Table of contents:
- Iconic Evpatoria and Gorbachevsky Foros
- Jurmala paradise and elite vacationers
- All-Union cruises on the Volga and luxury motor ships
- Russian Monte Carlo
- Health resort of European importance
- Resting place of the royal family and Soviet ski fun
Video: Rest in Soviet style: What resorts did the citizens of the USSR dream about, and who could afford them
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The right to health-improving recreation in the USSR was prescribed by the Constitution. All Soviet citizens clearly knew that domestic resorts are the best in the world. And the union card played into the hands of this conviction, providing a penny vacation for a one percent fee. Despite the fact that Malibu, Miami and even Antalya were inaccessible to the Soviet people, the internal allied resorts successfully received millions of tourists from all over the country.
Iconic Evpatoria and Gorbachevsky Foros
In the Crimea under the USSR, hundreds of boarding houses and sanatoriums were built, where vacationers from all over the Union flocked. Despite the absence of a modern "all inclusive" system and exquisite entertainment, Crimea generously endowed vacationers with unique healing air and the purest sea. If anyone could not get the coveted ticket, they went to the Crimea "savage". This type of recreation was conducive to the closest possible familiarization with nature and enjoyed particular popularity in society.
In the 70s, vacation in Evpatoria turned into a cult one. The city offered numerous beaches, healing water of all levels of mineralization, healing lake mud and salt. This place with a dry comfortable climate was suitable for any vacationer without adjusting for age and health. But the local atmosphere of freedom and fun still won the title of the most youthful Soviet resort. Crimean Yalta needs no introduction. During the Soviet era, the name of this city was a symbol of resort chic. In the Crimean Foros, at a government dacha, Secretary General Gorbachev spent time with his family. There he was locked up in 1991 during the August putsch. And Raisa Maksimovna said more than once that she would rest only in Crimea, calling the legendary Sochi a garbage dump.
Jurmala paradise and elite vacationers
Unlike the Crimean coast, where mass pilgrimages took place, Jurmala became a resting place for people with high demands, connections and acquaintances. In Soviet times, this resort was almost abroad for the rest of the USSR. Life there was different and, according to eyewitnesses, people looked different. This place is strongly associated with creative bohemia.
Raimonds Pauls, who initiated an international music competition, Laima Vaikule, who danced in a local variety show, Pavliashvili and Malinin, who began their vocal careers from Jurmala … Everyone probably dreamed of this heavenly place near the Gulf of Riga. You could come to Jurmala with a tent and spend an unforgettable time under the open Baltic sky by the sea. For this, equipped special campsites were organized.
All-Union cruises on the Volga and luxury motor ships
River cruises along the Volga and its tributaries were considered a fairly popular form of recreation in the USSR. As a rule, the routes of the motor ships passed through the objects of grandiose construction and Lenin's places. The cost of such a trip was more than affordable.
In the 80s, a three-week sailing in the Mediterranean would have cost eight hundred rubles. And the price of a luxury cruise Moscow-Astrakhan did not exceed the average salary of 150 wooden ones. The floating resorts boasted a level of comfort. The best of them served as an advertisement for Soviet prosperity. Cabins, in addition to bathrooms, were equipped with double beds, and for the use of travelers there were cinemas, swimming pools, bars and music lounges.
Russian Monte Carlo
Gagra became a resort of union importance immediately after the establishment of Soviet power there. Numerous sanatoriums, healing springs and a special maritime climate attracted tourists from all republics to Abkhazia. It was not for nothing that after the Second World War, Comrade Stalin himself rebuilt the dacha on the local coast. A true example of landscape design, as they would say today, is the Prince of Oldenburg's Gagra park. A relative of the tsar planned to build a "Russian Monte Carlo" on this stretch of the Black Sea coast. On his initiative, hundreds of species of evergreens from all over the world were brought to Abkhazia. Date palms from the Canary Islands, South American coconut trees, Syrian mallow, Himalayan cedars, oleanders and agaves settled in Gagra.
The swimming season here lasted at least six months - from May to November. The Gagra branches of the Greater Caucasus Range come as close as possible to the sea, creating their own warm microclimate and protecting the area from cold winds. Thanks to this phenomenon, Gagra was called the warmest place on the Black Sea coast. But it was necessary to book tickets to such a popular resort long before arrival, and not everyone had enough.
Health resort of European importance
The medical resort Truskavets was popular even before the arrival of Soviet power there and even before the Polish domination. The local "Naftusya" was investigated and described by the chemist-pharmacist Torosevich in 1836. By the level of demand at the beginning of the 20th century, this place was equated to the Czech Karlovy Vary. But unlike the prestigious European health resorts, Truskavets was accessible to an ordinary Soviet citizen.
In 1931, about 3000 locals lived here, and about 15 thousand tourists came a year. For half a century, Truskavets was Soviet, deservedly winning the name of the All-Union health resort. During this period, high-rise sanatoriums, new mineral water pump rooms and boreholes were built here. Truskavets changed very quickly, and it was considered a prestigious business to visit here.
Resting place of the royal family and Soviet ski fun
Members of the royal family of Nicholas II also liked to have a rest in the Georgian Bakuriani. The world famous Borjomi sources originate from the mountains there. In Soviet times, this resort became extremely popular among active tourists. In the 80s, the USSR alpine skiers team regularly trained in Bakuriani. The resort is loved not only by lovers of skiing, but also by ordinary people who appreciated the warm winter atmosphere of the Georgian mountains.
And yet, the USSR was betting not only on domestic tourism. I wanted to get external travelers too. In such ways in The USSR attracted foreign tourists, and for these reasons they remained unhappy with the trip.
Recommended:
7 of the brightest visits of foreign stars to the USSR: How did they remember them to Soviet citizens
In the post-war period, foreign celebrities did not come to the USSR very often, and each visit became a real event for the Soviet people. But for the world stars themselves, a trip to a mysterious country was akin to an adventure. Some expected to see bears walking the streets in Russia, while others imagined the Soviet Union as a completely wild country
Why did the Germans take away the inhabitants of the USSR to Germany, and What happened to the stolen citizens of the USSR after the war
At the beginning of 1942, the German leadership set itself the goal of taking out (or it would be more correct to say "hijack", take away by force) 15 million inhabitants of the USSR - future slaves. For the Nazis, this was a forced measure, to which they agreed gritting their teeth, because the presence of citizens of the USSR would have a corrupting ideological influence on the local population. The Germans were forced to look for cheap labor, as their blitzkrieg failed, the economy, as well as ideological dogmas, began to burst at the seams
Black citizens of the Russian Empire: Where did they come from and how they lived
There are not so few people of African descent living in Russia. Many believe that they began to join the ranks of the Russians only at the end of the twentieth century, when students from Africa and Cuba began to come to the Soviet Union and then the Russian Federation. In fact, the Russian Empire had its own blacks. True, entry into the country most often did not depend on their will
6 stellar grandchildren who followed in the footsteps of famous grandparents: did nature take a rest on them
Children of famous parents often follow in their footsteps, but rarely achieve overwhelming success in the same area. There are good examples, but only a few of them. However, many popular actors and singers already have grandchildren. Will they become stars in the future and will they be able to continue the acting dynasties? In any case, these young people have every opportunity to conquer the stage and blue screens, and many of them are already making such attempts
Antiheroes and Heroes in Soviet Films: What They Promoted and Why Did They Fall in Love with Them
Cinematography in the USSR was one of the most massive propaganda tools, which had to convey clearly defined ideas to the viewer. For this, characters that would be as understandable as possible were ideally suited. There was no question of any semitones, the main character was utterly positive, and negative, one must assume, was negative in everything. Does this mean that the characters turned out to be flat and "plywood", as required by the state censorship, or, nevertheless, the creative staff managed to breathe x