Magic labyrinth of Kislovodsk Resort Park

Kislovodsk, a famous Narzan spa city, has a wonderful three-leveled Resort Park. It is one of the biggest man-made parks in Europe. Its surface is about 1000 ha (10 sq. km), and this large green space is like a magic labyrinth, where you find new paths and landscapes every day and sometimes fail to find the place you saw just yesterday. This is the best place for **hiking. **You can follow the marked points of one of six terrain cure routes with a total length of 30 km, or download the park map and make your own route. The Flower calendar will fix the accurate date and time of your visit.

250 different kinds of trees and shrubs

Kislovodsk Resort Park was founded in 1823 by General Ermolov. Later, Count Vorontsov ordered to bring the plants from his estates in Crimea, from Georgia, Latvia and Ukraine. Nowadays, there are more than 250 different kinds of trees and shrubs, and cedars, pines and birches grow side by side with magnolias, Chinese wisterias and cork trees.

Three levels of the park

Kislovodsk Resort Park consists of three parts or three levels. The Lower Park is located between the Narzan Gallery and Mirror Pond with the Glass Stream. In this lively part of the park, you can walk along the Olkhovka River and see elegant bridges, cafes and architectural monuments. The main landmarks of Middle Park are the Red Rocks with a figure of an eagle, a symbol of the Caucasus, on the top, and the Valley of Roses with more than 80 sorts of these fragrant and beautiful flowers. Big flowerbeds remind of a chess-board and are surrounded by thujas. You should also definitely find a 15-meter prehistoric crocodile hiding in the shadow of the trees.

**Higher Park **or Mountain Park is the highest and the wildest part of Kislovodsk Resort Park. You can climb the hills or go up in the cable car. The cable station is near the Air Temple. You can enjoy the magnificent views from the top Maloe Sedlo (1325 m), or take a cup of tea in a café on the mountain Krasnoye Solnyshko (Red Sun, or go further to the top Bolshoe Sedlo (1409 m), which is 3 km away and see the panorama of the whole region.

Lermontov, the poet of the Caucasus

A Russian romantic writer, poet and painter Mikhail Lermontov was sent to the Caucasus to exile, but he loved this place and got the title "the poet of the Caucasus". In a cave under the Lermontov's Platform, you can see one of Lermontov’s characters – Demon, the spirit of exile, "Alone in all the universe, Abandoned, without love or hope!.."

A monument to Mihkail Lermontov is erected on the Lermontov Rock. He described this rock in his famous novel “The Hero of Our Time” as a place of a duel. Later, Lermontov was shot to death in a duel in the nearby city Pyatigorsk. The view of the mountains and valleys from the Lermontov Rock can be described with the words of the poet: “God's world lay wonderful and wild...”

One day is not enough for exploring the magic labyrinth of Kislovodsk Resort Park. Every time you visit it, you can find new paths and see new landscapes. It has different parts, including lively and crowded alleys, strict rows of cypresses and flowerbeds, wild silent paths and bare rocks with caves and a thin trickle of water. There are many benches, so that you can take a rest on the way.