1898–1901: founded and built

The Imperial hunting lodge for Nicholas II was founded in 1898. Construction continued until 1901 under the direction of architect Antonio Nosalevich. A three-storey building in the English style, 50 rooms. The location — the slope of Mount Achishkho, 1050 m above sea level.

Because of the lodge, the slopes of Achishkho were declared a hunting preserve for the imperial family and state officials. This became one of the foundations of today's Caucasian Biosphere Reserve.

Source: votpusk.ru, tonkosti.ru

Who came to the lodge

A paradox: Nicholas II himself, with his family, never once came to Krasnaya Polyana. The lodge was built — but the emperor preferred Crimea and Finland.

The lodge's guests were Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich (a relative of the emperor, the naval minister) and Sergei Mikhailovich Romanov. They hunted in the Caucasian forests and stayed here. This gave the place its "tsarist" status, even though the tsar himself never set foot on these mountains.

1920: the lodge becomes a sanatorium

After the October Revolution, the lodge was handed over to the people. A Red Army sanatorium was opened on its grounds. During the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945), the building was converted into a hospital for wounded soldiers sent from the Caucasian front.

After the war — a sanatorium again, then a tourist base, then neglect. Today the building is partly preserved as a cultural heritage site.

1979 and 1999: UNESCO status

On 19 February 1979, the Caucasian Reserve — which includes the slope of Achishkho with the Imperial lodge — received UNESCO biosphere reserve status.

In 1999, the reserve's territory was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List under the name "Western Caucasus." This means: the parcel of land where Pavel Bunin built БАНЬСКЪ technically borders a World Heritage site.

Source: Caucasian Reserve, Wikipedia

Connection to БАНЬСКЪ

БАНЬСКЪ is located at 9 Vodopadnaya St., 1–2 km from the Imperial hunting lodge along the slope. From the windows of the estate you can see the same peaks — Achishkho (2391 m), Aibga (2509 m) — that the Grand Dukes who hunted here once saw.

This historical connection is not marketing but a fact of geography. The great-grandfather of БАНЬСКЪ's founder, Murat Xandinov, lived in Krasnaya Polyana from 1878 — 20 years before the founding of the Imperial lodge. The Bunin-Xandinov family witnessed every era of this slope.