Understand
Stavropol Krai contains a large number of Caucasian health spas/sanatoria, which Russians have visited for over 200 years to treat various ailments (and just to escape the northern climate of Moscow and Saint Petersburg. As such, the region has been home to many of Russia's most prominent figures, including writers such as A.S. Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov, whose works have embedded the Pyatigorsk region into the national consciousness. A great read for anyone visiting the region is Lermontov's short novel, A Hero of Our Time, which is set in various areas in the south of the Krai.
Stavropol Krai is also notable for its exceptionally diverse climactic and topographic diversity. The environments range from sand deserts, to mud flats, to steppe, to forest, to mountains, to permafrost!
