Khosta () is a microdistrict in

Khostinsky City District Khostinsky city district () is one of four city districts of the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Sochi in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city district borders Maykopsky District of the Republic of Adygea in the northeast, Adlersky ci ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and is administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the t ...

, Russia, primarily known as a spa and a resort on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

coast. Khosta is located in the mouth of the Khosta River, between the center of Sochi and Adler. The area is served by the

Khosta railway station Khosta railway station () is a railway station of the North Caucasus Railway, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, located in Khosta, Khostinsky City District of Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a countr ...

History

In the Middle Ages,

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

established a colony (Costa) at the location of modern Khosta. Eventually the area was taken by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, and the settlement was known as Khamysh. After the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

of 1828–29 it was occupied by the Russian Empire, and the whole population was eventually resettled to Turkey. In 1891—92 the coastal road between

Novorossiysk Novorossiysk (, ; ) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities designated by the Soviet Union as a Hero City. The population was History In antiquity, the shores of the ...

and

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...

was constructed, and first settlers appeared in Khosta. On May 15, 1899, Khosta was granted town status. At the time, it belonged to

Black Sea Governorate The Black Sea Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, established in 1896 on the territory of the of the Kuban Oblast. The administrative center of the governorate w ...

with the center in Novorossiysk. By 1914, Khosta had a population of 1,500 inhabitants, a brick factory, and a wine production plant. Soviet Power was declared in Khosta in February 1918, followed by the advance of the army of the

Democratic Republic of Georgia The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; ka, საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა, tr) was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia (country), Georgia, which exist ...

, which in July 1918 occupied the whole coast up to Tuapse. In February 1919, they were driven back by the

Volunteer Army The Volunteer Army (; ), abbreviated to (), also known as the Southern White Army was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1920. The Volunteer Army fought against Bolsheviks and the Makhnovists on the ...

under command of

Anton Denikin Anton Ivanovich Denikin (, ; – 7 August 1947) was a Russian military leader who served as the Supreme Ruler of Russia, acting supreme ruler of the Russian State and the commander-in-chief of the White movement–aligned armed forces of Sout ...

. Between January and May 1920, the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

recaptured the area. In 1933, it was decided to totally reconstruct the coastal area and to create a large number of spa resorts. To this end, in October 1934 Khosta was subordinated to the city of Sochi. In the 1950s and the 1960s there was large-scale construction in Khosta.

Transportation

The railway that connects Adler and

by following the coast has a station in Khosta. Suburban trains from Sochi and from

Krasnaya Polyana Krasnaya Polyana () meaning "Red Meadow" is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia: Modern localities Amur Oblast As of 2012, one rural locality in Amur Oblast bears this name: * Krasnaya Polyana, Amur Oblast, a '' selo'' in Tomsky R ...

stop there. The M27 Highway connecting

with Adler crosses Khosta. The microdistrict is served by the bus system of the city of Sochi.

Culture and recreation

Even though the history of Khosta goes back to the 19th century, there are very few pre-1930 buildings. Those that survived include the Transfiguration Church and a number of pre-1917 dachas (summer houses). Near surroundings of Khosta are holiday destinations. *Khosta Fortress, or rather the ruins thereof, perched on the top of a 100-meter high cliff within six kilometers () from the sea coast. *The fortress stands on the grounds of an ancient grove of

yew Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus '' Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew ('' Taxus ...

s and

boxwood ''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box and boxwood. The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost So ...

. The grove covers an area of 301 ha and has been affiliated with the

Caucasus Zapovednik Caucasus Nature Reserve is a Russian ''zapovednik'' (strict ecological reserve) covering a heavily mountainous section of the Northwest Caucasus Mountains. It is the largest and oldest in the territory of specially protected natural area in the C ...

since 1931 and is the

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

as a part of the Zapovednik. *The Akhun

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

comprises Greater Akhun Mtn. (663 m), Lesser Akhun Mtn. (501 m), and Eagle Bluff (380 m). Greater Akhun is crowned by a

Neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

limestone tower (1936).

Eponyms

* '' Khostalestes kochetkovi'', a slug species discovered in the mountains north of Khosta, is named after Khosta.

References

{{Use mdy dates, date=January 2014 Khostinsky city district Seaside resorts in Russia Sochi