TOP 30 - what to see in Volsk, Saratov region

This term has other meanings, see Volsk (meanings).
Coat of arms

City

Volsk

52°03′00″ n. w. 47°23′00″ E. d.HGYAOCountryRussiaFederal SubjectSaratov RegionMunicipal districtVolskyUrban settlementMunicipal formation city of VolskHeadMatveev Vitaly Gennadievich[1]History and geographyFounded in 1690Former namesMalykovka, VolgskCity since 1780Area

• 148 km²

Center altitude90 mTime zoneUTC+4:00PopulationPopulation↘60 948[2] people (2021)Katoykonimvolchane, lupus, lupusDigital identifiersTelephone+7 84593Postal code412900OKATO63413OKTMO63611101001OtherAwardsvolsk.rf V Olsk

Moscow

Saratov

Volsk

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Volsk

- a city (since 1780) in Russia, the administrative center of the Volsky district of the Saratov region.

Located on the right bank of the Volga, 147 km northeast of Saratov. Pre-dead end railway station of the Volga Railway on a branch from Volsk 2 station[3].

Population - 60,948[2] people. (2021). Since 2015, Volsk has been awarded the title of City of Labor Glory of the Saratov Region[4][5].

Geography[ | ]

The climate of Volsk is moderate continental. The city's topography is unusual, hilly. In Volsk, the beauty of the surrounding chalk mountains has been preserved; from almost any part of the city you can see the chalk mountains, in some places overgrown with forest. There are opportunities for a summer beach holiday on the Volga coast and a winter ski holiday within the city.

The city is located in the forest-steppe zone of the Saratov region in its northeastern part. Volsk is located on the right bank of the Volga in a deep basin surrounded by chalk mountains, the length along the Volga is about 10 kilometers.

The main minerals mined within the city are limestone, chalk, clay, opoka, and sand for the cement industry.

TOP 3 - where to go for a walk in Volsk

Magnificent squares, picturesque parks and attractions are ideal places for walks, especially if you are traveling with a child.

City Park

• Address: Evseeva street.

Volsky City Park was founded by merchant Pyotr Sapozhnikov in 1793. Over the centuries of its existence, the park has repeatedly changed its appearance and expanded its boundaries. During the last restoration, which took place in 2022, children's attractions were opened in the park: “The Jolly Train,” trampolines and various carousels.

For the entertainment of adult visitors, a football field and a shooting range were built here. The park is decorated with a large fountain and various art objects. The Eiffel Tower, covered with ivy, is especially popular among fans of photo shoots.

Volga embankment

• Address: emb. them. Zlobina.

A small walking trail stretches along the right bank of the Volga. It is separated from the river by a wrought-iron fence and an even row of leafy alleys. You can go down to the water using a special deck. Recently, an observation deck was opened on the embankment, allowing you to admire the river and coastal attractions.

Thanks to asphalt paths, comfortable benches and night lighting, the embankment is comfortable for walking and cycling.

central square

• Address: pl. 10th anniversary of October.

The central square is famous for its architecture. Merchant estates and ancient temples are concentrated here. The youngest building is the administration building, built in the 1930s - a perfectly preserved example of Soviet constructivism.

The central square is the venue for public celebrations, public holidays and festivals. Concerts, fairs and various competitions are often held here.

See the sights of other cities of the Saratov region - Saratov, Khvalynsk, Balakovo and Engels

Volsk is a city of antiquity, splendor and history. Walking along its streets and visiting its sights, tourists travel back in time and plunge into the atmosphere of the era of the nobility and merchants. Such places are remembered for a long time and attract people to come again.

History[ | ]

Volsk was founded on the banks of the Volga at the confluence of the Malykovka River. The first mention of the Malykovskaya settlement dates back to 1699. In the 17th century, the tsar granted land on the banks of the Volga to large feudal monasteries, who transferred peasants here from their estates and founded the villages of Malykovka, Sosnovy Ostrov (now the city of Khvalynsk), Tersa, and Voskresenskoye. The main activity was fishing, which was sent to the monasteries. A little later, Malykovka becomes a military stronghold, the task of which is to protect merchant ships sailing along the Volga from Kalmyks, Nogais, and Crimeans.[6]

In 1632, Emperor Mikhail Fedorovich granted fishing in the area of ​​modern Volsk and surrounding lands to the Moscow Novospassky Monastery, which was especially patronized by the Romanovs. The monastery transferred many peasants assigned to it here. They founded a fishing settlement, named Malykovka, named after the rivers Upper and Lower Malykovka, then quite deep tributaries of the Volga. At the end of the 17th century, the first Orthodox church was built here; it was made of wood and was named in memory of the famous icon of the Kazan Mother of God.[7]

In 1710, Peter I gave Malykovka along with the volost to his favorite A.D. Menshikov, who owned it until his disgrace (of course, he never appeared in Malykovka). In 1728, Malykovka was transferred to the treasury, which had a beneficial effect on its economic situation. According to the revision of 1766, there were more than 4,000 souls of both sexes, and there were already several churches. The first stone Cathedral of John the Baptist was founded in 1746 (it has survived to this day).[7]

In 1780, the settlement received the status of a district town of Volgsk

(then the name was transformed into
Volsk
).
Old Gostiny Dvor
In 1792, the city suffered a devastating fire that destroyed 372 houses. In the same year, a “projected regular plan” was drawn up, which provided for the creation of a rectangular grid of streets. A real construction boom began: by 1797, several streets running perpendicular to the Volga and several longitudinal ones had been built in Volsk; Thus, the street network formed dozens of residential neighborhoods and several squares. Wooden houses were often built from larch; Such buildings, corresponding in age to “pre-fire Moscow,” have survived to this day. At the end of the 18th century, Catherine’s nobleman, Prince A. A. Vyazemsky, was granted an estate in this region, which he would choose for himself. Prince Vyazemsky did not know the region, but he wanted to choose a new estate better. The prince was helped in this choice by the volost clerk of the Malykovka settlement, the Old Believer V. A. Zlobin. Then Zlobin was chosen by Prince Vyazemsky as a figurehead for ransom operations, and thanks to this he very quickly turned from a poor man into a millionaire. With the assistance of Prince Vyazemsky, the Malykovka settlement was transformed into the city of Volsk, and Zlobin was appointed mayor.

The most famous monument to the activities of V. A. Zlobin in Volsk is the unique two-story Gostiny Row (courtyard), unique in architecture (Russian classicism), with its main facade facing Torgovaya Square. Its front colonnade (in the Corinthian order design) stretches for an entire block. Not a single county town in the Volga region had a commercial building with a gallery on the second floor. The shops in Gostiny Ryad flourished until the Patriotic War of 1812, after which V. A. Zlobin went bankrupt. The living room was placed at the disposal of the city, which placed public places on the second floor (though not earlier than the 1850s) - the city police, the district court, the treasury and the guardianship of the nobility. Later, the city began renting out the first floor to merchants for shops. To top it off, the government banned the bankrupt Volsky merchants from trading - and thereby deprived them of the opportunity to at least eventually pay off their debts.[7]

Bryukhanov's House

In the 19th century, Volsk became the most important merchant city trading in grain. The grain trade was in the hands of buyers who resold grain and flour to large merchants engaged in wholesale trade. In the 1850s, famous suppliers of wheat were the Volsky merchants Bryukhanov, Kursakov, and Pligin. Merchants' capital sometimes amounted to millions. Thus, the trade turnover of Volsky merchants in the village of Balakovo reached 10 million rubles.[6] The Volya merchants were active in grain trade and were interested in faster and cheaper methods of delivering goods. Thus, in 1836, the Volsky merchant Prevratukhin first opened navigation along the Khoper.[6]

Fire Tower

A special page in the history of Volsk is temple construction. Like the trading cities of Yelets and Veliky Ustyug, in the old days the panorama of Volsk from the river was also enriched by the splendor of many temple silhouettes. The first stone Cathedral of John the Baptist, built in the 1740s, was replaced a hundred years later by a new cathedral built in the classicist style. Unlike the first one, which according to the new plan was located on the edge of the Trade Square, this cathedral occupied its middle. Thus, near the Volga piers, a solid ensemble of shopping arcades, mansions, palaces and temples was formed. True, the original Baptist Cathedral was subsequently rebuilt for secular needs (a rare fact in itself). The external, and in many ways also internal, tectonics of the building, however, has been preserved. The building with a dome covering a square hall on the second floor, into which the apartments open, has long surprised researchers - after all, the old cathedral was considered demolished. The first floor of the building, like almost all buildings on the Trade Square, is still occupied by shops.

Former estate and former orphanage. Now the Rossiya Hotel

Probably, the new Cathedral of John the Baptist was designed back in 1809 by V. I. Suranov (a native of St. Petersburg, who studied at the Academy of Arts, a Saratov architect in 1805-1818). The foundation of the building was laid and the construction of walls began. The War of 1812 and subsequent hardships delayed construction, and it resumed in the 1830s, during a period of renewed economic growth in the city. The project has been slightly reworked. The Baptist Cathedral was the pride of the city. Its huge cubic volume, crowned with a rotunda head surrounded by four bell towers, was visible for many kilometers from the Volga. It is now occupied by a department store built in the late 1960s.[7]

At the end of the 19th century, residential stone buildings of two or three floors became an ordinary building in Volsk. The wealth of the city is evidenced by the facades of houses lined with figured masonry, the abundance of stucco decorations, false pediments and often stucco and tin vases on the roofs. In wooden residential buildings, until the revolution, the tradition of the northern “big house” on the basement was maintained. Often there are also helmet-shaped ends of gate posts made of milled iron, and patterned chimneys, and elegant drainpipes. There are often stone gates with an arch, with hitching rings, reminiscent of the long past. Back in the 1920s, according to the recollections of old-timers, Volchan residents kept up to 5 thousand cows, and twice a day the streets of the city were filled with fat herds. Residents of Volsk were skilled in many crafts; among the most respected were blacksmiths, who settled mainly on Saratovskaya Street.[7]

In 1908, the Volsky military school, dating back to 1859, was transformed into the Volsky cadet corps.[8]

At the beginning of the 20th century, residents of Volsk actively fought for Soviet power. Here, back in 1918, the first volunteers for the Volga Flotilla were recruited. The Red Flotilla of Volsky Rivermen took part in the defeat of the White Guards near Volsk and Balakov, Khvalynsk and Syzran.[9]

On July 23, 1928, the city became the center of the Volsky district and the Volsky district of the Lower Volga region (since 1936, part of the Saratov region).

On January 12, 1981, the city of Volsk was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor[10].

In the 2000s, the village of Rybnoye became part of Volsk.

Historical street names[ | ]

With the Bolsheviks coming to power, most of the pre-revolutionary street names in Volsk were renamed[11].

Pre-revolutionary names	Modern (Soviet) names
Moscow street	Revolutionary
Alexandrovskaya street	Krasnoarmeyskaya
Amurskaya street	Pervomayskaya
Blagoveshchenskaya street	Komsomolskaya
Vladimirskaya street	Lenin
Tatarskaya street	Folk
Kamyshinskaya street	Oktyabrskaya
Karavannaya street	Communist
Millionnaya Street	Dzerzhinsky
Mariinskaya street	Volodarsky
Embankment street	Stepan Razin
Nadezhdinskaya street	Pionerskaya
Sadovaya street	Krasnogvardeyskaya
Priyutinskaya street	Pugachevskaya
Sevastopolskaya street	Maxim Gorky
Kleimenovskaya street	Tsementnikov
Pokrovskaya Square	Pl. Equalities
Trade area	Pl. 10th anniversary of October

"Museum of Local Lore"

There are many interesting and beautiful buildings in Volsk, but the building of the “Museum of Local Lore” is the peak of uniqueness. The rotunda, from which symmetrical facades extend, gives the museum rare beauty and individuality.

Modern exhibitions were created by merging the Scientific-Educational and Art-Historical Museums. More than eighty thousand exhibits create inimitable units. Experienced guides will be happy to talk about nature and history, show archaeological excavations and paintings. The museum is famous for its permanent exhibitions, including a phenomenal exhibition of ancient icons.

Location: Oktyabrskaya street - 110.

Population[ | ]

Population
1856[12]	1897[12]	1913[12]	1926[12]	1931[12]	1939[12]	1959[13]	1967[12]	1970[14]	1973[12]	1976[12]	1979[15]
23 500	↗27 100	↗34 900	↗35 300	↗42 500	↗56 100	↗63 422	↗70 000	↘69 191	↗71 000	↘68 000	↘65 749
1982[16]	1986[12]	1987[17]	1989[18]	1992[12]	1996[12]	1998[12]	2000[12]	2001[12]	2002[19]	2003[12]	2005[12]
↘65 000	↗66 000	→66 000	↘65 683	↘65 200	↘64 600	↗67 000	↗70 300	↘69 200	↗71 124	↘71 100	↘70 500
2007[12]	2008[12]	2009[20]	2010[21]	2011[22]	2012[23]	2013[24]	2014[25]	2015[26]	2016[27]	2017[28]	2018[29]
↘68 900	↘68 600	↘68 160	↘66 508	↘66 375	↘65 774	↘65 163	↘64 558	↘64 347	↘64 315	↘63 947	↘63 212
2019[30]	2020[31]	2021[2]
↘62 195	↘61 943	↘60 948

As of January 1, 2022, in terms of population, the city was in 268th place out of 1,116[32]cities of the Russian Federation[33].

At the end of the 1850s, the population of Volsk was over 24 thousand people. At the same time, there were more than 72 thousand people in Saratov. In 1913, Volsk was the third most populous city in the province (more than 40 thousand people). In 1913, 23 thousand people each lived in Balakovo and Khvalynsk[6].

"Art Gallery"

The “Picture Gallery” is no less attractive. An ancient building with an attractive facade, which is decorated with numerous stucco elements. The interior of the building is even more fascinating: rich crystal chandeliers, marble steps, artistic casting of gilded railings. The gallery's exhibition is small but unique:

• V. I. Surikov.
• I.K. Aivazovsky.
• I. I. Shishkin.
• V.V. Vereshchagin.
• N. P. Shakhovskaya.
• A. N. Novoskoltsev and others.

Next to famous creations, no less interesting works of emerging artists and avant-garde artists peacefully coexist.

Location: Oktyabrskaya street - 110.

Industry[ | ]

Volsk, along with Novorossiysk, was the old center of the Russian cement industry. The factories were built in the period from 1896 to 1914, and during Soviet times they were repeatedly reconstructed and significantly expanded (4, “Red October”, “Bolshevik” and “Komsomolets”). A special feature of the factories was the use of excellent raw materials - pure white limestones mined in the vicinity of the city.[9]

The industrial development of the city began at the end of the 19th century. Until this time, Volsk was known mainly for the merchant grain trade; among its industrial facilities, it had only a small shipbuilding enterprise, K.E. Hildebranda.

Cement factories were built on the outskirts of the city, fueled by a construction boom in the country's southeastern cities. Construction of the first cement plant with a capacity of 1.2 million barrels of cement per year (now) in Volsk began in 1896. It began operating in 1897 and belonged to the Glukhoozersky Partnership for the Production of Portland Cement. In 1901, the second plant, built by the Volsky merchant M.F., began producing products. Pligin and soon sold to Saratov flour miller D.B. Seifert. In 1912 and 1914, 2 more cement plants came into operation in the vicinity of the city.[6]

Volsky cement was of high quality and was in high demand in all major cities of European Russia, Siberia, and also in Turkestan.[6]

Currently, Volsk is a major center of the cement industry (Holcim LLC[34], HeidelbergCement Volga JSC).

The city also has Volsky Mechanical Plant OJSC, Gormol Brewery OJSC, Volskmel LLC, VolgaIzvest CJSC, Avtotrassa LLC, one of the largest enterprises is the Volsky branch of Oblvodresurs OJSC, for which a wastewater treatment complex is being built structures. Plodovoye LLC - 2009 - production of juice products, including contract bottling for the Krasnoe and Beloe and Vkusville chains.

In Volsk there is an aeronautical testing center, a branch of GLITs, specializing in testing free and tethered balloons, as well as other pneumatic structures for military purposes.

Active recreation in Volsk

In Volsk there are several grounds for practicing various sports. Each tourist will be able to find entertainment to suit his individual taste.

Gym "Sparta"

• Address: .

Training and sports programs provided by the Sparta gym will help you stay in good shape during your vacation. The complex is equipped with high-quality modern equipment: strength training machines, treadmills, orbit tracks, and so on.

For an additional fee, you can order individual training with a professional instructor. Sparta provides programs for weight loss and health promotion. The local canteen sells diet food and protein shakes.

Sports and fitness complex "Ice VTK"

• Address: Volsky district, working village of Kleny, Khalzova street, 7.

The ice skating rink was opened in 2010. Thanks to its accessible location and quality service, it quickly became one of the most popular leisure centers in Volsk.

Every visitor to the skating rink will be able to find something interesting to do: cheer for their favorite hockey team or go to the arena themselves by renting skates.

The advantages of the Ice Palace include:

• spacious skating rink with high-quality ice surface;
• comfortable stands for 200 people;
• equipped changing rooms and showers;
• figure skating and hockey sections;
• professional trainers;
• own gym with the best equipment;
• rental and sharpening of skates.

The sports complex often organizes mass sports and entertainment events, including annual hockey competitions, which anyone can attend.

Football field "Youth"

• Address: Firstova street, 1D.

Yunost Stadium has existed since Soviet times. This is a spacious football field with running tracks running around its circumference. There are also rows of stands here. The stadium hosts football tournaments between sports schools in Volsk and other cities, as well as amateur competitions for local teams.

The stadium is currently undergoing reconstruction. The result will be an updated football surface, improved running tracks, new seats for spectators, as well as long jump sectors. In addition, volleyball and basketball courts will be open. Residents of Volsk are looking forward to the completion of the modernization of their favorite stadium.

On topic: Sights of the Saratov region

Heroes of the Volskaya Land[ | ]

More than 50 Heroes of the Soviet Union were natives of Volsk and the Volsky region or went to the front at the call of the Volsky military registration and enlistment office.

• P.F. Blinov - pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union.
• V.V. Talalikhin - pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union.
• V. G. Klochkov - junior political instructor, Hero of the Soviet Union.
• P.I. Zamchalov - Hero of the Soviet Union, guard major, corps engineer of the 9th Guards Tank Uman Red Banner Order of Suvorov Corps.
• M. A. Mustafin - Hero of the Soviet Union, flight commander of the 165th Guards Assault Aviation Red Banner Regiment, guard senior lieutenant.
• S. V. Egorov - Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of a pontoon company.
• V. S. Khalzov - Hero of the Soviet Union, attack pilot.
• Y. V. Shishkin - Hero of the Soviet Union, fighter pilot, guard colonel.
• P. M. Bogatov - lieutenant of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, participant in the Soviet-Finnish and Great Patriotic Wars, Hero of the Soviet Union.
• E. K. Lazarev - Hero of the Soviet Union, tank driver of the 6th Tank Brigade
• I. M. Polyakov - Hero of the Soviet Union, military pilot.
• M. P. Teplov - Hero of the Soviet Union, participant in the Great Patriotic War, bomber pilot.
• P. A. Potryasov - Hero of the Soviet Union, shooter.
• Z. I. Mareseva - Hero of the Soviet Union, sanitary instructor.
• S. A. Zudlov - Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of a reconnaissance platoon

Heroes of the Russian Federation, including those who lived and received education in Volsk:

• Bogdan Sergei Leonidovich - test pilot.
• Samoilov Sergey Vyacheslavovich - platoon commander of a special forces brigade.
• Petrov Alexander Petrovich - test pilot.
• Bulgakov Dmitry Vitalievich - Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.

Heroes of Labor:

• Grushin Pyotr Dmitrievich - twice Hero of Socialist Labor, designer of rocket and aviation equipment.
• Tokin Boris Petrovich - Hero of Socialist Labor, geneticist.
• Efimenko Vera Andreevna - Hero of Socialist Labor, raw mill operator.

Full Knights of the Order of Glory:

• Fofanov Pavel Konstantinovich - gun commander.
• Nikitin Gennady Petrovich - intelligence officer.

The first elementary district school in Volsk opened in 1821. In the second half of the 19th century, the literacy rate in Volsky district was 23 percent.[6]

The seventies and eighties of the 19th century saw the opening of large educational institutions in Volsk. Some of them were housed in mansions donated by patrons and sold, others in specially built buildings. On the northern outskirts, behind Sapozhnikov’s garden, a red-brick complex of buildings of the Cadet Corps was erected. Since 1927, the OVSHLAT (United Volsk School of Pilots and Aviation Technicians) has been located here, which gave the country many air aces and heroes of the Great Patriotic War. In the early 60s (1960-1961), the school began to graduate rocket artillery specialists, while continuing to produce aviation technicians, the name of the school was VVKTU (Volsk Military Command Technical School). Since 1967, the profile of the school changed - it began to train rear service officers, and later received the status of a higher educational institution. Now VVVUT (Volsk Higher Military School of Logistics) is a whole town on the slope of a mountain, where buildings stand among ponds and small groves. Also noteworthy is the ancient building of the Real School (opened in 1876) in a large house opposite the Sapozhnikov garden, with internal cast-iron cast stairs between floors.

Main article: Gymnasium named after Hero of the Soviet Union V.V. Talalikhin city of Volsk, Saratov region

The pride of the city of Volsk is the new building of the girls’ gymnasium, built at the beginning of the 20th century - the so-called “School Palace”. The building was built according to a new standard design for gymnasium buildings, which, due to its high cost, was implemented in Russia only a few times.[7] Nowadays there is a gymnasium named after Hero of the Soviet Union V.V. Talalikhin (former school No. 1).

Currently, the city is home to the Volsky Higher Military Institute of Material Support, which has been training food and clothing service officers for all law enforcement agencies for many years. Currently, the institute is a branch of the Military Academy of Logistics and Technical Support named after Army General A.V. Khrulev.

The technological technical school (college of construction of bridges and hydraulic structures), the pedagogical college named after. F. I. Panferov, Medical College named after. Hero of the Soviet Union Z.I. Mareseva[35], branch of the Belgorod State Technological University named after. V. G. Shukhov and other higher educational institutions, as well as three vocational schools.

"Natural History Museum"

The “Natural History Museum” is located in an ancient eclectic style merchant mansion, which is a structural subdivision of the “Local History Museum”. Five halls hospitably open their doors to visitors and present them with original collections:

• Geology.
• Archeology.
• Paleontology.
• Botany.
• Zoology.

The museum will show its guests not only interesting dioramas and natural finds, but also share the results of scientific research work that is carried out here non-stop. The museum also has its own pride - this is an extraordinary collection of tropical butterflies, donated by the funds of the British Museum.

Location: Lev Tolstoy street - 102.

Attractions[ | ]

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Volsk has a local history museum with an art gallery and a drama theater.

The architectural decoration of the city are stone buildings in the style of Russian classicism of the first quarter of the 19th century: the house of the merchant Menkov (now an art gallery), the Gostiny Dvor (now the Cement Hotel), the Zemstvo Council, the Bishop's House, the merchant mansions of Myasnikov (now a local history museum) and Bryukhanov (House).

Architectural monuments also include preserved old buildings and residential buildings on the territory of enterprises of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. These examples of architecture bear the features of industrial modernism. These include the recently operating Merkulyev mill, a brewery, and a railway station at Privolskaya station (1895).

The house of the merchant V. M. Myasnikov was probably built around 1810 - at this place it was already designated on the plan of 1826 as a “public stone house”. In 1840, by order of the merchant Myasnikov, the provincial architect G.V. Petrov supposedly designed a new building on this site, but in fact built the old one into it. The renovated building was intended for sale to the city - to house the services of the city magistrate. Later, the petty bourgeois (city) government was located here. The building is a valuable architectural monument, as it is a rather rare type of classical building with a corner rotunda and symmetrical street facades.[7]

Two mansions on Freedom Square (formerly Trinity Square) date back much earlier. One of them, the house of Matveev - Sidorov (aka Bryukhanov’s house). It is shown on the plans of 1800 and 1826 as a stone structure. In all likelihood, the house was rebuilt in the first half of the 19th century, since it was donated by the owner for an orphanage and boarding school for girls. From 2013 to 2015 it was rebuilt again. Since September 19, 2015, the Rossiya Hotel has been located there. Opposite this mansion is the house of the mayor of Strukov-Melnikov, which housed the post office for many years. The house plan is square, the street facade has a very impressive portico (raised on a high arched pedestal) connecting the main floor with a mezzanine. The building in a number of publications is attributed to A. A. Belousov, who served as a provincial architect in the mid-19th century.[7]

At the intersection of Malykovskaya and Chernyshevsky streets there is another house with a rotunda, the so-called Shvedov house. It is indicated on all city plans since 1800 as being made of stone. Perhaps the building was rebuilt by G.V. Petrov in 1830. Among other Volsky attractions is the Bishop's House on Pervomaiskaya (Amurskaya) Street, with the house church attached to it (this temple was the only one that survived the pogrom of 1929-1931). In the city park, at the gate, there is another building from the early 19th century in the classical style - the Sapozhnikov House. A.P. Sapozhnikov, the richest merchant, in 1831 contributed a huge amount of about 80 thousand rubles to the construction of the Intercession Cathedral. Sapozhnikov's house, along with the garden, was sold by the owner to the city; it housed a restaurant with a music pavilion.[7]

On the territory of the current Volsky Higher Military School of Logistics (VVVUT), near the city park, there is the so-called Rastorguev House, transferred by the owner for a women's gymnasium, opened in 1871. (The building with a mezzanine faces M. Gorky Street.) The Rastorguevs, like the Sapozhnikovs and Zlobins, were Old Believers. One of them, Lev Ivanovich Rastoruev (b. 1771), at one time “appropriated” a large grove adjacent to the city, and after his name the grove with centuries-old oak trees is still called Lvovoy. V. A. Zlobin and L. I. Rastorguev built mansions in Yekaterinburg, one of them houses the residence of the governor.

At the end of the 19th century, the northern side of the Trade Square was rebuilt. On the site of the demolished buildings, millionaire merchants Menkov, Levshin and Brusyantsev almost simultaneously erected three residential buildings with shops on the lower floors. This complex with “terem” roofs amazes with its bizarre mixture of Russian, Baroque and (in Brusyantsev’s house) Art Nouveau motifs. The central building of the ensemble, the Menkov House, has four halls on the second floor overlooking the square. Their interiors are different from each other. The most elegant is the living room, decorated in imitation of the Rococo style. The pattern of the moldings on the ceiling and the tiled stoves are exceptionally elegant, each of which is a true work of art. The wonderful parquet has also been preserved. The former house of Menkov housed the city committee of the CPSU, and since 1993 the Volskaya Art Gallery has been located.[7]

The main planning axis running perpendicular to the Volga - Moskovskaya Street - was closed by Troitskaya Square (after the revolution, Freedom Square). It received its name from the temple built in its center in 1809. People called it the old cathedral. The facades and the rotunda of the temple were decorated with rhythmic rows of semi-columns of the Ionic order. Two important roads converged on the Trinity Cathedral - from Khvalynsk (another capital of the Volga Old Believers) and from Saratov. In 1938, at the site of the demolished temple, a monument to Lenin was erected at the expense of the townspeople. In 2009, the temple was restored to its original location and consecrated. The monument was moved to the central square of Volsk. Not far from the city on the banks of the Volga River there is the Svetlana boarding house. Within the city there is a boarding house "Volzhskie Zori".

Fight for churches - with prayer

In 1990, the large Saratov and Volgograd diocese were divided, Volsk again began to be considered a cathedral city. And the only small former house church in the city at that time at the Bishop's House until 2009 had the proud status of a cathedral.

Arriving in 2003 at the Saratov See, Metropolitan, and then still Bishop, Longin was surprised by the state of the second See of the diocese entrusted to him. The pleasant impression of a large number of ancient, prayerful images of good writing contrasted sharply with the disappointment of the size and condition of the temple, the sagging ceiling of which, in particular, was supported by two supports since the time of the fire of 1948.

It was obvious that the first priority was to open a new cathedral, more befitting the title of a cathedral. Volsky believers have been encouraged by the local clergy to fight for the revival of lost churches since the mid-1990s. And this struggle was primarily waged with the help of fervent prayer. A group of parishioners came every day for six years to Freedom Square, the park on the site of the demolished Trinity Cathedral, to read an akathist to the Life-Giving Trinity, believing that the Lord would hear their joint petition. And in 2004, things finally got off the ground. Bishop Longin managed to find a common language with the local authorities and, with the enthusiastic support of Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin, for whom Volsk was always no stranger to the city, he managed to do two big things: move the state-protected standard reinforced concrete monument to Lenin and begin the construction of a new cathedral.

The great consecration on May 23, 2009, in the concelebration of a council of bishops, was performed by Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsky and Kolomna.

In 2006, the building of the Church of the Nativity of Christ was transferred to the community of Orthodox believers. The church that the Old Believers of the Austrian consent began to build back in the 70s of the 19th century. Before the revolution, the interior of the temple was decorated with a valuable carved gilded iconostasis, the icons were painted in the Old Russian style, and the bell tower was considered the most euphonious in the city. During the years of Soviet power, first a cinema was built in the temple, then a sports school. The condition of the building, which was once a temple, at the time of its transfer to the Church could best be described as “deplorable.” Despite all the difficulties, in six years the parish managed to complete capital and finishing work and prepare the temple for the Great Consecration. The main shrine of the temple is the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, which was once located in the convent of the city and was then kept for many years by the descendants of the nun expelled from the monastery by the Bolsheviks.

The restoration of the Vladimir Convent, as in the case of the Trinity Cathedral, became possible thanks to the many years of prayerful work of caring townspeople. At the beginning of 2000, the vacant lot on the site of the destroyed shrine began to be decorated with a Worship Cross, to which every year on the patronal feast of the lost cathedral church of the monastery, on the day of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, a religious procession was held. In 2013, part of the surviving monastery buildings was returned to the Church. The restoration of the monastery began.

Gradually, bit by bit, the city is regaining the seemingly forever lost beauty of Orthodox churches, its heart and soul... Since the mid-2000s, the revived Holy Cross Church has been operating on the territory of the Volsky Military Institute. Temples are being built and are already operating on the outskirts of the city.

Spiritual life is also glimmering in the countryside, even when there is not much hope for the return of its former greatness... From the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God, which was built by the Orlov-Denisovs in the village of Klyuchi, now only meter-thick walls remain. Several years ago, part of the roof collapsed, most of the frescoes were irretrievably lost, and wooden floor boards were dragged into the houses and barns of local residents. What was once built to last for centuries, for the fondest memory of many generations of descendants, turned out to be powerless not against the power of the elements or the destructive influence of merciless time, but before ordinary human malice. Local resident Nadezhda Paramonova remembers her grandmother’s stories about working as a day laborer on the count’s estate in Shikhany, about the revolution, about how Red Army soldiers were firing from guns at the church’s bell tower from the railroad that runs near the village...

The overthrow of the hated masters, attempts to build a better, new life by destroying at the roots the foundations of the usual way of life did not bring, and in principle could not bring the expected results. And what they once rebelled against was often remembered later with the warmest feelings. Now, next to the majestic ruins, there is a small, also Pokrovsky, temple, arranged in an adapted room.

The temple in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” in the village of Cherkassk was more fortunate. Returned to the Church at the very beginning of the 90s of the last century, this year it celebrates its 190th anniversary.

In the fact that the temple managed to survive during the hard times of the Soviet Union, one can see not only the exceptional conscientiousness of the pious builders, but also God’s Providence. Attempts to blow up the temple in the 1930s were unsuccessful, after which the harvest of berries, vegetables and grain was stored here. New approaches to the fight against the heritage of ancestors during the “thaw” also ended in practically nothing: after they managed to demolish the columns at the altar wall, the cabin of the tractor was torn apart, and the driver refused to continue the destruction. Detonation with explosives turned out to be impossible, since the school and cinema buildings were built closely. So they left it at that until better times...

Of course, it is important and joyful for the local community that they managed to preserve and restore the temple, and return to it some of the shrines in front of which their ancestors prayed. But the main thing is that through years of trials and persecution they managed to carry faith in the hearts of local residents. And all the work to restore the temple only in the light of this takes on meaning.

Archeology[ | ]

In 1913, the Volsky settlement “Popovo Blyudechko” was discovered[36][37][38]. A special “Volsky” cultural type of ceramics was identified by N. M. Malov in 1979[39]. Monuments of the Volsky type are proposed to be considered within the framework of the Volsky archaeological culture and dated to the Poltavka-Catacomb period[40]. Findings of Volsko-Lbishchenskaya ceramics in closed complexes of post-catacomb burials make it possible to draw the upper limit of the Volsko-Lbishchensk culture at the turn of the 3rd-2nd millennium BC[41].

"Drama Theater"

For eighty years now, the Volsky Drama Theater has been delighting with its productions. The troupe puts on interesting performances for both adults and young viewers. Lovers of cultural recreation receive indescribable emotions; the theater hall is always full. In addition to direct work in the theater building, the actors regularly travel around the outskirts, regions and neighboring cities, and everywhere the performances are sold out.

Location: Revolyutsionnaya street - 3.

Notes[ | ]

1. Head of the municipality of the city of Volsk (undefined)
   . Government of the Saratov region. Access date: September 17, 2009.
2. ↑ 123
   The permanent population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2022 (Russian). Retrieved April 27, 2022. Archived May 2, 2022.
3. An article about the city of Volsk on the Poezda.Net website (unspecified)
   . Access date: September 17, 2009.
4. Volsk and Saratov (inaccessible link) became “cities of labor glory ”
   . Russian Planet (May 6, 2015). Access date: May 6, 2015. Archived March 6, 2016.
5. Bigalieva, Gulzhana.
   Saratov and Volsk became “Cities of Labor Glory” (Russian) // AiF-Saratov: newspaper. — 2015.
6. ↑ 1234567
   History of the Saratov region: [From ancient times to 1917]/ Under the general. ed. V. P. Totfalushina. - Saratov: Region. Volga region publishing house "Children's Book", 2000. - 416 p.
7. ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
   Official website of the Local Self-Government Administration of the Volsky Municipal District
   (unspecified)
   (inaccessible link -
   history
   ).
8. History of the Volsky Cadet Corps (Russian). Museum of the History of Russian Cadets
   .
9. ↑ 12
   Strazhevky A. B., Shmelev A. A. Guidebook “Leningrad - Astrakhan - Rostov-on-Don”. - M.: “Mysl”, 1968.
10. Yearbook of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 1982 (issue 26). M., “Soviet Encyclopedia”, 1982. p.31
11. Old Volsk. History and streets (undefined)
    .
12. ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
    People's encyclopedia “My City”.
    Volsk (undefined)
    . Retrieved June 23, 2014. Archived June 23, 2014.
13. All-Union Population Census of 1959. The size of the urban population of the RSFSR, its territorial units, urban settlements and urban areas by gender (Russian). Demoscope Weekly. Access date: September 25, 2013. Archived April 28, 2013.
14. All-Union Population Census of 1970 The size of the urban population of the RSFSR, its territorial units, urban settlements and urban areas by gender. (Russian). Demoscope Weekly. Access date: September 25, 2013. Archived April 28, 2013.
15. All-Union Population Census of 1979 The size of the urban population of the RSFSR, its territorial units, urban settlements and urban areas by gender. (Russian). Demoscope Weekly. Access date: September 25, 2013. Archived April 28, 2013.
16. National Economy of the USSR 1922-1982 (Anniversary Statistical Yearbook)
17. National economy of the USSR for 70 years: anniversary statistical yearbook: [arch. June 28, 2016] / USSR State Committee on Statistics. - Moscow: Finance and Statistics, 1987. - 766 p.
18. All-Union population census of 1989. Urban population (undefined)
    . Archived from the original on August 22, 2011.
19. All-Russian population census 2002. Volume. 1, table 4. Population of Russia, federal districts, constituent entities of the Russian Federation, districts, urban settlements, rural settlements - regional centers and rural settlements with a population of 3 thousand or more (unspecified)
    . Archived from the original on February 3, 2012.
20. The size of the permanent population of the Russian Federation by cities, urban-type settlements and regions as of January 1, 2009 (unspecified)
    . Retrieved January 2, 2014. Archived January 2, 2014.
21. All-Russian population census 2010. Number and distribution of the population of the Saratov region (unspecified)
    . Retrieved July 6, 2014. Archived July 6, 2014.
22. Saratov region. Estimated resident population as of January 1, 2009-2015.
23. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities. Table 35. Estimated resident population as of January 1, 2012 (unspecified)
    . Retrieved May 31, 2014. Archived May 31, 2014.
24. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2013. - M.: Federal State Statistics Service Rosstat, 2013. - 528 p. (Table 33. Population of urban districts, municipal districts, urban and rural settlements, urban settlements, rural settlements) (undefined)
    . Retrieved November 16, 2013. Archived November 16, 2013.
25. Table 33. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2014 (unspecified)
    . Access date: August 2, 2014. Archived August 2, 2014.
26. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2015 (unspecified)
    . Access date: August 6, 2015. Archived August 6, 2015.
27. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2016 (Russian) (October 5, 2018). Retrieved May 15, 2022. Archived May 8, 2022.
28. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2022 (Russian) (July 31, 2017). Retrieved July 31, 2022. Archived July 31, 2022.
29. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2022 (Russian). Retrieved July 25, 2018. Archived July 26, 2022.
30. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2022 (Russian). Retrieved July 31, 2019. Archived May 2, 2022.
31. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2022 (Russian). Date accessed: October 17, 2022. Archived October 17, 2022.
32. taking into account the cities of Crimea
33. https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/bul_Chislen_nasel_MO-01-01-2021.rar Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2022 (1.85 Mb, 07/30/2021)
34. JSC "Holcim"
35. Home | Page
36. Zaikovsky B.V.
    Another lost settlement // Proceedings of SUAK. Saratov, 1914. Issue. 31.
37. Malov N. M., Sergeeva O. V., Kim M. G.
    Materials of the Volsky cultural type of the Middle Bronze Age of the Lower Volga region from an eponymous settlement // Archeology of the East European Steppe. Saratov, 2009. Issue. 7, p. 19-25.
38. Kim M. G.
    Report on the excavations of the Volsky settlement “Popovo saucer” in the city of Volsk, Saratov region in 1981 // Archives of the Institute of Archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences. F-I and VKM.
39. Malov N. M.
    About the “mysterious” ceramics of the Volsky type // Problems of the Bronze Age of the south of Eastern Europe. Abstracts of reports. Donetsk, 1979, p. 82-83.
40. Lopatin V. A.
    Volsko-Lbishchensky vector of cultural genesis
41. Mimokhod R. A.
    Volsko-Lbishchenskaya ceramics in burial complexes: cultural markers or markers in cultures?, 2018

Gostiny Dvor building

A large, bright building, decorated on all sides with high columns, like many other city buildings, was built according to the design of the architect Zlobin. According to the plan, shopping arcades were supposed to be located here, but the war with Napoleon ruined the owner and the building fell into disrepair for a long time. Now it contains both modern shopping pavilions and company offices.

Chalk quarry

The secret of the chalk quarry, this is the name of the tourist route leading to an abandoned quarry where chalk was once mined. Now it is a lake formed at the bottom of a quarry with almost overgrown banks and slopes. Going down to the lake along a spiral road, you can study the layers of the earth and even find the remains of disappeared creatures in them. The water in the quarry is clean and local residents often come here to swim.

Volsky City Park

At the end of the eighteenth century, on the initiative of a local merchant, a park appeared in the city. Pyotr Sapozhnikov himself personally took part in the improvement of the future park. Subsequently, this place was modified and supplemented with attractions, so that the townspeople had a pleasant place to spend their leisure time in the summer months.