Solnechnogorsk
Description
Solnechnogorsk is a town and the administrative center of Solnechnogorsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Moscow–St. Petersburg Highway and the Moscow–St. Petersburg railway, on the coast of Senezh Lake, 65 km northwest from Moscow. Population: 52,944 (2010).
History
Originally a village named Solnechnaya Gora (Солнечная Гора), it was granted town status and renamed Solnechnogorsk in 1938. During World War II, Solnechnogorsk was briefly occupied by the German Army from November 24 to December 12, 1941. It was one of the towns that was captured in the northern pincer of the attempted German encirclement of Moscow.
Culture
There is a museum of local lore in the town. Not far from Solnechnogorsk is the estate of Shakhmatovo that once belonged to a prominent Russian poet Alexander Blok; a museum of him has been opened there.
