Mekenziev mountains in the Crimea

The station "Mekenzievy Gory" on the peninsula of Crimea is the center of the remote region of Sevastopol. The name does not say much to many, but it is closely connected with the history of the city, with its founder, a man who did a lot for the birth of this city by the sea, the hero city. His name is Foma Mekenzi. Russian Rear Admiral, who commanded a squadron of the Black Sea Fleet in 1873-1876.

The Nature of the Mekenzian Mountains

The wide flat elevation, located in the region of Sevastopol on the peninsula of Crimea, is called Mekenzievy mountains. It is a watershed sloping ridge that divides the upper parts of deep and branched girders that descend to the north and west. The mountains are gentle from the north and steep from the south.

They are covered by deciduous forest, which is mixed with artificial plantings of pine. On the territory of Mekenzievy Mountains there is a unique seed nursery of Crimean pine, which supplies elite seeds of forest beauties. The slopes of the mountains from afar seem white from the marl deposits.

Mekenzievy mountains extend to the east from the station with the same name and the mountain Inkerman to the ancient Eski-Kermen - a settlement located on the Inner Crimean ridge. In this place is the border of the Bakhchsarai district with Sevastopol. In the north, the mountains form a watershed between the rivers Black and Belbek.

F. F. Mekenzi

Even in the XVIII century the mountains wore the Turkic name of Kok-Agach, but they became known under the name Mekenzievy Mountains. Who is F.F. Mekenzy? The father of the future Rear Admiral was of Scots origin and bore the name of Mack Kenzi. His son Thomas Mack Kenzi was born in the north of Russia, according to some sources - in Arkhangelsk.

In all likelihood, he was baptized in an Orthodox church and received the name of Thomas, his name was interpreted in the Russian manner, and he became Foma Mekenzi. He enlisted in the naval service and made a brilliant career - he became a Rear Admiral and Commander of the Black Sea Squadron.

How the name appeared

It was under his leadership that in 1783 a clearing of the forest began in the almost uninhabited Ahtiar Bay and the construction of barracks, a hospital, a church, an Admiralty building and apartment houses for officers was started. F.F. Mekenzi was the first commander of the Sevastopol port.

Under his leadership, stone quarries were built, where they mined a stone, for construction and a furnace in which lime was burnt. There were arranged small workshops for the manufacture of some things necessary for the fleet. Agricultural farmsteads were created, which provided food for the provisions of the population and the fleet. He was a good and diligent master.

For service for the benefit of Russia, he was granted land, where he founded a farm, which began to be called Mekenzi. Hence the name of the mountains appeared, at the foot of which it was located, they were called Mekenzievy mountains. This name is also worn by the railway station, located on the outskirts of the city of Sevastopol, which has played and continues to play a prominent role in the life of the city.

The reasons for the construction of the station

The military situation on the Black Sea was restless. Turkey tried to return the Crimea, annexed to Russia in 1783. Russia needed ports and bases located on the peninsula. Their construction and arrangement began. An important city on the Crimean peninsula was Sevastopol.

The continuing Russian-Turkish clashes in the run-up to the last Turkish war of 1877-1878 raised the question before the Russian government about the urgent need to take measures for the regular supply of food and military supplies.

The Lozovo-Sevastopol railway was built, which connects Sevastopol and Simferopol. In the fall of 1875 the first freight train was delivered to Sevastopol. In 1891, the construction of a station on the Crimean peninsula Mekenzievy Gory began. Simferopol and Sevastopol were securely connected.

The role of the station in the defense of Sevastopol

"Mekenzievy Mountains" is, in addition, a station serving the port, which at all times was of strategic importance. That is why during the Great Patriotic War fierce fighting unfolded around it, which went from 1941 to 1942. Here were the key positions of the Soviet troops, which closed the passage to the northern part of the Sevastopol Bay.

Especially brutal were the fighting in early June 1942, when the territory of the station three times passed from Soviet fighters to the Germans. Not far from the station was the famous anti-aircraft battery No. 365, commanded by Lieutenant I.S. Pyanzin.

The station itself became a monument to the heroism and courage of Soviet soldiers and sailors who fought here until the last. Her land witnessed assaults, hand-to-hand fights, the actions of the armored train Zheleznyakov, the desperate fire of anti-aircraft batteries and bitter tears of retreat in July 1942.

Near the station is the cemetery "Mekenzievy Mountains". Sevastopol continues to develop and here, according to the decision, a new cemetery will be built, since the old one is closed. In the old cemetery are the common graves of the defenders of the city, who died in 1941-1942 during the defense of Sevastopol. Almost all the names of the deceased station defenders are engraved on the plates of the memorial complex.

Railroad station

In the postwar period, the demand for the station remained large. Cargo from all over the Soviet Union came here. It was necessary to restore Sevastopol, its northern side. This was done as soon as possible.

Today Mekenzievy Gory is a nodal cargo and passenger station on the Sevastopol-Simferopol line. A regular electric train from Mekenzievy Mountains to Simferopol leaves from the station. Next to it was built a new micro district of Mekenzievy mountains, which belongs to the Nakhimovsky district of the city of Sevastopol, located 24 kilometers from the very center of the city and four kilometers from the top of the Sevastopol bay.

The significance of the station for the city is great, especially in connection with the construction of the new Avlita port, capable of receiving large-capacity vessels. It is located on the northern side of the ice-free Sebastopol bay. Through it goes the transportation of grain and metal products. The northern part of the port is fully serviced by the station. On the territory of the port, huge terminals for grain storage have been built.