Chkalovsk

Chkalovsk (Russian: Чка́ловск) is a town in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Volga River, 95 km northwest of Nizhny Novgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 12,368.

It was previously known as Vasilyeva Sloboda/Vasilyovo (until 1938). It was renamed after its most famous inhabitant, the war hero Valeri Chkalov.

History

It has been known since the 12th century as Vasilyeva Sloboda, named so in honor of its founder Prince Vasily Yuryevich, the son of Yury Dolgoruky. For a long time the territory belonged to Prince Shuysky who eventually became Tsar Vasily Shuysky.

The famous Russian pilot Valery Chkalov was born in 1904 in Vasilyovo. In 1937, Vasilyovo was renamed Chkalovsk after him and in 1955 it was granted town status. Most of the original village was flooded by the Gorky Reservoir after the construction of Gorky Hydroelectric Station in 1955.