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Penza ( rus, Пе́нза, p=ˈpʲɛnzə) is the largest
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
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
Penza Oblast Penza Oblast (russian: Пе́нзенская о́бласть, ''Penzenskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Penza. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,386,186. Geogra ...
,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
. It is located on the Sura River, southeast 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 millio ...
. As of the 2010 Census, Penza had a population of 517,311, making it the 38th-largest city in Russia.


Etymology

The city name is a hydronym and means in mdf, Пенза, Penza, end of swampy river () from ''pen'' 'end of (Genetive)' and ''sa(ra)'' 'swampy river'


Geography


Urban layout

This central quarter occupies the territory on which the wooden fortress Penza was once located, therefore it is sometimes called the Serf. The architectural concept of the old fortress, erected on the eastern slope of the mountain above the river, predetermined the direction of the first streets. The direction and location of the first streets were set by the passage towers of the fortress and the orientation of its walls. This is how the first six streets of the city were formed. Subsequently, the names were fixed to them: Governor's, Lekarskaya, Moscow, Nikolskaya, Sadovaya and Teatralnaya. An important element of the urban development of the city is that the square of the fortress created a network of streets converging at right angles. Initially, there was no proper harmony in them. Often the difficult terrain of the area forced the direction and width of the road to change. Here and there, spontaneous development took shape. Nevertheless, the urban planning matrix was created and predetermined the development of the city for several centuries. During the reign of Empress Catherine the Great, the first general plan of Penza was drawn up, it was approved on October 6, 1785. The city was rebuilt anew in accordance with the rectilinear structure of St. Petersburg. The plan of the city, in its central part practically did not change, as it fully complied with the new norms of Russian urban planning. The mutually perpendicular orientation of the streets and the accompanying division of the urban environment into standard quarters was the original and distinctive feature of Penza. Perhaps Penza owes this to its first builders, who are well acquainted with the European urban planning trends of the 17th century - the German Joseph von Sommer (Lieutenant Colonel of the Moscow Service Osip Zumerovsky) and the Polish nobleman Yuri Kotransky. At the end of the next 18th century, in the process of implementing Catherine's master plan for Penza, only some sections of the old streets were straightened, the standard width of the roadway and sidewalks was set. The redevelopment of the city was preceded by the resettlement of the serving suburban population from the center to suburban villages and wastelands. Newly carved quarters of the Upland part of the city, more comfortable for living, were inhabited by the nobility and eminent merchants. Initially, the fortress was not only a defense complex, but also the administrative center of a vast region. On that place the governor, archives, treasury, prison, arsenal and other instruments of the regional statehood were settled. In the fortress there was the main cathedral of the region – Spassky and the main square of the city – Cathedral. In accordance with the General Plan of 1785, the dilapidated fortress, trading rows and philistine buildings adjacent to its walls were dismantled. As a result of clearing, the posadskaya Nikolskaya church came out of the environment of spontaneous buildings and acquired a harmonious look, becoming a true decoration of the city. For several years, on the territory of the central quarter and adjacent streets, state-owned stone buildings were complexly erected: the bishop's courtyard, the governor's residence, the assembly of the nobility and two buildings of public places (7.1 and 7.4).) By the beginning of the 20th century, private residential There are no buildings left in the Fortress Quarter of the city. In the Fortress Quarter there is also a special administrative street of the city – the Line of Public Places, passing from Sadovaya to Moskovskaya, bypassing the Spassky Cathedral. It has never had and still does not have residential buildings. the eastern earthen rampart of the old Penza fortress The ancient defensive rampart runs along the western side of Kirov Street (on this section, Kirov Street was formerly called Teatralnaya Street). The Cathedral was destroyed by the Communists in 1934, and rebuilt between 2010 and 2022.


History

Penza was founded as a Russian frontier fortress-city,Большая Советская Энциклопедия (''
Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...
''). Гл. ред. А. М. Прохоров, 3-е изд. Т. 19. Отоми — Пластырь. 1975. 648 стр., илл.; 29 л. илл. и карт. "Город основан в 1663 году как крепость на юго-восточной окраине Русского царства."
and to this day, remnants of the Lomovskaya sentry line built in 1640 have been preserved at the western edge of the city, and remains of earth ramparts dating from the mid-16th century are preserved in the city center. Until 1663, Penza was a wooden stockade with only a small settlement. In May 1663, the architect Yuri Kontransky arrived in Penza on the Tsar's orders to direct the construction of a fortress city, as part of a wider fortress building program to protect
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
from attacks by
Crimean Tatars , flag = Flag of the Crimean Tatar people.svg , flag_caption = Flag of Crimean Tatars , image = Love, Peace, Traditions.jpg , caption = Crimean Tatars in traditional clothing in front of the Khan's Palace ...
. The initial construction consisted of a wooden Kremlin, a village, and quarters for the nobility, small tradesmen, and merchants. The
Muscovite Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula K Al2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavag ...
government placed the Cossacks here, who constructed a fortress and called it "Cherkassy Ostroh", from which the regional city of Penza has developed, thanks to the arrival of new settlers, particularly Russians. The Cossack roots of the city and its first settlers are now remembered in the names of Cherkasskaya street, along with the "Cherkassy" historical district.Ukrainians in USSR beyond the borders of Ukrainian SSR: p. 79 (1974) Winnipeg: Marunchak M. / Михайло Марунчак; Українська Вільна Академія Наук. – Вінніпеґ: Накладом УВАН в Канаді, 1974. – 248 c. : іл. In 1774, the insurgent army led by
Yemelyan Pugachev Yemelyan Ivanovich Pugachev (russian: Емельян Иванович Пугачёв; c. 1742) was an ataman of the Yaik Cossacks who led a great popular insurrection during the reign of Catherine the Great. Pugachev claimed to be Catherine's ...
occupied Penza after the citizens of the city welcomed the rebellious Cossacks. The first stone houses started to appear after 1801, and by 1809 Penza's population had grown to more than 13,000 people. In 1918,
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
sent a telegram to communists in the Penza area, complaining about the "insurrection of five
kulak Kulak (; russian: кула́к, r=kulák, p=kʊˈlak, a=Ru-кулак.ogg; plural: кулаки́, ''kulakí'', 'fist' or 'tight-fisted'), also kurkul () or golchomag (, plural: ), was the term which was used to describe peasants who owned ove ...
districts". He urged the public hanging of 100 "landlords, richmen, bloodsuckers", grain seizure, and hostage-liberation. This telegram has been used in several historical works on the period and on Lenin. During the
Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...
, the
Czechoslovak Legions , image = Coat of arms of the Czechoslovak Legion.svg , image_size = 200px , alt = , caption = Czechoslovak Legion coat of arms , start_date ...
launched an anti-Bolshevik uprising in Penza. During the Soviet period, the city developed as a regional industrial center. The Ural mainframe was made here between 1959 and 1964.


Administrative and municipal status

Penza 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 ...
.Law #774-ZPO Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as the city of oblast significance of Penza—an administrative unit with a status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the city of oblast significance of Penza is incorporated as Penza Urban Okrug.Law #690-ZPO


Transportation

Penza is a major
railway junction A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes (assuming they are of the same gauge), provided by ''points'' ( ...
and lies on the M5 highway linking
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 millio ...
and
Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk ( rus, Челя́бинск, p=tɕɪˈlʲæbʲɪnsk, a=Ru-Chelyabinsk.ogg; ba, Силәбе, ''Siläbe'') is the administrative center and largest city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia, with a ...
. Penza Airport serves domestic flights. Local
public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...
includes buses,
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 and ''
marshrutka ''Marshrutka'' Currently, the city of Penza is seen as a regional center for higher education. It has six
universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...
(the Penza State University, the Pedagogic University, the Academy of Agriculture, the Technology Institute, the University of Architecture and Construction, and the Artillery and Engineering Institute), 13 colleges and 77 public schools. Penza's largest repertoire threater is Penza Oblast Drama Theater named after A. V. Lunacharsky. Another prominent and unique theater is the Theater of Doctor Dapertutto, founded by Natalia Kugel and located in the former home of Russian theater director
Vsevolod Meyerhold Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold (russian: Всеволод Эмильевич Мейерхольд, translit=Vsévolod Èmíl'evič Mejerchól'd; born german: Karl Kasimir Theodor Meyerhold; 2 February 1940) was a Russian and Soviet theatre ...
. Besides this, Penza is home to four
museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
s, and three
art galleries An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...
including
The Museum of One Painting named after G. V. Myasnikov The Museum of One Painting named after G. V. Myasnikov is a state museum, located in Penza, Russia. It is a unique museum, which does not have analogies anywhere in the world. Its peculiarity is that it does not have a permanent exposition and ...
. Facilities of higher education include: * Penza State University *Penza State Pedagogical University (unified with Penza State University in 2012) *Penza State University of Architecture and Construction *Penza Artillery Engineering Institute *Penza State Technological Academy *Penza State Agricultural University *Penza branch of the Moscow's Institute of Economics, Management and Law *Penza branch of the Russian State University of Innovative Technologies and Entrepreneurship


Climate

Penza has a
humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
(
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, notabl ...
''Dfb'') with long, cold winters and warm summers. A heat wave in the months of June, July, and August 2010, raised temperatures from previous norms often by in Penza. Some of the higher fluctuations in temperatures were recorded with seven straight days of temperatures and higher compared to the previous year where the higher temperatures for the same period were, on average, lower.


Sports

Penza first hosted the Russian Sidecarcross Grand Prix in 2009, and did so again in 2010, on August 15.
Dizel Penza Dizel Penza is an ice hockey team in Penza, Russia. They play in the VHL, the second level of Russian ice hockey. The club used to be affiliated with Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the KHL. History The club was founded as Burevestnik Penza in 1955. ...
is Penza's professional hockey team, playing in the VHL.
Dizelist Penza The National Junior Hockey League (NMHL) (formerly Junior Hockey League Division B) (russian: Национальная молодежная хоккейная лига (НМХЛ)) is the second level of the Junior Hockey League, the KHL's junior ...
is a junior club playing in the NMHL. The city football team
FC Zenit Penza FC Zenit Penza (russian: «Зенит» (Пенза)) is a Russian football team from Penza. It played professionally in 1948–1949, 1961–1973, 1990–1999, 2002–2008, 2010–2017 and from 2021. It played on the second-highest level in the ...
was established in 1918 but now plays in the Russian Amateur League. Penza has also a professional
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
club,
Imperia-Dynamo Penza Imperia-Dynamo Penza is a Russian rugby club from Penza. They participate in the Professional Rugby League, the top division of Russian rugby. History Championships * Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontin ...
, from Russia's
Professional Rugby League The Russian Rugby Championship, officially known as the Liga Stavok - Russian Rugby Championship for sponsorship reasons (russian: Лига Ставок - Чемпионат России по регби), is Russia's top level professional men's ...
.


Honors

A
minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''mino ...
, 3189 Penza, discovered by
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
astronomer
Nikolai Chernykh Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh (russian: Никола́й Степа́нович Черны́х) (6 October 1931 – 25 May 2004Казакова, Р.К. Памяти Николая Степановича Черных'. Труды Государст ...
in 1978, is named after the city.


People


Twin towns – sister cities

Penza is twinned with: *
Békéscsaba Békéscsaba (; sk, Békešská Čaba; see also other alternative names) is a city with county rights in southeast Hungary, the capital of Békés County. Geography Békéscsaba is located in the Great Hungarian Plain, southeast from Budap ...
, Hungary (1970) *
Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, ...
, South Korea (2007) * Lanzhou, China *
Ramat Gan Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and man ...
, Israel (2007) *
Mogilev Mogilev (russian: Могилёв, Mogilyov, ; yi, מאָלעוו, Molev, ) or Mahilyow ( be, Магілёў, Mahilioŭ, ) is a city in eastern Belarus, on the Dnieper River, about from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from the bor ...
, Belarus (2008)


See also

* Center of Theatrical Arts «House of Meyerhold» *
Penza Planetarium Penza planetarium is located at Penza Central Park of Culture and Restore after Belinsky in the building formerly occupied by the Penza Hydrometeorological station. Historical and cultural memorial of local importance. The first planetarium device ...
*
List of largest cuckoo clocks Several unusually large cuckoo clocks have been built and installed in different cities of the world with the aim of attracting visitors, as part of publicity of a cuckoo clock shop, or to serve as a landmark for the community and town. Some hav ...
* Messi (cougar)


Sources

*


References


Notes


Sources

* *


External links


Official website of Penza

"PenzaNews" news agency
{{Use mdy dates, date=June 2013 Populated places established in 1663 1663 establishments in Russia Penzensky Uyezd