Saratov (English) Саратов (Russian)
-  City[citation needed]  -
Location of Saratov Oblast in Russia
Saratov
Coordinates: 51°32′N 46°01′E / 51.533°N 46.017°E / 51.533; 46.017Coordinates: 51°32′N 46°01′E / 51.533°N 46.017°E / 51.533; 46.017
Coat of arms	Flag
Administrative status
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Saratov Oblast
Administrative center of	Saratov Oblast[citation needed]
Municipal status
Urban okrug	Saratov Urban Okrug[citation needed]
Mayor[citation needed]	Alexey Prokopenko[1]
Representative body	City Duma[2]
Statistics
Area	393 km2 (152 sq mi)[citation needed]
Population (2010 Census, preliminary)	837,831 inhabitants[3]
- Rank in 2010	16th
Population (2002 Census)	873,055 inhabitants[4]
- Rank in 2002	15th
Density	2,132 /km2 (5,520 /sq mi)[5]
Time zone	MSK (UTC+04:00)[6]
Founded	1590[citation needed]
Postal code(s)	410000[citation needed]
Dialing code(s)	+7 +7 8452[citation needed]
Official website

Saratov (Russian: Сара́тов; IPA: [sɐˈratəf] ( listen)) is a major city in southern Russia. It is the administrative center of Saratov Oblast and a major port on the Volga River. Population: 837,831 (2010 Census preliminary results);^[3] 873,055 (2002 Census);^[4] 904,643 (1989 Census).^[7] In addition to ethnic Russians, the city also has many Tatar, Ukrainian, Jewish, and German residents.

History[link]

Ukek, a city of the Golden Horde, was situated near the site of the modern city of Saratov from the mid 13th century until its destruction in 1395.

The modern city was founded in 1590. It traces its history to the reign of Tsar Feodor Ivanovich, who constructed several settlements along the Volga River in order to secure the southeastern boundary of his state. During the summer of 1586, the fortress of Samara was founded, followed by Tsaritsyn in 1589 and finally Saratov, located midway between Samara and Tsaritsyn, in 1590. Saratov was built at the insistence of count Grigory Zasekin. All three forts were located in a region where the Volga and the Don flow nearest one another, which allowed the Duchy of Moscovy to secure both rivers and to ensure control over the recently annexed khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan in the years following the Livonian War. The future town's buildings were first constructed in the upper reaches of the Volga, a full year prior to the in situ foundation of Saratov. In the spring of 1590, workers disassembled the constructions, marked each log, and delivered the "town" to its destination via the river. This method allowed the buildings to be rapidly erected in just a few weeks.

The name Saratov may derive from the Turkic words Saryk Atov, which mean ‘hawks' island’. Another version of the name origin is Sary Tau (Сары Тау), meaning "yellow mountain" in the Tatar language.^{[citation needed]}

By the 1800s, Saratov had grown to be an important shipping port on the Volga. The Ryazan-Ural Railroad reached Saratov in 1870.^[8] In 1896 (26 years later), the line crossed the Volga and continued its eastward expansion. A unique train-ferry, owned by the Ryazan-Ural railroad, provided the connection across the river between the two parts of the railroad for 39 years, before the construction of a railway bridge in 1935.

During World War II, Saratov was a station on the North-South Volzhskaya Rokada, a specially designated military railroad providing troops, ammunition and supplies to Stalingrad.^[9]

Until the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, Saratov was designated a "closed city", that is, strictly off limits to all foreigners due to its military importance. This was due to the presence of a vital military aircraft manufacturing facility in the city.

German community[link]

Saratov is an important city in the history of the Volga Germans. Until 1941, the town of Pokrovsk, today Engels, located just across the Volga from Saratov, served as the capital of the Volga German Republic. The ethnic German population of the region numbered 800,000 in the early 20th century, with some people whose families had been there for generations. The Russian czars had invited German immigration in the 18th and 19th centuries to encourage agricultural development in the area.

Saratov Bridge across the Volga, formerly the longest in the Soviet Union

The Volga German community came to include industrialists, scientists, musicians and architects, including those who built Saratov's universities and conservatories. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II, the government forcibly expelled more than half of all Volga Germans to Uzbekistan, Siberia and Kazakhstan; few ever returned to the Volga region, even after rehabilitation. Others were expelled to western Europe after the end of the war.

Beginning in the 1980s, a large portion of the surviving members of the ethnic Germans emigrated from the Soviet Union to Germany. Reminders of the once prominent place of Germans in the city remain, with the Roman Catholic St. Klementy Cathedral (seat of the historic Diocese of Tiraspol) on Nemetskaya Street the most notable. The building was converted into the children's cinema "Pioneer" during the Soviet period.

Climate[link]

Saratov has moderately continental climate with warm and dry summers and an abundance of sunny days. The warmest month is July with daily mean temperature near +23 °C (73 °F), coldest - February −8 °C (18 °F).

Summers are hot and dry in Saratov. Daytime temperatures of 30 °C (86 °F) or higher are commonplace.

Snow and ice are dominant during the winter season. Saratov receives about 92 centimetres (36 in) of snowfall annually. Days well above freezing and nights below −25 °C (−13 °F) both occur in the winter.

Modern Saratov[link]

The Saratov region is highly industrialized, due in part to the rich in natural and industrial resources of the area. The region is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centres in Russia. Saratov possesses six institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 21 research institutes, 19 project institutes, as well as the Saratov State University, the Saratov State Socio-Economic University, the Saratov State Technical University, and many scientific and technological laboratories attached to some of the city's large industrial enterprises.

Saratov is served by Saratov Tsentralny Airport, and also hosts the general aviation airfield Saratov West. The aerospace manufacturing industry is served by the Saratov South airport. Nearby Engels Air Force Base is the main base for Russian strategic Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers .

Places of interest, art, and culture[link]

One of the city's most prominent landmarks is the 19th century neo-Gothic Conservatory. When it was built in 1912, the Conservatory was Russia's third such institution (after Moscow and St. Petersburg). At the time, Saratov, with a population of 240,000, was the third-largest city in Russia.

The Saratov Drama Theater

The Saratov Drama Theater was founded in 1802, making it one of Russia's oldest. It is ranked as one of Russia's National Theaters. In Soviet times, the theater was renamed in honor of Karl Marx, but now carries the name of Ivan Slonov (1882–1945), an actor, theatrical director and educator, born in the city. The full name in Russian is The I. A. Slonov Saratov State Academic Theater (Саратовский государственный академический театр драмы имени И. А. Слонова).

The Radischev Art Museum

Saratov is noted for several art museums, including the Radischev Art Museum, named for Alexander Radishchev. It contains more than 20,000 exhibits, including ancient Russian icons, as well as works by some of the finest Russian painters (e.g. Aleksandra Ekster, Pavel Kuznetsov, Aristarkh Lentulov, Robert Falk, Pyotr Konchalovsky, Martiros Saryan, Fyodor Rokotov).

Sports[link]

PFC Sokol is based in the city and plays in the Russian Second Division. Saratov also fields a basketball team, Avtodor, and an ice hockey team Kristall Saratov, who play in the Russian Major League. The Saratov bandy club Universal^[12] plays in the 2nd highest division.

Twin cities[link]

• Bratislava, Slovakia
• Dallas, Texas, United States
• Dobrich, Bulgaria
• Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
• Shaoyang, Hunan, China
• Łódź, Poland
• Marseille, France
• Tours, France
• Bristol, England, United Kingdom (active in the early 1950s)
• Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States

Notable people[link]

Church in downtown Saratov

The Saratov region was the birthplace or at some point hometown of:

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Saratov

• Saratov
• SaratovLive - Big site of the Saratov
• Saratov.Ru
• Old photos of Saratov
• Radischev Art Gallery
• Catalogue of the Radischev Gallery
• Cultural guide of Saratov
• Saratov city streets views

v t e Cities and towns in Saratov Oblast Administrative center: Saratov Arkadak Atkarsk Balakovo Balashov Engels Kalininsk Khvalynsk Krasnoarmeysk Krasny Kut Marks Novouzensk Petrovsk Pugachyov Rtishchevo Shikhany Volsk Yershov

vep:Saratov