Alexandrovskaya Sopka is located in the Chelyabinsk region, near the city of Zlatoust. This mountain attracts attention with a treeless peak. It is clearly visible from the highway Chelyabinsk - Orenburg. Is it worth folding to get to know the Alexander Hill better? This topic will be devoted to our article. In the meantime, just say that the path to the mountain is simple, the climb is easy, and the views from the top open up beautiful. Ahead of you will find a lot of impressions.
Some scientific facts
Aleksandrovskaya Sopka is one of the peaks of the Ural Mountains and far from the highest. Belongs to the Ural-Tau ridge. The height of the mountain is 843 meters above sea level. Folded hill quartzite. Dark coniferous forest stretches almost to the very top. Quite often, it is interrupted by stone placers - kurums. The top is a rocky ridge. The border between Europe and Asia runs along the Ural-Tau ridge, including along the Alexander hill. True, a commemorative granite sign about this is not installed on the top, but at the railway station Urzhumka. But there is an explanation for this. The monument was erected back in 1892, and it was then quite difficult to deliver granite to the top. But the sign was made according to the drawings of N. Garin-Mikhailovsky, a famous Russian writer who worked as an engineer in the Urals.
Where did the name come from?
On old maps, this mountain is called the same as the entire ridge - the Ural Tau. Where did the name "Alexandrovskaya Sopka" come from? It all started with the fact that in 1837, the then ruling Russian Empire, Nikolai Pavlovich sent his son, Grand Duke Tsarevich Alexander, to get acquainted with the country, which he was destined to rule. The young man was then about twenty, and he was not averse to traveling. He traveled across the expanses of Russia not alone, but with a whole escort of noblemen. Was with him and his mentor Vasily Zhukovsky, and two comrades in children's games, Alexander Adlerberg and his namesake Patkul. Climbing Mount Ural-Tau was not planned. But having visited Zlatoust (then not a city, but a factory), the prince, the future emperor Alexander II, wished to rise to the top. Leaving the carriage, he and his companions set off on horseback. On the way, the mentor and other members of the escort weighed down for years exhorted the prince to turn back. But three young Alexander eager to the top. They conquered her on the ninth of June. After that, the mountain began to be called the Alexander Hill. Moreover, the prince deigned with his own hand to leave an inscription on top.
Other famous visitors
At different times, this mountain was admired (though from a distance) by Alexander I (in 1825) and Nicholas II (in 1904). These monarchs did not dare to climb to the top. But it was visited by the English geologist Sir Roderick Murchison. He climbed four years after the prince Alexander. In his memoirs, he calls Mount Ural-Tau. But the British artist Thomas Atkinson, who arrived in these parts in 1847, already refers to her as Alexander-sopka. The artist mistakenly believed that the Alexander hill was named after the Russian emperor, who ruled from 1801 to 1825. At the very beginning of the twentieth century, Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky and Veniamin Leontyevich Metenkov, famous photographers who took several colorful pictures, visited the summit.
Technical and Ideological Plans
In 1909, the most powerful radio station at that time crowned the mountainside. The Alexander hill, however, is surrounded by other peaks, so the radio signals passed poorly. And the inhabitants of Zlatoust insisted on the construction of the station in the highlands. They feared that because of the radio they would not have rains. The construction of the station resulted in fabulous sums of money, and the result was zero. Now only fragments of the foundation are left from the building. After the revolutionary events of 1917, the sculptor Stepan Erzya decided to carve a giant bust of Lenin on top of the Alexander hill. But for some reason, this plan remained unrealized.
What is attractive Alexandrovskaya hill?
Photos of this mountain look very impressive. The placers of stones, coniferous forest, the purest spring at the foot - all this makes the journey to the Alexander hill into an unforgettable event. And add to this the fabulous views that open to the eyes of a tourist from the top. At a glance, the villages of Miass and Zlatoust are visible. Nearby rise other no less picturesque mountains, including Taganay. The facts that the future emperor Alexander II visited the summit and that the border between Europe and Asia passes through it also make the hill popular among tourists. Climbing the mountain is part of the weekend route in the Urals. Because of its lightness, even a child can overcome the path. So, how do you find Mount Alexandrovskaya Sopka?
How to get to the mountain?
This natural attraction is located eight kilometers east of the city of Zlatoust. If you go by car, then the hill is remarkably visible from the track. You need to move along the road Zlatoust - Miass. There are convenient entrances to the foot of the mountain. If you choose public transport, it is better to use the train. You need to leave it at the station Urzhumka. By the way, near the railway gauge stands the commemorative sign "Border". From Urzhumka to the foot of the mountain is only three kilometers. This train station can be reached by minibus from Zlatoust. Travelers note that convenient marked trails lead up the mountain. Weekend tours cover several attractions at once: the Aleksandrovskaya Sopka, Zlatoust with its monuments, the Vera island with megaliths on Lake Turgoyak, near Miass, and Taganay National Park.