Prokhladny, Russia

Prokhladny (literally: cool) is a city in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic of the Russian Federation. The city is the administrative center of the Prokhladnensky district, which is not part of as a city of republican subordination. Forms the municipal formation urban district Prokhladny as the only settlement in its composition.

This is the second (after Nalchik) in terms of population in Kabardino-Balkaria. A significant industrial center, the center of an agricultural region, a junction of roads and railways.

 

Etymology

There are several legends about the origin of the name of the village. One of them says that once Pavel Sergeevich Potemkin, the governor of the region, visited these places. Driving along the dusty road that passed along the banks of the Malka River, he noticed smoke in the dense oak forest. After a while, Potemkin saw a small settlement on the bank of the river, only six households. It was summer. The heat was sweltering. But coolness blew from the river, the dense crowns of oak trees did not let the hot rays of the sun pass through. The settlement, located by the river, in a wide forest clearing, everything was buried in dense greenery of herbs, and it was surprisingly cool here.

So, under the impression of the beauty and coolness that surrounded him, and allegedly PS Potemkin gave the settlement he saw the name Prokhladny.

 

Geography

Prokhladny is located in the northeastern part of the republic, on the left bank of the Malka River (with the exception of the Novopokrovka microdistrict, located on the right bank of the river). It is located 50 km (in a straight line) northeast of Nalchik. From west to east, the city is about 11 km long, from south to north - about 4 km.

The area of ​​the urban district is 35.08 km2.

Prokhladny is located in the lowland forest-steppe zone of the republic. The terrain is relatively flat steppe lands. Fluctuations in relative heights are insignificant. In the southern part of the city, along the Malka River, there is a chain of hilly hills. The floodplain of the Malka River is slightly raised by high terraces. Average heights in the territory of the urban district are 214 meters above sea level.

The hydrographic network is mainly represented by the Malka River; the Baksan River flows into it to the southeast of the city. A few kilometers downstream, the Malka flows into the main transit river of the Central and Eastern Caucasus - the Terek. There are several lakes to the south of the city, the largest of which is Lake Komsomolskoye. The Big Prokhladnensky Canal runs along the northern outskirts of the city. The area is also rich in groundwater, which lies close to the earth's surface.

Natural resources are represented mainly by deposits of loam and gravelly sands.

 

Climate

The town of Cool is located in a semi-arid temperate climate (Dfa according to the Köppen climate classification). There are features of the semiarid climate of temperate latitudes. The semiarid climate of temperate latitudes (BSk - cold semiarid climate) is characteristic of the temperate zone. As a rule, such a climate is typical for areas remote from the ocean and large seas and usually separated from them by high mountains. This type of climate is characterized by hot (often extremely hot) and dry summers and cool winters. Summers are hot, and absolute temperatures in July-August usually rise to + 35 ... + 40 ° С and higher. Winters are mild with average January temperatures of around −3 ° C ... Stable snow cover is rare. Winter can be either cool with snowfalls or warm with no snow. It is extremely rare, during invasions, frosts down to -20 ° C. The average annual rainfall is about 500 mm. In the period from April to July, there are heavy thunderstorms with hail. In early August, dry winds blowing from the Caspian lowland often reach the city's territory.

Due to its favorable climate and soil, Cool is a large agricultural center.

 

History

Prokhladny grew out of the Prokhladnaya Cossack village, founded in 1784 on the Mozdok military fortified line as a settlement, inhabited mainly by Little Russians. In 1824, in connection with the establishment of the Gorsk Cossack Regiment, the settlement became a village, and its inhabitants were converted into Cossacks. A postal road ran through Prokhladnaya, connecting Russia with the Transcaucasus.

The village began to develop especially quickly since the 1860s, when, with the construction of a railway from Rostov-on-Don to Vladikavkaz, the nearby railway station became the center for collecting and sending products of the vast agricultural region of the Tersk region.

Since 1867 the village Prokhladnaya was part of the Pyatigorsk department of the Terek region.

At the end of the 19th century, the population of the village was about 5 thousand people, there were over 60 different commercial and industrial establishments. Prokhladnensky bazaar and Vozdvizhenskaya fair turned the village into a large shopping center in the North Caucasus.

During the Civil War, the village several times became the site of a clash between the Red Guards and the White Guards, who alternately occupied the village.

In March 1932, the Prokhladnensky village council and the Prokhladnensky village council were transferred from the liquidated Prokhladnensky district to the Primalkinsky district.

In 1937, the stanitsa was given the status of a city of regional subordination, which was named Prokhladny.

From August 26, 1942 to January 5, 1943, the city was occupied by fascist troops.

On May 28, 1962, the city was separated from the Prokhladnensky district and transformed into an independent city council of republican subordination.

In 2003, the Prokhladny city council was transformed into the Prokhladny urban district.