The name is derived from the fused Russian words "пять гор" and the city is so called because of the five peaks of the Beshtau of the Caucasian mountain range overlooking the city. It was founded in 1780, and has been a health spa with mineral springs since 1803. Pyatigorsk is one of the oldest spa resorts in Russia. The health resort provides unique medical resources, and its underground wealth supplies 50 different mineral springs, medical mud taken from Lake Tambukan located from Pyatigorsk, and the mild climate of the area. It is one of 116 historical towns of the Russian Federation. Russian poetMikhail Lermontov was shot in a duel at Pyatigorsk on July 27, 1841. There is a museum in the city devoted to his memory. The Zionist activist Joseph Trumpeldor was born in Pyatigorsk.
History
The writings of the 14th-century Arabian traveler Ibn Battuta included the earliest known mention of the mineral springs. Peter the Great fostered the earliest scientific study of them, but the information collected on his expedition has not survived. Interest revived at the end of the 18th century with the foundation of the first Russian settlement, erected at Mt. Mashuk in 1780. The value of the Caucasian mineral waters led to the construction of a resort in 1803, and studies of their medical properties began thereafter: on April 24, Alexander I signed a decree which made the mineral waters state property. Many settlements developed near the springs: first Goryachevodsk at the bottom of Mt. Mashuk, then Kislovodsk, Yessentuki, and Zheleznovodsk. During World War II the German Wehrmacht temporarily occupied Pyatigorsk. The Einsatzkommando 12 of Einsatzgruppe D had its headquarters in Pyatigorsk in 1942. The German occupation resulted in the killing of many Jewish inhabitants of the region.
Geography and climate
The city is situated on a small plateau, above sea level, at the foot of Beshtau, Mashuk, and three other outliers of the Caucasus Mountains, which protect it on the north. The snow-covered summits of Mount Elbrus are visible to the south. The climate of Pyatigorsk falls within humid continental classification under the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system and is characterized by absence of sharp fluctuations of annual and daily temperatures. Summers are steadily warm with the average July temperature of while winters, lasting two to three months, are cold, with the average January temperature of. Spring is cool, with a sharp transition by the summer, and a warm, dry, and long fall. There are an average of ninety-eight sunny days in a year.
The industry of Pyatigorsk is primarily oriented towards service of the health resort. There is also food industry, textiles, machine industry and metal working ; a chemical factory and a ceramics factory who specialize in porcelain and ceramic gifts such as samovars, figurines, vases, and decorative ceramic wall hanging panels. In 1991, the Pyatigorsk health resort had ten sanatoria, four boarding houses and five sanatoria-preventoria. The number of people who stayed at the health resort within a year totalled about 170,000.
Points of interest
was founded in 1973. It unites all of the Lermontov memorial places in the region: the place where he fought his duel and was killed, a necropolis, Lermontov's small house, Verzilin's houses, the house of Alexander Alyabyev, the Lermontov square, and monument. The Aeolian harp is a small stone pavilion in the classical style, constructed by the brothers Bernardacci in 1828. Diana's grotto was built in 1830, in honor of the first ascent of Mount Elbrus. Pyatigorsk is well known in the Caucasus region for its excellent restaurants and nightlife, as well as for its extremely large marketplace. A major thoroughfare is known to locals as "Broadway", which runs through the center of the city, and on which most of the best restaurants, nightclubs, and attractions are located. Broadway is also a popular spot for people watching. The influence of the Caucasus region is felt here most noticeably in the music and cuisine, which incorporate aspects of many former Soviet republics such as Armenia. Pyatigorsk features prominently in Jonathan Littell's 2009 novel, The Kindly Ones.
