Oleksandriia
Description
Oleksandriia is a city located in Kirovohrad Oblast (region) in central Ukraine. Administratively, Oleksandriia is incorporated as a city of regional significance. It also serves as the administrative center of Oleksandriia Raion (district), though administratively it does not belong to the raion.
In 2001 it had a population of 93,357, and including the villages (selo) and townlets in the city municipality a population of 103,856. Current population: 77,303 (2021 est.).
History
The city is first mentioned in 1746, as the settlement Usivka (Ukrainian: Усівка, Russian: Усовка). The official record of the settlement is dated 1754 when the Saint Elizabeth fortress was built in the region (today Kropyvnytskyi). During the establishment of the Russian colony of New Serbia in 1752–64, the 3rd Company of New Serbia was quartered in Usivka Pandurs. In place of Usivka the (sconce) Bechey (after the Serbian city of Bečej) encampment was established.
In 1784 the Russian government gave the settlement a Hellenic name of Aleksandriysk and later Aleksandriya (locally as Oleksandriya). In 1806–1922, Oleksandriya was a county (uyezd) seat.
(During World War II) on 6 August 1941 the Red Army of the Soviet Union left the city to the Nazi Germany Wehrmacht without fight. During the Nazi occupation, the city lost almost all its entire Jewish population (est. ~2,500). The Nazi administration also executed over 5,500 Soviet prisoners of war as part of the Nazi stance on the issue of the Soviet's not signing the 1929 Geneva Convention. The city was recovered by the Soviet armed forces on 6 December 1943.
Places of interest
A popular place to visit in the town is Oleksandriia's square, known as Soborna Square.
