Taganrog

Taganrog (Russian: Таганро́г) is a city and seaport in Rostov Oblast, Russia. It is located at 47°13′N 38°55′E, population is about 279,000 (2005).

The first Russian Navy base, Taganrog was officially founded by Peter I The Great on September 12, 1698. Its rise and development are closely connected with the great and dramatic history of the Russian Empire, with its century-long struggle for the access to southern seas. Here for the first time, fireworks in honor of Azov Russian Navy's victories took place, that Navy being created by Peter the Great. And as "The Birthplace of Anton Chekhov," Taganrog offers remarkable sites dedicated to childhood and youth of the Russian playwright and short-story writer.

Taganrog City Flag and Coat of Arms © TaganrogCity.Com

General Information

Taganrog does not resemble other seaside towns by the very fact that its location is not in a quiet harbor, but on a hill. The town is open to every wind - both from steppe or sea. In the wide, beam-like streets running down from the former fortress straight to the steppe distances, and in green shadowy boulevard alleys accompanying them, in the architectural image of the houses which unite the classical strictness with the baroque magnificence, in all this something new, wayward, southern and peculiar can be witnessed. In spite of the fact that the city has already celebrated its 307th anniversary and went through the industrial construction epoch, it has preserved its unique layout and monuments of history and architecture. To a large extent it is due to the great Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov who was born and lived here. Everything is sanctified by the reminder of him in the city: the small house where he was born, the high school where he studied, his father's shop where he had to serve, and, of course, those quiet streets, mansions which today are associated with the past.

Now Taganrog is an important research, cultural and industrial center in Southern Russia. It has a vast network of educational establishments, ranging from Radio Engineering University and Teachers Training College to technical and vocational lyceums and high schools. It is also a popular tourist destination for Russians and Ukrainians. Taganrog is situated on the shore of the Azov Sea about 45 miles from Rostov-on-Don, SW Rostov Oblast.

History can be found around almost every bend in Taganrog. The memorial theater, Chekhov library, several museums, such as Chekhov House, Literary Museum, Durov Museum, Alferaki Palace, Taganrog Museum of Art and other stand as hallmarks of the Russian culture.

History of Taganrog

Main article: History of Taganrog

Views of Taganrog

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  The Palace of Alexander I of Russia in Taganrog, where the Russian Emperor died in 1825, as appears on a 19th century postcard.
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  The Assumption Cathedral in Taganrog, Russia (1818-1938), where Anton Chekhov was christened on February 10,1860.
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  The Peter the Great Monument in the city of Taganrog (sculptor Mark Antokolski) as appears on a 19th century postcard.
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  The Peter the Great Monument in the city of Taganrog (sculptor Mark Antokolski) as appears on a 19th century postcard.
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  Taganrog City Theater (1866), founded in 1827 and named after Anton Chekhov in 1944 as appears on a 19-century postcard.
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  The Greek Monastery (1809-1814), where the burial service for the Russian Czar Alexandre I of Russia was read in 1825. The Statue of Alexandre I (sculptor Marthos) inaugurated in 1831.
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  The Mansion of Ivan Varvatsi (Ioannis Varvakis) in Taganrog on a 19th century postcard.
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  The Boys Gymnasium in Taganrog (1843), founded in 1809 on a 19-th century postcard. Today - Chekhov Literary Museum.
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  The Empress Maria Girls Gymnasium (Mariinka) in Taganrog on a 19-th century postcard. Among its graduates were:Faina Ranevskaya, Sophia Parnok, Nadezhda Sigida, Yelizaveta Tarakhovskaya, Seraphima Blonskaya
• The Chekhov House (1859) is a small outbuilding, where the great Russian story and playwright writer Anton Chekhov was born on Jan. 29, 1860.
  The Chekhov House (1859) is a small outbuilding, where the great Russian story and playwright writer Anton Chekhov was born on Jan. 29, 1860.
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  Photograph of the Birthhouse of Faina Ranevskaya in the city of Taganrog, Russia.
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  The Achilles Alferaki Palace in Taganrog, Russia (1848).
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  Residence of Russian poet and playwright Nestor Kukolnik, later Azov-Don Commercial Bank, today the building of Taganrog Branch of the Savings Bank of Russia and Taganrog State Archive as appears on a 19-century postcard.
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  The birth house of Valentin Parnakh, Sophia Parnok and Yelizaveta Tarakhovskaya in Taganrog, Russia.
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  The birth house of designer of the world's first modern Mortar (weapon), General Leonid Gobyato in Grecheskaya Street.
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  Former Spanish & Portuguese Consulate building (1872), now State Treasury in Taganrog, Russia.
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  Taganrog Museum of Art (1870).
• The Peter the Great Monument in the city of Taganrog (1903).
  The Peter the Great Monument in the city of Taganrog (1903).

Landmarks and tourist attractions

• Peter the Great Monument
• Taganrog Theater named after Anton Chekhov
• Alferaki Palace

Taganrog in literature

The image of the city and its people is featured in numerous Anton Chekhov works, including Ionych, The House with an Attic, The Man in a Shell, Van'ka, Three Years, Mask, My Life and more. It is believed that Taganrog image may be used as Lukomorie (fairy tale land) in Alexander Pushkin's Ruslan and Lyudmila (1820). It also appeared in the novels of Ivan Vasilenko, Konstantin Paustovsky and in the poems of Nikolay Sherbina.

Notable people

Main article: List of People in Taganrog

Numerous Russian and international aristocrats, politicians, artists, and scientists were born and/or have lived in Taganrog. Taganrog is the native city of Anton Chekhov, Faina Ranevskaya and Dmitri Sinodi-Popov; names of Russian emperors Peter I of Russia and Alexander I of Russia; Cornelius Cruys, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Konstantin Paustovsky, Nestor Kukolnik, Achilles Alferaki, Ioannis Varvakis and many other famous people are brought in mind when Taganrog is named.

Economy

The City of Taganrog is the leading industrial center of the Rostov Oblast. Local industry is presented by aerospace, machine-building, automobile, military, iron and steel industry, engineering, metal traders and processors, timber, woodwork, pulp and paper, food, light, chemical and industry of construction materials, and one of the major ports of the Azov Sea.

The area around Taganrog has a large industrial potential, a diversified agricultural industry, production plants and a modern infrastructure. The location of Taganrog on the intersection of traffic routes and the seaport facilitate access to the emerging CIS markets.

Taganrog's main trading partners are: CIS countries, South Korea, Turkey, Italy, Greece and Egypt.

Sister Cities

• Cherven Bryag, Bulgaria (the first one, since 1963)
• Vlissingen, Netherlands (since 1989)
• Luedenscheid, Germany (since 1991)
• Famagusta (Ammochostos), Cyprus (since 2000)
• Mariupol, Ukraine
• Badenweiler, Germany (partner city since 2002)

See also

• List of People in Taganrog
• History of Taganrog
• Anton Chekhov
• Peter the Great
• Alexander I of Russia

External links

• Official Web Site of the City of Taganrog, English
• Official Web Site of the City of Taganrog, Russian
• Soviet topographic map 1:100,000
• Weather forecast for Taganrog, English