Okulovka () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and the

administrative center An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of Okulovsky District in

Novgorod Oblast Novgorod Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Veliky Novgorod. Some of the oldest Russian cities, including Veliky Novgorod and Staraya Russa, are located in the oblast. The historic m ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, located in the

Valdai Hills The Valdai Hills, sometimes shortened to Valdai, are an upland region in the north-west of central European Russia running north–south, about midway between Saint Petersburg and Moscow, spanning Leningrad, Novgorod, Tver, Pskov, and Smolensk ...

, on the Peretna River, east of

Veliky Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the ...

, the administrative center of the

oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

. Population:

History

Settlements located in the current area of Okulovsky district were first mentioned in chronicles in 1495 as belonging to Derevskaya ''

pyatina Pyatina () was a first-level unit of administrative division of Novgorod Land. The name ''pyatina'' originates from the word , which means "five". Novgorod Land was subdivided into five pyatinas. The division was first mentioned in the end of the ...

''. However, the settlement of Okulovka has only been known since 1851 and appeared in connection with the construction of the Nikolayevskaya Railway which connected

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and St. Petersburg. Okulovka developed first as a settlement serving the railway stations and eventually industries proliferated. It initially was a part of Borovichsky Uyezd in

Novgorod Governorate Novgorod Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR, which existed from 1727 to 1776 and from 1796 to 1927. Its administrative cent ...

. In the beginning of the 20th century, it was the administrative center of Okulovskaya Volost of

Malovishersky Uyezd Malovishersky (masculine), Malovisherskaya (feminine), or Malovisherskoye (neuter) may refer to: * Malovishersky District, a district in Novgorod Oblast, Russia * Malovishersky Uyezd (1918–1927), an administrative division of Novgorod Governorate ...

in Novgorod Governorate. In August 1927, the uyezds were abolished and, effective October 1, 1927, Okulovsky District was established, with the

in Okulovka.Snytko et al., pp. 85–86 Novgorod Governorate was abolished as well and the district became a part of Borovichi Okrug of

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast (, ; ; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). The oblast has an area of and a population of 2,000,997 (2021 Russian census, 2021 Census); up from 1,716,868 recorded in the 2010 Russian census ...

. Okulovka was granted

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the So ...

status on June 25, 1928. On July 23, 1930, the okrugs were abolished and the districts were directly subordinated to the oblast. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Okulovsky District was not occupied by German troops; however, being adjacent to the front line, Okulovka played an important role. On July 5, 1944, Okulovsky District was transferred to newly established Novgorod Oblast and remained there ever since.Snytko et al., p. 93 On January 12, 1965, the urban-type settlements of Okulovka and Parakhino-Poddubye were merged to form the town of Okulovka, which became the administrative center of Okulovsky District.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Okulovka serves as the

of Okulovsky District.Law #559-OZ As an administrative division, it is, together with two rural localities, incorporated within Okulovsky District as the

town of district significance Town of district significance is an administrative division of a district in a federal subject of Russia. It is equal in status to a selsoviet or an urban-type settlement of district significance, but is organized around a town (as opposed to a ...

of Okulovka.Resolution #121 As a municipal division, the town of district significance of Okulovka is incorporated within Okulovsky Municipal District as Okulovskoye Urban Settlement.Law #355-OZ

Economy

Industry

There are three big factories in Okulovka, producing wire, electronics, and furniture. There are also smaller-scale enterprises of textile industry and of food industry.

Transportation

Okulovka is an important station on the Moscow–St. Petersburg Railway, the first long-distance railway constructed in Russia, opened in 1851 and built as a straight line. Another line to Nebolchi via Lyubytino branches off to the northeast. Okulovka is a terminal station for suburban trains, which leave in three directions: to Bologoye, Malaya Vishera, and Nebolchi. Most of the long-distance trains call at Okulovka as well. The historical building of the railway station was demolished in 2003 under the pretext of the construction of the speed rail tracks for the

Sapsan The ''Sapsan'' ( ), also known as Velaro RUS EVS, is a Russian gauge high speed electric express train. The train is a Siemens Velaro model, which in turn is based on the ICE 3M/F high-speed trains manufactured by Siemens Mobility for Russi ...

train. Money was allocated for the construction of the new station building, but as of 2011, the construction did not start. Okulovka is connected by roads with

Borovichi Borovichi () is the second largest town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Msta River in the northern spurs of the Valdai Hills, east of Veliky Novgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. As of the 2010 Census, its populati ...

Tikhvin Tikhvin (; Veps: ) is a town and the administrative center of Tikhvinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on both banks of the Tikhvinka River in the east of the oblast, east of St. Petersburg. Tikhvin is also an industrial ...

(via Lyubytino), Bologoye via ( Lykoshino), and Kresttsy. There are also local roads.

Culture and recreation

Okulovka contains twenty-nine cultural heritage monuments of local significance. These include pre-1917 houses and workshops, monuments to fallen soldiers, and one archaeological site. Okulovka is home to the Miklukho-Maklay Okulovka District Museum. It is named after Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay, a Russian ethnographer notable for his studies of indigenous population of Papua. Miklouho-Maclay was born on the territory of what now is Okulovsky District, where his father, a construction engineer, was involved in the railroad construction.

George de Roerich George Nicolas de Roerich (, ; August 16, 1902, in Okulovka (town), Novgorod Oblast, Okulovka, Novgorod Governorate – May 21, 1960, in Moscow) was a Russian Tibetologist. Roerich's work encompassed many areas of Tibetan studies, but in particul ...

was born in Okulovka in August 1902. Later George became a scientist, orientalist, and

guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

. He is known for his contributions to Tibetan dialectology, his monumental translation of the '' Blue Annals'', and his 11-volume Tibetan-Russian-English dictionary with

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

parallels. After spending almost 30 years in India George returned in 1957 to Russia.

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{Use mdy dates, date=August 2012 Cities and towns in Novgorod Oblast Krestetsky Uyezd Populated places established in 1851 Former urban-type settlements of Novgorod Oblast