Cableway stations in Sochi Arboretum

The arboretum is one of the symbols of Sochi. And the cable car, in turn, is a symbol of the park. Opening in 1977, it immediately gained popularity among visitors, because it is much easier to inspect the park, going down the mountain than climbing. At the tower stations, the architect Boris Guryanov provided viewing platforms. From the top and now a good panorama of the city opens, but the bottom was surrounded by high-rise residential complexes built for the Olympics ...

The construction of the cableway began in 1972. The project was developed by Boris Guryanov - the one who built the view tower on the Battery.

After the reconstruction of 2006, the upper station lost its original appearance. Both towers were conceived by the architect as huge trees and served as a natural extension of the surrounding landscape. Only the lower one has retained its appearance, but the surrounding space has been destroyed.

In 2006, wooden fences were replaced with metal fences that were less in harmony with severe concrete.

There are two stairs in the tower: narrow, but open - on the side and wide, with a smaller view - in the center.

But between them you can freely move inside the tower.

The only thing that survived during the reconstruction is a typically Soviet bulk floor.

An example of a site on a central staircase. Above it are the gutters for cable car trailers.

People come out of here when the cars come up. There are two of them, they operate on the principle of a funicular.

During the reconstruction, the Soviet tube cars that served here for almost 30 years were replaced with new Austrian ones, accommodating more passengers. But they, of course, do not harmonize with the environment at all.

Despite the recent reconstruction, and the last one lasted and ended only in 2013, the tower is not in the best condition.

View of the landing site and technical fangs with access to the ropes.

The length of the road is 900 meters, the travel time is about 4 minutes.

Side staircase amid surrounding buildings. All this needs to be demolished.

So far, the tower has managed to remain dominant among this riot of the private sector, but at such a pace it will soon suffer the fate of the lower station.