Rosa Khutor Resort Supports the Republication of a 1911 Guidebook

Sergey Dorovatovsky, an honorary citizen, agronomist, book publisher, and researcher, actively participated in the development of the Sochi Black Sea Coast at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1911, he published the first-ever guidebook to the city, "Sochi and Krasnaya Polyana with Environs," which is today a bibliographic rarity. Sergey Dorovatovsky approached the work thoroughly: having a dacha in Krasnaya Polyana, he personally walked all the routes to Achishkho, Aibga, and Pseashkho, visited the lakes and alpine meadows, and described almost every step of the unique mountain road stretching for 45 versts. For many years he dreamed of reissuing the guidebook, but his plans were thwarted by the First World War and the subsequent revolutionary events. More than a hundred years later, with the support of the Rosa Khutor resort, his idea has been brought to life. The initiator of the project was local historian and author of books on the history of Krasnaya Polyana, Dmitry Andreev.

"For several years I worked on my own monograph "The History of Krasnaya Polyana," collecting materials for it and working in the archives. The guidebook by Sergey Dorovatovsky, published in 1911, is the first edition to fully tell about the resort of Sochi and its environs. It was popular not only among travelers but also among local historians and became the basis for many subsequent books about these places. Today it is an important historical source. The guidebook has not lost its relevance even today. It is easy and interesting to read," said writer, historian, and local historian Dmitry Andreev.

Part of the book with the author's edits was kept in the Dorovatovsky family archive by the writer's great-granddaughter Irina Belyavskaya.