Mezmay (, ) is a settlement in Apsheronsky District of Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located in the valley of the Kurdzhips River near its confluence with the Mezmay River, south-east of Apsheronsk. Its population is less than a thousand inhabitants. It is a popular mountain resort.
The village was linked with Apsheronsk by branch line of the Apsheronsk narrow-gauge railway,Узкоколейные железные дороги Краснодарского края yet, in 2010 this branch was almost completely dismantled, except length part between Mezmay and village Guamka. This remaining railway was from 2011 to 2017 interrupted due to a landslide.
Name The name Mezmay is formed of the two Circassian words Mez (forest) and Mye (wild apple),К. Х. Меретуков. Адыгейский топонимический словарь. Краснодар. 1981 г.] so Mezmay translated from Circassian as "wild apples forest."
Landmarks Mezmay is a popular tourist site with a lot of natural attractions: (waterfalls, caves, canyons, etc.), the Clay Roman necropolis (Mezmayskoe burial) on the north-western outskirts of the village and the astrophysics observatory of the Kuban State University.
There is also Mezmaiskaya cave, where, in 1993, was found perfectly preserved skeleton of a Neanderthal baby from which DNA was extracted. Причина вымирания неандертальцев – вулканическая зима?.
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References
External links Tourism in Mezmay