In the 14th–19th centuries, the region was dominated by the
Abkhaz,
Ubykh and
Adyghe tribes, the current location of the city of Sochi known as
Ubykhia was part of historical
Circassia, and was controlled by the native people of the local mountaineer clans of the north-west Caucasus, nominally under the sovereignty of the
Ottoman Empire, which was their principal trading partner in the Muslim world. The coastline was ceded to
Russia in 1829 as a result of a
Caucasian War and
Russo-Turkish War, 1828–1829; however, the
Circassians did not admit the Russian control over
Circassia and kept resisting the newly established Russian outposts along the
Circassian coast (
Adyghe: Адыгэ хы аушу ); .
[8][26] Provision of weapons and ammunition from abroad to the Circassians caused a diplomatic conflict between the
Russian Empire and
the United Kingdom that occurred in 1836 over the
mission of the Vixen.
[27]
The Russians had no detailed knowledge of the area until Baron
Feodor Tornau investigated the coastal route from
Gelendzhik to
Gagra, and across the mountains to
Kabarda, in the 1830s.[
citation needed] In 1838, the fort of Alexandria, renamed Navaginsky a year later, was founded at the mouth of the
Sochi River as part of the Black Sea coastal line, a chain of seventeen fortifications set up to protect the area from recurring Circassian resistance. At the outbreak of the
Crimean War, the garrison was evacuated from Navaginsky in order to prevent its capture by the Turks, who effected a landing on
Cape Adler soon after.
The last battle of the
Caucasian War took place at the Godlikh river on March 18, 1864
O.S., where the ubykhs were defeated by the Dakhovsky regiment of the Russian Army. On March 25, 1864, the Dakhovsky fort was established on the site of the Navaginsky fort. The end of Caucasian War was proclaimed at Kbaade tract (modern
Krasnaya Polyana) on June 2 (May 21
O.S.), 1864, by the manifesto of
Emperor Alexander II read aloud by
Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia.
[8]
After the end of Caucasian War (during the period of 1864–1870) almost all Ubykhs and a major part of the
Shapsugs, who lived on the territory of modern Sochi, were either killed in the
Circassian Genocide or expelled to the
Ottoman Empire (see
Circassian Genocide). Starting in 1866 the coast was actively colonized by Russians, Armenians, Ukrainians, Belorussians, Greeks, Estonians, Germans, Moldavians, Georgians and other people from inner Russia.
[8][26]
In 1874–1891, the first
Russian Orthodox church,
St. Michael's Church, was constructed, and the Dakhovsky settlement was renamed
Dakhovsky Posad on April 13, 1874 (
O.S.). In February 1890, the Sochi Lighthouse was constructed. In 1896, the Dakhovsky
Posad was renamed
Sochi Posad (after the name of local river) and incorporated into the newly formed
Black Sea Governorate. In 1900–1910, Sochi burgeoned into a sea resort. The first resort, "Kavkazskaya Riviera", opened on June 14, 1909 (
O.S.). Sochi was granted town status in 1917.
[8]
During the
Russian Civil War, the littoral area saw
sporadic armed clashes involving the
Red Army,
White movement forces, and the
Democratic Republic of Georgia, after war Sochi become Russian territory. In 1923, Sochi acquired one of its most distinctive features, a
railway which runs from
Tuapse to Georgia within a kilometer or two of the coastline. Although this branch of the
Northern Caucasus Railway may appear somewhat incongruous in the setting of beaches and sanatoriums, it is still operational and vital to the region's transportation infrastructure.
[8]
Sochi was established as a fashionable resort area under
Joseph Stalin, who had his favorite
dacha built in the city; Stalin's study, complete with a wax statue of the leader, is now open to the public.
[28] During Stalin's reign the coast became dotted with imposing
Neoclassical buildings, exemplified by the opulent Rodina and Ordzhonikidze sanatoriums. The centerpiece of this early period is
Shchusev's
Constructivist Institute of Rheumatology (1927–1931). The area was continuously developed until the demise of the Soviet Union.
[8]
Following Russia's loss of the traditionally popular resorts of the
Crimean peninsula (transferred away from the
Russian SFSR to the
Ukrainian SSR in 1954 by
Nikita Khrushchev), Sochi emerged as the unofficial
summer capital of the country. During
Vladimir Putin's term in office, the city witnessed a significant increase in investment, although many Russian holidaymakers still flock to the cheaper resorts of neighbouring Abkhazia (
Georgia),
Ukraine, or to the Mediterranean coast of
Turkey.[
citation needed] Additionally, Sochi has also served as the location for the signing of many
treaties, especially those between the
Georgian, separatist
Abkhazian, and separatist
South Ossetian governing authorities.
@
Ill
@
Broletariat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sochi