Kyiv funicular work schedule. The Kyiv funicular is the most famous transport in Podil. Kyiv funicular stations
Located the most beautiful resort city Herceg Novi ( Herceg-Novi). The city is washed by the waters of the Bay of Kotor and is surrounded by lush greenery with many relict trees. This distinctive feature allowed Herceg Novi to claim the status of a botanical garden in Montenegro. There is an ideal ecology here, calm beach holiday and incredibly picturesque landscapes. Travelers with children come here, since it is difficult to find a better place for recovery in Montenegro. Over more than six centuries of history, this unique place belonged to Turkey, Spain, Venice, France and even whole year Russia (from 1806 to 1807). Moreover, each culture gave the appearance of Herceg Novi its own unique features.
At the beginning of the 19th century, a fortress was founded on the site of the current city, which marked the beginning of the history of Herceg Novi. At that time it was called Sveti Stefan. Soon the city turned into a center of salt trade. Already in the 15th century the city came under the rule Ottoman Empire, and remained under their control for over 200 years.
But even after that the city did not become free, but went to the Venetian Republic, which was replaced in the 18th century by French troops led by Napoleon. The history of Herceg Novi dates back to periods of rule by the Ottomans, French, and Austrians. This continues until the beginning of the 20th century, when Herceg Novi and all of Montenegro became part of Yugoslavia.
Such a rich past could not but affect the appearance of the city. Travelers will enjoy the picturesque landscapes, which unite many cultures on one small coastline.
Herceg Novi is often called botanical garden Montenegro, the city of flowers and sun, artists and poets. Grows here great amount shrubs and relict trees, and thanks to the sailors, flora samples from all over the world were collected. But mimosa is especially popular in Herceg Novi. You can find many species in the city park, and from the end of January, the city hosts the Mimosa Festival for almost a whole month.
Herceg Novi on the map of Montenegro
Best time to go to Herceg Novi
Herceg Novi resort is year-round. The fact is that a beach holiday is not the main thing here. Patients from all over Europe also undergo treatment and recovery at the resort. In addition, a “Mimosa Festival” is organized every winter, which also attracts many visitors.
If we talk about temperatures, the thermometer will show the maximum values after the 10th of July and until the end of August. The sea water warms up to 22-23°C earlier, somewhere in mid-July.
How to get to Herceg Novi from Moscow
The city of Herceg Novi is located geographically closest to Dubrovnik Airport, which is located in neighboring Croatia. But it is worth remembering that a visa is required to visit Croatia, but not to visit Montenegro. So it’s more convenient to choose from Montenegrin airports.
There are non-stop flights to Tivat from Moscow, lasting about three hours, by airlines such as S7, Aeroflot, Montenegro Airlines, RedWings.
Main attractions of Herceg Novi
Herceg Novi has all the conditions for an eventful and have an interesting holiday. The city has a picturesque embankment that stretches for several kilometers. If you want to drink a cup of tea or coffee while walking, you can easily do this in one of the small seaside cafes and restaurants.
The city has a beautiful subtropical park, all yellow when mimosa is in bloom. For inquisitive travelers, visiting the local Art gallery and the Museum of Local Lore.
Right there, not far from Herceg Novi, there is one of the main attractions of Montenegro - Blue Cave. You can get into it on a small yacht and admire the caves that served as their hiding place during the Second World War.
Mamula Island will delight tourists with views of the Austrian fortress. It is located in the Bay of Kotor. It is also interesting to visit such ancient fortifications as Spagnola, Forte Mare and nearby monasteries.
Of course, it would be a sin not to visit the most famous of attractions Orthodox religion– Savina Monastery. It was built in Baroque style. The history of this monastery goes back about a thousand years. It is in this monastery that the icon of the Mother of God of Savinskaya is kept.
Beaches of Herceg Novi
This Montenegrin resort is included in the list of beaches with “ blue flag“, which means that when relaxing on the beaches of Herceg Novi, you can rest assured of the cleanliness of the environment and the quality of the water. Holidays in Herceg Novi will be interesting for both young and older tourists. A wide variety of beaches: pebble Žanjic, artificial Mirista with fine sand, surrounded by an olive grove, rocky Pink Beach with a deep bottom. There are many opportunities for aquatic species sports, several schools.
What is very important to know about Herceg Novi is that the city is beautiful with its history and nature, but the beaches at the resort can hardly be called the best. Many of them have concrete floors. And although appearance Most beaches are not impressive, but you can still have a good rest here. For example, on central beach cities. Here coastline covered with sand and pebbles, and along the sea line there are numerous cafes. Of course, it is advisable to come here early, since there are many more vacationers than there is free space on the beach.
For the more demanding, a holiday on the beach near the settlement of Zanjic, which is located on the Lustica peninsula, is suitable. Many guests of Herceg Novi vacation there. The indigenous people call the area “presidential beach”, since it was there that the residence of the President of Yugoslavia was previously located.
Igalo Beach
photo: It's quiet and cozy here One of the most amazing places for walking and swimming - Igalo beach. It extends along the entire coast from the Sutorina River. Part of the beach is sandy, the rest is filled with concrete, which means everyone can find a place to their liking. Igalo Beach is recommended for those who like to lie on seashore or soak up the coolness of the hotel. If you want to refresh yourself, you can find many drinking establishments on site: bars, restaurants, cafes.
Private beaches
The coast of Herceg Novi is rich in small but very cozy private beaches. At your service are Baosici, Kamenari, Kumbor, Bijela, Dnenovici. Small coves and groves of olive, orange and tangerine trees give these beaches a special charm. And in comparison with public, private beaches benefit in comfort and appearance. This is where you can feel like a real master of life! The length of private beaches is just over three kilometers, and six thousand people can relax on them at the same time!
City beaches
But don't neglect city beaches. For example, the beaches in the town of Njivice are 21.6 square meters long. m, which are part of the Herceg Novi Riviera, allow you to have a great rest. Njivice itself, located a few kilometers from Herceg Novi and four from Igalo, in ancient times was just a simple fishing village. Today this village has grown into famous resort with the cleanest air and beautiful landscape, which is known far beyond the borders of Montenegro.
Popular hotels on Herceg Novi map
Among the wide variety of hotels and apartments, any tourist will find accommodation that suits their budget, and on the long promenade of Herceg Novi there are numerous cafe restaurants for every taste.
For more than 100 years, Kiev residents and guests of the capital have been actively using the funicular that connects Podol with Upper town. An unusual and in its own way unique transport system allows you to quickly climb or descend the steep Vladimir Hill. It would seem that what new can be written about such a well-known and so many times discussed object as the Kiev funicular? It turned out that there was something to write about. Firstly, as it turned out, different sources provide conflicting data about the design of the funicular, dates of reconstruction, etc. Secondly, its internal structure is not touched upon anywhere. And finally, thirdly, there are a number of little-known, but very interesting historical photographs. Therefore, with your permission, let's talk about the Kiev funicular again. Contrary to established tradition, first there will be a post about the modern funicular, and then about its history.
1. The Kiev funicular was opened in 1905 (the second in Ukraine after the Odessa one). After a month of this unusual transport system will be 109 years old. Perhaps the most classic view of the funicular route: 
2. The length of the route is 222 m, the slope is 18-20°. 
3. Travel time one way takes about 3 minutes. 
4. The height difference between the upper and lower station is 75 m. 
5. The upper part of the funicular route is located on a reinforced concrete overpass: 
6. By the way, the record holder for the steepest route is located near the Australian city of Katoomba Mountain road 415 m long (Katoomba Scenic Railway). The slope of its route reaches 52°. 
7. The Kiev funicular uses a pendulum (the most common) operating scheme: two non-motor cars are rigidly connected by a rope thrown over a pulley, which is located on top station. The movement of one of the cars down leads to a symmetrical movement of the other car up, and the cars move apart at the central point of the track. In such a system, the engine driving the pulley spends energy only to move the difference in weight of two cars differently filled with passengers, as well as to overcome the friction force. 
8. The rope connecting the cars is laid between the supporting rails in a special system of straight and oblique blocks, which ensure the deflection of the rope along the route: 
9. The rope is changed every few years. Its condition is periodically monitored, thickness and a number of other parameters are measured. 
10. The Abt switch is used to pass wagons. Its essence is that the outer rails of the route are solid, and the inner ones have breaks for the passage of the rope. 
11. Each solid rail is covered on both sides by the flanges of car wheels, and each car hugs its own rail and the direction of movement at the siding depends on this. The second half of the carriage wheels without flanges, has a wide surface and simply rolls on the rail heads (see the picture for greater clarity). 
12. Each cable car has a wedge-type emergency brake that grips the rail like pliers. It is automatically activated when the carriage reaches a speed of more than 9 km/h or when the magic pedal is pressed, which is located under the operator’s feet in the carriage. The operation of this brake is checked at certain intervals. 
13. For effective brake operation, the funicular rails have a special profile with a wide wedge-shaped side surface of the head. The emergency brake is pressed against this surface. 
14. The funicular track width is 1200 mm (for comparison: the railway track width is 1520 mm). 
15. The cars of each funicular are always designed individually, because The steepness of the route, its length, the width of the rails and the dimensions of the cars are different everywhere. 
16. The cars of the Kyiv funicular are signed with the letters “L” (left) and “P” (right) relative to the upper station. 
17. "Nanopantograph" (c) russos
. Through a 600 V contact network, the trailers receive power for interior lighting, heating and compressors, which are needed to operate the doors and emergency brake. At the rail level, you can see two more wires: through them, a 24 V current is supplied to the cars, which ensures the operation of controls and cabin lighting. The return current of both the high-voltage circuit and the low-voltage circuit leaves through the rails. 
18. Each carriage can accommodate up to 100 people, of which 30 are seat place. The weight of one carriage without passengers is about 10 tons. 
19. In the old-fashioned way, an operator sits in the carriages, opens and closes the doors, confirms readiness for departure via radio communication, controls the movement and, if necessary, can activate the emergency brake and evacuate passengers. 
20. 
21. The pavilions of the funicular stations have long been firmly integrated into the city landscape. 
22. The funicular acquired its current appearance after reconstruction in 1984 (architect Janos Vig, Valentin Ezhov, etc.). 
23. Interior design of the lower station. Decorative arches made of metal profiles alternate with arches made of stained glass: 
24. At the level of the disembarkation and embarkation platforms, the arch of the lower station pavilion rises upward with a kind of ladder: 
25. If the appearance and even the location of the lower station have changed several times over the past hundred years, then the shape of the upper station has not fundamentally changed since the opening of the funicular. 
26. At the entrance of the upper station there is a small diorama showing the history of the development of the funicular and the surrounding area. 
27. Upper station pavilion: 
28. 
29. Stained glass: 
30. At the upper station, through a round window, the driver supervises the operation of the funicular: 
31. Driver's workplace. Very reminiscent of the workplace of a mine cage lifting operator :) 
32. In normal mode, the movement of the cable car cars is controlled automatically. You just need to start the system after receiving confirmation of the readiness of both cars. 
33. The nominal speed of carriages is 7.2 km/h (2 m/s). Without hearts, the cars don't want to move :) 
34. Directly under the driver’s workplace there is a room with a traction drive with a main brake. We go downstairs and suddenly find ourselves in a room with two motor-compressors. The answer to my question “Why is it here?” found in the next machine room. 
35. Turbine room. The most noticeable detail of this room is the pulley through which the rope holding the trailers is thrown. Huge brake pads surround the pulley on both sides. In the foreground you can see two 82 kW traction motors, which are powered by a 440 V mains voltage. 
36. From the opposite side of the room, both parts of the rope come to the pulley: 
37. Brake pads are powered by pneumatics (this is where compressors come in handy). In the normal position, the blocks, with the help of the weights that you see in the photo, are pressed against the pulley and the funicular cars are in a braked state. When the trailers move, compressed air enters the cylinders and the pads unclench, releasing the pulley. 
Video clearly showing the operation of the pulley. At the end the pads are activated, but their movement is very small (literally a couple of millimeters) and is almost unnoticeable in the video.
38. The funicular is actively used both as urban transport and as a tourist attraction. Daily passenger traffic is 10-15 thousand passengers. On weekends and holidays There are often long queues for the funicular. 
39. During last year’s record snowfall, the funicular was used as a ski lift for skiing along Andreevsky Descent :) 
40. In 2008, tenders were announced for the major reconstruction of the funicular and the production of new cars. It was planned to build a new load-bearing trestle, replace the lighting system, fencing and cars, and also repair the upper and lower stations. However, the matter did not go further than the announcement of the winner of the tender, because... prevented by the economic crisis. The new reconstruction should be the fourth in the history of the Kyiv funicular, but when it will happen is still unknown. 
P.S. Thanks to the team of the Kyiv Development Strategy at the Kyiv City State Administration for assistance in organizing the filming and to the staff of the Kyiv funicular for the tour of the office premises.