The Mekenzievy Gory station on the Crimean peninsula is the center of a remote area of Sevastopol. The name says nothing to many, but it 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, a hero city. His name is Thomas Mekenzie. Russian Rear Admiral, who commanded a squadron of the Black Sea Fleet in 1873-1876.
Nature of the Mekenzian Mountains
The wide flat hill, located in the Sevastopol region on the Crimean peninsula, is called the Mekenziev mountains. It is a watershed ridge that divides the upper parts of deep and branched beams, going north and west. The mountains are gentle on the north side and steep - on the south.
They are covered with deciduous 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 the elite seeds of forest beauties. The slopes of the mountains from afar appear white from marl deposits.
The Mekenziev Mountains extend east from the station of the same name and the Inkerman Mountains to the ancient Eski-Kermen - a settlement located on the Inner Crimean Range. At this point, the border of the Bakhchisaray district with Sevastopol passes. In the north, the mountains form a watershed between the Chernaya and Belbek rivers.
F. F. Mekenzie
In the XVIII century, the mountains were called Turkic Kok-Agach, but gained their fame under the name Mekenziev mountains. Who is F.F. Mekenzie? The father of the future rear admiral by birth is a Scotsman and bore the surname Mack Kenzie. His son Thomas Mack Kenzie 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 - became Rear Admiral and Commander of the Black Sea Squadron.
How did the name appear
It was under his leadership in 1783 that clearing of the forest in the practically uninhabited Akhtiar Bay began and the construction of barracks, a hospital, a church, an admiralty building and residential buildings for officers began. F.F. Mekenzi was the first commander of the Sevastopol port.
Under his leadership, stone quarries were built where stone was mined, for construction and a furnace in which lime was burned. Small workshops were set up to make some of the things the fleet needed. Created agricultural farmsteads, which provided products for the provisions of the population and the fleet. He turned out to be a good and zealous host.
For 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 also bears 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 the construction of the station
The military situation in the Black Sea was turbulent. Turkey tried to return Crimea, annexed to Russia in 1783. Russia needed ports and bases located on the peninsula. Their construction and arrangement began. An important city on the Crimean peninsula became Sevastopol.
The ongoing Russian-Turkish clashes on the eve of the last Turkish war of 1877-1878 raised the question before the Russian government about the need for urgent measures to be taken to ensure regular supplies of food and military supplies.
The Lozovo-Sevastopol railway connecting Sevastopol and Simferopol was built. In the fall of 1875, the first freight train was delivered to Sevastopol. In 1891, construction began on the Mekenzievy Gory station on the Crimean peninsula. Simferopol and Sevastopol were reliably connected.
The role of the station in the defense of Sevastopol
“Mekenzievy Gory” is, in addition to everything, a station serving the port, which has always been 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 blocked the passage to the northern part of the Sevastopol Bay.
The fights were especially fierce in early June 1942, when the territory of the station three times passed from Soviet fighters to Germans. Not far from the station was the famous anti-aircraft battery No. 365, commanded by senior lieutenant I.S. Pyanzin.
The station itself became a monument to the heroism and courage of Soviet soldiers and sailors who fought here until the last. Her land witnessed the assaults, hand-to-hand battles, the actions of the Zheleznyakov armored train, the desperate fire of anti-aircraft batteries and the bitter tears of the retreat in July 1942.
Not far from the station is the Mekenzievy Gory cemetery. Sevastopol continues to develop and here, according to the decision, a new cemetery will be built, as the old one is closed. At the old cemetery there are mass graves of city defenders who died in 1941-1942 during the defense of Sevastopol. Almost all the names of the deceased station defenders are engraved on the slabs of the memorial complex .
Railroad station
In the postwar period, the demand for the station remained large. Freights from all over the Soviet Union came here. It was necessary to restore Sevastopol, its northern side. This was done as soon as possible.
Today "Mekenzievy Gory" is a nodal cargo and passenger station on the Sevastopol-Simferopol line. A regular train Mekenzievy Gory - Simferopol departs from the station. Next to it, a new micro-district Mekenzievy Gory was built, belonging to the Nakhimovsky district of the city of Sevastopol, located 24 kilometers from the city center 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 vessels. It is located on the north side of the ice-free Sevastopol Bay. Through it is the transportation of grain and metal products. The northern part of the port is fully serviced by the station. The port has built huge terminals for storing grain.