"Volzhskaya Atlantis": the village of Vasilevo, now the city of Chkalovsk. Chkalovsk

To the question What city was at one time called Chkalov? given by the author ** Z @ Love ... the best answer is Orenburg 1938-1957 years

Answer from Ask[guru]
The city of Orenburg was founded on April 19 (30), 1743. Before that, it was laid twice in other places. For the first time, a special expedition, called "known" in order to ensure secrecy, laid the foundation for Orenburg at the confluence of the Or river into the Yaik on August 31, 1735. Its head was the initiator of the development of the region, the chief secretary of the Senate IK Kirilov. For a number of reasons, they did not immediately build the city, but for some time they called Orenburg a small fortress, founded on August 15, and intended to cover the future city from the east. The city of Orsk later emerged from this fortress, now it is the so-called "old city". In 1737, the expedition was renamed into the Orenburg Commission, the head of which, in connection with the death of I.K.Kirilov, was appointed the famous administrative figure and scientist V.N.Tatishchev. He came to the conclusion that the place for the administrative center of the region is not convenient, since it is too remote and "everything needed to live there is forced with great difficulty and high cost", moreover, it turned out that the area is flooded with high water. According to him, but already in his absence, in 1739, preparations began for the construction of Orenburg near the Krasnogor tract; On August 6, 1741, it was laid, some work was done, but the construction was not started due to a dispute between the engineers about the need for some change in the location of the city. The new head of the commission, counter-admiral and secret adviser I.I.Neplyuev, who arrived at his place of service in the spring of 1742, found the location of the city near Krasnaya Gora unsuitable, and in the summer of 1742 chose where the historical center of Orenburg is now located. History has confirmed the correctness of this choice. More than two and a half centuries later, Orenburg remains the administrative and economic center of a vast territory. It was built as a city-fortress, as a stronghold of the lines of fortresses along Yaik, Samara and Sakmara, guarding the southeastern border of Russia; At the same time, the city was supposed to serve as a center of economic and economic communication with the peoples of the east, which, first of all, implied trade. Therefore, the city had both a military and a commercial character: there were barracks, an artillery yard, powder magazines, military institutions, a living room and an exchange yard, and customs. The city and the fortress were built at the same time. The fortress wall - an earthen rampart - in the plan was an oval with ten bastions and two half-bastions protruding from it. The shaft began on the embankment, where the weapon is now installed as a monument to the defense of Orenburg during the civil war. From here he walked in the direction of Burzyantsev Uditsa, making an intersection with Maxim Gorky Street outside the fortress, and further along Burzyantsev Street and its geometric continuation to the Dynamo Stadium, crossing Khlebny Lane at 2 and Volodarsky Street at the intersection with 9th January Street ... Then the rampart went north of Volodarsky Street to Komsomolskaya, from where, changing direction to the east, then to the southeast, it passed north of Lechebny Lane to Studencheskaya Street, through the territory of the Agricultural Academy and, gradually turning south, ended at the water utility. These were the boundaries of the city when it was laid, the same territory was called the city itself until the abolition of the fortress in 1862.

Answer from Andrey zakharov[guru]
Orenburg

Answer from Marriage[expert]
Orenburg

Answer from Oldest[guru]
In 1938-1957 the city of Orenburg was called that!

Answer from Domongol[guru]
Dictionary of modern geographical names ORENBURG (in 1938-57 Chkalov), adm. center of the Orenburg region at the confluence of the river. Sakmara in the r. Ural. 549 thousand inhabitants (2002). Founded in 1735 at the mouth of the river. Or (in the area of \u200b\u200bmodern. Orsk), in 1740 moved downstream of the river. Ural in the tract Krasnaya Gora, and in 1743 - at the present time. a place. It was built as a fortress city of the support line to protect the southeast. borders of Russia; center of trade with Asian peoples. In 1920-25. the capital of the Kazakh ASSR. Archyt. monuments of the 18th-19th centuries : Gostiny Dvor, caravanserai (architect AP Bryullov), etc. In the city there are 4 research institutes, 8 state. universities, 5 theaters, a philharmonic society, 4 museums, a planetarium, a circus. Machining and metalworking, energy, gas and oil production. , oil. , food. , light industry, production of building materials. The best in Russia elemental sulfur is produced here, the largest in Europe and the second in the world helium plant is located. Zhel. -door. node, airport. The Decembrists and poets TG Shevchenko and AN Pleshcheev were in exile; genus. and the composer A. A. Alyabyev served his exile.

As a child, I read some kind of illustrated children's book about flying to America across the North Pole in an airplane with huge red wings. Then I did not even remember that the pilot's name was Valery Chkalov, and I did not think about the fact that streets and cities are named after him: in fact, Chkalov is such a proto-Gagarin, a young and handsome Soviet conqueror of the skies, who soared there straight from the people ... The red-winged plane, meanwhile, has survived and is quietly standing in a museum in Chkalovsk (11 thousand inhabitants) - the pilot's hometown, the former Vasileva Sloboda on the Volga, 120 kilometers above Nizhny Novgorod, whose surroundings it was dedicated to. However, although the city is of the same legend, it is still not Chkalov alone - there is also some antiquity here, and another personality - the brilliant shipbuilder Rostislav Alekseev ...

Vasileva Sloboda was born as a fortress of an ancient line of defense - it is not entirely obvious that in the 12th century Russia was leading a colonial expansion into the Finno-Ugric lands that now seem to us originally, and this process was not always peaceful. The founder of the settlement was Vasily Yuryevich, the son of Yuri Dolgoruky, in the 14-17 centuries it was owned by the Shuiskys, including Vasily Shuisky, the unlucky king of the Great Troubles, after the fall of which the settlement became first a monastery, and from 1764 - even an imperial one. The locals were engaged in handicrafts (the settlement was famous throughout the Volga for its potters), some for its seething, and in 1883 workshops for the repair and maintenance of dredgers were opened here, which in the 1920s grew into a large factory, the first in the USSR with such a rare specialization. In general, life went on as usual, and it is unlikely that in 1904 someone paid special attention to the birth of a future hero in the family of a boiler-maker of those same workshops. On the other hand, Valery Chkalov earned a name for himself during his lifetime, in 1937, but the settlement became a city only in 1955, when its old part went to the bottom of the Gorky Reservoir. Most of today's Chkalovsk is some kind of homemade, artificial, uncomfortable array of barracks, five-story buildings and a private sector, to which we dima1989 drilled almost at random:

In the midst of all this grayness is a huge triangular square, worthy of regional centers:

The Sports Palace and the Chkalov monument - it is the main one here, I don't even remember if I saw a Lenin monument in Chkalovsk:

Somewhere in the vicinity of the square, there is still the church of Anastasia the Patterner, rebuilt in 1995 from a store, and a certain school in the constructivist style, but we did not even look for them. But if you go in the direction of the Volga, among the huts and barracks suddenly rises a thin, almost admiralty, if not the harsh spirit of Stalinism, a spire. We go there:

This is the local House of Culture (1938-40), facing the Volga, in the dull landscape of the town looks like a real palace among the slums. It was crowded at the entrance - it seems we were on Teacher's Day or something like that:

But let's go to the palace later - next to it is the Chkalov Memorial Museum itself, which includes a hangar:

And the hut, built in 1896 by the father of Valery Pavlovich and moved after the war from the flooding zone of the hydroelectric power station. It is evident that the Chkalovs lived very well for the proletarian people:

To list the exhibits in LJ is generally thankless, but the exposition turned out to be really interesting, and the biography, aviation equipment and ethnography of the Volga village were somehow intertwined very tightly and inseparably. Let's say things from an ordinary house, where they did not yet know that in honor of one of the sons the whole settlement would be named after thirty years:

In 1919 (that is, at the age of 15) Valery Chkalov went as a fireman on the "Bayan" steamer, and it was there, having seen a seaplane flying over the Volga from its deck, for the first time realized what he wanted in life. In the army, he immediately went to aviation - but first as an air mechanic in Nizhny Novgorod, and only then studied to be a pilot: a year in Yegoryevsk (1921), two in Borisoglebsk near Voronezh, two more in Serpukhov, and finally in 1924 he took up the position of a fighter pilot. service at the Commandant airfield in Leningrad. Here I must say that the pilot was quite Russian-folk with daring, and therefore he always violated the discipline - he would throw some unauthorized pirouette (according to a well-known legend, he somehow took it and flew under one of the bridges on the Neva, but it seems that this is just a legend ), then he will arrange a drunken fight. Finally, when in 1928, already in Bryansk, he crashed a plane and miraculously survived himself, the patience of his superiors snapped - he was fired from the armed forces and only the petition of Klim Voroshilov saved him from prison. They already knew about the exploits of the dashing guy at the top, and therefore they were invited first to Osoaviakhim, a test pilot. In subsequent years, in Leningrad and Moscow, Chkalov made more than 800 flights, often finding himself on the verge of death - for example, on the left, the cylinder of a crashed plane, preserved by Valery Pavlovich as a memory:

And on the right ... By the mid-1930s, Chkalov had already outgrown the level of a test pilot, and instead of experiments he took up records. In the summer of 1936, his crew flew to Udd Island in the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk (now, as you might guess, Chkalov Island) - 56 hours, 9375 kilometers, and upon their return at the Shchelkovo airfield near Moscow (now, of course, Chkalovsky), Stalin personally met them, and awards, titles and gifts fell on Valery Pavlovich like from a cornucopia. But the climax came the following summer - the legendary flight to America across the Pole. Having overcome 8504 kilometers in the most difficult conditions, the plane of the Chkalovsky crew landed in the town of Vancouver, Washington state (not to be confused with Canadian Vancouver!), A little short of its final destination - Portland in Oregon. Vancouver for some reason (really?) Chakolov-city never became, but Chkalov street, a monument to the pilot and even a small museum at the Pearson Field military airfield is there. So in the right half of the frame, as you might have guessed, Chkalov's clothes from these flights and the red logbook of Stalin's Route to Udd Island. After that, Chkalov became a hero of the all-Union scale, two months later, Vasileva Sloboda was renamed in his honor, a separate room in the museum is even dedicated to gifts - for example, such a penknife was made for him by workers from Pavlov in Nizhny Novgorod (this is where PAZiks make):

And here's how it all ended ... Chkalov, like Gagarin after the conquest of space, remained an active test pilot, and this, especially in those days, was a really dangerous job, and Chkalov and Gagarin were not the only ones who died in the sky as heroes in the distance from any wars. On the left - the clothes in which he was on his last flight and the parachute did not open, on the right - the ill-fated plane and a description of the crash. In 1938, Orenburg became the city of Chkalov (until 1957), and streets, districts, metro stations and, of course, airfields with the name of Valery Pavlovich are connected in dozens of cities of the former USSR:

The museum began to be created almost immediately after the death of Chkalov, never ended up in a war zone, and therefore it is very rich and informative, the overwhelming majority of things in it are genuine:

In general, now, when humanity is upset that it has not even reached some lousy Mars, not to mention Alpha Centauri, or even the Andromeda nebula, the significance of Chkalov and why cities were named after him is not quite obvious. But I think everyone has heard about this cruel romance of early aviation, here is Saint-Exupery with his "Planet of People". For example, in Lithuania, the pilots Darius and Girenas, who flew from New York to Kaunas and crashed over Germany a couple of hundred kilometers to their destination, are heroes of the same order with all princes, poets and fighters for independence. Yes, after some 30 years they were all eclipsed by Gagarin and Armstrong, who escaped the Earth, but the pilots of the 1930s were the heroes of the last stage before space, the forerunners of astronauts.

But of course, for the sake of this exhibition alone, I would not go here, and yet its hangar is much more impressive than the house-museum. From left to right, as you move away from the entrance: Po-2, ANT-25, I-16 and I-17.

The highlight of the program is, of course, the "red-winged giant" ANT-25, built as a unique aircraft in 1932 under the leadership of Sukhoi and Tupolev (founders of "Su" and "Tu", respectively), then it was brought to mind for a long time, and in September 1934 it flew in circles continuously for 75 hours and 12 thousand kilometers, setting a world record, which Chkalov did not surpass "in the field". On it, Chkalov, Georgy Baidukov and Alexander Belyakov flew to Udd and Vancouver, and literally a month later, in July 1937, the second such plane with the crew of Mikhail Gromov, Andrey Yumashev and Sergey Danilin made an even more distant one (10 thousand kilometers), than all the Chkalovs, the flight, also reaching California across the Pole ... but they were no longer the first and could not outshine Chkalov. In total, it turns out, two such aircraft were built, plus in 1988 a full-size copy was made for the Air Force Museum in Monino. Here is, of course, Chkalovsky:

A boat, a tent, a stove and snowshoes are attached - aviation romance here is closely intertwined with the polar one, and if the hero pilots were the forerunners of astronauts, then the conquerors of other planets will build their genealogy to the polar explorers in a couple of centuries.

The ANT-25 has amazingly disproportionately long wings - with a hull length of 13 meters, a wingspan of all 34. Nearby is the Po-2 biplane, created in 1929 by Nikolai Polikarpov and formerly one of the most massive aircraft in history - a total of 33 thousand of these were made pieces, not every car boasts a similar circulation. This particular one was presented to Chkalov in April 1937, and in the last year he periodically showed up with a show in a village named after himself and even rode his fellow countrymen on it.

Under the red wing are mock-ups of several more aircraft (for example, the white and red Ten Romeo, on which the American Millard Harman flew the Chkalov route in the opposite direction for the 50th anniversary), as well as two more gifts to Chkalov in 1937 - a motor boat (from Rybinsk boat plant) and the Packard car (from the Soviet ambassador to the United States, Troyanovsky):

On the other hand, this is what Chkalov was experiencing. The I-17 (which is small with red wings) never went into production, but the I-16 fighter was one of the most massive military aircraft in history (more than 10 thousand copies). A separate engine is also attached from it:

The MiG-15, to which Chkalov no longer lived, stands here like an airplane that a hero could only dream of. Also, by the way, the most massive in history (15 thousand cars), one of the cheapest (the cost of production was about the same as an armored personnel carrier) and has served different countries for more than half a century.

Another MiG-21 is already behind the museum fence, against the background of the recreation center:

The latter was, apparently, a gift from the Soviet government to the Vasilevites in compensation for not removing their hero. An interesting building, but to me alone, the local Chkalov bas-relief reminds me of a trololo by its facial expression?

Seeing the open door, we went inside and almost immediately were sent by the security guard to ... the second floor, where a certain Museum of Speeds lives:

Chkalovsk is rarely visited by land, but the city is very touristy - after all, cruise ships often stop at the recreation center and the memorial. The Chkalov Museum for the entire ship at once, of course, is cramped, and sometimes even we know how to do something for the needs of tourism, and in general there are enough small museums on the Volga following the "Myshkin" model.
And the first halls here are by no means high-speed - the usual local history museum with showcases of rural life and a model of Vasilyeva Sloboda before the flooding (remember the far right house):

Sloboda - that is, consider the urban settlement, like a city, but like not. In the center stood the Ascension Cathedral (1755), the former temple of the local "branch" of the Moscow Ascension Monastery, and the Church of Anastasia Uzoreshitelnitsa (1797). The first was blown up in about the same years when the recreation center was being built, but the second was dismantled in 1913 - they began to "reconstruct with demolition", and then, as often happens with us, there was no time for that. Another stand is dedicated to the wooden Intercession Church in Milino (1780), which collapsed a couple of years ago, but in general, the main temple of the Chkalovsky district remains the Transfiguration Church shown in the previous part of the village of Purekh.

Dredgers layouts - the main industrial specialization of the city:

But why it is called the Museum of Speeds, it becomes clear a little further - about half of the corridor and the largest hall are dedicated to another Soviet legend - ekranoplanes:

I think everyone has ever seen hydrofoils on Soviet and post-Soviet rivers, lakes, seas - "Rockets", "Comets", "Meteora" and others. Fast and beautiful, with the obligatory wings of raised spray, they still look futuristic in our time, what can we say about the 1950s, when wooden steamers could still jump on the waves raised by them? It is less obvious that they had their own "father", another Russian inventor who was a hundred years ahead of his time, and as an engineer Shukhov with his hyperboloids - at the same time quite recognized for himself. Rostislav Alekseev, a native of Novozybkov, was developing a military hydrofoil boat back in 1942, and although they never reached the point of hostilities, the technology itself was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1951 and Rostislav Evgenievich was engaged in the creation of "Petrel", "Voskhod" and "Raket", by 1962, having created almost the entire family of these vessels known from our rivers. Well, the next brainchild was the ekranoplanes, legendary due to the fact that they remained basically only experiments, machines: boats capable of moving low above the water surface on an air screen to develop the speed of aircraft of the Chkalov times and not subject to waves and shoals. On tests of the ekranoplan, Alekseev died in 1980, and then the story is generally the same as with the Shukhov tower - the idea is in the air, they experiment with it here and there, but something is missing for mass , perhaps - rostilav's genius?

All this splendor was built, of course, at the Nizhny Novgorod shipyards, but it is in Chkalovsk that the museum is not accidental - on the wide bay of the Trotsa river, supported by a reservoir (it is recognized on the road from Nizhny along a metal bridge) Rostislav Alekseev tested his designs and carried out in Chkalovsk (already Chkalovsk , and not Vasileva Sloboda) several years of pure time. Here are a couple more experimental models of ekranoplanes:

And personal belongings - as related to work:

So simple - but everything, like Chkalov's, is genuine. Once, two local heroes crossed paths - Rostislav Alekseev was an enthusiastic yachtsman, and living in Nizhny Novgorod since 1933, he somehow won a regatta here, which the legendary pilot personally presented to the young man at the awards ceremony:

In the meantime, the most popular device for high-speed vessels is the airbag - the first experiments with them were carried out in 18th century Sweden, and unlike hydrofoils and ekranoplanes, they do not have a pronounced founding father. It seems that there are a lot of "pillows" now running between Nizhny Novgorod and Bor. You can also recall that the tanker and the ship were also invented at the beginning of the 20th century on the Volga by order of the Nobel brothers (see,), that is, in the 20th century, the Volga was distinguished by the most modern and technologically advanced fleet among all world rivers.

Coming out of the recreation center, we walked a little along Chkalovsk itself, the former Vasileva Sloboda. Nearby - the Resurrection Chapel, built in memory of the cultural values \u200b\u200bflooded by the reservoir:

On the horizon is the Nizhegorodskaya hydroelectric power station (see the previous part):

The bay of the Sanakhty river, and somewhere beyond that cape, ekranoplanes were rushing:

The same "right-most house" from the layout:

And just houses and views of the former settlement:

On the bridge, schoolgirls bummed us a hundred rubles for a yaga and cigarettes, and it was pretty disgusting. Still, cruise tourism, like no other, corrupts the local population, regularly bringing rich white Mister, next to whom the poor people begin to feel like natives. Chkalovsk, on the other hand, gives the impression of a frankly poor and degrading city, rather a sad Ivanovo region than a good Nizhny Novgorod region.

And by the way about the Ivanovo region - on the other side of the Volga, by the way, there are separatists: in 1994, the Sokolsky district separated from the Ivanovo region, joining the Nizhny Novgorod region ... well, by modern standards it seems quite logical, because the Ivanovo region could only have gymnasts to its patriots but Nizhny Novgorod residents could rivet any cool military equipment up to Lun ekranoplanes, so the governor of the Textile Territory had to put up with it, and in those days the powerful governor Boris Nemtsov opposed him. Although it is certainly not a matter of identity, and the revolt was "sausage" - after all, the Nizhny Novgorod region is much richer than the Ivanovo region, but the "suitcase without a handle" area and the whole of 1994 in Nizhny Novgorod were sarcastically responding to any garbage "But Sokolsky is ours!" Although, in fact, all of the above is bitter humor on the topic of the day, but in fact everything was mundane and prosaic: just the area cut off by the reservoir back in Soviet times was entirely tied to Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets, and all problems were calmly resolved on paper, although the appeals the authorities on the topic of transferring the district to the Nizhny Novgorod region have been coming to the authorities since Soviet times.
Gorodets. Upper town.
Gorodets. Museums and crafts.
Gorodets. Outside the shaft.
Grigorovo and Veldemanovo. Homeland of antagonists.
Big Murashkino. Palaces in the wilderness.
Lyskovo and Makariev, crossing in the Volga region.
Semyonov. Matryoshkin grad.
Kerzhenskaya side. The hidden edge of Old Belief.
Svetloyar, where Kitezh disappeared.

Internal division 2 districts, 4 districts Head of Administration Yuri Nikolaevich Mishcheryakov Founded First mention Former names before - Orenburg
before - Chkalov
City with Population 526 430 people () Timezone UTC + 5, in summer UTC + 6 Telephone code +7 3532 Postcode 460000 Car code 56 OKATO code 53 401 Official site http://www.admin.orenburg.ru

History

It was built as a city-fortress, as a stronghold of the lines of fortresses along Yaik, Samara and Sakmara, guarding the southeastern border of Russia. At the same time, the city was supposed to serve as a center of economic and economic communication with the peoples of the East, which, first of all, meant trade. Therefore, the city had both a military and a commercial character: there were barracks, an artillery yard, powder magazines, military institutions, a living room and an exchange yard, and customs. € From October 5, 1773 to March 23, 1774, Orenburg was besieged by the army of Yemelyan Pugachev, after the defeat of the Pugachev revolt, Empress Catherine II renamed the Yaik Cossacks for participation in the uprising into the Ural Cossacks, the Yaitsky town into Uralsk, and the Yaik River into the Ural River.

In the years 1850-81. Orenburg is the center of the General Government. Until 1868, there were institutions in charge of border affairs, administration of the Kazakhs of the Younger Zhuz. Since 1868, the seat of the governor of the Turgai region.

Orenburg was a major center of trade between Russia and Kazakhstan and Central Asia. The industry (mainly flour milling, lettuce, tanning and oil processing) began to develop rapidly with the construction of the Samara-Orenburg railroad in 1877. In 1880, the export of fresh and frozen meat, Siberian ghee, lard, leather, wool, goat down to Moscow and St. Petersburg began. The city became a large trade and distribution center for cattle and meat coming from the Kazakh steppes (in 1894, city slaughterhouses were opened). In 1905, the construction of the Orenburg-Tashkent railway was completed, which opened the way to Central Asia, and the main railway workshops were built, which made the city an important transport hub.

Orenburg is also famous for its Orenburg downy shawls.

Changing priorities over time.

Orenburg arose as a warrior city that guarded the southeastern borders of the Russian Empire. Soon it became a merchant city and the largest intermediary between Russia and Central Asia. After some time, Orenburg became the capital city, the center of a huge province stretching from the Volga to Siberia, from the Kama to the Caspian Sea. A warrior city, a merchant, an official was also the most important strategic center, so the insurgent Pugachevites tried to seize it. Orenburg was also a prison city, a place of exile for political prisoners. The Russian poet A.N. Pleshcheev, the composer A.A. Alyabyev, the great kobzar T.G. Shevchenko endured the hardships of the tsarist arbitrariness. Later, the leaders of the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party were also exiled here.

Years of revolution and civil war

Orenburg was built at the junction of the Kazakh steppes and the Bashkir lands and became the center of the Russian Orenburg Cossacks established by Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. During the years of revolution and anarchy, this predetermined an unspoken struggle for the city, which occupied a key position in the southern Urals.

On July 21-28, 1917, the First All-Kirgiz (All-Kazakh) Congress was held in Orenburg, at which the Kazakh political party "Alash" was established, the forms of government, the autonomy of the Kyrgyz regions, the land issue were discussed, deputies were elected to the All-Russian Constituent Assembly and the Congress of Muslims of Russia "Shurai-Islam".

In July-August 1917, in the same place in Orenburg, I and II All-Bashkir congresses (kurultai) were held in parallel, where a decision was made on the need to create a "democratic republic on national-territorial principles" within federal Russia. The Central Council (Shuro) worked in Orenburg in the Bashkir inn "Caravanserai".

At the same time, in September 1917, Alexander Dutov was elected ataman of the Orenburg Cossacks and the head (chairman) of the military government. He became famous on the fronts of the First World War. After the February Revolution of 1917, he was elected chairman of the All-Russian Union of the Cossack Army in March 1917, in April of the same year he headed the congress of Russian Cossacks in Petrograd, but returned to Orenburg, where he studied and lived before the war.

On December 5-13, 1917, the Second All-Kirgiz Congress was held in the city, the Kyrgyz (Kazakh) autonomy "Alash" (but within Russia) was proclaimed on the territory of the Ural, Bukeevsk, Turgai, Akmola, Semipalatinsk and part of the Orenburg regions, where Kazakhs historically lived , and the government "Alash-Orda" was elected.

On December 8 - 20, 1917 in Orenburg, at the III All-Bashkir Congress (kurultai), the Bashkir Shuro led by Zaki Validi and Sharif Manatov proclaims the national autonomy of Bashkortostan on the territory of parts of the Orenburg, Samara, Ufa and Perm regions, where the Bashkirs also historically lived.

On January 31, 1918, the Red Army units of Blucher knock out the Cossack formations of Dutov from the city. The chieftain leaves for the Turgai steppes. But in the summer of 1918, the Cossacks, with the support of the White Czechs, returned Orenburg. Parts of Dutov in November 1918 became part of the Siberian army of Admiral Kolchak.

On March 20, 1919, the "Agreement between the central Soviet power and the Bashkir government on the Soviet Autonomous Bashkiria" was concluded. Published in print on March 23, 1919, therefore, this day is considered the official date of the formation of the republic. In accordance with the "Agreement ..." the Autonomous Bashkir Soviet Republic (ABSR) was formed with a temporary center in Sterlitamak, later Ufa became the capital.

In September 1919, Dutov's Orenburg army was defeated by the superior forces of the Red Army. The pursued Dutov in winter leaves through the Kirghiz steppes (Hungry campaign) to Semirechye to the chieftain Annenkov, then in the spring of 1920 with him to China. There in Suidong on February 21, 1921, Cheka agents kill him.

The anti-Soviet leaders of the Alash-Orda refused to obey the Soviets in negotiations with Lenin and Stalin, counting on the support of the White Movement. And, if a military-political alliance was concluded with KOMUCH, then the Omsk Directory and Admiral Kolchak refused. The Kyrgyz autonomy at the beginning of 1920 was abolished by the Soviet government for cooperation with the whites, and its leaders Alikhan Bukeikhanov, Akhmet Baitursynov, Mirzhakip Dulatov were subsequently shot.

But on August 26, 1920, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR adopted a decree signed by MI Kalinin and VI Lenin "On the formation of the Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic" in the same territories as part of the RSFSR with the capital in Orenburg. The first (Founding) Congress of the Soviets of Kazakhstan was held in Orenburg on October 4-12, 1920. The first chairman of the KirTSIK was the red commissar Seykali Mendeshev.

Nevertheless, the city did not stay long as the Kazakh capital, already in 1925 the capital of Kazakhstan was moved to the city of Perovsk (formerly Ak-Mechet) on the Syr-Darya, on this occasion renamed into Kyzyl-Orda (Red capital), and Orenburg with the region was included in the RSFSR. In December, it became the center of the Orenburg region.

The Legend of the City Built on Bones

In ancient times, the khan led his people across the steppes (today's Orenburg) and his people lived without knowing troubles, but when the khan died, his two sons divided the whole people into two parts. The elder went west, and the younger went east. A few years later they met in the same place where they left after the death of their father. The elder brother increased his people and made them stronger, the younger one could not achieve this and decided to attack his brother at night in order to become the leader of a strong army after his murder. But a person close to both brothers found out about this and warned the elder about the danger. No one slept at night, but in one of the camps they made blinding fires burn, and spears were dug around them. So during the night all the people who came from the East perished and the younger brother was punished. A strong people took a new path without burying the dead. Many centuries later, Orenburg began to lay on this place and the mercenaries, finding bones, were the first to say that Orenburg was built "on bones."

Names

Climate

• Average annual temperature - +4.9 C °
• Average annual wind speed - 4.3 m / s
• Average annual air humidity - 68%

Orenburg climate
Index	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	But I	Dec	Year
Absolute maximum, ° C	5	6	19	31	37	40	43	41	38	27	19	6	43
Average maximum, ° C	−9	−8	−2	13	22	27	29	27	21	11	0	−6	10
Average temperature, ° C	−13	−13	−6	7	15	21	22	20	14	5	−4	−9	4,9
Average minimum, ° C	−17	−17	−11	2	8	14	15	13	8	1	−7	−13	0
Absolute minimum, ° C	−43	−40	−37	−26	−6	−1	5	−1	−5	−20	−36	−39	−43
Precipitation rate, mm	26	21	22	25	29	40	37	33	34	38	37	32	374
Source: Weather and Climate

Timezone

Orenburg is in a time zone that differs by +5 hours from UTC () and +2 hours from Moscow time (MSK + 2). Orenburg summer time also differs from Moscow by 2 hours.

City administration

The head of the executive power of Orenburg is the head of the city administration (mayor), currently the post is occupied by Yuri Nikolaevich Mishcheryakov.

Administrative device

Orenburg is divided into 2 administrative districts: North and South. The Northern District includes Industrial and Dzerzhinsky Districts, and the Southern District Leninsky and Central.

Demography

The population of Orenburg has grown dramatically over the past decades. So in 1926 the city had 123 thousand inhabitants, in 1939 - 172 thousand, in 1959 - 267 thousand, in 1974 - 400 thousand, in 2005 - 538.6 thousand.

The population of Orenburg in 2007 was 546 thousand people.

Universities

• Orenburg State Pedagogical University
• Orenburg State Medical Academy
• Orenburg Institute of the Moscow State Law Academy
• Orenburg State Institute of Management
• Orenburg branch of the Russian State University of Oil and Gas I. M. Gubkina
• Branch of the World University of Technology
• Orenburg branch of the Russian State University of Trade and Economics

Culture and art

Museums

• Orenburg Regional Museum of History and Local Lore
• Memorial complex-museum "Salute, Victory!"
• Orenburg Regional Museum of Fine Arts
• Orenburg History Museum
• Memorial Museum-Apartment T. G. Shevchenko
• Memorial Museum-Apartment of Yuri and Valentina Gagarin
• Memorial Museum-Apartment of Leopold and Mstislav Rostropovich
• Museum "House of Memory"
• Space Museum (In the building of the Municipal Educational Institution "General education boarding school with initial flight training" (Cadet Corps named after II Neplyuev))
• Regional Museum of the History of Police of the Internal Affairs Directorate for the Orenburg Region
• Museum of Military Glory and Afghan War
• Museum of the history of the enterprise "Orenburggazprom"

Galleries and showrooms

Theaters and concert halls

There are several theaters in Orenburg, each of which is remarkable in its own way and is aimed at its audience.

Orenburg Municipal Puppet Theater "Pierrot" is the youngest theater in Orenburg. Founded in 1991. Every two years the theater holds the Orenburg Arbuznik International Theater Festival. Theater "Pierrot" is located at Prospect Pobedy, 133-a.

The Orenburg State Regional Puppet Theater, founded in 1935, shows performances for the youngest spectators. Orenburg Puppet Theater is a participant and laureate of international competitions. The puppet theater is located at 23 Sovetskaya Street.

The Orenburg State Regional Theater of Musical Comedy, created in 1935 on the basis of the troupe of the Vinnitsa Theater, every theater season shows spectators of all ages the best operettas, musical comedies, vaudeville and musical fairy tales. The theater is located along Tereshkova Street-13.

The Orenburg State Tatar Drama Theater named after Mirhaidar Faizi, leading its history of the Starar theater troupe organized in 1905, has in its repertoire plays by Tatar, Russian, Western and Eastern playwrights. The theater is located at st. Soviet-52.

The oldest theater in the city is the Orenburg Regional Drama Theater named after M. Gorky. For the first time performances in the city theater of Orenburg began to go in 1869, before that only visiting troupes performed in the city. Polina Strepetova, Vera Komissarzhevskaya, Mikhail Tarkhanov performed on the stage of the theater in different years. In 1898, simultaneously with the Moscow Art Theater, Chekhov's "The Seagull" was staged at the theater. The theater is located at st. Soviet-26.

Orenburg also operates philharmonic.

Cinemas

• "Union"

• "Falcon"

Long-term construction

Sport

Communication

Ramadan Mosque

Organizations representing other confessions operate in Orenburg: Protestants, Baptists, Adventists, Pentecostals, Lutherans, Jehovah's Witnesses, Hare Krishnas, and Jews.

• Nikolsky Cathedral
• Temple of St. Sergius of Radonezh
• Dmitrievskaya Church
• Chapel of the Tabyn Mother of God
• Catholic Temple of the Lorethan Mother of God
• Parish of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia
• Church of the ECB

Mass media

• Press: AB-Market weekly newspaper, Business Class Portfolio magazine, South Ural, Vecherny Orenburg, Orenburzhye, Orenburg Madam, Orenburg Vremya and others.
• Television: GTRK "Orenburg", TV channel "Region", TV channel "Planet", "Oren-TV"
• Radio stations: "Radio Russia - Orenburg", "N-radio", "Europe plus Ural", Russian radio "," Avtoradio "," Hit-FM "," Radio 7 on seven hills "," D-FM "," Echo of Moscow in Orenburg "

Economy

Sberbank of Russia building in Orenburg

Industry

In the industry of Orenburg, leading places belong to the gas production and gas processing industries, machine building and metalworking. The enterprises of the chemical industry, food and light industries are also developed.

• Orenburg gas processing plant
• Orenburg Helium Plant
• Low pressure polymer pipe plant
• Dry mortar plant
• JSC "PO" Strela "
• The Orenshal JSC factory is a manufacturer of Orenburg downy shawls (shawls) and other products.
• Orenburgenergo OJSC
• OJSC "Inverter"
• JSC "Gidropress"
• South Ural Industrial Company
• Federal Grid Company RAO "UES of Russia"
• OJSC "Neftemaslozavod"

The volume of shipped goods of our own production, works and services performed on our own in manufacturing in 2008 were 28.3 billion rubles.

Transport

Narrow-gauge diesel locomotive TU2-008 on the Children's Railway in Orenburg

Orenburg is a large railway junction, where the lines going to Samara, Orsk, Uralsk, Aktyubinsk intersect. Railway stations included in the Orenburg junction are part of the South Ural railway.

The industry of the region (at that time it was mainly flour-grinding, leather, oil-milling and fat-burning) received a great impetus after the Samara-Zlatoust railway () and the Orenburg-Tashkent railway (1905).

In January 2007, after a lengthy reconstruction, a renovated building of the railway station with an area of \u200b\u200b4100 m² was opened. The cost of the reconstruction was RUB 350 million.

Urban transport

The city has 24 bus and 5 trolleybus routes. The rest of the trolleybus routes (7 units), closed in November 2001 - May 2008 due to the dilapidated rolling stock, will be opened in the next 2-3 years. The length of bus routes is 380 km. A system of route taxis has been developed.
Public transport fares:

• trolleybus - 8 rubles
• municipal bus - 10 rubles
• pAZ bus - 10 rubles
• fixed-route taxi "Gazelle" - 12 rubles
• taxi - 8-10 rubles / km

There is a cable car that can be used to cross the Ural River.

Border between Asia and Europe

On the pedestrian bridge in Orenburg across the Ural River, there is a symbolic sign of the border between Europe and Asia. However, this boundary is defined differently in different sources. According to one version, the Ural River is a natural water border between Asia and Europe only in its upper reaches in Russia. Further, geographically, the border between Europe and Asia runs from the Ural River to the south from Orsk along the Or river, along the Mugodzhary ridge and the Emba River to its confluence with the Caspian Sea. Thus, the Ural River from the Caspian to Orsk is an internal European river, only in the Russian upper reaches its left bank belongs to Asia, and therefore in Orenburg the left bank of the Urals is European.

The beginning of service in aviation

Flight test work

Record flights

Chkalov's death

Alternative versions

Memorable places

Named after Chkalov

Monuments

In philately and coins

Filmography

Valery Pavlovich Chkalov (January 20 (February 2) 1904, Vasilevo, Balakhninsky district, Nizhny Novgorod province, Russian Empire - December 15, 1938, Moscow, RSFSR, USSR) - Soviet test pilot, brigade commander (1938), Hero of the Soviet Union.

Commander of the crew of the plane that made the first non-stop flight across the North Pole from Moscow to Vancouver (Washington state) in 1937.

Biography

Valery Pavlovich Chkalov was born on January 20 (February 2), 1904 in the village of Vasilevo, Nizhny Novgorod province (now the city of Chkalovsk) in the family of a boiler operator at the Vasilev state-owned workshops. Russian.

Mother died early when Valery was 6 years old. At the age of seven, Valery went to study at the Vasilevsk primary school, then at the school. He studied averagely, but had an excellent memory and good mathematical abilities, had a calm, balanced character, like many peers, swam well, swam across the Volga, dived under rafts and steamers. In 1916, after graduating from school, his father sent him to study at the Cherepovets Technical School (now the Cherepovets VP Chkalov Forestry Mechanical Technical School). In 1918, the school was closed, and Valery had to return home. He began to work as an assistant with his father, a hammer in a smithy, and with the beginning of navigation he went to work as a fireman on the Volzhskaya-1 dredger.

The beginning of service in aviation

In 1919, Valery Chkalov worked as a fireman on the "Bayan" steamer on the Volga and then saw the plane for the first time. After that, after leaving the ship, in the same year he went to serve in the Red Army. He was sent as an aircraft assembly fitter to the 4th Kanavinsky Aviation Park in Nizhny Novgorod.

In 1921, Chkalov obtained a referral to study at the Yegoryevsk Military Theoretical School of the Air Force, after graduation in 1922 he was sent to further study at the Borisoglebsk Military Aviation Pilot School, where he made his first independent flight on the Avro 504 aircraft. After graduating from the school, in 1923 -1924, in accordance with the practice of training military pilots established at that time, he was trained at the Moscow military aviation school of aerobatics, where he mastered combat aircraft (Martinsyde and Junkers fighters). Then he studied at the Serpukhov Higher Aviation School of shooting, bombing and air combat.

Instructor A.I. Zhukov gave the following description to Chkalov:

In June 1924, the military fighter pilot Chkalov was sent to serve in the Leningrad Red Banner Fighter Air Squadron named after P.N. Nesterov (Commandant airfield). During his service in the squadron, he showed himself as a daring and courageous pilot. He made risky flights, for which he received penalties and was repeatedly suspended from flights. According to legend, once Chkalov even flew under the Equality Bridge (Troitsky) in Leningrad, which, however, is not confirmed by documents. For the film "Valery Chkalov" this flight was made by the pilot Yevgeny Borisenko. At the same time, he had serious problems with discipline, which ended in major troubles - on November 16, 1925, he was sentenced by a military tribunal to one year in prison for a drunken fight, then the term was reduced to 6 months.

In 1926, the 1st Red Banner Fighter Squadron was relocated from the Commandant airfield to the Trotsk airfield (today - Gatchina), where Chkalov served from 1926 to 1928.

In 1927, Chkalov married a Leningrad teacher Olga Orekhova. In March 1928, he was transferred to service in the 15th Bryansk Aviation Squadron, his wife and son Igor remained in Leningrad.

In Bryansk, Chkalov made an accident, was accused of aerial recklessness and numerous violations of discipline. By the verdict of the military tribunal of the Belarusian Military District of October 30, 1928, Chkalov was sentenced under article 17, paragraph "a" of the Regulations on Military Crimes and article 193-17 of the RSFSR Criminal Code to one year in prison, and was also dismissed from the Red Army. He did not serve his sentence for long, at the request of Ya. I. Alksnis and K. Ye. Voroshilov, less than a month later, the sentence was changed to a suspended one, and Chkalov was released from the Bryansk prison.

While in reserve, at the beginning of 1929, Chkalov returned to Leningrad and until November 1930 worked at the Leningrad Osoaviakhim, where he headed a glider school and was an instructor pilot.

Flight test work

In November 1930, Chkalov was reinstated in military rank and sent to work at the Moscow Research Institute of the Red Army Air Force.

For two years of work at the Research Institute, he completed more than 800 test flights, having mastered the technique of piloting 30 types of aircraft. On December 3, 1931, Chkalov took part in the tests of an airplane (aircraft carrier), which was a heavy bomber carrying up to five fighter planes on its wings and fuselage.

In 1932, the Air Force Research Institute was transferred from the Khodynskoye field in Moscow to an airfield near the city of Shchelkovo, Moscow region. Relocation from an ordinary event turned into the first air parade in the USSR with a flight over Red Square. 45 aircraft flew in a convoy of three cars in a row, and at the head was a TB-3 bomber with tail number 311, controlled by the crew of Valery Chkalov.

In January 1933, Valery Chkalov was again in reserve and transferred to work as a test pilot of the Moscow Aviation Plant No. 39 named after Menzhinsky. Together with his senior friend Alexander Anisimov, he tested the latest fighter aircraft of the 1930s I-15 (biplane) and I-16 (monoplane) designed by Polikarpov. He also took part in tests of tank destroyers "VIT-1", "VIT-2", as well as heavy bombers "TB-1", "TB-3", a large number of experimental and experimental machines of the Polikarpov Design Bureau. The author of new aerobatics - an ascending spin and a slow roll.

On May 5, 1935, aircraft designer Nikolai Polikarpov and test pilot Valery Chkalov were awarded the highest government award - the Order of Lenin - for creating the best fighter aircraft.

Record flights

In the fall of 1935, pilot Baidukov suggested that Chkalov organize a record flight from the USSR to the United States through the North Pole and lead the aircraft's crew. In the spring of 1936, Chkalov, Baidukov and Belyakov appealed to the government with a proposal to conduct such a flight, but Stalin indicated a different route plan: Moscow - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, fearing a repetition of Levanevsky's unsuccessful attempt (in August 1935, the flight of S. Levanevsky, G. Baidukov and V. Levchenko on the route Moscow - North Pole - San Francisco was interrupted due to a malfunction).

The flight of the Chkalov crew from Moscow to the Far East started on July 20, 1936 and lasted 56 hours until landing on the sandy spit of Udd Island in the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk. The total length of the record route was 9375 kilometers. Already on the island of Udd, the inscription "Stalin's route" was put on board the plane, which was saved on the next flight - through the North Pole to America. Both Chkalov flights officially bore this name until the beginning of the "struggle against the cult of Stalin's personality" and literary erasures. For the flight to the Far East, the entire crew was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin: the Gold Star medal, introduced in 1939 after Chkalov's death, was awarded only in 2004 to his children. In addition, Chkalov was presented with a personal U-2 plane (now in a museum in Chkalovsk). The exceptional propaganda importance of this flight for its time is evidenced by the fact that JV Stalin personally arrived on August 10, 1936 at the Shchelkovsky airfield near Moscow to meet the returning plane. From that moment, Chkalov gained nationwide fame in the USSR.

Chkalov continued to seek permission to fly to the United States, and in May 1937, permission was obtained. The ANT-25 aircraft was launched on June 18. The flight took place in significantly more difficult conditions than the previous one (no visibility, icing, etc.), but on June 20, the plane made a safe landing in Vancouver, Washington, USA. The length of the flight was 8504 kilometers.

For this flight, the crew was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner.

December 12, 1937 Valery Chkalov was elected a deputy of the Council of Nationalities of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from the Gorky region and the Chuvash ASSR. At the request of the residents of Vasilev, their village was renamed Chkalovsk.

I. Stalin personally invited Chkalov to take the post of People's Commissar of the NKVD, but he refused and continued to engage in flight test work.

On December 1, 1938, he was urgently called from vacation to test the new I-180 fighter.

Chkalov's death

Chkalov died on December 15, 1938 during the first test flight on the new I-180 fighter at the Central Aerodrome.

The flight was prepared in a hurry in order to be in time before the end of the year. The release of the aircraft to the airfield was scheduled for November 7, November 15, November 25 ... On December 2, 190 defects were revealed on the assembled aircraft. NN Polikarpov protested against the unnecessary race when preparing the I-180 for the first flight, which is why he was removed from these works. On December 7, the I-180 was taken to the airfield; On December 10, VP Chkalov taxied the aircraft on the ground, during which the engine often "stalled"; On December 12, when re-taxiing, the throttle control rod of the engine broke.

On December 13, Polikarpov presented the I-180 test program: the flight task ordered to complete test flight in a circle for 10-15 minutes without retracting the landing gear; then, after a thorough examination of the entire machine, carry out a familiarization flight and 1-2 flights for 30-68 minutes; finally flight with the landing gear retracted to an altitude of 7000 meters. Valery Chkalov was supposed to make only the first, the most expensive in terms of payment, flight, after which the car passed into the hands of another pilot - S.P. Suprun.

According to DL Tomashevich's recollections, that day the air temperature was "about minus 25 ° C ... Polikarpov allegedly dissuaded Chkalov from flying out, but he did not agree." Already when the aircraft was approaching for landing, the M-88 engine stopped. Chkalov, as it was noted in the act of the commission to investigate the causes of the accident, "until the last moment he flew the plane and tried to sit and sit outside the area occupied by residential buildings." But when landing, the plane caught on the wires and a pole, and the pilot hit his head on the metal reinforcement found at the place of the fall. Two hours later, he died in the Botkin hospital from his injury.

Valery Chkalov was buried in Moscow, an urn with his ashes was installed in the Kremlin wall.

After the death of Chkalov, a number of leaders of the aircraft plant were arrested, involved in organizing this flight, they were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment for releasing an aircraft with numerous malfunctions that resulted in the death of the pilot.

... The number of accidents in 1939, especially in April and May, reached extraordinary proportions. During the period from January 1 to May 15, 34 disasters occurred, in which 70 personnel died. During the same period, 126 accidents occurred, in which 91 aircraft were crashed. Only at the end of 1938 and in the first months of 1939. we have lost 5 outstanding pilots - Heroes of the Soviet Union, 5 best people in our country - com. Bryandinsky, Chkalov, Gubenko, Serov and Polina Osipenko. These heavy losses, like the vast majority of other disasters and accidents, are a direct result of: a) criminal violation of special orders, regulations, flight manuals and instructions; f) most importantly, the unacceptable weakening of military discipline in the units of the Air Force and laxity, unfortunately, even among the best pilots, not excluding some Heroes of the Soviet Union ... 2. Hero of the Soviet Union, known to the whole world for his record flights, brigade commander V. P. Chkalov died only because the new fighter that brigade commander Chkalov was testing was released on a test flight in a completely unsatisfactory condition, of which Chkalov was fully aware. Moreover, having learned from the workers of the NKVD about the condition of this aircraft, Comrade Stalin personally gave instructions to prohibit Comrade Chkalov from flying until the aircraft's defects were completely eliminated; , but began to make its first flight on a new aircraft and a new engine outside the airfield, as a result of which, as a result of a forced landing on an unsuitable cluttered area, the plane crashed and brigade commander Chkalov died.

A memorial stone is installed near the crash site of Chkalov's plane. Located near house number 52, bldg. 2 on Khoroshevskoe highway.

Alternative versions

Doubts were expressed about the truthfulness of the official story of the death of Valery Chkalov: it is allegedly incomprehensible why the prototype of the combat aircraft took off from the Central airfield on Khodynskoye field, that is, from the strip of the civil airport, and how it got there. The plant that produced the I-180 prototype still exists today. This is the Khrunichev plant in the Filyovskaya floodplain. The runway of the closed and guarded factory airfield was located where Filyovsky Boulevard now passes (the location of the factory buildings and the boulevard is very characteristic and still has not lost traces of the layout of the former aircraft industrial facility). These doubts are the fruit of ignorance of the history of aviation: in 1938, the airfield on the Khodynskoye field was the Central Airfield. Frunze. In addition to flights of passenger aircraft, it was also a factory airfield for three factories and several design bureaus. Including - and the Polikarpov Design Bureau. Now it is a plant named after P.O. Sukhoi.

According to the version set forth by Chkalov's daughter, Valeria Valerievna in the film of the "Searchers" television project "The Hunt for Chkalov," the NKVD, as well as Joseph Stalin and Lavrenty Beria, are guilty of the death of the pilot, who deliberately brought Chkalov to death during a test flight (for example, permission to fly faulty aircraft, cut of the blinds at the motor).

A family

• Wife - Olga Erasmovna Chkalova, nee Orekhova (1901-1997), married since 1927, Leningrad teacher, author of a number of books and memoirs about Chkalov, articles on pedagogical topics.
• Daughter - Valeria (1935-2013).
• Daughter - Olga (b.1939).

Igor Valerievich Chkalov (January 1, 1928, RSFSR, USSR - 2006, Moscow, Russian Federation) - graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. Colonel. Air Force engineer. Honorary Citizen of the Chkalovsky District of the Nizhny Novgorod Region (Resolution of the Zemsky Assembly of the Chkalovsky District of December 26, 1997, No. 8). He made a great contribution to the replenishment of the fund of the V.P. Chkalov Museum in Chkalovsk. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery. Author of a number of articles and interviews dedicated to his father. He believed that the cause of his father's death was premeditated murder ( "Father was removed because he had a great influence on Stalin").

Awards

• Medal "Gold Star" Hero of the Soviet Union (07.24.1936, established in 1939, after the death of Chkalov; awarded to his children in 2004);
• two Orders of Lenin (05/05/1935, 07/24/1936);
• order of the Red Banner (July 1937);
• medal "XX Years of the Red Army" (February 1938).

Memory

Memorable places

• Memorial Museum of V. P. Chkalov in Chkalovsk, Nizhny Novgorod Region.

• 1924-1927 - Street of Mercy, 21 (now - Vsevolod Vishnevsky Street, 11);
• 1926-1928 - Trotsk (Gatchina) Krasnoarmeisky prospect, 4; there is a memorial plaque on the house.
• 1929-1930 - Textile street (former street of Mercy), 21.
• The name of Chkalov was previously borne by the Moscow street Zemlyanoy Val (part of the Garden Ring), where the house in which Chkalov lived is located. On this house there is a memorial plaque with the words "In this house lived the great pilot of our time, Hero of the Soviet Union Valery Pavlovich Chkalov."
• A memorial stone has been erected near the crash site of Chkalov's plane on the Khodynskoye field (at present it is the area of \u200b\u200bhouse No. 52, building 2 on Khoroshevskoe highway, intersection of Khoroshevskoe highway and Horoshevsky deadlock, Polezhaevskaya metro station).

Named after Chkalov

• From 1938 to 1957, the Orenburg region bore the name of Chkalovskaya.
• Settlements:
• the city of Chkalovsk in the Nizhny Novgorod region,
• the city of Chkalovsk in the Sughd region of Tajikistan,
• the village of Chkalovo in the North Kazakhstan region of Kazakhstan,
• urban-type settlement Chkalovskoe in the Kharkiv region,
• chkalovsky village (Moscow region),
• the village of Chkalovsk (Kaliningrad region),
• chkalov village in Zaporozhye, Ukraine,
• from 1938 to 1957 the city of Orenburg was called Chkalov,
• the village of Chkalovskoye (Primorsky Territory).
• City district - Chkalovsky administrative district in Yekaterinburg.
• Microdistricts of cities:
• the village named after Chkalov in the city of Kamensk-Uralsky, Sverdlovsk region;
• the village of Chkalovsk as part of Kaliningrad;
• Chkalovsky microdistrict in Yekaterinburg;
• Chkalovsky microdistrict in Omsk;
• Chkalovsky microdistrict in Pereslavl-Zalessky;
• Chkalovsky microdistrict in Rostov-on-Don;

Microdistrict named after Chkalov in the city of Kovrov, Vladimir region.

• Chkalov's name is given to 1,778 avenues, streets and lanes in Russia, as well as a number of streets abroad:
• Chkalovsky prospect in St. Petersburg,
• chkalov square in Rostov-on-Don.
• Chkalov street:
• in Russia - in Abakan, Azov, Arkhangelsk, Achinsk, Borisoglebsk, Belovo, Bryansk, Barnaul, Vladivostok, Vladikavkaz, Voronezh, Gatchina, Gorno-Altaysk, Divnogorsk, Yekaterinburg, Zhukovsky, Izhevsk, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Kemymerov Kovrov, Kolomna, Kotlas, Krasnoarmeysk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Magnitogorsk, Miass, Nalchik, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Penza, Petrozavodsk, Perm, Ryazan, Rybinsk, Samara, Smolensk Sterlitamsk, Stupkino Ude, Khimki, Khabarovsk, Cherepovets, Chernogorsk, Chistopol, Chita, Elista, Yaroslavl, Kimovsk;
• abroad - in Vancouver (USA), in Prague, in Minsk, Gomel, Brest, Vitebsk, Baranovichi (Republic of Belarus), in Lutsk, Vinnitsa, Dnepropetrovsk, Izmail, Malin, Nikolaev, Kharkov, Kherson, Khmelnitsky, Lubny, Chernivtsi and Genichesk ( Ukraine), in the city of Karaganda, Kostanay, Pavlodar, Ust-Kamenogorsk and Talgar (Kazakhstan).
• Educational establishments:
• Cherepovets Forestry Mechanical Technical School named after V.P. Chkalov.
• Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots in Borisoglebsk, Voronezh Region (Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of December 28, 1938). There is also a bronze bust of the hero.
• Civil Engineering Institute in Nizhny Novgorod.
• Voronezh Aviation Technical School named after V.P. Chkalov.
• Egorievsk Aviation Technical College of Civil Aviation named after V.P. Chkalov.
• School number 1397 named after V. P. Chkalov, Moscow.
• School number 116 named after V. P. Chkalov, the city of Nizhny Novgorod.
• School number 3 named after VP Chkalov, the city of Arzamas, Nizhny Novgorod region.
• Secondary comprehensive school named after Chkalov in the working village of Shugurovo (Tatarstan).
• Secondary school named after Chkalov in the city of Naryn (Kyrgyzstan).
• MBOU Secondary School No. 1 named after Hero of the Soviet Union V. P. Chkalov (Khabarovsk).
• MBNOU “Gymnasium No. 17 named after VP Chkalov” (Novokuznetsk).
• Rail transport stations:
• chkalovskaya metro stations: in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Tashkent (renamed Dustlik in October 2012) and Yekaterinburg;
• railway station Chkalovskaya.

Monuments

• In Dnepropetrovsk, Kiev, Kstovo, St. Petersburg (two busts on Chkalovsky Avenue and a memorial plaque on the house where Chkalov lived), Novosibirsk, Khimki.
• A memorial plaque in Gatchina, at house No. 4 on Krasnoarmeisky Prospect, where Chkalov lived in 1926-1928.
• Memorial plaque in Petrozavodsk (opened on May 31, 2013).
• Several monuments were installed in Nizhny Novgorod: a monument on the Volga slope near the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin and on the street. Countrymen, where the ancestors of the pilot lived.
• A bust in the Wings of the Soviets park in the Kazan Aircraft Building District.
• Bronze bust on the territory of the Sevastopol Aviation Enterprise.
• Bronze bust at the entrance to the Boeing Air Museum in Seattle.
• A bronze sculpture six meters high on a seven-meter pedestal was installed in 1954 on the embankment of the Ural River in Orenburg.
• Bronze monument in the city of Zhukovsky. Installed at the beginning of the street, which is named after V.P. Chkalov. On one of the houses of this street, a memorial marble slab with brief information about V.P. Chkalov and his heroic flights is fortified.
• In Novosibirsk, a monument in front of the management building of the aircraft plant (NAPO named after V.P. Chkalov).
• Monument at the Bereza-Kartuzskaya railway station, in the village of Pervomaiskaya, Brest region. The only monument to Chkalov in Belarus. According to the plate on the pedestal, “the monument was erected in honor of V. Chkalov's stop here together with G. Baidukov and Belyakov in 1937 on his way home after a historic flight across the North Pole to the United States”. According to another version, the decisive factor in the choice of the site for the installation of the monument was the fact that in the village of Pervomayskaya (then Bluden), the flight mechanic of the ANT-25 aircraft Vasily Berdnik was born.
• Monument to V.P. Chkalov in Odessa, in the courtyard of the Chkalov sanatorium on French Boulevard.

In philately and coins

• The Bank of Russia issued commemorative coins: in 1995 - "V. P. Chkalov's Transarctic Flight"; in 2004 - “100th anniversary of the birth of V. P. Chkalov”.
• In 2004 the Russian Post issued the stamp "Test Pilot V. P. Chkalov".

Other

• On May 20, 1974, in Vancouver (Washington, USA), the Chkalovsky Committee for Transpolar Flight was created - a public non-profit organization, which included representatives of the business community and the local elite. On June 20, 1975, a monument called the Chkalovsky Monument was unveiled in this city “as a sign of respect for the great Russian people”.
• In 1986, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the flight from Moscow to Udd Island, a monument to its participants was erected on the island.
• Boris Grebenshchikov wrote the song "Under the Bridge, Like Chkalov".
• The famous Nizhny Novgorod rock group is named Chkalov.
• Valery Pavlovich Chkalov is the only real character in the musical "Nord-Ost". The creators of the play portrayed the great pilot as a strong and sympathetic person who agreed to help the main character, Sana Grigoriev, in an expedition to find the ship "Saint Mary".

Filmography

• In 1941, at the Gorky Film Studio, a historical and biographical film "Valery Chkalov" was created (a new version was released in 1962). Starring: Vladimir Belokurov. Stage Director: Mikhail Kalatozov.
• In 1987, a documentary film directed by V.F.Konovalov "Flight through memory" about the flights of the crews of V. Chkalov and M. Gromov across the North Pole to America in 1937 was released, in the creation of which the film studio "20th Century Fox" and the actress Shirley took part Temple.
• The image of Chkalov in 2007 was used in the series “Stalin. Live ”(as Dmitry Shcherbina).
• In 2012, the film companies "Solo Film" and "Central Partnership" filmed the eight-part biographical series "Chkalov" ("Wings") about the life of a pilot from 1924 to 1937. Directed by Igor Zaitsev. In the main role - Evgeny Dyatlov. The broadcast of the series began on October 1, 2012 on Channel One. Valery Chkalov's daughter Olga reacted extremely negatively to this film adaptation.
• In 2014, RD Studio shot the four-part film People Who Made the Earth Round about the record flights of the 1930s, which tells about the flight of V.P. Chkalov across the North Pole.

T.I. GERASIMENKO
Dr. Geogr. sciences, head. Department of Geography and Regional Studies,
Dean of the Faculty of Geology and Geography
Orenburg State University

Departure from Orenburg. Photo by Uncle Vanyatka, photosite.ru

“I recently sent to my people a view taken with an unskilful but helpful hand from the Trans-Ural nature, sitting on the tower of the Orenburg exchange yard, or, perhaps, on the porch of the former governor’s house, all the same; I cannot serve this way, because I sent him; but if you want to take a picture without the original, then pick up a pen or pencil, put a large sheet of paper in front of you or glue several dozen of them together; start with a pencil from one end and lead straight, to the other edge of the paper, and then sign above the line: heaven, and below: earth, and I, having not seen your work of art, will fasten it: with the original, I will put my hand and seal, or, perhaps the tamga, which here, with us, takes the place of the cross of our illiterate peasant and to which the local Muslims show great respect, assuring that Genghis Khan himself distributed hand-applied signs to all clans and tribes. So, you have met with the view of the Trans-Ural steppe; justice requires, however, to say that the steppe presents such a sad appearance only from Orenburg to the seaside; Orenburg, according to the scribes, is not much higher than the ocean; here our steppe takes the form of a dry sea. Above - the places are diverse, partly mountainous and wooded; but poor Orenburg, moved from place to place up to three times, did not escape its fate: he finally settled down in a treeless and bare desert ”.

IN AND. Dahl. Bikey and Mawlana

“Today's Orenburg, with a population of half a million, retains its charm. The beautiful neoclassical palaces of the city are adjacent to the streets with wooden houses, the windows of which seem to be the embodiment of eternal Russia. I am returning from Orenburg, which seduced, delighted and conquered me. Some of my ancestors lived there, and I decided to go there. Orenburg became, as it were, the last place of my pilgrimage before I leave this world. "

M. Druon. The newspaper "Figaro"
Quoted from:
I. Savelzon // Lechaim.
September 2005

Unanswered questions

In an article dedicated to Vladivostok, T.G. Nefedov and A.I. Treyvish rightly noted: “There are regions with a special destiny in Russia” (“Geography”, No. 15/2006). It should be clarified: in Russia, each region has a special destiny. This is also the Orenburg region. Attached to Russia later than many others (even after Siberia and the Far East) for reasons and motives that are the subject of numerous controversies of modern researchers, the region then flourished and revived (while Orenburg itself became the center of a huge province, a city where trade caravans of Asian and Russian merchants), then fell into decay due to the ruin of exhausting uprisings of the aborigines or due to the weakening of Russia's interest in this territory. In any case, at all times the city and the region lived their own lives, were self-sufficient, and the population was distinguished by hard work, love for the land and for their city. People had no time to sort things out: they worked - they grew bread, raised livestock, raised children. The very appearance of a modern city, without architectural delights, but at the same time firmly standing on the ground, is conducive to work. Residents of Orenburg are not used to having a rest, therefore there are few places for recreation in the city. Favorite place of rest (or work?) For the majority of townspeople is the dacha, the nurse, which is called here "garden-vegetable garden".

Orenburg is a different, multifaceted city, its space is multi-layered, and the image is complex, ambiguous and contradictory, which is associated with its marginal position, eventful history, multicultural population. The marginality of the territory (from marginal - edge) predetermines what can often be expressed only through negation: "non-Europe" and "non-Asia"; “Non-Ural” and “non-Volga region”; "Non-Russia" and "non-Kazakhstan". When characterizing Orenburg, there are more questions than answers: is its very existence the result of a far-sighted policy of the Russian state or a political adventure of its representatives? Orenburg - a multicultural paradise or a tangle of future contradictions? Is it a city with a great future or a “dead” city, any investment in the development of which is absolutely futile? Is it a center of innovation or a raw material appendage of the central Russian regions and foreign countries? City outskirts - steppe paradise or ecological desert?

Orenburg plan. Historical names are noteworthy: Berdy (in the north-west), Rent (in the west), Vorstadt (in the east)

Is Orenburg a central city (economic and political center of a transboundary region) or peripheral (lost administrative and transport-geographical positions, a provincial desert - a "hole")? Is it a gateway to Asia (as it was conceived and developed until a certain time) or the backyard of Russian civilization (a city near the border, devoid of direct transport links with most regions of Russia)? It is a cultural center (poets, writers, artists, museums, theaters, philharmonics and lovers of classical music, universities, libraries, national cultural and religious centers) or a city characterized by complete lack of culture (Asia-s, rude people who do not serving ladies coats, dirty, littered city)? Is it a calm (quiet, provincial) or a criminal city (drug transit and drug trafficking, lavish funerals and insanely expensive monuments to crime bosses in the city cemetery)? Is it an industrial city (gas, oil, NPO Strela) or an agricultural one (downy goats, virgin lands, wheat, orchards)? The very statement of these questions is the result of a marginal position, and there can be no definite answers to them.

The territory of the region is little known outside its borders. Of course, many have heard of Orenburg, but in most cases, ideas about it (if any) are very far from reality. This is clearly not a place of pilgrimage for tourists, and is unlikely to become so in the near future. At the same time, it is a city (and region) not devoid of exoticism. What analogies arise most often with the oikonym "Orenburg"? Orenburg downy shawl. Ural mountains. Steppe. Pugachev. Cossacks. Everything? The headscarf is a brand promoted thanks to the famous song on the verses of V. Bokov. But young people no longer remember the song, and they do not wear headscarves. There are practically no mountains here, only spurs. The steppe was plowed up during the years of the development of virgin lands.

Smolensk students-geographers described their associations with Orenburg before coming here in the following terms: eclecticism, a "mix" of Asian and European cultures, camels, a quiet provincial town, almost a village. Young people in Perm reported that Orenburg is a city somewhere in Siberia, and Krasnoyarsk residents decided that it was in Germany (this is to the question of geographic education in secondary school, which is obviously worse than the linguistic one: the German name was caught immediately).

After getting to know the city and the townspeople, some change their views for the worse ("there is nothing to catch the eye", "gray", "low" city, "rude drivers", "sellers are rude", "there are few places for rest and walks"), others on the contrary, they describe Orenburg as a “very good”, “friendly” city with untapped potential. There is nothing surprising in these conflicting views. It all depends on the time, places of visit, contacts. Those who come here for the first time note the litter of streets, bad roads. However, having lived here, they get used to it and stop paying attention to such little things. But most do not accept the poorly equipped city and leave. The region has a negative balance of migrations due to inter-district exchange, despite the positive balance of external migrations. Immigrants from Central Asia and the Caucasus region take root here best of all. Relations with the Orenburg region are more complicated for migrants from Siberia, the Far East and other forest regions.

The indigenous people of Orenburg do not notice and do not try to explain many subtleties. They just live and love their city. "Orenburg is our homeland, and we love it the way it is." The city is quite suitable for young residents, especially those who have not been to other places. Those who have left for the capital and other large cities for study, as a rule, do not return. But some of those who have visited the larger Russian cities are quite happy with Orenburg and appreciate it. The city is "not too big", "it is easy to move to almost any part of it"; “The city is changing for the better”: “they are equipping yards, planting flowers”; the entrances, in their opinion, are clean and well-groomed. At the same time, Orenburg residents note that the city loses outwardly, for example, to Yekaterinburg or Chelyabinsk.

The image of Orenburg that has developed in the minds of Orenburg residents is mythological. Myths are associated with the exaggeration of the role of certain leaders, the place of the city in the economic, political and cultural life of the country and the region, and certain events. It is rightly noted that the role of Pushkin, who spent only 3 days here, is clearly exaggerated. But little is known about V. Dahl, despite the fact that he lived here for 8 years and left a rich literary heritage. It is unlikely that the townspeople will explain where the very small Dahl Street is located. An obvious exaggeration is the image of V.P. Chkalov, with whom the image of Orenburg is largely associated. One of the main streets of the city bears his name.

Monument to A.S. Pushkin
at the Museum of the History of Orenburg (guardhouse)

Recently, the image of the Rostropovichs who lived here during the war years in evacuation has been promoted; in Orenburg there are two apartment museums, the Institute of Arts, competitions for young musicians. Maurice Druon after a visit to Orenburg is also well known to the townspeople. But Musa Jalil and Yuri Gagarin, like Vladimir Dal, have the right to a greater presence in the image of the city. Despite the fact that there is a monument to M. Jalil, few of the Orenburg residents will tell about the poet and hero and give his real name. The names of Taras Shevchenko, Viktor Chernomyrdin and many other famous people are associated with Orenburg.

Window to Asia or backyard
Russian civilization?

The image of Orenburg is geographic. Geography is determined, first of all, by the position on the border between Europe and Asia, for which there are many confirmations: the stele "Europe-Asia", a cafe on the banks of the Urals with the inviting name "Eurasia", a bridge with corresponding symbols and even a funicular across the Urals, containing border markings. The image of the border of the parts of the world is widely represented, despite doubts about its truth (according to geotectonic and some other parameters, it should be considered that the border actually runs to the east). Peter I also wanted to found a city in these parts - a gateway to Asia, perfectly understanding the potential geopolitical role of the territory, but was carried away by Europe. Orenburg was founded by his followers 40 years later than Petersburg. It is no coincidence that one of the analogies that often occurs when characterizing a city in fiction, journalistic, local history and scientific literature is the comparison of Orenburg, which is often called "a window to Asia", with St. Petersburg. V. Kagansky even called one of his theoretical and geographical studies "Steppe St. Petersburg" (Cultural landscape and Soviet habitable space. Collection of articles. - M., 2001).

Monument to V.P. Chkalov.
In 1938-1957. the city was called Chkalov

Questions have become almost intrusive and even banal: do we need this window and why did Russia actually develop this region. This is a special case of opinions, circulating in different audiences, including authoritative scientists, that the annexation of certain territories to Russia was a historical mistake. Authoritative scientists argue how wonderful it would be if Russia occupied much smaller areas, since it would be easier to equip them. B. B. Rodoman said in one of his speeches that the eastern regions of Russia are needed only to improve the ecological situation in the country.

Bridge over the Ural River and pylons "Europe-Asia"

The very formulation of the question seems strange. What kind of Russia are we talking about? What kind of Russia needs (or, more precisely, does not need) its spaces (and which ones)? European Russia? Moscow? These spaces already exist, and this is also Russia! They are inhabited by our fellow citizens, relatives and friends. And from this perspective, the whole absurdity of such a formulation of the question, which should sound as follows: does Russia need Russia, is obvious?

The role of the city changed and depended heavily on the geostrategy and geopolitics of the state. When "Westernizers" came to power in Russia, the city lost its positions. Its role grew when Russia turned its gaze towards Central Asia and Kazakhstan. The interest was mutual. This is a region where Russia should strengthen its position, otherwise other states will do it. For this, it has all the necessary prerequisites and even obligations: historical (long-term joint development of the territory), economic (the existing economic and infrastructural complex, mutual need for resources and goods), humanitarian (responsibility of neighboring states for their citizens living on both sides of the border ), cultural (ethnocultural, linguistic community), geographical (common space). Joint development over a long period makes it possible to count on a certain role of Russia in the region, and the geographic and geopolitical position makes the interaction of adjacent regions inevitable. At present, the description of Orenburg as a "window to Asia", unfortunately, can be considered as not consistent with reality, exaggerated. The city was created and developed as an outpost in front of Asia, but over time it lost these positions. Many chances were missed, but in vain. One of them still exists and is associated with the possible construction of a transport corridor to Asia. Orenburg still has reason to become a link in this corridor, although this chance is almost lost. The city remained aloof from the main Russian transport routes, and bordering requires a lot of effort and financial costs to overcome the negative aspects of the peripheral situation.

The first governor of Orenburg I.I. Neplyuev
finalized the location of the city

Orenburg residents consider Orenburg to be the cultural and economic center of a huge region, but this is a clear exaggeration. Once the city was like that. It originated as a fortress, but quickly turned into a trade center. Kirghiz-kaisaks (Kazakhs) gradually became involved in trade relations. They traded the finest horses, rams and sheep in the region; skins of wolves, foxes, korsaks, they sold sheepskins from young lambs, camel wool, and also resale, in particular, Asian fabrics. The city was the center of a huge province, its influence extended to the Caspian and Aral seas in the south, to Bashkiria in the north. For several years (from 1920 to 1925) Orenburg was the capital of the Kyrgyz (Kazakh) ASSR, remaining the provincial center. After a series of transformations in 1934, the Orenburg region was formed within its present-day borders. Now, to a large extent, the central positions of Orenburg have been lost. Even on the territory of his own region, his influence cannot be considered undivided (for example, the western regions obviously gravitate towards Samara).

An attraction of Sol-Iletsk (70 km south of Orenburg) is the Razval salt lake. You can't drown here. In a mine located on the shore of the lake, high quality stone table salt is mined

Hydrocarbons, helium, metals, and other mineral resources are the main thing that attracts European partners here, on which the stake is placed. Most of the raw materials are exported, its reserves are not unlimited. For example, all of the helium produced goes abroad. The role of a raw materials appendage is not very promising and attractive, and it is strange that this does not depress the leaders. Moreover, in the “Development Strategy of the Orenburg Region”, adopted by the administration, despite the set goal of “innovative development”, the raw material route is actually spelled out.

The first explorer of the region P.I. Rychkov.
Memorial plaque

Now, a turn of the geo-economic and geopolitical vectors towards Asia is possible in connection with the new policy of our state (strengthening of Russian-Kazakh relations, a series of new agreements, including on the use of the Karachaganak gas condensate field).

Nomad city

The geographic nature of the image of Orenburg is determined not only by its macro- and meso-location, but also by its nature-centered nature and is associated with its location - endless steppe expanses (Steppe settlement, Stepnaya Street), the Urals and Sakmara (the city is based on an arrow), which form the basis of hydrography, an oxbow (the Urals are changing its own channel), the Trans-Ural Grove (floodplain forest and plantings in the left-bank part of the city, a favorite recreation place for the townspeople), the Ural Mountains (which are practically absent) and other relief elements (Mount Mayak); dry continental climate, snowy frosty winters, snowstorms, heat; dry winds and droughts in summer, floods in spring, wonderful "Indian summer" in autumn. Burannaya Street is a symbolic name. The locals call the famous dust storms "Orenburg rain". The sultry weather in summer makes the city night-time: it comes to life closer to midnight when the heat subsides.

Orenburg is a part of the steppe civilization, a city-myth, a city-nomad. He changed his position twice. The first two times, the location for the bookmark was strategically unfortunate. In 1743 the first governor of Orenburg I.I. Neplyuev finally determined the location of Orenburg and built it next to the Berdyansk fortress at the confluence of the Sakmara into the Urals.

An analogy that comes to mind when characterizing the Orenburg region: comparing the steppe with the sea, and nomads with pirates. The first explorer of the region P.I. Rychkov has repeatedly noted the propensity of the Kirghiz-Kaisaks to war. They robbed caravans of merchants, interfering with Orenburg commerce. Only the actions of the outposts protected the Kalmyk and Russian settlements from their raids. After the Kirghiz-Kaisaks accepted Russian citizenship, many Russian citizens were released from captivity. There is in the 264-year existence of the city something of the romance of filibusters. Perhaps that is why the sides of the horizon are well expressed in the minds of the townspeople, which is rarely found in other regions. Everyone knows the South and East villages very well, they are perfectly oriented to the cardinal points. An Orenburg resident will unmistakably determine which side the windows of his apartment face.

Orenburg. Water tower on Victory Avenue

An obvious exaggeration and even mythologization can be considered the natural beauty of the city's environs, praised by local residents. The steppe is diverse and many-sided, but this is obvious only for the Orenburg residents themselves. Visitors can appreciate this only from a certain angle or mood. In addition, there is almost no real steppe left: for the most part it was replaced by arable land during the development of virgin lands. True, at present, agricultural lands are abandoned and for the most part are not used for their intended purpose (in the language of T.G. Nefedova, they have turned into "black holes"), which should delight ecologists and upset economists, but these distorted landscapes are hardly a real steppe. will become. There is no unanimity in views on the further use of these territories, even among scientists. Some (for example, AA Chibilev, Director of the Steppe Institute, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences) are convinced of the need to return to limited traditional distant-pasture animal husbandry, which will allow not only preserving, but also restoring the lost landscapes (ungulates are the missing link of the modern Orenburg steppes). Plowing is not allowed. This position meets with serious objections. The arguments are as follows: the population (and its needs) is much larger than it was during the days of nomadism, the food supply is limited. Therefore, it is necessary to use the land more productively for intensive irrigated agriculture.

The appearance of the city is largely determined by one-story buildings.

Orenburg is essentially a rural city. This is a city of summer residents, which no one here even calls dachas. "Garden-vegetable garden" is a place where the soul of a real Orenburg citizen rushes, as soon as the first spring sunbeams begin to melt the snowdrifts accumulated during the winter. In the summer, the work of all city transport is rebuilt. A significant part of the bus fleet rushes along the dacha routes. It is difficult to call selfless labor of gardeners a rest, but try to persuade a real Orenburg citizen to give up this way of life. Moreover, although Orenburg residents are rather condescending, they are somewhat condescending to those who do not have a garden, believing that they are simply lazy.

Residents of Orenburg will certainly tell about the presence in the region of mountains and forests. And this is another myth. There are, of course, small forest areas in the north, low-mountain landscapes in the east of the region. Most of the forests on the territory of the region are floodplains or are they plantations. It is difficult for the inhabitants of the forest zone to appreciate the beauty of the relict Buzuluk pine forest, in which there are quite a lot of plantings. The famous, but poorly equipped Iriklinskoye reservoir with its shores devoid of forest vegetation is also This is a salt lake in Sol-Iletsk, kumis, melons, the famous Orenburg bread, blooming tulips in the May steppe, feather grass in summer , ethnographic specifics, archaeological monuments of the territory (the famous Kargaly mines, Sarmatian burials, traces of the material culture of nomadic peoples, little preserved, but still present in the form of necropolises).

The Orenburg downy shawl is both a beloved headdress and a brand promoted thanks to the famous song on the verses of V. Bokov performed by L. Zykina

The industrial landscape is also clearly expressed and forms an integral part of the urban space: Silkokombinat, Invertor, Gazzavod, Sha? Lnaya fabrika (downy shawl factory), which is reflected in the names of the districts. In addition, the historical production names have been preserved: Kuznechny, Khlebny settlement, Ovchinny gorodok.

Orenburg chronotope

The image of Orenburg is historical. There is Orenburg Sarmatian, nomadic, Golden Horde (within the city boundaries on Mount Mayak there was a headquarters of the Khan), Cossack, Neplyuevsky, Pugachevsky, Pushkin (after the opening of the monument to Pushkin and Dal - "Pushkin-Dalsky"), Soviet (virgin, gas producing). Orenburg residents are interested in the history of their city and honor it, at the same time they note that the history is not too expressed in its appearance (for example, the Pugachev uprising).

The city's space is historical and geographic. A kind of chronotope has developed here, which has preserved not only material, but also virtual traces of previous eras. The inhabitants themselves shaped the space during the entire period of existence. That is why the local names of the districts are clearly present in the minds of the townspeople and are the historical and cultural nuclei. Many historical names have been preserved, and new ones have appeared. You will not find these names on the map, but everyone knows what Belovka, Exchange, Khlebny town, Poplar, Pedal, Shanghai are. Residents of the city will show you these geographical objects or explain how to get to them faster than, for example, the Dzerzhinsky district.

The peculiarities of the formation of the city are well described in the works of local historians - V.V. Dorofeev and others. The city was originally multifunctional, formed around the core-fortress. Along with supporting functions, Orenburg played the role of a trade, economic and cultural center. Therefore, the space of the city center, despite the architectural and planning unity, is still fragmentary and even mosaic. Along with barracks, powder magazines and other military establishments, from the very beginning, a customs office, an exchange and a gostiny dvor functioned. The center layout has been largely preserved. It met the tasks of defense capability, therefore, it does not have a clear quarterly development and main streets.

To the embankment of the Urals, to the monument to Chkalov
Orenburg weddings arrive

Following the expansion of the city outside the city fortress, as it grew, suburbs were formed, which later merged with the city. Some suburbs grew systematically, some spontaneously (hence the name Nakhalovka). The most famous is the Cossack Vorstadt, built at the end of the 18th century. on the site of the Cossack settlement burnt out by the Pugachevites in 1773, where mainly baptized Kalmyks lived, therefore one of the unofficial names of the settlement is Kalmytskaya (aka Georgievskaya by the name of the church). It is curious that many areas of the city have historical names. On the site of Vorstadt, multi-storey buildings have now been built, only a small part of the historical building has been preserved. There was talk about the creation of an open-air ethnographic museum here, but it did not come to the point - the area was almost completely rebuilt. Only a bright toponymic trace remained (Pugachevskaya Street, a stop for the Cossacks) and a few houses.

Another area preserved in the minds of the townspeople is Arenda (or Renda, as it is often called), the western part of the city, built up mainly by artisans and industrialists since the mid-1860s. These are "rented places" (hence the name), where pottery and industrial establishments were located, and later their owners began to settle.

At the end of the XIX century. the city continued to expand. Behind Novaya Slobodka, New Places, or New Buildings, appeared - this area, whose name is still preserved, completed the official pre-revolutionary building of the city. Between Novaya Slobodka and Novostroyka, as well as Vorstadt, there were carriage and blacksmith rows, a hay bazaar, windmills, hay kards, and a women's monastery. Hence the names - Kuznechny settlement, Khlebny town, Calico settlement. The streets of Karetnaya and Kuznechnaya have survived to this day. To the east of the monastery, in the area of \u200b\u200bmodern Kharkovskaya Street, there were powder depots. The area around them was called "Powder". Until recently, in the middle of the last century, this name was widely used.

Forstadt and Arenda are the most famous historical districts of the city. There is also a Golubnaya (Soldier's) settlement (between the modern Chicherin street and the Ural floodplain), where retired soldiers, artisans and merchants settled. Later they began to call it the Staraya Sloboda, in contrast to the Novaya, which appeared half a century later and located from the modern Postnikov Street to Zwilling, Karavan-Saraiskaya and Komsomolskaya.

The city has its own Shanghai. His visit leaves a strong impression. For some reason, I immediately remember Kobo Abe's "Woman in the Sands". Life in these places has stopped. Hopelessness, hopelessness ...

The appearance of the city is largely determined by one-storey buildings. Whole areas of individual construction have been preserved. However, residents are unlikely to take guests to these areas. They will prefer to show new multi-storey microdistricts that formed around historical nuclei during the years of industrial construction, beautiful, in their opinion, new-builds or cottages that appeared in the 90s as a product of suburbanization in prestigious suburbs where gas and oil workers live, such as Rostoshi or Prigorodny ... Through the efforts of local historians, they restore historical monuments (for example, the Gostiny Dvor was returned to its direct purpose, having restored and evicted the silk factory that was located within its walls during the years of socialism). The famous Caravan-Saray, where until recently a planetarium was located, the preserved Orthodox churches that served as cinemas for many years have been restored.

One of the characteristics of the Orenburg chronotope is its multiculturalism and polyconfessionalism. Many visitors pay attention to the fact that the city on the border of Europe and Asia is characterized by the interpenetration of cultures, the coexistence of a number of Orthodox churches, mosques, Protestant, Catholic and other churches, synagogues, etc. 85-year-old Maurice Druon, who visited the homeland of his ancestors in 2003, spoke about the city as follows: “In Orenburg, I really liked the neighborhood of Orthodox churches, synagogues and mosques side by side”. Along with European-dressed people, Tatar girls in hijabs and Kazakh women in traditional clothes are common. In summer, Central Asian migrants and gypsies disguised as them stand out as a bright spot. However, here, as in other cities, there is no division of the city into "Russian", "Tatar", "German", etc. Unlike rural areas, where historically compact settlement is more common and is rather the rule, in the city itself it is impossible to distinguish either geographic or separate ethnic layers. Rather, it is a conglomerate of cultures, and this characteristic is most acceptable for the city. This is confirmed by the studies carried out to determine the self-identification of the population. First of all, residents of the city are residents of Orenburg, and only then are representatives of an ethnic group. In recent years, the situation has changed among some groups of the population - seemingly artificial. The administration places a lot of emphasis on national policies, perhaps more than the situation demands. This is confirmed by such "growing pains" as the mass appearance on the streets of the city of Kazakhs in traditional clothes in the 90s. Passed, played enough. Now the situation is characterized by a more serious approach. Any resident can satisfy interest in national traditions within the framework of national cultural centers. National schools and classes are open, but they are not very popular. This is understandable: it is much more important for career growth to know the language of interethnic communication and foreign languages \u200b\u200bwell than the native language, which is often used only in everyday life (and even then not in all families). The surge of interest in religion also quickly faded away, it is much less than the opportunities for realizing religious feelings. Opportunities for the realization of ethnic and religious needs are provided, for people - the right to choose.

To feel the spirit of the city, on a summer evening, you must walk along Sovetskaya (former Nikolaevskaya) Street, go out to Belovka (the Ural embankment, so called in memory of the merchant Belov, who did a lot for its arrangement), to the monument to V.P. Chkalov, cross the bridge to the Zauralnaya Grove - to Asia. Even on weekdays there are massive celebrations. It seems that all segments of the city's population are represented - both age and social. Smartly dressed citizens walk sedately down the pedestrian street, talking. Someone famously prescribes on bicycles, roller skates or other means of transportation. Along with quite intelligent phrases, one can hear rude expressions. It is extremely rare to witness a meeting. More often it is just a walk. Urban myths live, the city also lives, it continues to develop, it is changing for the better. The formation of the chronotope is not complete. Orenburg is unlike other cities, and its residents are quite confident in themselves and in the future.

Orenburg was called Chkalov, and the Orenburg region was called Chkalovsk from 1938 to 1957. in memory of the deceased great pilot, who had never been to the city, only because the military school in which Chkalov studied was moved to the city. In 1957, historical justice was restored. The original name was returned to the city.

Petersburg themes were marked with toponyms. Settlements across the Ural River in the 1920s and 1930s XX century were called New Petrograd, later New Leningrad. There are streets Nevskaya, Gorokhovskaya (almost Gorokhovaya!).

Often among politicians and scientists one can hear the opinion that the Central Asian (and even Kazakhstani) geopolitical and geo-economic vectors for Russia are not only irrelevant, but even erroneous. So, Yu.N. Gladky points out that the annexation of Central Asia to the Russian Empire was a political mistake ( Gladkiy Yu.N. Russia in the labyrinths of geographical destiny. - SPb .: Publishing house of R. Arslanov “Legal Center Press, 2006), and D.A. Safonov considers the penetration of Russia in the 17th century. to the territory of the Orenburg province as a result of an adventure that was not supported by either the needs or the capabilities of the country ( Safonov D.A. The beginning of the Orenburg history: the creation of the Orenburg province in the middle of the 18th century. - Orenburg: Orenburg province, 2003).

The Central Asian and Kazakhstani regions are very attractive for the USA, China, Iran, Turkey, which in one way or another are making attempts to increase their influence here.

It is no coincidence that during the First World War, when all German names were irritating, the idea arose to rename Orenburg, one of the options was the oikonym "Pylgrad", along with such as Sakmarburg, Annodar, Svyatogeorgievsk, Shchitograd. There is an assumption that Orenburg got its name from the Or river, on the banks of which it was laid for the first time in 1735. However, most likely, according to the famous local historian V.P. Dorofeev, the name of the city, which he received during the reign of Anna, when foreigners had great political influence, is not associated with the river. Ohren in translation from German means "ears", burg - "fortress". It is likely that the name has a double meaning, combining local toponymy with a symbolic meaning - “fortress-ears”. The city was supposed to become a Russian outpost, which is why it got its name.

Kalmyks from the 17th century lived in this territory for some time.

Officially it was called the village of Orenburg. Here, along with the Cossacks, a certain number of townspeople were resettled. The village lived an independent life.