The Mekenzievy Gory station on the Crimean peninsula is the center of a remote area of Sevastopol. The name does not say anything to many, but it is it that is closely connected with the history of the city, with its founder, the man who did a lot for the birth of this city by the sea, the hero city. His name is Thomas Mackenzie. Russian rear admiral who commanded a squadron of the Black Sea Fleet in 1873-1876.
Nature of the Mekenzian Mountains
A wide flat hill, located in the region of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula, is called the Mekenziev mountains. It is a dividing sloping ridge that divides the upper parts of deep and branched gullies descending to the north and west. The mountains are gentle on the north side and steep on the south side.
They are covered with broad-leaved forest, which is mixed with artificial plantings of pine. On the territory of the Mekenziev mountains there is a unique seed nursery of the Crimean pine, which supplies elite seeds of forestbeauties. Mountain slopes from afar appear white with marl deposits.
The Mekenziev Mountains stretch eastward from the station of the same name and Mount Inkerman to the ancient Eski-Kermen, a settlement located on the Inner Crimean ridge. In this place is the border of the Bakhchisarai region with Sevastopol. In the north, the mountains form a watershed between the Chernaya and Belbek rivers.
F. F. Mackenzie
Even in the 18th century, the mountains had the Turkic name Kok-Agach, but they got their fame under the name Mekenzievy mountains. Who is F. F. Mekenzie? The father of the future rear admiral was a Scot by origin and bore the surname Mac Kenzie. His son Thomas McKenzie 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 Thomas, his surname was interpreted in the Russian manner, and he became Thomas Mekenzi. Enrolled in the naval service and made a brilliant career - he became rear admiral and commander of the Black Sea squadron.
How the name came about
It was under his leadership that in 1783 the clearing of the forest began in the practically uninhabited Akhtiar Bay and the construction of barracks, a hospital, a church, an admir alty building and residential buildings for officers began. F. F. Mekenzi was the first commander of the port of Sevastopol.
Under his leadership, quarries were set up, where stone was mined, for construction and kilns in which lime was burned. Small workshops were set up to make some of the things neededfleet. Agricultural farmsteads were created, which provided food for the provisions of the population and the fleet. He turned out to be a good and diligent host.
For his service for the good of Russia, he was granted lands, where he founded a farm, which they began to call Mekenzi. From here came the name of the mountains, at the foot of which it was located, they began to be called the Mekenziev mountains. This name is also given to 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.
Reasons for building the station
The military situation on the Black Sea was turbulent. 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. Sevastopol became an important city on the Crimean peninsula.
Ongoing Russo-Turkish clashes on the eve of the last Turkish war of 1877-1878 put the question before the Russian government about the need to urgently take measures for the regular supply of food and military support.
The Lozovo-Sevastopol railway connecting Sevastopol and Simferopol was built. In the autumn of 1875, the first freight train was delivered to Sevastopol. In 1891, the construction of the Mekenzievy Gory station on the Crimean peninsula began. Simferopol and Sevastopol were securely connected.
The role of the station in the defense of Sevastopol
"Mekenzievy Gory" is, among other things, a station serving the port, which at all times was of strategic importance. That is why during the Great Patriotic War fierce battles unfolded around it, which went on 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.
The fighting was especially fierce in early June 1942, when the territory of the station passed from Soviet soldiers to Germans three times. Not far from the station was the famous anti-aircraft battery No. 365, commanded by Senior Lieutenant I. S. Piano.
The station itself has become a monument to the heroism and courage of Soviet soldiers and sailors who fought here to the last. Her land witnessed assaults, hand-to-hand fights, actions of the Zheleznyakov armored train, desperate fire from anti-aircraft batteries and bitter tears of retreat in July 1942.
Not far from the station is the Mekenzievy Gory cemetery. Sevastopol continues to develop and, according to the decision, a new cemetery will be built here, since the old one is closed. In the old cemetery there are mass graves of the defenders of the city, who died in 1941-1942 during the defense of Sevastopol. Almost all the names of the dead defenders of the station are engraved on the slabs of the memorial complex.
Railway station
In the post-war period, the demand for the station remained high. Cargoes from all over the Soviet Union came here. needed to be restoredSevastopol, its northern side. This was done in no time.
Today, the "Mekenzievy Gory" is the junction of the cargo-passenger station on the Sevastopol-Simferopol line. A regular train Mekenzievy Gory - Simferopol departs from the station. Next to it, a new microdistrict Mekenzievy Gory was built, belonging 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 port of Avlita, capable of receiving large-capacity ships. It is located on the northern side of the non-freezing Sevastopol Bay. Through it there is a transportation of grain and metal products. The northern part of the port is fully served by the station. Huge grain storage terminals have been built on the territory of the port.
