Yelabuga (alternative spelling that reflects the Cyrillic spelling: Elabuga; russian: Елабуга; tt-Cyrl, Алабуга, ''Alabuğa'') is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

in the

Republic of Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...

, Russia, located on the right bank of the

Kama River The Kama (russian: Ка́ма, ; tt-Cyrl, Чулман, ''Çulman''; udm, Кам) is a long«Река � ...

and east from

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering ...

. Population:

Geography

Climate

History

The former name of the city was Alabuga. Its history dates back to the 10th century, when a

Volga Bulgar Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria, was a historic Bulgar state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic state wit ...

border

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, the so-called Alamir-Sultan castle was built by Bulgar Khan Ibrahim in 985 CE. The castle was built on the place of the legendary tomb of Alamir-Sultan (

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

"Macedonian"). The name 'Alabuga' originally referred to the tower of the castle, later the whole city was named Alabuga. The castle was later abandoned, and its remains are now known as ''Şaytan qalası'' (

Shaytan ' (; ''devils'' or ''demons''), singular: (شَيْطَان) are evil spirits in Islam, inciting humans (and jinn) to sin by "whispering" (وَسْوَسَة, “waswasah”) to their hearts (قَلْب ''qalb''). Folklore suggests that they a ...

's castle). In the second half of the 16th century, a Russian village was founded on the same spot.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Yelabuga serves as 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, L ...

of Yelabuzhsky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is, together with the '' selo'' of Tarlovka, incorporated separately as the town of republic significance of Yelabuga—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

. As a municipal division, the town of republic significance of Yelabuga is incorporated within Yelabuzhsky Municipal District as Yelabuga Urban Settlement.

Economy

Oil industry is present in the town. In the 1990s, a Ford assembly plant operated in the town. In 2008, Sollers JSC built a new factory to produce the

Fiat Ducato The Fiat Ducato is a light commercial vehicle jointly developed by FCA Italy and PSA Group (currently Stellantis), and mainly manufactured by Sevel, a joint venture between the two companies since 1981. It has also been sold as the Citroën C ...

, and from 2021, started to assemble a luxury vehicle called the

Aurus Senat The Aurus Senat (russian: Сенат) is a luxury full-size sedan by Russian automaker Aurus Motors and developed by NAMI in Moscow, Russia. The armoured limousine is powered by a 4.4 litre V8 engine developed by NAMI, with a 6.6 litre V12 (6 ...

, for the

Central Scientific Research Automobile and Automotive Engines Institute The Central Scientific Research Automobile and Automotive Engines Institute, abbreviated as NAMI (russian: link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Language, Государственный научный центр Российской Фе� ...

in Moscow (NAMI). There is also a factory for the production of household appliances: domestic oil electric heaters, electric meat grinders Italian group

De'Longhi De'Longhi S.p.A. () is an Italian small appliance manufacturer based in Treviso, Italy. History and trading The company was founded by the De'Longhi family in 1902 as a small industrial parts manufacturing workshop. The company incorporated in ...

. Public transportation needs are served by a bus and taxi networks. Plans for a trolleybus route are being discussed.

Notable people

The town is the birthplace of

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

Ivan Shishkin. Nadezhda Durova, who, disguised as a man, was a highly decorated cavalry officer during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

died there in 1866. It is also where the Russian poet

Marina Tsvetayeva Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (russian: Марина Ивановна Цветаева, p=mɐˈrʲinə ɪˈvanəvnə tsvʲɪˈtaɪvə; 31 August 1941) was a Russian poet. Her work is considered among some of the greatest in twentieth century Russia ...

committed suicide in 1941. The poet is buried at the municipal cemetery.

Miscellaneous

Near Yelabuga is the Nizhnyaya Kama National Park.

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Yelabuga is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: *

Safranbolu Safranbolu () is a town and district of Karabük Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is about 9 km north of the city of Karabük, north of Ankara and about 100 km south of the Black Sea coast. The town's historic names in Gre ...

, Turkey *

Aleksin Aleksin (russian: Але́ксин) is a town and the administrative center of Aleksinsky District in Tula Oblast, Russia, located northwest of Tula, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History It was founded at the end of t ...

, Russia * Beryozovsky, Russia *

Weilheim in Oberbayern Weilheim in Oberbayern (English: 'Weilheim in Upper Bavaria') is a town in Germany, the capital of the district Weilheim-Schongau in the south of Bavaria. Weilheim has an old city-wall, historic houses and a museum. Local history Up to the 1 ...

, Germany

References

Notes

Sources

* *

External links

Unofficial website of Yelabuga

Unofficial website of Yelabuga

Website about Yelabuga

Population of Yelabuga by mother tongue in 1897
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Tatarstan Yelabuzhsky Uyezd Populated places on the Kama River