Chelyabinsk

chelyabinsk – челябинск

Chelyabinsk was founded in 1736. Now it is a sprawling industrial city with more than one million inhabitants. It is a major center of military production. Its arms factories produced Katyusha rockets and WWII-winning tanks T-34s, for which Chelyabinsk was nicknamed "Tank City" or "Tank Capital"

Peculiar architectural mix in the central Chelyabinsk.

Lenin heading towards communism in Revolution square.

Chelyabinsk lacks prominent sights of interest. Nevertheless, the pedestrian Kirova street calls for a pleasant stroll. The street runs from the central Revolution square towards the river nicely named MiAss.

The street is dotted with both serious and quirky bronze and plaster statues as well as cafes and restaurants.

The monument to tank men.

A camel is the heraldic symbol of the Chelyabinsk Oblast.

The drama and opera theater and a statue of Russian composer Mikhail Glinka.

The famous Russian composer Sergey Prokofiev.

The early 20th century synagogue.

The MiAss River.

This old church houses the organ music concert hall.

The gloomy abandoned grain storage is just half a mile from the central square.

CHELYABINSK oblast – ЧЕЛЯБИНСКая область

magnitogorsk – магнитогорск

Magnitogorsk founded in 1929 is a major center of metallurgical industry. Local blast furnaces and rolling mills played a big role for armour production during WWII. The war memorial is called "From the rear to the front". A soldier has just taken a sword from the hands of a worker.

Gregory Ordzhonikidze was the heavy industry minister in the Stalin's government and supervised the construction of Magnitogorsk.

The Ural River divides Magnitogorsk into Europe and Asia.

lake turgoyak – озеро тургояк

Lake Turgoyak is a reservoir of crystal clear warm water located west of Chelyabinsk. It is the right place to stay at least one full day at one of many lake resorts for swimming, water skiing, wake boarding and lounging around. The small St.Vera’s island in the lake carries traces of ancient human settlements. According to some sources St. Vera's megalithic structures date back to 7,000 BC.

the "european" corner of chelyabinsk oblast

berlin, leipzig, varna, paris

All these villages were established in 1842-43 by Cossack regiments as military settlements and were given names of European cities to commemorate the events of the Napoleonic Wars the regiments had taken part in. The seizure of Berlin by Russian troops in 1813, the Battle of Nations at Leipzig in 1813, the seizure of Paris in 1814, the seizure of Varna in 1828 during one of numerous Russia-Turkey wars. All these places can be visited in one day by road.

If you start from Chelyabinsk first comes Berlin.

The Berlin Wall forever!

Local Reichstag.

Unter den Linden Strasse.

Treptow Park.

Check Point "Charlie" - a compound of border guards.

Leipzig is further south.

The two Leipzigs - Chelyabinsk and German - established ties, pooled their efforts together and built a replica of the Monument to the Battle of the Nations (Das Voelkerschlachtdenkmal) which they called the Monument to the Friendship of the Nations (Das Voelkerfreunschaftdenkmal).

Varna is just a 20 minute drive south of Leipzig. It is bigger than Berlin and Paris.

The most eye-catching building in Varna.

Glory to Labour!

Paris is located west of Varna.

Compared to Varna, Paris is a sleepy village but has its own Eiffel Tower.

Champs-Elysees.

arkaim – аркаим

Arkaim is an archaeological site of an very ancient fortified settlement which dates back to 17th-16th century BC. The site is located in the south of the Chelyabinsk Oblast. It was discovered in 1987. Currently it is a state protected area, an open air museum and a nature reserve. There is an indoor museum as well. Besides scientists and archaeology enthusiasts, the place attracts all kind of esoteric folks looking for poles of energy, centers of force, portals to cosmos, doors to Shambala and the like.

That's how the ancient town looked like.

Remaining 19th century samples of wooden architecture.

bredy – бреды

The vast area embracing part of Chelyabinsk, Orenburg Oblasts and entire northern Kazakhstan was the scene of a big effort in late 1950s - early 1960s: the virgin lands reclamation. The tractor on display in the village of Bredy east of Arkaim is a reminder of those glorious days.

naslednitsky – наследницкий

This small village in the south-east corner of the Chelyabinsk Oblast features an 18th century fortress and regardless of being small the village has two war memorials.