Park "Southern Cultures". A cozy place for family walks in Adler. Southern Cultures Park in Adler - photos and how to get there
Originally a park Southern cultures conceived as a luxury facility park art, which has no analogues on the entire Black Sea coast - a unique collection of Sochi trees. The beginning of the laying of the park is considered to be 1905-1912. The lack of constraint on funds made it possible to import plants from abroad in unlimited quantities.
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Dendrological park
A unique collection of plants, where iron birds fly and what you can win at cards...
Approaching the brand new Adler interchange, I wanted to slow down to a minimum and try to figure out the intricacies of roads on a huge shield. The scheme was a tangled ball of black snakes, and the denouement itself looked like the many-headed Serpent Gorynych with whom we had to fight ... It was known that the Southern Cultures Park bordered on the Olympic Park, but the signs to the side places for some reason did not come across. We once again turned the wrong way, and ended up on a small street with a traffic jam. There came that rare case when a traffic jam turned out to be most welcome - it allowed me to take a break from the senseless driving and let me gather my thoughts on where to move on. To our left, a car was slowly crawling, decorated with airbrushing around the entire perimeter - wild mustangs flew at full speed overtaking each other, and even the wind entangled in their manes. It was evident that standing idle in this traffic jam is not easy for them. The swift steeds rushed so confidently that there was no doubt - they knew about the destination. And then intuition prompted - the guy, the driver of this car, also knows all the roads and the location of the park as well. And so it turned out - after asking him about it, we finally caught the right direction and very soon we were already at the Park of Southern Cultures.
Forged gates with curlicues let us in, and we found ourselves in a completely different world - tranquility, solitude and exotic plants. There are no cafes, kiosks with souvenirs and hot dogs here. This is a park perfect for leisurely walks, meditation or yoga.
There are 736 species of plants in the park from all over the globe represent a unique plant collection, which includes the rarest and exotic species. The Delaway magnolia tree grows in Russia in a single copy and is located here, as well as the Large-flowered magnolia of 28 meters - higher than which cannot be found on the entire Black Sea coast. The northernmost eucalyptus grove of 12 species, and a bamboo plantation of 13 varieties, including such rare species as Black and Square bamboo.
The park has the tallest tree on the planet - Giant Sequoia, Gingo - classified as a valuable medicinal plant and has survived to us since the time of dinosaurs, as well as a large number of representatives of conifers.
Of course, it was not without palm trees - they meet visitors at the entrance, and lined up in orderly rows on both sides of the alley, they accompany them to the stairs leading to the lower and main part of the park.
From here, the arboretum is visible at a glance - a vast number of the most dissimilar plants turned out to be ideally inscribed in the Caucasian landscape. This becomes especially surprising, given the fact that the project was drawn up in distant France, and the landscape architect himself never visited here. Without a doubt, only the best of best addition time - A.E. Regel. He was the author of books on landscape design and participated in the reconstruction of the park of the Georgian poet A. Chavchavadze, whose gardens were compared in beauty only with the parks of England. The experienced gardener R.K. was instructed to bring the project to life. Skrivaniku, who put his whole soul into the Southern Cultures Park and worked here until the end of his days, after which he was buried in the southern part of the park.
Initially, the Southern Cultures Park was conceived as a luxurious object of park art, which has no analogues on the entire Black Sea coast - a unique collection of Sochi trees. The beginning of the laying of the park is considered to be 1905-1912. The lack of constraint on funds made it possible to import plants from abroad in unlimited quantities. In 1937-1939. The park received a large collection of plants from South-East Asia and China. These were Japanese maples, sakuras, camellias, magnolias and many, many others.
Walking through the park, every time around the corner, something new opens up to your eyes - a pond with lotuses,
sycamore - which can be embraced by several people at once,
interesting branched trees - seen a lot in their lifetime,
a reservoir with a descent directly to the water - for boating in the old days.
Baba Yaga is waiting in the thicket,
and a lizard hid under a bush.
They live in big lake and are not at all afraid of people.
Throughout the walk you will invariably meet many flowers.
There are wooden benches and gazebos,
in one of which we waited out a little rain.
Despite the fact that there are no entertainment attractions here, children will also be interested - after all, Southern cultures are located near the airport, so you can watch the planes taking off from close range. The unusual contrast of the past against the background of the present is remembered for a long time.
Dendropark has existed for about 114 years. During this time there were both flourishing and complete oblivion. In the post-Soviet period, the park was completely abandoned, and employees were not paid salaries for a long time. But they did not leave the park in trouble, they tried to maintain it in a tolerable state on their own no matter what. Unfortunately, two tornadoes that fell out completed the sad picture, destroying a total of almost 2,000 plants. The matter went to the final closure, but thanks to the incredible efforts of dedicated employees, and countless appeals from caring local residents, the park was given the status of a specially protected natural object. Since 2012, reconstruction has been slowly underway, time will pass and this will be the second Arboretum, but so far there is still a lot of work.
Somebody can say what's up full recovery for a very long time and there is nothing to do there, but after all, a person himself carries a mood, even if the world does not correspond to his ideas. So stay at home or take a dip in the world- everyone decides for himself.
At the exit, he saw everyone off with a stern look former owner park - Daniil Vasilyevich Drachevsky, immortalized in a small monument. He, as it were, also remained indifferent to the fate of his once luxurious estate, which he inherited from the Prince of Oldenburg as a winning card. The most appropriate name was given to the estate - "Random". Later, when the park was nationalized, it moved to the territory of the Southern Cultures state farm, and has remained with this name to this day.
P.S. Southern Cultures Park how to get there: by buses No. 57 No. 125 and fixed-route taxi No. 50 No. 56 No. 126 No. 133 No. 134
P.S. Good news! Currently, the Southern Cultures Park has been restored, and the exotic plants and trees of Sochi are in perfect order! Welcome!
The Southern Cultures park in Sochi almost died, the authorities forgot about it, the enterprise that managed the park went bankrupt. For several years, the oldest employees maintained the old park at their own expense, and then decided to draw attention to the problem. In 2012, a renaissance began in the history of the park, which continues to this day.
The history of the Southern Cultures Park began in 1909. There are several legends about his origin, the most common one being that the Prince of Oldenburg lost a large sum of money to the Governor-General of St. Petersburg Daniil Drachevsky. As you know, card debt is a debt of honor, but the prince paid off not with money, but with lands that were located between the Mzymta and Psou rivers. The well-known Sochi local historian, head of the house-museum of Sergei Khudekov Dmitry Krivoshapka wrote about this in his work on the 100th anniversary of the park.
Lands near the Black Sea with an area of 34 acres 2125 sazhens (about 38 hectares. - Note. RP), Drachevsky called the estate "Random". Part of the land was given over to the park. Drachevsky set the bar high - his park should be the best on the entire coast, and therefore a lot of money was required for laying the bookmark. As historians write, Drachevsky did not deny himself anything and lived in a big way. So hired the best at the time landscape designer from St. Petersburg, did not spare money for the purchase of plants. Arnold Regel had experience with southern gardens, he restored the destroyed park of the Georgian poet Alexander Chavchavadze in Tsinandala.
It is believed that Regel designed the garden only according to the initial data that he was provided without going to the site. Later it turned out that the "Southern Cultures" became almost the only park in Sochi created according to a professional project. No one else has been able to match Caucasian nature, sea, mountains and elegance of European estates and luxury palace parks. Lovely park in the best traditions of design art of that time, it was created in a very short time - in just two years, writes local historian Dmitry Krivoshapka. Mature trees were brought from the Gagra nursery, cypresses, oleanders and even palms, outlandish for Russia, were ordered abroad. It is now impossible to imagine Sochi without these plants, and at the beginning of the 20th century they were brought by sea from warm countries and they got on really well. In 1914, Drachevsky built for himself a luxurious mansion with carved balconies, and it fits perfectly into a luxurious park. However, the general was not destined to enjoy this beauty for a long time: after the revolution, Drachevsky and Regel were shot, and the park and the Random estate were nationalized, after which vegetable beds appeared in the park instead of rose gardens. In 1935, he became the state farm "Southern Cultures". In the late 1930s, the park began to be restored and even its area was increased. But the Great prevented Patriotic War, and for almost 15 years people had no time for beautiful views. The restoration of the "Southern Cultures" began in the mid-1950s, in the 1960s-80s the park flourished and was popular with tourists: sea excursions from the center of Sochi to "Southern cultures". The holidaymakers arrived from the sea, walked along the shady plane tree alley to the park through the carved wrought iron gates. During perestroika, the area of the park was significantly reduced, and during the Olympic construction, Southern Cultures almost completely disappeared. Senior dendrologist of the park Alexey Plotnikov says that for several years, employees at their own expense saved "Southern Cultures" from complete desolation.
We haven't been paid for several years. Not a penny was allocated for maintenance, the management of the park disappeared along with the money, external management was introduced. We cleaned the park every spring at our own expense, mowed the grass in the summer, preserved the plants as best we could, - says Alexey Plotnikov.
All employees of the park have been working there for a long time and still remember what it was like in their better times. Therefore, they did not stop working: they were afraid that the unique trees would be cut into firewood. Every day, employees prevented theft: they dragged everything - plants, benches, bins, light bulbs.
The Yuzhzelenkhoz enterprise was declared bankrupt, everything subject to sale was sold and the huge debts of the enterprise were paid off. The park was closed. The only visitors at that time were bailiffs. The territory of the "Southern Cultures" was divided into eight parts and put up for sale. It was planned that residential buildings would be built there. The plane tree alley and the eucalyptus grove were removed from the park and transferred to the Olimpstroy State Corporation. Heavy machinery drove along the old alley to the asphalt plant, and several trees were irretrievably lost. Due to the active construction around the park, the drainage system was disrupted, water was constantly standing in some areas, which led to the death of exotic trees. Underground springs changed their direction, one of the ponds, in which unique Chinese lotuses grew, simply dried up, along with all the plants. When the situation became quite critical, four guards decided to take extreme measures: they went on a hunger strike. This news has been covered by the media. And then on unique park, which by that time had already lost more than half of the rarest plants, drew attention. Residents of Sochi have collected more than 7,000 signatures for the preservation of the park. In July 2012, by order of the Russian government, "Southern Cultures" was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Sochi national park". The dendrological collection was registered with the Department of Specially Protected natural areas ministries natural resources Russia.
Pre-revolutionary photo of the park "Southern Cultures"
At the same time, the first work on the restoration of the park began. Members of the public formed a steering group to oversee the process. In December 2013, a bust of Daniil Drachevsky was erected on the main alley. At the same time, the first scientific inventory of the collection of "Southern Cultures" was carried out, which was headed by Professor, Doctor of Biological Sciences, leading dendrologist of the South of Russia Yuri Karpun.
- The latest inventory showed that in the collection of "Southern Cultures" on 20 hectares grow plants belonging to 665 taxa of 209 genera of 76 families. Almost half of them are represented by single copies, and a third of the collection is unique. June 27, 2014 by order of the Federal Property Management Agency in Krasnodar Territory Plane Alley and Eucalyptus Grove were returned to the park, - said Yuriy Karpun.
In the first two years, the Sochi National Park invested 20 million rubles in clearing, fencing the park, and breeding rare plant species. Later, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia allocated another 120 million rubles for the restoration of the Southern Cultures park, says the chief dendrologist Alexey Plotnikov, who finds it difficult to contain his emotions: Alexei no longer hoped that the park would ever be restored.
– I came here to work as a young specialist in the early 1970s, it was a heavenly place, and then everything fell into decay before my eyes. Now the team is happy, we are happy to work, seven days a week. We are restoring everything and getting excellent feedback from visitors, - says Alexey Plotnikov.
The first funds were spent on cleaning the reservoirs, from which 12 thousand m 3 of silt and mud were raked out, the banks were strengthened with gabions, and the islands with a special solution, bridges across the reservoirs were replaced with forged ones. Now the Red Data Book turtles and ducks are doing well. And for the first time after many years of absence, white and black swans were released into the lake, which had already bred their chicks. They were brought from the Arboretum park.
– We completely restored the network of paths and alleys, made the drainage of the entire site - this is our most sore point, the park was sinking. Replaced all communications. We restored our beautiful stairs, which used to be dangerous to walk on, updated the entrance group to the park, and installed lamps. This is such happiness, - says Alexey Plotnikov.
According to him, active planting of new plants began in the winter and spring of last year, since the irrigation system was completely recreated.
- We buy new specimens, repaired greenhouses where we grow our planting material. We are trying to grow even those plants that have completely disappeared. We order them in Russian and European nurseries, - said Plotnikov. According to him, the park’s employees plan to re-engage in plant breeding; in Soviet times, they supplied plants bred by local breeders throughout Soviet Union. For example, the archive contains data that in 1952 the employees of the Southern Cultures park sent a collection of plants to Moscow to create a university arboretum on the Lenin Hills.
– To create the park, plants were brought from all over the world: from Japan, America. Douglas fir grew in the west of America, took root with us. Sequoias also liked our climate. These trees, thanks to the park, have spread to Black Sea coast, just like a tulip tree, - says Alexey Plotnikov.
Blooming tulip trees and japanese sakura- the most beautiful sight, the chief dendrologist notes. These trees have survived to this day, and now work is underway to propagate them.
This year, the park began to restore elements landscape design: the gazebo and the fountain "Two Cupids" were completely lost, they had to be rebuilt. From the once beautiful estate of Drachevsky remained water tower and part of the foundation of the house. They intend to restore the tower and build a house exactly according to old photographs, they want to turn it into a museum of the history of the park.
Now "Southern Cultures" is open to visitors and has again become a place of attraction for Sochi residents and guests of the resort. Olga Ostroumova, a local resident, grew up next to the park, once she walked along the shady alleys as a child, then she walked there with her children, and now her grandchildren have grown up.
“We watched in horror as our park was overgrown and a handful of people were trying to defend it. Then they joined them, began to fight, write to all authorities. And we were heard, - says Olga Ostroumova.
According to her, the park is almost the same as it was in the 1960s: with rose gardens, shady cypress alleys and swans in the pond. And most importantly - with the crowds of visitors who come to the park in different time of the year. It is always beautiful and evergreen - it was designed that way. Particularly pleasing is the restored plane tree alley with benches and lamps leading to the sea.
This park has been preserved thanks to the people working here, who were not afraid to put their health on the scales and, having declared a hunger strike, demanded attention to the deplorable state of the facility they looked after, while not receiving a salary for two whole years. The scandal reached Moscow. Only after that, the park was helped not to starve to death in every sense, and literally survive the second birth. By the Olympics, this half-plundered corner of the reserved land began to be restored. A lot of reconstruction work has been carried out, and although there is still room for improvement, it is already clear that the Southern Cultures Park in Sochi is regaining its former grandeur.
The Southern Cultures Park may not yet reach European gardens, but the noble landscapes of this fabulous place will not leave visitors indifferent.
Every year, not having time to wake up from the winter sleep, the park already shines with the whiteness of freshly painted balustrades, rages with the color of all kinds of trees and shrubs. Therefore, if the question arose: “What to see in Sochi in the spring?” It's not even a question - visit Southern Cultures.
Spring in Sochi starts with Southern Cultures Park
The cash desk is made in the same style as the gazebos, located in the park.
Southern Cultures Park TICKETS PRICE
A ticket costs 250 rubles for adults and 120 rubles for children from 7 to 14 years old. Children under 7 years old - admission is free.
Excursion service costs 100 rubles for one excursionist.
Excursion service for a group of up to ten people costs 1,000 rubles plus a ticket for each person.
Opening hours vary depending on the time of year, but usually Southern Cultures Park in Sochi open to visitors from 9 am to 6 pm (7 days a week).
As they say, without leaving the cash desk, visitors immediately see the beauty of nature.
The bright forsythia flowers are impossible to miss!
Forsythia or Forsythia is a genus of shrubs and small trees of the Olive family, blooming with beautiful yellow flowers.
Just like the yellow flowers, the bright rules of the park are striking - as usual, there are more prohibitions than permits.
Rules of the Southern Cultures Park
On the other hand, some “wise guy” painted an old water tower after all.
Going deep into the park, to the right of the pond, you can see an architectural monument built in 1905 - a water tower.
...and carved wood using a living trunk stone tree.
The inscription on the stone tree trunk is almost overgrown, but, of course, it will not completely disappear.
Dzelkva in Georgian means "stone bar".
Behind the stone tree is a clearing with daffodils.
Opposite the hornbeam zelkova, magnolia sulange blooms. sometimes even locals they call it a tulip tree, and although these two species are really related, in this photo it is still the soulange magnolia.
In good conditions, it blooms early and profusely. Sometimes flowers bloom a week earlier than usual. Therefore, to get to the current flower vernissage, you should not wait too long. sunny days- for the sake of aromas (like fine French perfumes) and the views of these beauties, you can take a walk even in windy, cloudy weather.
Magnolia sulange in the park "Southern Cultures"
A tall white magnolia grows next to the pink magnolia. In March, its flowers, like birds, "sit" on the branches, basking in the warm spring sun.
Blooming magnolia in the park "Southern Cultures"
Nearby stands a sprawling plane tree, so large that even from ten meters it does not fit into the frame.
Despite the two most terrible hurricanes that hit the Southern Cultures park in Sochi, there are quite a lot of gigantic trees left here.
The park has a large number of species of trees, shrubs, flowers, but the feeling of chaos in this diversity is not created, because all the plants are correctly grouped and distributed throughout the "Southern Cultures".
Composition with a Mexican slide against the backdrop of magnificent, bright cersis.
The composition with a Mexican slide smoothly transfers visitors to the alley of cersis, strewn with bright purple flowers. The color of these deciduous shrubs is always very rich and can reach dark purple. By the way, the second name of cersis is purple.
Cersis Alley in the Southern Cultures Park
Despite the fact that the cersis has absolutely no aroma, due to its rapid growth and abundant flowering, it is often used in gardens with a warm climate, and the Southern Cultures Park in Sochi can boast that the mountains save it from the cold wind. On the other hand, on too hot days, the increased humidity coming from the sea helps the plants.
Flowers cover the cersis completely, they bloom even on the trunk.
Not far from the purple splendor, there is a fountain framed by boxwood bushes.
The young leaves of boxwood smell wonderful and delight the eye with new greenery, but the caterpillars of the moth butterfly do not sleep here either, they devour the young shoots with the appetite of three fat men. Let's hope that the park workers will be able to expel this misfortune at least from their territory.
In winter, early and spring, the fountain does not work, but tourist season it must be included.
Fountain in the park "Southern Cultures"
Many different in style, but equally charming corners of the park attract not only tourists here, local residents also quite often come to the "Southern Cultures" to relax and even spend one of the most important days in their lives here.
If you want to do beautiful pictures nature, then Southern Cultures Park in Sochi is the best place for it. Pick a nice day and shoot before or after lunch so that the midday sun doesn't overpower your shots.
Even dropped bright camellia petals look very beautiful in green grass.
If you set out to photograph each flowering plant, then a tour of the Southern Cultures Park can drag on for a whole day. Therefore, it is worth taking sandwiches with you and drinking water, because in grocery store, which is located exactly opposite the entrance to the park, you should only go in as a last resort, because it is expensive here and the saleswoman is rude when you explain to her that the brisket is not a chicken breast, but a product of their pork.
You can have a bite to eat on a bench, a bench or in a gazebo - there are not very many such recreation areas along the paths in the center of the park, but there are plenty of them in the spacious alleys.
Bench near the stairs
Spacious Walk of Fame
For this alley and eucalyptus grove, local residents have been busy for several years - these two sections were withdrawn from the park in unfavorable times - as a result, the territory was returned, and, fortunately, the park itself was not sold to anyone.
Walk of Fame in the park "Southern Cultures"
Some visitors rest sitting on this fallen tree.
You can also sit on one of the benches by the pond, next to the blooming magnolia.
In addition to flowering trees, the pond is also attractive for its inhabitants - ducks, black and white swans, small nimble turtles and large solid turtles. True, when these photographs were taken, it was rather cool outside and all living creatures hid in their warm dwellings, and the black swan, importantly pacing near his house in the middle of the lake, was so inaccessible that I had to be content with just this frame
But the pond itself is good in any weather.
The banks of the pond were reinforced with gabions
From the caretaker's house opens gorgeous view to swan island.
Having passed along the snow-white bridge or, if you are with a stroller, bypassing the pond along the path, you can get from one side to the other.
Bridge across the pond in the park "Southern Cultures"
The architectural forms of bridges, flights of stairs and balustrades were not just repaired, they were restored from old photographs. Now they look new, but at the same time they retain the style of the beginning of the last century. For example, a layer of tiles was left untouched at the restored Cypress Stairs. This is how they do it in European cities- so that tourists are not misled by the reconstruction, a part of the old cladding is left on the buildings, which makes it clear that this is an ancient object.
All flights of stairs in the park look very elegant.
The balustrades are snow-white to match the stairs, decorated with beautiful flowerpots, which in summer are filled with bright flowering plants.
But in the spring, while the flowerpots are empty, in Southern cultures you can admire the color of spring trees and shrubs: magnolias, sakuras, quinces, camellias and other plants easily replace summer flower beds.
Particularly important areas of the park are decorated with flowers almost all year round.
Monument to the creator of the park "Southern Cultures". The authors of the bronze bust are Alexander Butaev and Vyacheslav Zvonov from Sochi.
Next to the bust of the founder of the "Southern Cultures" (not far from the entrance) there is an alley with many wooden sculptures made by the park workers. Perhaps they are quite peculiar, but you must admit they are not without some charm and originality.
This wooden sculpture especially memorable
If you walk not only in a big circle, but also turn onto paths emerging from behind the bushes, then you can wander for quite some time among the magnificent rare plants who managed to save the Southern Cultures Park in Sochi.
Southern cultures ADDRESS
In hard times, the park lost a major part of its land, and all navigation systems still lead tourists along an already non-existent route - they offer to turn off where there is no turn or turn right on a solid one, and eventually lead to some kind of new building. That is, in this case, you should not follow the instructions of the Internet assistant. The park has only one entrance left and it is located on Tulip Street. The navigator will lead there only if you specify the destination Nagorny dead end, 13. This is the address of the territory that is located across the fence from the Southern Cultures park, and for some reason there is no address near the park itself.
It will be much easier to find the park at the address of the neighboring site.
Per day!
Southern Cultures Park- arboretum, located in Adler near the Mzymta River.
It is believed that the park layout and beauty is not inferior to Nikitsky botanical garden in the Crimea and the Sochi arboretum.
History of the Southern Cultures Park
The history of the Southern Cultures park began when a garden and park ensemble with a system of ponds was founded by General Daniil Vasilyevich Drachevsky on the land of his estate "Random", which occupied an area of 11 hectares. The layout of the park was developed according to the project of a landscape gardening architect A. Regel.
It is believed that Regel did not even see the park, but only engaged in designing. The gardener was directly involved in the creation R.F. Skrivanik, who worked as an assistant to the head of the Sochi horticultural station R.I. Garbe.
The park was one of the "landscape" with separate regular elements.
After the revolution, since 1920, the park was part of the Randomnoye state farm, which in 1929 was renamed "Southern Cultures".
In the 1930s, the territory of the Southern Cultures park was significantly increased due to the development of the state farm.
In 2012, celebrated the centenary of m joined the Sochi national park . In the same year, a memorial bust of the founder of the Southern Cultures park, Major General Daniil Drachevsky, was erected according to the project of sculptors Alexander Butaev and Vyacheslav Zvonov.
In 2008, the Southern Cultures Park was reconstructed.
In 2012, the park had a small landscape update: 11 wooden statues were installed, depicting fabulous animals and characters.
In 2016, another large-scale reconstruction began in the park.
Description of the park
Part of the park with a difference in relief is its oldest part. Here, on the elevated eastern side, there is a landscape department, separated from the regular "French" park with parterre and circular alleys and a system of ponds. North of the old part is located new landing mixed layout. From the west, a grove of eucalyptus trees grows in a previously swampy area.
The park has many ornamental ponds.
State farm "Southern cultures"
The state farm Southern Cultures operates at the park. The main products of the state farm are flowers and seedlings.
Visit to the park "Southern Cultures"
You can visit the park on your own or with a guided tour.
The park's opening hours are from 9:00 to 19:00, seven days a week (schedules vary depending on the time of year). Children under 7 years old are served free of charge.
Discounts are available for certain population groups.
The founder of the park was the general, mayor of St. Petersburg, Daniil Vasilievich Drachevsky. According to one version, the land on the Black Sea coast between Sochi and Sukhumi went to him as payment for a gambling debt, perhaps because the new owner gave his estate unusual name- the estate "Random". About a third of the territory Drachevsky ordered to take under the park - in those days it was fashionable. The territory of the future "Southern cultures" at that time was 10.5 acres (almost 11.5 hectares). According to Drachevsky's plan, this park was to become the best in Russia, the pearl of the Black Sea coast, so beautiful that no one even thought of comparing the park of the Sluchaynoye estate with similar ones on the Crimean coast.
To work on the project, the owner of the estate invited the landscape architect Arnold Regel, whose designs were embodied in reality by the Czech gardener Roman Skrivannik. Literally in two years - 1910-1912. - a garden and park ensemble of extraordinary beauty was created in landscape and landscape style. Originality was evident in everything - starting with the fact that the architectural center was planned without being tied to a dacha house. The maestro used a regular breakdown in the depths of the park, thereby emphasizing that his brainchild is not an addition to the villa, but an individual and independent phenomenon. For the design of the first flowerbeds and alleys, planting materials were used from the private collections of Reingold Garbe and Roman Skrivannik, as well as from nurseries at the estates of Sukhumi and Batumi. The founder of the park treated his green collection with special trepidation and constantly sought to replenish it with interesting specimens.
The result amazed many, even the most experienced masters of landscape art of that time - the park turned out to be extraordinary. Regel succeeded here, in reality, as on canvas, to apply the basic techniques of painting: perspective, the play of light, a combination of color and texture. Thanks to this, the landscapes not only sparkled with bright colors, but came to life and breathed. Multi-tiered alleys, chic flower beds, spacious parterres, whole hedges and neatly trimmed trees and shrubs. But the most important thing is the endless water surface artificial ponds, ideally inscribed in the developed landscape. All this made it possible to stand out clearly from the background of other parks. Nobody in Russia saw anything like it then. Meanwhile, the park of the estate "Sluchaynoye" grew and became prettier. For several years, Daniil Drachevsky managed to collect dozens of unique trees - the collection consisted of more than 370 species.
It would seem that “Random” will continue to develop, but then politics intervened. After the revolution of 1917, the founder of the park, Daniil Drachevsky was shot, and the park itself was nationalized a few years later and included in the state farm. The main purpose of the land from that moment was the cultivation of vegetable crops. No attention was paid to gardening and decorative design, so part of the plant fund was lost - many plants in the park died. To replace them, they planted what was. As a result, non-compliance with architectural and landscape rules led to a violation of a single style.
The middle of the 30s of the last century became a landmark for the park, during this period the name changes: from "Random" the park turns into "Southern Cultures". And this was just the beginning of a phase of change for the better. This was followed by an inventory of plants and the development of a general reconstruction plan. The project included an increase in the area to 20 hectares.
Around this time, a global reconstruction of the whole of Sochi began. The city needed a lot of young seedlings - the resort should be surrounded by greenery! A decision is made to create a nursery. The park "Southern Cultures" was chosen as the base for it. The main task of the nursery was to supply seeds and cuttings to the state farm, which, in turn, must reproduce planting material in the right amount - young seedlings were in great demand! The park changed during this period: its territory increased significantly, dozens of new species and forms of plants appeared. The green collection was replenished with the rarest specimens - Professor Artsybashev for three years - 1936-1939. - brought a huge number of plants from Asia. It was then that Japanese camellias, cherries, finger maples, as well as magnolias, rhododendrons and many other exotics from various parts of the world appeared in the "Southern Cultures".
The next decade again became a time of oblivion for the park - the Soviet people survived as best they could, gritting their teeth and fighting on the fields of the Great Patriotic War. Sochi residents helped wounded soldiers recover - the resort turned into a hospital city, there was no time to take care of the park, and there was no one - every minute and every pair of hands counted. new history parka.
And this story began in 1952. And again, with the increase in territory - this time, "Southern Cultures" added 2 hectares of land. These lands had a specific purpose - to lay a eucalyptus grove. A few years later, Australian beauties rustled here with silvery foliage. The main collection of exotic plants has also been replenished: outlandish water lilies Victoria Regia have grown in the pond, the huge leaves of which can easily withstand the weight of an adult. Along the paths, the Australian evergreen araucaria took root and settled down. The Soviet people, not spoiled by curiosities, reached out in orderly rows to the "Southern Cultures" - the fame of an amazing corner on the Black Sea coast quickly spread throughout the union. In the 60s and 70s, probably, every Soviet citizen dreamed of getting a ticket to Sochi someday to walk in the bamboo thickets and see with their own eyes the tallest grass in the world - banana palms. Such attention, of course, obliged - the park was constantly developing, more and more new plants appeared in it. By the end of the seventies - the beginning of the eighties, "Southern Cultures" became one of the richest parks on the Black Sea coast. And the largest producer of seeds and seedlings of rare exotic plants - they were sent from here throughout the Soviet Union!
July 9, 1983 Another starting point in the life of "Southern Cultures". This time, a period of decline was launched. A terrible tornado has hit the corner of paradise. After his “walk”, the park workers missed almost one and a half thousand adult plants, the age of many of them was over 40 years. The damage was colossal: decorative elements were destroyed, the rarest trees were broken and uprooted...
For many years, the park was never able to recover from these destructions, which, moreover, coincided with the historical upheavals in the country. So the post-Soviet times again became a difficult period in the life of the "Southern Cultures".
And in the new millennium, like deja vu, the pattern repeated itself. In September 2001, again a tornado and again huge losses in the form of destruction of the already impoverished collection. A few years later, the park, which was once well-groomed and almost standard, began to turn into an impenetrable jungle. Caring activists and dedicated employees tried to restore order here on their own, but their efforts were a drop in the ocean and almost immediately came to naught - the tropical vegetation felt great and, without experiencing any restrictions, began to confidently capture every square meter of the territory. By the way, it is thanks to one of these periods of oblivion that today in the "Southern Cultures" one can observe interesting phenomenon. As a result of self-sowing, entire "families" appeared in the eucalyptus grove - young trees reach for the sun next to adults.
In 2008, the reconstruction of the park began. No amateur performances - everything is exclusively in accordance with the project of the first landscape architect Regel. The work continued for over a year. Then the greenhouses were restored for growing their own planting material, the paths were cleared and put in order, benches were installed. But the main thing is that hundreds of new plants have been planted, including tall trees (pines, cypresses, magnolias) and shrubs (callistemons, oleanders, etc.). The rose garden has also been updated - 560 roots of the "flower queen" were planted in flower beds " Southern cultures.
The measures did not bring the expected results. Without proper care, the park began to overgrow and "deform" again. The Olympic construction also played its role - as a result of damage to the drainage system, one of the ponds became shallow on hot days, the other silted up, due to waterlogging of the soil, many exotic plants died, and cement dust, which was quite a lot at that time, also affected their growth. Only weeds felt great, which gradually replaced the exotics. It was not without theft at that time - many unique specimens were simply dug up by irresponsible citizens. In just a few years, a third of the living collection was lost. And part of the park (with a plane tree alley and a eucalyptus grove) was transferred to the state corporation Olympstroy.
2012 turned another page in the history of Southern Cultures. The park became a structural subdivision of the Sochi National Park. From that moment began new life a unique corner, but in fact - another revival. The Sochi National Park has begun restoration work: the flowerbeds have been cleared of weeds, the fence has been renewed, the systematic planting of plants has begun and the necessary care has been provided for the existing rare specimens. But the main thing that was achieved in those years was the return of the plane tree alley and eucalyptus grove to the Southern Cultures.
Global reconstruction began after the Olympics. In 2016, the garden and park ensemble sparkled with new colors."Southern Cultures" regained its former greatness.
Now it is crowded again: the park delights guests with well-groomed alleys, shady corners, incredible wealth and variety of plants. living world.
