1938). Since 1924, the newspaper "Gorskaya Zhizn" was
published in Karachai in the Karachai language, then, with the
development of Mikoyan-Shahar as a cultural center of the region,
the Karachai-language newspapers "Dzharyklyk" ("Enlightenment",
since 1931), "Kyzyl K'arachay" (from 1932), the newspaper "Red
Karachay" in Russian (since 1934). Initially, the city was the
regional center of Mikoyan-Shahar region, then it became a city of
regional subordination.
During the Great Patriotic War
Mikoyan-Shahar was originally a rear hospital city (hospitals were
located in the hospital, the building of the pedagogical institute,
and even in the House of Soviets). On August 12, 1942, the Germans
occupied the Melnichny farm (north of the Teberda River, between
Mikoyan-Shahar and the village named after Kosta Khetagurov), but
the bridge across Teberda was blown up, and they were able to enter
the city only in the following days. In Mikoyan-Shahar, German
equipment, a stable, a hospital were housed, a German cemetery was
arranged. On January 18, 1943, the city was liberated. Third-party
organizations, for example, the Stavropolugol trust, helped the
townspeople in restoring the settlement.
In October 1943, the
Karachay Autonomous District was liquidated, and in early November,
the illegal deportation of the Karachais was carried out. By the
decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated
November 6, 1943, Mikoyan-Shahar was renamed Klukhori - the
territory of the former Karachay Autonomous Okrug was assigned to
the Georgian SSR. As part of the Klukhorsky region, the city was in
the Georgian SSR until March 14, 1955, when by the Decree of the
Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces, the Klukhorsky region was
transferred to the Stavropol Territory. On July 14, 1955, the city
of Klukhori was assigned to the cities of regional subordination. On
January 12, 1957, by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme
Soviet of the RSFSR, the city of Klukhori was renamed Karachaevsk.
In the restored Karachay-Cherkess Autonomous District, according
to the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR
dated February 1, 1963, Karachaevsk became a city of regional
significance. By the same decree, it included the mining settlements
of Mara-Ayagy, Markopi, settlements of mines No. 11 and No. 13 (now
all of them constitute the village of Mara-Ayagy on the right bank
of the Kuban). In 1970, the resort village of Dombay was transferred
to the Karachayevsky City Council, in 1971 - the resort village of
Teberda, which was simultaneously transformed into a city. There
were also miners' settlements in the Karachayevsky City Council -
the village of Ordzhonikidze with its subordinate rural settlement
Malokurganny, the village of Elbrus. In 1996, on the basis of the
petition of the administration of Karachaevsk No. 162 dated July 20,
1996, based, in turn, on the results of the gathering of citizens of
the Mara-Ayagy microdistrict (Karachaevsk-1), the People's Assembly
(Parliament) of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic by its decision No.
297 of On November 22, 1996, it decided to allocate a new rural
settlement Mara-Ayagy from the territory of the city of Karachaevsk,
with an independent rural administration subordinate to the
administration of Karachaevsk. The new settlement united the
Mara-Ayagy microdistrict, the settlements of mines No. 11 and No.
13, the villages of Markopi and Yubileiny.
Sculpture "Invitation to Karachaevsk", which also has
the unofficial name "Goryanka", by the Karachai sculptor Khamzat
Krymshamkhalov. Installed in 1965-1966, it depicts a mountain girl
with a bowl of ayran. Located at the intersection of Lenin and Mira
streets, it is an object of cultural heritage of Russia - a monument
of art of regional significance (taken under protection by the
decision of the executive committee of the Council of People's
Deputies of the Stavropol Territory back in 1981). The visiting card
of the city is present on the coat of arms of Karachaevsk.
The
building of the Administration of the Karachaevsky urban district -
the House of Soviets. It is located on the central square of
Karachaevsk, being the compositional center of the entire urban
development. The building was erected simultaneously with the
construction of the city, using local materials (stone - from the
village of Georgievsko-Osetinsky, brick - from the village of
Kamennomostsky, forest - from the Dausuz region and the Teberda
valley). According to some reports, Anastas Mikoyan and Kurman
Kurdzhiev attended the opening of the House of Soviets.
Memorial
complex to the victims of the deportation of the Karachai people.
The building of the cinema named after S. M. Khalilov.
Alley of
Heroes of the Soviet Union and Heroes of Russia.
Alley of noble
people of Karachai.
Obelisk to those killed during the Great
Patriotic War.
Obelisk to the Red Army soldiers