Летники
The place
Летники ("Summer pastures") in Krasnodar Krai, Sochi/Krasnaya Polyana area (Caucasus State Nature Reserve, Karachay-Cherkessia, bordering Abkhazia, Russia), at 1,799 m elevation, northern slope of the western Caucasus. Continuous Russian Caucasus cluster (batches 250-388). Summer shepherds' alpine-pasture balagans, Letniki + Kavkazsky Zapovednik, Russia's oldest nature reserve (1924), UNESCO 1999 Western Caucasus, 3,000 km², last wild population of the European bison Bison bonasus caucasicus, reintroduced 1946-1990, 100 individuals + Krasnaya Polyana Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, 22nd edition, Aibga/Rosa Khutor + Bolshoi Fisht 2,867 m, an iconic summit + heritage of the Circassian/Adyghe people (northwest Caucasian people, 700,000, Adyghe/Kabardian/Cherkess, Circassian language + the 1864 Muhajir genocide by the Russian Empire, 90% of the population exiled to the Ottomans, 1.5 million victims, today a 3 million diaspora in Turkey + Jamal al-Din al-Ghumuqi, Naqshbandi mysticism, spiritual guide of Imam Shamil, 1834-1859).
The setting
Krasnodar Sochi/Krasnaya Polyana Caucasus Reserve Karachay-Cherkessia bordering Abkhazia Russia 1,799 m N slope western Caucasus, continuous cluster batches 250-388, summer shepherd balagans Letniki + Kavkazsky Zapovednik 1924 UNESCO 1999 Western Caucasus 3,000 km² bison reintroduced 1946-1990 100 individuals + Krasnaya Polyana Sochi 2014 + Bolshoi Fisht 2,867 m, Circassian/Adyghe NW 700,000 Circassian language + 1864 Muhajir genocide Russian empire 90% exiled to Ottomans 1.5 M + Jamal al-Din Naqshbandi Shamil 1834-1859.
