Rostov-on-Don

Description

Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative center of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies to the southeast of the East European Plain, on the Don River, 32 km from the Sea of Azov. The southwestern suburbs of the city abut the Don River delta. Population: 1,089,261 (2010).

History

Establishment to the early 20th century

From ancient times, the area around the mouth of the Don River has held cultural and commercial importance. Ancient indigenous inhabitants included the Scythian, Sarmat, and Savromat tribes. It was the site of Tanais, an ancient Greek colony, Fort Tana, under the Genoese and Fort Azak in the time of the Ottoman Empire.

In 1749, a custom house was established on the Temernik River, a tributary of the Don, by edict of Empress Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great, in order to control trade with Turkey. It was co-located with a fortress named for Dimitry of Rostov, a metropolitan bishop of the old northern town of Rostov the Great. Azov, a town closer to the Sea of Azov on the Don, gradually lost its commercial importance in the region to the new fortress.

In 1756, the "Russian commercial and trading company of Constantinople" was founded at the "merchants' settlement" (Kupecheskaya Sloboda) on the high bank of the Don. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, with the incorporation of previously Ottoman Black Sea territories into the Russian Empire, the settlement lost much of its militarily strategic importance as a frontier post.

In 1796, the settlement was chartered and in 1797, it became the seat of Rostovsky Uyezd within Novorossiysk Governorate. In 1806, it was officially renamed Rostov-on-Don. During the 19th century, due to its river connections with Russia's interior, Rostov developed into a major trade center and communications hub. A railway connection with Kharkiv was competed in 1870, with further links following in 1871 to Voronezh and in 1875 to Vladikavkaz.

Concurrent with improvements in communications, heavy industry developed. Coal from the Donets Basin and iron ore from Krivoy Rog supported the establishment of an iron foundry in 1846. In 1859, the production of pumps and steam boilers began. Industrial growth was accompanied by a rapid increase in population, with 119,500 residents registered in Rostov by the end of the nineteenth century along with approximately 140 industrial businesses. The harbor was one of the largest trade hubs in southern Russia, especially for the export of wheat, timber, and iron ore.

In 1779, Rostov-on-Don became associated with a settlement of Armenian refugees from the Crimea at Nakhichevan-on-Don The two settlements were separated by a field of wheat. In 1928, the two towns were merged. The former town border lies beneath the Teatralnaya Square of central Rostov-on-Don. By 1928, following the incorporation of the hitherto neighboring city of Nakhichevan-on-Don, Rostov had become the third largest city in Russia.

In the early 20th century, epidemics of cholera during the summer months were not uncommon.

20th century

A fountain in the Park of Revolution

During the Russian Civil War, the Whites and the Reds contested Rostov-on-Don, then the most heavily industrialized city of South Russia. By 1928, the regional government had moved from the old Cossack capital of Novocherkassk to Rostov-on-Don.

In the Soviet years, the Bolsheviks demolished two of Rostov-on-Don's principal landmarks: St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (1908) and St. George Cathedral (1783–1807).

During World War II, German forces occupied Rostov-on-Don, at first for seven days from November 21, 1941 after attacks by the German First Panzer Army in the battle of Rostov and then for seven months from July 24, 1942 to February 14, 1943. The town was of strategic importance as a railway junction and a river port accessing the Caucasus, a region rich in oil and minerals. It took ten years to restore the city from the damage during World War II.

Awards

  • December 1970: Order of Lenin
  • 1982: Order of the Great Patriotic War (1st Degree)
  • 2008: City of Military Glory status

Culture

The most conspicuous architectural feature of the central part of the city is the Cathedral of Virgin's Nativity (1860–1887), designed by Konstantin Thon.

Libraries

Rostov-on-Don's libraries include:

  • The Don State Public Library,
  • Central Library named after Maxim Gorky,
  • Regional Children’s Library named after V.M. Velichkina
  • Rostov Regional Special Library for the Blind,
  • Scientific Library of the Medical University,
  • Central State Children’s Library named after Lenin
  • Children’s Library named after A.S. Pushkin
  • Children’s Library named after Mayakovsky
  • South-Russian Don State Public Library.

Theaters

In the Academic Drama Theater named after Maxim Gorky works Mikhail Bushnov, who is the national artist of the USSR and an honorary citizen of Rostov-on-Don.

  • Maxim Gorky Academic Drama Theater
  • Rostov State Puppet Theater
  • Rostov Regional Academic Theater of the Youth
  • Rostov Musical Theater
  • Philharmonic center
  • Theater 18+
  • Kim Nazaretov jazz center

Museums

The small collections of the Art Gallery and the Museum of Arts include some works by Repin, Surikov, Perov, Levitan, Aivazovsky as well as of modern Rostov artists.

  • Museum of Local Lore
  • Rostov Regional Museum of Fine Arts
  • Museum of Fine Arts on Dmitrovskaya
  • Museum of Russian & Armenian Friendship
  • Pioneer and Railway Museum and Children's Railway

Other facilities

Other facilities include seven stadiums, a Palace of Sports, a circus, a zoo botanical gardens and parks. Rostov-on-Don hosts the North Caucasian Science Center and research institutes. The city is also home to a Starbucks coffee chain, a true rarity in this geographical area of Russia.

Religion

The Administration of Rostov and Novocherkassk Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church is located in Rostov. Other religious facilities in Rostov-on-Don are the Roman Catholic "Church of the Lord's Supper", the Old Believers' temple, a synagogue a mosque, and the Diamond Way Buddhist Center of the Karma Kagyu Tradition. There are also several Armenian and Greek Orthodox churches in the city, with one of the Armenian churches being the oldest standing building in Rostov. All of the Armenian churches are in the Nakhichevan-on-Don district of the city.

Mass media

The construction of the Rostov TV center began in 1956 and was completed on 26 April 1958. The first television program was broadcast on 30 April 1958. Color television was first broadcast in 1974. Radio transmission began in Rostov-on-Don on October 17, 1975. In 2009, there were fourteen FM radio stations in Rostov-on-Don.

Tourist sites and excursions

  • Local bazaars and markets of fresh fish
  • Bridges over the Don river and embankment
  • Don River lookout
  • Armenian Holy Cross Church
  • Rostovchanka statue
  • River Steamboat rides
  • Orthodox Cathedral of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin
  • Pushkinskaya Street
  • Maxim Gorky Park
  • Traditional Cossack villages (stanitsas)
  • State Sholokhov museum and reserve
  • Azov ancient fortress
  • Rostov circus
  • Rostov state opera and ballet theater
  • Monastery of St. Jacob
  • Rostov zoo
  • Open-Air Museum of Railway Equipment
  • Botanical Garden of SFU
  • Art Gallery 16th Line

Video (1)

Street view

Reviews

Share your experiences, help others make the right choice!
Think about what you would like to know if you were looking for a review about a place to relax. Please describe in detail what you liked and what you didn't. What would you advise to other guests and to the hotel owner. The more fully you tell about the hotel, the easier it will be for other people to make a choice and they will be very grateful to you!

Map

X