Things to see and do Caucasus & Black Sea

Especially if you come from the north and Rostov, you can see the first beaches on the Black Sea. The center of the centre is sometimes a bit dirty, but when you get away from the city, you find beautiful pebble beaches, especially after the tip of love (Mys Liubvi).

Proval, in Russian, literally means... "crevice". It's a kind of natural tunnel that leads to a small underground lake of sulphurous blue water... beware of the smell! The place is very curious even if the "lake" (actually the size of a pond) is a bit dirty. In front of the entrance stands a bronze statue representing the mythical Ostap Bender, a character from the book adapted by Leoni Gaïdaï Les Douze Chaises, a classic of Soviet cinema. Russian tourists are systematically photographed in front of it.

The starting point of the cable car is on Boulevard Gagarine, a little higher than Le Proval (see below). For the ascent on foot, the path starts behind the Pyatigorsk Narzan Sanatorium, also located on Gagarin Boulevard. From the top, on a very clear day, you can see the Caucasus Mountains with Mount Elbrus. The Mashuk is not very high and can be climbed easily, it is a must do. For the most intrepid, you can descend by paragliding (spring and summer). Professionals accompany you and jump with you.

The park is especially noteworthy for its Lermontov gallery, built at the beginning of the century, which offers a beautiful Art Nouveau architecture that intertwines floral scrolls with the fine wooden panels typical of the "kourort" towns of the late 19th century. The result is absolutely striking. Formerly a place for tasting mineral water, it is now a concert hall. Around the gallery, a very pleasant park allows you to rest, the real dolce vita à la russe.

This large 60-hectare park is reminiscent of the Kislovodsk park, although to a much lesser extent. The entrance is just below the station. Walking through the park, one comes across beautifully decorated wrought-iron kiosks from the 19th century, colonnades, statues, healing water fountains, and bathing establishments. There is even a tasting gallery where you can taste the various waters, both carbonated and non-carbonated, whose springs are located in the park.

Overlooked by Mount Maloe Sedlo, this immense park contains forest roads and circuits marked out with bollards for the use of sanatorium clients. You can climb to the top by cable car. A café (Maloe Sedlo) serving chachliks and mulled wine offers a splendid view of the Caucasus chain. On the way down, admire the planted paths and beautiful flowerbeds, including the "Valley of Roses". Typical of the chic water cities of that time!

You can easily visit the city and the seaside park in 3 or 4 hours, during a pleasant walk between the pedestrian streets and the park's alleys. Leave the central square (October Square where the post is located) and go back to Kourortny Boulevard. After crossing UL. Vokzalnaya on your right, the establishment of the Narzan bath, built in 1903, in an oriental style that its architect learned during a stay in India. Continuing the "boulevard", always on the right, as a response to the baths of Narzan bath, the Oktiabrskyi baths. Architecture is this time constructivist style, the building being built in the 1930 s. At the end of Kourortnyi Boulevard, we enter the park and Narzan Gallery (open daily from 7 a. m. to 9 a. m., from 11 a. m. to 2 p. m. and from 4 p. m. to 7 p. m., free entrance). This mid-nineteenth century building is well preserved. Inside, you can taste the different mineral waters that flow in the region and bear the generic name of "Narzan". You can buy a cup for a few rubles and move from fountains to fountains. Their taste is generally bad, but all Russians will tell you that this is excellent for health. Leaving the gallery, this is the beginning of the park. Going full is (even though it's not always easy to locate), you arrive in front of an eagle sculpture, which is the symbol of KMV, mineral waters of the Caucasus. A little further away, the cable car allows you to dominate the park and the city.