Hotels, motels and where to sleep
Restaurant, taverns and where to eat
Kozelsk is located in the Kaluga region. Old
Russian legendary city is located few dozen kilometers south of
Kaluga. It is quite a popular tourist destination, connected not so
much with the history of the city, as with the no less famous
monastery -
Optina Monastery, which is located in close proximity to
Kozelsk.
Kozelsk is an ancient Russian city known since 1146.
He became famous for his heroic defense in 1238 from besieging
Tatar-Mongolian troops, who captured the city and burned it to the
ground. Last defenders formed an army and exited the main gate of
the town. They attacked the Mongolian troops, but were all cut down.
Most of citizens of the city were killed. Few either escaped or were
sold into slavery.
The administrative center of Kozelsky region.
Kozelsk travel
and excursion bureau, B.Sovetskaya str., D.66.
k_tour@kaluga.ru
Church architecture
The city has a preserved cathedral and the
Church of the Annunciation, but the widely known monastery Optina
Pustyn has the greatest interest.
Optina desert. Holy
Vvedensky monastery is located two kilometers from the city.
Civil architecture
Well-preserved numerous stone urban buildings,
merchant mansions of the XIX century.
Park 3 heroes, City
Garden, Stela
Kozelsky local history museum, st. B. Sovetskaya,
d. 75.
By train
There are trains
going once a week through Kozelsk station: Brest - Karaganda
(year-round) and Kaliningrad - Chelyabinsk (summer) (in the 2014
schedule, all trains go on weekdays, at 8.35 in the east direction
and at 17.30 in the west). On other days, you can get here only by
commuter trains from Sukhinichi (a large junction station in the
Kiev direction from Moscow; 2 per day) and Belyov (from which there
are no trains in other directions at all; 3 per day).
Hotel "Kars", Kolkhoznaya
street, 19A. kars-hotel@mail.ru ☎ +7 (48442) 2-64-64, +7 (48442)
2-64-44. The hotel also has a restaurant with 130 seats.
Guest house "Kozelsk",
Chkalov Street, 90. hostal-kzk@mail.ru ☎ +7 (910) 864-95-52.
Vityaz Hotel, Oktyabrskaya Street, 2. ☎ +7 (48442) 2-1591. Belongs
to the unit, located on the territory of the military camp, only
multi-bed rooms
At the monastery of Optina Pustyn there are
pilgrim guest houses and the private hotel“Shelter of pilgrims”.
Cafe Kozelsk.
Cafe
Vstrech
Cafe Raduga
Cafe Apelsin
Cafe Fantasia
Sushi bar
The city is located on the left bank of the Zhizdra River (a tributary of the Oka), 72 km southwest of Kaluga. Railway station at the branch of non-electrified directions Smolensk - Tula and Smolensk - Michurinsk (partially dismantled).
The prevailing climate is moderate continental. Winters are
moderately cold and long. Summer is warm and rainy.
The average
annual precipitation is 623 mm.
The ancient center of Kozelsk - its detynets and settlement - were
located in a steep loop of the Druguska River before its confluence with
Zhizdra, while the “throat” of the loop was covered by a rather large
ravine. This location gave the city a favorable strategic advantage.
1146 - the first mention of the city (as part of the Chernigov
principality). The first prince of Kozel was Mstislav Svyatoslavich, who
died in the battle with the Mongols on Kalka already as the prince of
Chernigov (1223).
1238, March-May - the city resisted the Mongols for
seven weeks. It was burned to the ground and called “Evil City” by Batu.
Since 1246, as part of the Karachev Principality.
1365 -
participation of Titus Mstislavich Kozelsky in the battle of the
Shishevsky forest.
1480 - the city, which at that time was part of
Lithuania, was burned by Khan Akhmat during his return to the steppe
after standing on the Ugra in revenge for Casimir IV, who did not send
his troops for a joint attack on Moscow with the Horde.
Since 1708,
Kozelsk has been a district town of the Kozelsky district of the Moscow
province, since 1776 - of the Kaluga governorate (province).
In 1785,
merchant Matvey Bryuzgin launched the first sailing and linen factory in
the city.
In 1803, Ivan Ivanovich Pelissier created the first
forestry school in the Russian Empire in Kozelsk. It was intended for
training noble children; the first intake included thirty people.
Since 1929, the city has become the regional center of the Kozelsky
district of the Sukhinichi district of the Western region (since 1944,
part of the Kaluga region).
In 1931, a rest house named after Gorky
was opened on the territory of the Optina Monastery, located 2 km from
Kozelsk. In November 1939, after the partition of Poland, by order of L.
Beria, the NKVD of the USSR converted the rest house into the Kozelsk
prison camp, where about 5,000 Polish officers were sent in anticipation
of the exchange of prisoners of war between Germany and the USSR to
return home.
On October 8, 1941, it was captured by the Germans and
liberated by the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps on December 28, 1941 during
the Belevsko-Kozel operation of the Battle of Moscow.
During the
Great Patriotic War, on the territory of Optina Pustyn there was first a
hospital, in 1944-1945 a testing and filtration camp of the NKVD of the
USSR for Soviet officers returning from captivity, and after the war,
until 1949, a military unit was located.
In 1997, the Zhizdrinsky
section of the Ugra National Park was formed near Kozelsk and Optina
Pustyn.
On December 5, 2009, Kozelsk was awarded the honorary title
“City of Military Glory.”
The Kozelsky Mechanical Plant operates in the city, producing vans
and special vehicles on the GAZ, ZIL, VAZ, KamAZ chassis; as well as
glass, brick (inactive), canning (closed), dairy, woodworking plants and
three asphalt plants.
The 28th Guards Missile Division of the
Strategic Missile Forces is located in the Kozelsk area. Two-thirds of
the population of Kozelsk is in one way or another connected with the
missile division.