Located on the Black Sea coast, near the Caucasus Mountains, not far from the border with Georgia / Abkhazia, Greater Sochi area sprawls for 145 kilometers and is Federation's largest resort city, and also one of the very few places in Russia with a subtropical climate. Anyway, Russia conquered this coastline only in 1829, and since 1866, after the Circassian Genocide, the area was actively colonized by Russians, Armenians, Ukrainians, and other people from inner Russia. Sochi was established as a fashionable resort area under Stalin, and following the loss of the popular resorts of the Crimean peninsula in favor of Ukraine, it emerged as the unofficial summer capital of the country.
During Putin's term in office, the city witnessed a significant increase in investment, and in 2014 hosted the XXII Olympic Winter Games (7-23 February), the most expensive in history, with a budget of US$51 billion. The events were held around two clusters of new venues: an Olympic Park constructed in Sochi's Imeretinsky Valley on the coast of the Black Sea, and the Games' indoor venues located within walking distance, and snow events in the resort settlement of Krasnaya Polyana. About some of the this venues I wrote here. Sochi hosted also the Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix from 2014 until at least 2020, and it will also be one of the host cities for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Anya, the sender of this postcard, was born in the same day as me, so the postcard was added to my special topic, Received from those born on August 8.
About the stamps
The first stamp is part of the series 50th Anniversary of Baikonur Cosmodrome - Proton booster, issued on December 1, 2004. The second stamp is part of a series depicting the mascots of XXII Olympic and XI Paralympic Games in Sochi 2014, about which I wrote here. The last stamp is one of the two issued on May 15, 2009, to mark the 75th Anniversary of Installation of Hydrometeorological Service in Russia.
References
Sochi - Wikipedia
Sender: Anya / Fenixann
Sent from Krasnodar (Krasnodar Krai / Russia), on 03.11.2014
Photo: A. Martinovoy
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