Gelendzhik

In antiquity, the Gelendzhik Bay was the site of a minor Greek outpost, mentioned as Torikos in the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax. It is unknown to Hellenistic sources, but reappears in Roman ones under the name of Pagrae in 64 BC.[9] The colony was wiped out by the invading Huns, which were succeeded by the Zygii soon after. During the Middle Ages, the bay was of some mercantile importance to the Genoese traders who referred to the seaside village as Maurolaca.

Before Russia secured the coast by the Treaty of Adrianople (1829), a brisk slave trade had been carried on between the mountaineers and the Ottoman Empire. Since the Circassian beauties were usually traded for gold and other commodities before being taken to Turkish seraglios, the market place became known as "Gelendzhik" (from "gelincik"), literally, "little bride" in Turkish Language. In 1831, one of the first forts of the Black Sea Coastal Line was set up at Gelendzhik. At the outbreak of the Crimean War the fort had to be blown up and abandoned, but it was resettled by the Cossacks in 1864, at the conclusion of the Russian-Circassian War, and became known as the stanitsa of Gelendzhiksaya. Town status was granted to Gelendzhik in 1915.

During the Soviet period, Gelendzhik was developed as a resort town. It possesses sand beaches, three waterparks, two chairlift lines, and two Orthodox churches (from 1909 and 1913, respectively). The environs of Gelendzhik are noted for a chain of waterfalls, an outcrop of dolmens, two extremely ancient pine and juniper groves, and the Sail Rock, located 17 kilometers (11 mi) from the town's central area. The coastal village of Arkhipo-Osipovka, administrated from Gelendzhik, contains the terminus of the Blue Stream gas pipeline. An annual hydroaviasalon is held in Gelendzhik since 1996.

Gelendzhik town administration building

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with twenty rural localities, incorporated as the Town of Gelendzhik—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.[1] As a municipal division, the Town of Gelendzhik is incorporated as Gelendzhik Urban Okrug.[4]

The climate of Gelendzhik is a cooler humid subtropical (Köppen climate classification Cfa) closely bordering the semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk). Winters are mild and snowfall is light. Summers are hot with warm evenings. Sometimes Gelendzhik has experienced big floods as it happened in 2012 (2012 Krasnodar Krai floods).

Gelendzhik is twinned with:[11]