Alexandrovskaya volcano: interesting facts, photos and advice to tourists, how to get to the Ural summit

Alexandrovskaya Sopka is located in the Chelyabinsk region, near the city of Zlatoust. This mountain attracts the attention of a treeless peak. It is perfectly visible from the Chelyabinsk-Orenburg highway. Is it worthwhile to turn off to get to know Alexandrovskaya Sopka closer? This article will be devoted to our article. In the meantime, we will only say that the path to the mountain is easy, the hike is easy, and the views from the top are beautiful. Ahead of you a lot of impressions.

Some scientific facts

Alexandrovskaya Sopka is one of the peaks of the Ural Mountains and is far from the highest. The hill belongs to the Ural-Tau ridge. The height of the mountain is 843 meters above the sea level. The rock is composed of quartzites. Almost to the very top stretches a dark coniferous forest. Quite often it is interrupted by stone placers - kurums. The top is a rocky crest. On the ridge of the Ural-Tau, including the Alexander hill, the border between Europe and Asia passes. True, a commemorative granite sign about this is not set at the top, but near the Urzhumka railway station. But there is an explanation for this. The monument was erected in the distant year of 1892, and it was rather difficult to deliver the granite to the top. But the sign was made according to the drawings of N. Garin-Mikhailovsky, a famous Russian writer who worked in the Urals at that time as an engineer.

Where did the name come from?

On old maps, this mountain is called the same as the whole ridge - Ural-Tau. Where did the name "Alexandrovskaya Sopka" come from? It all started with the fact that in 1837 the ruling Russian empire, Nikolai Pavlovich, sent his son, the Grand Duke of the Tsarevich Alexander, to get acquainted with the country he was destined to rule. The young man was about twenty then, and he was not averse to traveling. On the expanses of Russia he traveled not alone, but with an entire escort of nobles. Was with him and his mentor Vasily Zhukovsky, and two comrades in children's games Alexander Adlerberg and his namesake Patkul. Climbing the Ural-Tau mountain was not planned. But visiting Zlatoust (then not a city, but a factory), the crown prince, the future emperor Alexander II, wanted to climb to the top. After leaving the carriage, he and his companions set off on horseback. On the way, the mentor and other members of the escort, burdened with years, exhorted the prince to turn back. But the three young Alexander were tearing to the top. They conquered it on the ninth of June. After that, the mountain began to be called the Aleksandrovskaya hill. Especially since the crown prince had his own hand left on the top of the inscription.

Other eminent visitors

At different times this mountain was admired (true, from a distance) by Alexander I (in 1825) and Nicholas II (in 1904). These monarchs did not dare to climb to the top. But it was visited by the British geologist Sir Roderick Murchison. He made the ascent four years later after the Crown Prince Alexander. In his memoirs, he calls the Ural-Tau mountain. But the British artist Thomas Atkinson, who arrived in these parts in 1847, already calls it Alexander-sopka. The artist mistakenly believed that the Alexander hill was named in honor of the Russian emperor, who ruled from 1801 to 1825. At the very beginning of the twentieth century Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky and Veniamin Leontyevich Metenkov visited the summit, famous photographers who made several colorful photographs.

Technical and ideological plans

In 1909 the mountainside was crowned by the most powerful radio station at that time. Alexandrovskaya Sopka, however, is surrounded by other peaks, so the radio signals went badly. And the Zlatoust residents insisted on building the station in a mountainous area. They feared that because of the radio they would not have rain. The construction of the station resulted in fabulous sums of money, and the result turned out to be zero. Now the building remains only fragments of the foundation. After the revolutionary events of 1917, the sculptor Stepan Erzya decided to carve a giant bust of Lenin at the top of the Aleksandrovskaya volcano. But for some reason this plan remained unrealized.

Why is Alexandrovskaya Sopka attractive?

Photos of this mountain look very impressive. Placer stones, coniferous forest, the cleanest spring at the foot - all this turns the journey to the Alexander hill into an unforgettable event. And add to this and the fabulous views that open the eyes of the tourist from the top. As in the palm of your hand, you can see the villages of Miass and Chrysostom. Nearby there are other equally picturesque mountains, including Taganay. Those facts that the future emperor Alexander II visited on top and that the border between Europe and Asia passes through it also makes the hills popular among tourists. Climbing the mountain is included in the route of the day off in the Urals. Because of its ease, the path can be overcome even by a child. So, how do you find the mountain Aleksandrovskaya hill?

How to get to the mountain?

This natural landmark is located eight kilometers east of the city of Zlatoust. If you go by car, then the hill is remarkably visible from the road. It is necessary to move along the road Zlatoust - Miass. At the foot of the mountain there are convenient entrances. If you choose public transport, then it is better to use the train. It is necessary to leave it at the station of Urzhumka. By the way, near the railway track there is a memorial sign "Border". From Urzhumki to the foot of the mountain is only three kilometers. You can get to this train station by the minibus from Zlatoust. Travelers note that on the mountain lead comfortable marked trails. Weekend tours cover several attractions at once: the Alexandrovskaya Sopka, Zlatoust with its monuments, the island of Vera with megaliths on Lake Turgoyak, near Miass, the Taganay National Park.