Exploring Places XXXVII: Chelyabinsk, Russia

Postcard 18 has just arrived from Chelyabinsk!

Thanks Mike for such a beautiful postcard!

WHERE IS CHELYABINSK?

Chelyabinsk is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northeast of the oblast, 210 kilometers south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on the Miass River, on the border of Europe and Asia.

Location of Russia. Wikipedia

Location of Chelyabinsk Oblast

Chelyabinsk is one of the major industrial centers of Russia. It has tanneries and distilleries, and is the centre of the trade in corn and produce of cattle for the Ural iron-works. The town was founded in 1658.

A steelmaker of Chelyabinsk iron and steel works in USSR times, Stock photo

CHELYABINSK IS FAMOUS FOR...

... the meteorite explosion in 2013

Chelyabinsk meteor

The Chelyabinsk meteor was a super bolide caused by a near-Earth asteroid that entered Earth's atmosphere over Russia on 15 February 2013 at about 09:20 YEKT (03:20 UTC), with a speed of 19.16 ± 0.15 kilometres per second. It quickly became a brilliant super bolide meteor over the southern Ural region. The light from the meteor was brighter than the Sun, up to 100 km away. It was observed over a wide area of the region and in neighbouring republics. Some eyewitnesses also felt intense heat from the fireball. The power of the explosion was about 500 kilotons of TNT (about 1,8 PJ), which is 20-30 times more energy than was released from the atomic bomb exploded in Hiroshima. Only thanks to the high altitude of the explosion did the city manage to avoid large casualties and destruction.

Chelyabinsk is also famous for hosting the Eurojudo 2012 and World Championship Judo in 2014

During 3 days of the championships in Chelyabinsk the strongest judokas of Europe were fighting for 14 medal sets in individual and team competitions.

Logo of 2014 World Judo Championships by Fair. Wikipedia

PLACES TO VISIT

Chelyabinsk Central Park

Chelyabinsk has 17 public parks. The largest of them is one of the best in Russia - Chelyabinsk Central Park, named after Gagarin (a Russian Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on 12 April 1961). Its territory is saved in the urban forest, where, among pine trees and granite rocks there are several picturesque ex-quarries now flooded with water.

Central Park Chelyabinsk. Trip Advisor

Kirovka Street

The most famous pedestrian street in Chelyabinsk is Kirovka.  Its beauty can be compared to Moscow Arbat. The street is designed with life-size sculptures: proud chief of police, modest peasant, light-hearted beggar, freelance artist in front of the curved mirror, Russian left-hander Levsha. Guests of the city and local people like taking pictures with them.

Kirovka Street. 2014 World Judo

There is a mark of «zero mile» – a nominal border between Europe and Asia, and monument devoted to the city founders. Sculpture of saxophonist attracts young musicians every day. A bronze camel symbolizes Chelyabinsk.

Sculpture Chelyabinsk. Mark Hotel.ru

Children adore climbing on a carriage, looking like a Cinderella’s one, and on a bright scarlet barrel with a gallant fireman standing nearby. The firemen like that used to take water from Miass river two centures ago for fire fighting.

Carriage at Kirkova Street. Nashural.ru

Chelyabinsk State Academic Drama Theatre named Nahum Orlov

This theatre is one of the several popular theaters in this Russian town. Together with Chelyabinsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named Glinka, Chelyabinsk State Chamber Theater Drama, Chelyabinsk State Puppet Theater, Chelyabinsk State Youth Theatre, Theater "Mannequin", Chelyabinsk New Arts Theatre, Chelyabinsk Contemporary Dance Theatre

Nahum Orlov Theatre. Wikimedia Commons

The Scarlet Field (Aloye Poleh) Park

The Scarket Field. Chelyabinsk. Markethotel.ru

One of the most beloved leisure spots of the citizens, having more than centenary history of its existence.

In the 80th of the 19th century instead of the park there was the Fairground. In the center of the square there was a chapel where church services in memory of the Great Russian commander Alexander Nevsky were conducted. And when in 1907 the construction of Alexandro-Nevsky Church began (in honor of Emperor Alexander II), the square received the name Alexandrovsky.

The Sphere of Love

The Sphere of Love, undoubtedly, is the most romantic and unusual sculpture in the entire Chelyabinsk. Every Saturday happy newlyweds from the city come there to dance their first dance as spouses under the blue dome.

The Sphere of Love. Markhotel.ru

The Regional Museum of Local Lore and History

The Chelyabinsk Museum of Local Lore and History is a unique treasury of historical and cultural and spiritual heritage of the region. About 300 thousands of subjects are stored in its funds including the exhibits with all-Russian value.

Regional Museum of Local Lore and History. Markhotel.ru

The Museum building on the embankment of the Miass River, constructed in 2006, is one of the most beautiful architectural constructions of the city. It is situated in the place where at the beginning of the XVIII century the Chelyabinsk fortress was founded. It is no coincidence that external outlines of the building remind fortress towers and walls.

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH - THE KEEPER OF ORTHODOX TRADITIONS

Holy Trinity Church. Chelyabinsk. 2014 World Judo

Holy Trinity Church is the oldest temple in Chelyabinsk. It is only 30 years older than the city. The wooden church was consecrated in 1768. In 1913 the Holy Trinity Church was born again. The worn out temple was completely rebuilt according to architectural requirements for cathedrals. It was consecrated on October 12, 1914 and has remained as it looks till today. During the Revolution the church was closed and used for the needs of the city. There were various institutions inside. The last «lord» was the Chelyabinsk Regional Museum that occupied the building until 1990, when the building was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church.

LIFESTYLE

Chelyabinsk has a population of more than a million people. Until recently it looked like an ordinary big industrial city. However the last few years have brought about a lot of changes. The historical buildings in the city’s central streets have been renovated. The unique architectural monuments now look quite modern while preserving the spirit of previous times.

Chelyabinsk. Wikimedia Commons

Although it is said that Chelyabinsk is one of the most polluted cities in Russia due to the huge number of metallurgical factories, it also has the largest national parks – Zyuratkul and Taganay with their well-preserved ecosystems and it is also a land of lakes: over 3 thousand water reservoirs with the purest water in the region.

Sources

Wikipedia

Welcome to Russia 

Markstad Hotel

·      World Judo 2014