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Togliatti

Location Togliatti (Russian: Тольятти), is in the Samara Oblast, and is the administrative centre of the Stavropolsky District. It is located on the banks of the river Volga. Population According to the 2002 census, Togliatti’s population stood at 702,879, although estimates suggest that it currently has around 720,000 inhabitants. Climate The temperature in Togliatti reaches around 25 degrees in June, July and August, and dips as low as -15 degrees in the winter months. History The original settlement was founded in 1737 as a fortress, and was used as the capital for groups of the Kalmyk people who had recently converted to Christianity. It was originally named Stavropol, or Stavropol-on-Volga. Stavropol was a quiet and provincial town with a modest population of around 12,000 until 1950, when construction began of the biggest hydro-electric power station on the river Volga. The original town was flooded to create a reservoir and dam, and Stavropol was subsequently rebuilt on higher, flatter land. The power station provided a wealth of jobs, and Stavropol was inundated with new residents. In 1964, the town changed its name to Togliatti, after Palmiro Togliatti, the longest serving general secretary of the Partito Comunista Italiano and personal friend of Joseph Stalin. A second wave of movement to the city occurred in the late 1960s, after the opening of the Volga Automobile Works (Avtovaz). This allowed for a major expansion of the city’s industrial, trade and residential areas, and put Togliatti on the map as Russia’s capital of car manufacture. Today, the automobile industry forms the main basis of the city’s economy. Places of Interest As the original city was flooded to create the reservoir in 1950, all of the town’s buildings and monuments date back to no later than the Soviet era. They include the Obelisk of Glory, built in 1958, the Victory Park and Victory Monument, which was completed in 1985. Recent additions to the city’s cultural points of interest include a monument to the city’s founder, Vasily Tatishchev, a Transfiguration Cathedral and a monument of loyalty. The charming ancient village of Shiryaevo is just a short journey away, and is popular with tourists and other visitors to the area. This village is famous for its mines, which visitors may explore, as well as for its museum dedicated to the artist Ilya Repin, who lived there while he was painting one of his most famous works, “Barge Haulers on the Volga”. Those who head up to the nearby Zhiguli mountains can find the so-called “stone cup”, a masterpiece of nature where three mountain ravines come together to form a giant stone bowl, into which flows water from several mountain springs. Local legend has it that this water is the tears of the mistress of the Zhiguli, crying for her solitude, and that it has healing powers.                      Things to do The city is especially noted for its high-quality sports facilities, which have been a high priority for the administration since the 1950s, so that the residents could be a shining example of the ideal of the healthy, hard working Soviet man. Today the residents enjoy access to gyms, swimming pools, football and racing stadiums, ice arenas and a yacht club. As a result, many successful athletes have lived in Togliatti, and many of the local sports teams have achieved international success. Togliatti is an ideal destination for nature lovers, as its location near the Volga River and Zhigulia Mountains mean it is home to some of the most breathtaking sights in the country. It is also the habitat of many rare species of birds, animals and plants. Many cultural events and festivals take place regularly in the city, some of them famous nationally and internationally. These include “Festive Days of the Stavropol – Togliatti City”, “Togliatti Musical Autumn Festival” and “Day of Slavonic Literature and Culture”. Togliatti also has an array of musical and dramatic theatres, as well as cinemas. Getting there and away The international airport “Kurumoch” is located 40km away from Togliatti. Transport to and from Samara is extremely easy by bus or by train. The city is served by two bus stations and two railway stations, as well as a river port, which, given Togliatti’s prime location has been said to link the north of Eurasia to the south, and is one of the biggest in Russia. A highway running through the city also connects Togliatti to the Urals and Siberia. Transport within the city is mainly based on buses, trolleybuses and marshrutkas.