Shchelkino (Ukrainian Щолкіне, Crimean Tatar Şçolkino, Shchelkino)
is a city in the Crimea, in the north of the Kerch Peninsula.
Included in the Leninsky district as part of the (Autonomous)
Republic of Crimea. Forms the urban settlement of Shchelkino
(Schelkinsky City Council) as the only settlement in its
composition.
It is the youngest city of the republic (since
December 18, 1992). From 1978 to 1989 developed as an important
center for a promising nuclear industry, but after the construction
site was recognized as geologically unstable, the city's economy
switched to post-industrial rails, which set beach and festival
types of tourism, as well as the related service sector and private
entrepreneurship. Shelkino is the only city in Crimea where the
streets do not have names, but only house numbers. Also Shchelkino
is the only city on the coast of the Sea of Azov, whose beaches are
relatively deep.
Named after Kirill Shchelkin, Soviet nuclear
physicist, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. On
April 16, 1982, the settlement of the Crimean nuclear power plant
was named "Shchelkino settlement". In 1992 it received the status of
a city of regional subordination.
Geographical position
Located in the east of the peninsula, 75 kilometers west of Kerch
(by road, in a straight line - 50) and 65 kilometers northeast of
Feodosia (by road, in a straight line - 55), on the shores of the
Azov Sea, near Cape Kazantip. The nearest villages are Mysovoye (2
km) and Semyonovka (11 km). From all sides, except the southern, the
city is surrounded by the bays of the Azov Sea. To the south of the
city there is a salt lake Aktash.
Shchelkino is located on the border of the temperate and subtropical
zones. The annual precipitation here is low (300-400 mm), and the
duration of sunshine is significant, reaching 2,300-2,350 hours per
year, which determines the supply of a large amount of solar energy. The
climate is temperate continental, very arid, moderately hot with short,
mild and almost snowless winters and long, warm, long summers (about 6
months). In winter, cloudy weather prevails, while summer is clear and
sunny.
The average annual air temperature according to long-term
observations in the city area here is +11.0 °C. The average air
temperature of the coldest month (February) is -1.1 °C, and the warmest
(July) - +23.9 °C. The absolute minimum was −26°C and the absolute
maximum was +37°C. The frost-free period lasts an average of 222 days.
The number of clear days reaches 293. The average annual precipitation
in the city area is 329 mm. The shallow Sea of Azov becomes very cold in
winter, but warms up earlier in summer, so you can swim on its southern
coast already in May. Shchelkino is located in its relatively deep-water
part (depths in the bay are up to 10 m). The salinity here is higher
than in the north, and the average annual temperature of the coastal
waters of Azov is +12 °C near the village of Mysovoye. The sea can be
covered with ice in January-February, but due to frequent thaws, the ice
melts several times. The water temperature in July-August here reaches
+28-30 °C.
Founded in October 1978 as a settlement
for the builders of the Crimean nuclear power plant. The
construction of the Crimean NPP began in 1981. In 1984, at the
suggestion of the then head of construction, Shtogrin V.A.,
following the Zaporozhye NPP, the construction was declared an
All-Union Shock Komsomol. By this time, about a hundred five- and
nine-storey buildings had appeared in the city, a division into
microdistricts appeared (Lesovod, Neptun, Energetik-2, 2nd, 3rd
microdistricts).
In 1987, construction almost stopped and was
officially frozen in 1989 at 80% completion due to the fact that the
development site was deemed geologically unstable. On December 18,
1992, the town of Shcholkine officially received the status of a
city of regional subordination.
In addition, a solar power
plant was built and operated for some time near the city. Also,
about twenty wind turbines were installed, which are still in
operation.
From 1993 to 1998 the annual festival of
electronic music "KaZantip" was held in the Shchelkino region.
In 2007-2008, the film “Inhabited Island” was filmed at Cape
Kazantip (directed by Fyodor Bondarchuk).
In 2013, the city
authorities of Shchelkino began to study the possibility of renaming
the city into Kazantip, after the name of the nearby cape. The
initiative has already provoked resistance from the residents of the
city.
Not far from the city, in addition to the
ruins of the Crimean nuclear power plant - the remains of an
experimental solar power plant, a wind power plant.
Near the
city there is a unique natural monument - the Kazantip nature
reserve.
In the city itself, as well as near Shchelkino,
there are a number of beaches with a total length of more than 25
kilometers. The density of the population and the degree of stress
by tourists is not high here, and therefore many beaches remain in a
relatively wild state.
Since 2008, near Cape Kazantip, in the Tatarskaya Bay, the festival of music and contemporary art "Neighboring World" has been held. Since 2009, the city itself has hosted an international festival of literature and culture "Slavic Traditions", and since 2011 - an international children's festival "Fortuna".
There are no industrial enterprises in Shcholkine. The basis of the material income of the residents of the city is the tourism and trade business: cafes, bars, entertainment establishments, excursion bureaus and trade. Currently, the city is a seaside resort, there are boarding houses, recreation centers, hotels. The Sea of Azov near the city is popular with fans of windsurfing and kitesurfing.
In Simeiz, on Mount Koshka, there is the Simeiz Department of the
Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, known as the Simeiz Observatory. The
world's first lunar spacecraft tracking station was located here, which
was used to control the flight of the Luna-1 (January 1959) and Luna-2
(September 1959) spacecraft, and later took the first photographs of the
far side of the Moon. (spacecraft "Luna-3", October 1959).
The
asteroid (748) Simeiz, discovered by Russian astronomer Grigory Neuimin
in 1913 at the Simeiz Observatory, is named after the city of Simeiz and
the observatory of the same name, where it was discovered. This is the
first asteroid discovered from the territory of Russia.
One of
the components of the Interkosmos system is located in Simeiz. It is an
experimental laser observation station for artificial satellites of the
Earth.