Oryol (English) Орёл (Russian)
-  City[1]  -
Location of Oryol Oblast in Russia
Oryol Location of Oryol in Oryol Oblast
Coordinates: 52°58′N 36°04′E / 52.967°N 36.067°E / 52.967; 36.067Coordinates: 52°58′N 36°04′E / 52.967°N 36.067°E / 52.967; 36.067
Coat of arms	Flag
City Day	August 5[citation needed]
Administrative status (as of April 2011)
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Oryol Oblast[1]
Administratively subordinated to	city of oblast significance of Oryol[1]
Administrative center of	Oryol Oblast,[1] city of oblast significance of Oryol[1]
Municipal status (as of May 2010)
Urban okrug	Oryol Urban Okrug[2]
Administrative center of	Oryol Urban Okrug[2]
Mayor[citation needed]	Vasily Yeryomin[citation needed]
Representative body	City Duma[citation needed]
Statistics
Area	111 km2 (43 sq mi)[citation needed]
Population (2010 Census, preliminary)	317,854 inhabitants[3]
- Rank in 2010	57th
Population (2002 Census)	333,310 inhabitants[4]
- Rank in 2002	54th
Density	2,864 /km2 (7,420 /sq mi)[5]
Time zone	MSK (UTC+04:00)[6]
Founded	1566[citation needed]
City status since	1702[citation needed]
Postal code(s)	302000–302999[citation needed]
Dialing code(s)	+7 4862[citation needed]
Official website
Oryol on WikiCommons

Oryol or Orel (Russian: Орёл; IPA: [ɐˈrʲɵl]) is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, located on the Oka River, approximately 360 kilometers (220 mi) south-southwest of Moscow. Population: 317,854 (2010 Census preliminary results);^[3] 333,310 (2002 Census);^[4] 336,862 (1989 Census).^[7] It is served by the Oryol Yuzhny Airport.

History[link]

The sculpture on the Railway Station Square of the city

While there are no historical records, archaeological evidence proves that a fortress settlement existed between the Oka and Orlik Rivers as early as the 12th century, when the land was a part of the Principality of Chernigov. The name of the fortress is unknown; it may not have been called Oryol at the time. In the 13th century the fortress became a part of the Zvenigorod district of the Karachev Principality. In the early 15th century, the territory was conquered by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The city was soon abandoned by its population, after being sacked either by Lithuanians or the Golden Horde. The territory became a part of the Tsardom of Russia in the 16th century.

Ivan the Terrible decreed that a new fortress be built on the spot in 1566, for the purpose of defending the southern borders of the country.^{[citation needed]} The fortress was built very speedily, work starting in the summer of 1566 and ending in the spring of 1567. The location chosen was less than ideal strategically, as the fortress was located on a seasonally flooded low ground easily targeted from the neighboring high ground. Both the speed and location are of course due to the new fortress built upon the ruins of the old one.

False Dmitry I and his army passed through Oryol in 1605; Ivan Bolotnikov in 1606; False Dmitry II camped in Oryol for the winter of 1607–1608. Polish intervention sacked it in 1611 and 1615; the population fled after the second sacking and moved to Mtsensk. Orlovsky Uyezd nonetheless continued to exist on paper.

Oryol was rebuilt in 1636. The question of moving the fortress to the more advantageous high ground was in the air up until the 1670s, but the move was never made. The fortress was deemed unnecessary and taken apart in the early 18th century.

In the mid-18th century Oryol became one of the major centers of grain production, with the Oka River being the major trade route until 1860s when it was replaced by a railroad.

Oryol was granted town status in 1702. In 1708, Oryol was included as a part of Kiev Governorate; in 1719, Oryol Province was created within Kiev Governorate. The Province was transferred to the newly created Belgorod Governorate in 1727. On March 11 (February 28 old style), 1778 Oryol Vice-Royalty was created from parts of Voronezh and Belgorod Governorates. In 1779, the city was almost entirely rebuilt based on a new plan; and the Oryol River was renamed Orlik (lit: "little eagle").

After the October Revolution of 1917, the city was in Bolshevik hands, except for a brief period between October 13 and October 20, 1919, when it was controlled by Anton Denikin's White Army.

Oryol was once again moved between different oblasts in the 1920s and 1930s, finally becoming the administrative center of its own Oryol Oblast on September 27, 1937. Christian Rakovsky, Maria Spiridonova, Olga Kameneva and 160 other prominent political prisoners were shot on September 11, 1941 on Joseph Stalin's orders in the Medvedev forest outside Oryol.

During World War II, Oryol was occupied by the Wehrmacht on October 3, 1941, and liberated on August 5, 1943, after the Battle of Kursk. The city was almost completely destroyed.

Administrative and municipal status[link]

Administratively, it is incorporated as the city of oblast significance of Oryol—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.^[1] Municipally, the city of oblast significance of Oryol is incorporated as Oryol Urban Okrug.^[2]

Climate[link]

Oryol has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb).

Mayors[link]

• 1991–1997: Alexander Kislyakov
• 1997–2002: Yefim Velkovsky
• 2002–2006: Vasily Uvarov
• 2006–2009: Alexander Kasyanov

International relations[link]

Twin towns and sister cities[link]

Oryol is twinned with:

• Brest, Belarus
• Kerch, Crimea, Ukraine
• Leeuwarden, Friesland, Netherlands ^[9]
• Nokia, Finland
• Razgrad, Bulgaria (since 1968)

Notable people[link]

• Leonid Andreyev, playwright
• Mikhail Bakhtin, literary critic^[10]
• Fedor Baranov, fisheries scientists
• Denis Boytsov, boxer
• Felix Dzerzhinsky, first head of the CheKa
• Afanasy Fet, poet
• Nikolai Getman, painter and Gulag survivor
• Timofey Granovsky, historian
• Vasily Kalinnikov (1866-1901), composer
• Yakov Kasman, pianist
• Anna Petrovna Kern, socialite
• Stanislav Lebamba, association football player
• Nikolai Leskov, novelist
• Denis Menchov, cyclist
• Artem Mikoyan, founder of the MiG aircraft manufacturer
• Fritz Noether, mathematician
• Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov, aviation designer
• Yevgeni Preobrazhensky, statesman
• Vladimir Karlovich Roth, neuropathologist
• Valerian Safonovich, statesman
• Alexey Stakhanov, worker
• Pyotr Stolypin, statesman
• Yakov Sverdlov, Bolshevik revolutionary
• Ivan Turgenev, novelist and playwright
• Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov, military general
• Gennady Zyuganov, politician

References[link]

Notes[link]

Sources[link]

• Орловский областной Совет народных депутатов. Закон №522-ОЗ от 6 июля 2005 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Орловской области», в ред. Закона №1187-ОЗ от 1 апреля 2011 г «О внесении изменений в законодательные акты Орловской области». Вступил в силу с момента официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Орловская правда", №116, 13 июля 2005 г. (Oryol Oblast Council of People's Deputies. Law #522-OZ of July 6, 2005 On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Oryol Oblast, as amended by the Law #1187-OZ of April 1, 2011 On Amending the Legislative Acts of Oryol Oblast. Effective as of the moment of the official publication.).
• Орловский областной Совет народных депутатов. Закон №467-ОЗ от 28 декабря 2004 г. «О статусе и границе города Орла как муниципального образования Орловской области», в ред. Закона №1059-ОЗ от 11 мая 2010 г «О внесении изменений в Закон Орловской области "О статусе и границе города Орла Орловской области"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Орловская правда", №233, 30 декабря 2004 г. (Oryol Oblast Council of People's Deputies. Law #467-OZ of December 28, 2004 On the Status and Borders of the City of Oryol as a Municipal Formation of Oryol Oblast, as amended by the Law #1059-OZ of May 11, 2010 On Amending the Law of Oryol Oblast "On the Status and Borders of the City of Oryol of Oryol Oblast". Effective as of the day of the official publication.).

External links[link]

• Official website of Oryol (Russian)
• Unofficial website of Oryol (Russian)

v t e Cities and towns in Oryol Oblast Administrative center: Oryol Bolkhov Dmitrovsk Livny Maloarkhangelsk Mtsensk Novosil Oryol

vep:Oröl