THE SCULPTURE OF MATSESTA

The sculpture of Matsesta has become a symbol of the world-famous Matsesta resort and one of the main and most recognizable symbolic images of Sochi.




The sculpture is made in an original visual manner. The original texture of the local natural stone, from which the composition is made, beinga dense light-colored sandstonehelped to achieve the successful implementation of the idea. It seems that the sculpture of the girl was created by nature itself. With simple, rough, sometimes angular forms, the girl looks gentle, good-natured, calming and mesmerizing with her mysterious beauty. At the same time, her powerful neck and arms leave no doubt about her physical strength. The well-chosen slight tilt and turn of the head melts one’s heart.



Right in front of the girl, forming a single whole with her, there is a cascade of small pools of the fountain. In front of them, a small platform is built, raised above the ground to a height of several meters, which is reached by a stone staircase. From the platform, you can get a better look at the girl's figure, take a picture in front of her, and enjoy the panorama of the sea and the Matsesta  bridge. The platform is surrounded with an original railing made of the same sandstone in combination with metal. A stylized inscription "MA-TSE-STA" engraved on one of the large flat stones on the side of the road, indicates the way to the balneological resort and microdistrict of the same name. Matsesta in translation from the Ubykh language means "fire water", it gives a burning feeling due to the high content of hydrogen sulfide in it.



According to one of the old legends, when a mountaineer Kerenduk had a daughter, the moon was reflected in the river, which made the water seem to burn, and Kerenduk called his daughter the proud name of Matsesta – the “fire water”.



However, the father was not very happy because he wanted a son. Knowing this, Matsesta developed strength and courage, loved her parents and became a reliable support for them in everything. When her parents grew old and became seriously ill, Matsesta learned about the spring of healing water in the cave, but no one has ever managed to even get close to it – it was reliably guarded by the Spirit of the mountain.

The beautiful Matsesta swore to get this water at any cost, entered the cave, killed the Spirit of the mountain and led the spring to the surface, opening it to people, but she could not leave the cave alive. In honor of this feat, the spring, its water and the area that later became a balneological resort were named after the beautiful and brave girl Matsesta.