Kaluga ( rus, Калу́га, p=kɐˈɫuɡə), a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
and the
administrative center
An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located.
In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...
of
Kaluga Oblast in Russia, stands on the
Oka River southwest of
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. Population:
Kaluga's most famous resident, the space travel pioneer
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, worked there as a school teacher from 1892 to 1935. The
Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics in Kaluga is dedicated to his theoretical achievements and to their practical implementations for modern space research, hence the motto on the city's
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
: , ''Kolybélʹ kosmonávtiki'' (''The Cradle of Space-Exploration''").
History
Kaluga, founded in the mid-14th century as a border fortress on the southwestern borders of the
Grand Duchy of Moscow, first appears in the historical record in chronicles in the 14th century as ''Koluga''; the name comes from Old Russian ''kaluga'' - "bog, quagmire". During the period of Tartar raids it was the western end of the Oka bank defense line. The
Great stand on the Ugra River was fought just to the west. In the Middle Ages Kaluga was a minor settlement owned by the Princes
Vorotynsky. The
ancestral home of these princes lies southwest of the modern city.
On 19 January 1777 the
Kaluga drama theatre opened its first theatrical season, established with the direct participation of the Governor-General
M. N. Krechetnikov.
Kaluga is connected to Moscow by a railway line and by the ancient roadway, the Kaluga Road (now partly within Moscow (as
Starokaluzhskoye Shosse - the Old Kaluga Highway), partly the
A101 road). This road offered
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
his favored escape route from the Moscow trap in the fall of 1812. But General
Kutuzov
Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov ( rus, Князь Михаи́л Илларио́нович Голени́щев-Куту́зов, Knyaz' Mikhaíl Illariónovich Goleníshchev-Kutúzov; german: Mikhail Illarion Golenishchev-Kut ...
repelled Napoleon's advances in this direction and forced the retreating French army onto the old Smolensk road, previously devastated by the French during their invasion of Russia.
On several occasions during the Russian Empire Kaluga was the residence of political exiles and prisoners such as the last Crimean khan
Şahin Giray (1786), the Kyrgyz sultan Arigazi-Abdul-Aziz (1828), the Georgian princess
Thecla (1834–1835), and the Avar leader
Imam Shamil (1859–1868).
The
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
briefly occupied Kaluga during the climactic
Battle of Moscow, as part of
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...
. The city was under full or partial German occupation from October 12 to December 30, 1941. In 1944, the Soviet Government used its local military buildings to intern hundreds of Polish prisoners of war — soldiers of the Polish underground
Home Army
The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) es ...
— whom the advancing Soviet front had arrested in the area around
Vilnius.
Administrative and municipal status
Kaluga is the
administrative center
An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located.
In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...
of the
oblast
An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...
.
[Charter of Kaluga Oblast''] Within the
framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with seventy-two
rural localities, incorporated as the
City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
of Kaluga—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the
districts.
As a
municipal division, the City of Kaluga, together with one rural locality in
Ferzikovsky District
Ferzikovsky District (russian: Фе́рзиковский райо́н) is an administrativeCharter of Kaluga Oblast and municipalLaw #7-OZ district (raion), one of the twenty-four in Kaluga Oblast, Russia. It is located in the east of the oblast ...
(the ''
selo'' of
Novozhdamirovo
Novozhdamirovo (russian: Новождамирово) is a rural locality (a village) in Kaluga Urban Okrug, Kaluga Oblast
Kaluga Oblast (russian: Калу́жская о́бласть, translit=Kaluzhskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Rus ...
), is incorporated as Kaluga Urban Okrug.
[Law #7-OZ]
Economy
In Kaluga,
Kaluga Turbine Plant is located, is part of the company
Power Machines;
Kaluga Machine Works
Kaluga ( rus, Калу́га, p=kɐˈɫuɡə), a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast in Russia, stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Population:
Kaluga's most famous resident, the space travel pioneer Konstantin Tsiol ...
manufactures track machines for railways, plant a foreign company MACO Door & Window.
In recent years Kaluga has become one center of the Russian
automotive industry
The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16 % ...
, with a number of foreign companies opening assembly plants in the area:
On November 28, 2007,
Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The company designs, manufactures and distributes passenger and commercia ...
opened a new
assembly plant in Kaluga, which further expanded by 2009. The investment has reached more than 500 million Euro. the plant assembled the
Volkswagen Passat,
Škoda Fabia
The Škoda Fabia is a supermini car produced by Czech manufacturer Škoda Auto since 1999. It is the successor of the Škoda Felicia, which was discontinued in 2001. The Fabia was available in hatchback, estate (named Fabia Combi) and saloon ...
and
Škoda Rapid.
On October 15, 2007, the
Volvo Group broke ground on a new truck assembly plant, that was inaugurated on January 19, 2009, with a yearly capacity of 10,000 Volvo and 5,000
Renault trucks.
On December 12, 2007,
PSA Peugeot Citroën announced its decision to build a new assembly plant in Kaluga. By March 2010 the plant was operational, building
Peugeot 308s for the Russian market and would also produce
Citroën
Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired 8 ...
and
Mitsubishi models.
Transportation
The city is served by the
Grabtsevo Airport. Since 1899, there has been a railway connection between Kaluga and Moscow.
Public transportation is represented by the
trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...
es,
buses, and ''
marshrutkas'' (routed taxis).
Kaluga Lenina 96 02.jpg, ZiU-682 trolleybus
Kaluga trolleybus 129 2013-07.jpg, ZiU-682 trolleybus
Kaluga 2013 trolleybus 34.jpg, BKM-321 low-floor trolleybus
Teminal_of_Grabtsevo_Airport_(Kaluga,_Russia)_KLF_UUBC_(33977439235).jpg, Kaluga Airport
Kaluga-1_station_01.JPG, Kaluga Railway Station
Climate
Kaluga has a humid temperate continental (
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
: ''Dfb''), with warm and humid summers; and long, cold and snowy winters. Winter extreme records can be as low as , while summer heat may reach up , but normal variation is between and during winter and between and during summer in Kaluga.
Notable people
Kaluga's most famous resident was rocket science pioneer
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.
Other notable people include:
*
Alexander Amfiteatrov
*
Yuri Averbakh
Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (russian: Ю́рий Льво́вич Аверба́х; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian chess grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978. He was the first centenar ...
, chess
grandmaster
*
Mykola Azarov
*
Pafnuty Chebyshev
Pafnuty Lvovich Chebyshev ( rus, Пафну́тий Льво́вич Чебышёв, p=pɐfˈnutʲɪj ˈlʲvovʲɪtɕ tɕɪbɨˈʂof) ( – ) was a Russian mathematician and considered to be the founding father of Russian mathematics.
Chebysh ...
, mathematician
*
Alexander Chizhevsky
*
David Edelstadt
*
Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian-American composer
*
Jonah of Hankou
*
Andrei Kalaychev
*
Valery Kobelev
Valery Vladimirovich Kobelev (russian: Валерий Владимирович Кобелев; born 4 March 1973) is a Russian ski jumper.
Nordic combined
Valery Kobelev began his professional career in Nordic combined and participated in the me ...
, ski jumper
*
Mikhail Linge
Mikhail Innokentyevich Linge (russian: Михаил Иннокентьевич Линге; November 26, 1958 in Kaluga – February 4, 1994) was a gold medalist in the men's 4 × 400 m relay at the 1980 Summer Olympics for the Soviet Union ...
*
Pavel Popovich
Pavel Romanovich Popovich (russian: Па́вел Рома́нович Попо́вич, uk, Павло Романович Попович, Pavlo Romanovych Popovych) (5 October 1930 – 29 September 2009) was a Soviet cosmonaut.
Popovich was the ...
, cosmonaut, the only person to receive two honorary citizenships of Kaluga (1962 and 1964)
*
Nikolai Rakov
, birth_name = Nikolai Petrovich Rakov
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Kaluga, Kaluzhsky Uyezd, Kaluga Governorate, Russian Empire
, death_date =
, death_place = Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
, education =
, occupation =
, organiz ...
*
Imam Shamil
*
Nikolay Skvortsov, swimmer
*
Yuliya Tabakova
Yuliya Gennadiyevna Tabakova (russian: Юлия Геннадьевна Табакова; born 1 May 1980, in Kaluga) is a Russian track and field sprint athlete, competing internationally for Russia.
She won the silver medal in the Athletics at ...
*
Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( rus, Георгий Константинович Жуков, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐukəf, a=Ru-Георгий_Константинович_Жуков.ogg; 1 December 1896 – ...
*
Olesya Zykina, 400m athlete
*
Bulat Okudzhava, lived and taught Literature in public school in 1980th.
*
Serafim Tulikov
Serafim Sergeyevich Tulikov (russian: Серафи́м Серге́евич Ту́ликов; July 7, 1914 – January 29, 2004) was a Russian and Soviet composer, who was born in the Imperial Russia, and died in Russia. He was often credited as ...
*
Ivan Kuliak
Twin towns – sister cities
Kaluga is
twinned with:
*
Suhl, Germany (1969)
*
Lahti
Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...
, Finland (1998)
*
Tiraspol, Moldova (2005)
*
Panorama, Greece (2011)
*
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...
, Belarus (2015)
*
Binzhou, China (2015)
*
Yalta, Ukraine (2016)
*
Niš
Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, whi ...
, Serbia (2017)
Partner cities
In addition to twin towns, Kaluga cooperates with:
[
* Clearwater, United States (1992)
* ]Xianyang
Xianyang () is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now integrated into the Xi'an m ...
, China (2000)
* Tula
Tula may refer to:
Geography
Antarctica
*Tula Mountains
* Tula Point
India
* Tulā, a solar month in the traditional Indian calendar
Iran
* Tula, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province
Italy
* Tula, Sardinia, municipality (''comune'') in the ...
, Russia (2002)
* Oryol, Russia (2003)
* Smolensk, Russia (2003)
* Makhachkala, Russia (2012)
* Tsiolkovsky, Russia (2016)
* Ryazan, Russia (2017)
* Tambov, Russia (2017)
* Pardubice, Czech Republic (2019)
Gallery
File:Kaluga 2012 MainSquare 03 1TM.jpg, ''Kaluga. Main Square''
File:Kaluga 2013 Lenina 70 03 1TM.jpg, ''Kaluga. Polman House''
File:Калуга. Театр драмы..JPG, ''Kaluga Region Drama Theatre building''
File:Kaluga01 0812 168g.jpg, ''Kaluga. Eastern archway at the Administration Building''
File:Mgtu-kaluga.jpg, ''Kaluga. Moscow State Technical University (local branch)''
File:Kaluga, Kirova Street and Plekhanova Street (16).jpg, ''Streetside stores in Kaluga''
File:Kaluga01 0812 170g.jpg, ''Kaluga. Region administration''
File:Kaluga 2013 trolleybus 34.jpg, ''Trolleybus in Kaluga''
File:Space_museum_(Kaluga).jpg, ''Astronautics Museum''
References
Notes
Sources
*
*
External links
*
Official website of Kaluga
Kaluga Business Directory
Article in German about Kaluga plant
*
{{Use mdy dates, date=October 2012
Kaluzhsky Uyezd
Golden Ring of Russia