Orenburg

Coat of arms of Orenburg

Orenburg (Template:Lang-ru) is a city on the Ural River and the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast in the Volga Federal District of Russia. It lies 1,478 km south of Moscow, at 51°47′N 55°06′E / 51.783°N 55.100°E / 51.783; 55.100. Population: 542,700 (2005 est.); 549,361 (2002 Census). Highest point: 154.4 m. International dialing code: +7 (3532). Postal code: 460000. As of 2006, the mayor of the city is Yuri Meshcheryakov.

History

The Russian Empire began plans for the construction of an eastern frontier fortress town in the southern Ural region to be named Orenburg in 1734. The colonists originally founded a settlement in 1735 at the confluence of the Ural River with the Or River. The town's name meant "fortress near the Or," as Burg is German for fortress. This settlement changed its name in 1739 to Orsk. An attempt was made to found another Orenburg at a location called Krasnogar, or "Red Hill," in 1741, but this settlement failed. A third Orenburg was successfully established by Ivan Neplyuyev at its present location approximately 250 km down the Ural from Orsk in 1743.

This third Orenburg functioned as an important military outpost on the frontier with the nomadic Kazakhs. It became the center for the Orenburg Cossacks. After the incorporation of Central Asia into the Russian Empire, Orenburg became a trading station and a prominent railway junction on route to the new Central Asian possessions and to Siberia.

Orenburg played a major role in the rebellion of Pugachev (1773-1774). At the time, it was the capital of a vast district and the seat of the governor. Pugachev besieged the city and it's fortress from nearby Berda from October 1773 - March 26th, 1774. The defense was organized by liutenant-general Reinsdorp. General Golytsin defeated Pugachev at Berda, and later again at Kargala (north of Orenburg). Most of the city was left in ruins, and thousands of inhabitants had died in the siege.

The famous Russian writer Alexander Pushkin visited Orenburg in 1833 during a research trip for his books "The History of Pugachev" and his famous novel "The Captain's Daughter". He met his friend Vladimir Dahl here, who would later write the first serious dictionary of the Russian language.

Orenburg functioned as the capital of the Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (in present-day Kazakhstan) within Russia from 1920-1925. When that republic was renamed Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1925, Orenburg rejoined Russia proper and Alma-Ata (Almaty) became the new capital. Although the republic became the Kazakh SSR in 1936, Orenburg remained in Russia.

From 1938 to 1957, the city bore the name Chkalov (Чка́лов) (after the test pilot Valery Chkalov). The city's distance from the Nazi invasion during World War II led many Soviet enterprises to flee there, helping in the city's economic growth.

Education

Educational facitilies include Orenburg State University, Orenburg Institute of Economics & Culture, Orenburg State Medical Academy, and the Orenburg branch of Moscow State Law Academy.

Culture

Orenburg Drama Theater, Musical Theater, Tatar Drama Theater, and Puppet Show Theater Pierrot are located in Orenburg. Orenburg is also home to Orenburg Academic Russian Folk Chorus.

Tourism

Mountain and river tourism is developed in the region. There are a number of fast mountain rivers and rocks in pleated spurs of the southern edge of the Urals range, popular with tourists.

The city is famous for its down Orenburg shawls. The thinnest lacy design, knitted by hand shawls and cobweb-like kerchiefs (pautinkas), is not only warm, but also is used for decorative purposes.

Talking about tourism I want to add a picture of the trainstation of Orenburg which is said to be the one of the first trainstations built in Russia.