Mezmay is a village in the Apsheronsky district of the Krasnodar
Territory. It lies at the bottom of an ancient lake in the valley of
three gorges, through which the Kurdzhips River flows, and is
surrounded on three sides by mountain ranges - Guam, Azish-tau and
Lagonaksky. From Krasnodar to Mezmay about 170 km
The name of
the village in translation from the Adyghe means "forest of apples",
this place is also often called "bear's corner". On the site of the
village many years ago there was a mountain village, then the
Cossacks settled in the territory. In 1868, Mezmay became a haven
for lumberjacks and gold miners. In the 20th century, a railway was
laid in the village in order to export valuable timber from the
Lagonaki highlands. Today, lumber industry in these parts has
remained a history, and a small town with a population of about
1,000 people is developing exclusively as a center for mountain
tourism. There are hotels and shelters for every budget, and in the
vicinity there are beautiful panoramas of mountain ranges, mountain
rivers rich in waterfalls, dense forests overgrown with moss with
thickets of boxwood and many other noteworthy natural attractions.
You can come to Mezmay by your own car or by public transport. In the first case, you need to go through Apsheronsk to the village of Nizhegorodskaya. Further, following the signs, an asphalt road leads to Mezmay, which was laid just a couple of years ago. There is another margrut, but not any car can overcome it: on the road towards the Lago-Naki plateau (Lagonaki highlands), moving Maykop to Kamennomostsky towards Guzeripl in front of the Dakhovskaya village, you need to turn right, cross the Belaya River on the bridge, and then through two kilometers after the cave "Gentle" turn right again, there is a sign. From here, a gravel road of poor quality, about 12 km long, leads to Mezmay.
The following variants are recorded in the State Catalog
of Geographical Names: Kurdzhipskaya, Kurdzhipsky, Mazmai, Mezmay
(Kurdzhipsky).
The modern name Mezmay (Adyg. Mezmy) was
formed from two Adyghe words - Mez (forest) and Mye (wild apple),
thus Mezmay is translated from Adyghe as “forest of wild apples”.
Abadzekhs called the settlement Adyg. Mezmey - "land of forests".
Monuments of nature. Not far from the village
there is an ancient site of primitive people - Mezmayskaya cave, in
which, in 1993, a perfectly preserved skeleton of a Neanderthal baby
was found, from whose bones DNA was subsequently extracted. There
are also unique natural monuments: the University and Yavorovy
waterfalls, the Krasivaya, Monakhova, Piketnaya caves, the Mezmay
gorge, the Ivanova Polyana tract, the canyon of the Kurdzhips and
Tsice rivers.
Ethnographic Museum "Traditional folk crafts of the
Kuban". The collection of the museum, the collection and formation
of which began in 1998, contains more than 2,000 authentic items and
photographs of the 19th-20th centuries. The museum is an
architectural and ethnographic complex, consisting of several
sections, the central of which is the architectural and ethnographic
museum-workshop "Blacksmithing of the Kuban". On its base and the
children's school of traditional crafts of the Kuban, the
festival-workshop "Blacksmithing of the Kuban" is held annually. In
2018, it became the tenth anniversary.
Eagle Regiment
One of the most recognizable places not only in
Mezmay, but also in the Krasnodar Territory. In the warm season,
especially on weekends and holidays, the shelf is very crowded and a
queue is created for those who want to get the coveted shot. Organized
groups often come here. In order to get to the Eagle shelf, the car must
be left on the side of the road, a little before reaching the village.
Kurdzhip gorge
In the gorge you can see the Sandikov waterfall,
the waterfall and the Isichenko cave with the site of an ancient man,
the Palm Falls, incredible views from the viewing platforms of the
canyon.
What to see near Mezmay
There are many interesting
places in the vicinity of Mezmay, the most popular is the Guam Gorge.
You can walk to it on foot from the village along the destroyed narrow
gauge railway. The path is long, but picturesque.
From the
Russian farm, seven kilometers from Mezmay, you can get to the
University waterfall. It is located a kilometer from the beginning of
the Gorelay Balka stream (it is a tributary of the Mezmai River). The
waterfall got its name thanks to the students of KubGTU, who had
practice in these places. The water cascade breaks down from a height of
about 20 meters. At its foot there is a large bath, in which you can
swim right under the refreshing splashes of mountain water.
On
the way to the Universitetsky, there is also the Chinarsky waterfall,
which is also called School. It falls into the rock amphitheater from a
height of 12 meters. Directly behind the stream of water there is a deep
grotto. In winter, the waterfall freezes only partially, turning into a
huge icicle, inside which water continues to fall.
Mezmay is actively developing as a center of mountain tourism. In the
vicinity of the village there are many natural attractions (waterfalls,
caves, canyons, etc.). In Mezmai there is a monument of history and
culture of federal significance "The ground necropolis of the Roman time
(Mezmaisky burial ground)" - the northwestern outskirts of the village.
Observation base of the astrophysical observatory of KubGU.
The following variants are recorded in the State Catalog of
Geographical Names: Kurdzhipskaya, Kurdzhipsky, Mazmay, Mezmay
(Kurdzhipsky).
The modern name Mezmay (Adyghe Mezmy) was formed
from two Adyghe words - Mez (forest) and Mye (wild apple), thus Mezmay
is translated from Adyghe as "a forest of wild apples." Abadzekhs called
the settlement Circassians. Mezmei - "land of forests".
The village is located in the valley of the Kurdzhips River at the confluence of the Mezmai tributary, in the mountain forest zone, 35 km southeast of the city of Apsheronsk. Since the 1930s, he had a connection with Apsheronsk by narrow-gauge railway. In 2011, the railway connection with Mezmay was completely interrupted due to the blockage of a section of the road during a landslide.