Topic summary
Cherkassk
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Starocherkasskaya.
History
In 1805, the Don Voisko Province's ataman, Matvei Platov moved the capital to the newly and specially built city of Novocherkassk (literally New-Cherkassk), which was on a hill, about 40 kilometres from Cherkassk. Most of the residents of Cherkassk moved to the new capital. The remnants of the old city got the name of the stanitsa (village) of Starocherkasskaya (literally Old-Cherkassk). Now it is a site of an important museum, tourist center and orthodox male convent. Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov was a major contributor to the museum's organization.