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Saransk (Moksh. Saransk Osh, Saransk, Ers. Saran
Osh, Ers. Saransk) is a city in Russia, capital of the Republic of
Mordovia. Forms the urban district of Saransk. Founded in 1641. The
city was named after the river, which flowed through its area and
was called Saranka. Since the beginning of 1934 is the capital of
the Republic of Mordovia. Saransk is located in the central part of
the East European Plain on the Volga Upland on both banks of the
Insar River. Saransk occupies 64th place in Russia in terms of
population, which as of January 1, 2018 is 318,841 people.
In
the summer of 2018, Saransk hosted matches of the World Cup.
The center of Saransk is bounded by Polezhaeva Street
from the north and the banks of the Saranka River in the south, the main
thoroughfare of the center is Kommunisticheskaya Street, which runs in
the latitudinal direction. The core of the city is Sovetskaya Square.
All the key objects of Saransk are located here or in the immediate
vicinity: walking along it, you can get an idea of the city in about
fifteen minutes.
The area of private development on the right
bank of the Saranka is called Nizy. Here you can see how the whole city
looked before the 30s of the twentieth century, and appreciate the
authentic wooden houses of the Mordovians. Private houses are being
actively demolished and replaced by modern high-rise buildings - hurry
up.
Tourist Information Center, st. B. Khmelnitsky, 26, of.
106. ✉ ☎ +7 (8342) 777-677. Mon-Fri 9:00–18:00. It is located on the
Millennium Square, in the right entrance of the National Library. A.S.
Pushkin
Ensemble of the Soviet Square:
1 House of Soviets,
Sovetskaya street, 26. Monumental pre-war stalin (1938) with bas-reliefs
on the theme of friendship between the peoples of the USSR.
2 City
administration, Sovetskaya street, 30. Located in the building of a
commercial club (1916). In front of the entrance there is an unusual
monument “Flowers of the Millennium”: a metal forged bouquet,
reminiscent of forged sculptures in Donetsk.
3 House of the Republic.
Wikidata element A heavy late Soviet building with a huge hammer and
sickle on the pediment. 1987, architect Isakovich.
4 House with a
clock, Sovetskaya, 47. Corner house built before the war for the Saransk
nomenklatura. Here the corner is unusually decorated: an arcade with a
clock tower.
5 Cathedral of the Holy Righteous Warrior Fyodor
Ushakov (2005) (western edge of the square). The main symbol of modern
Saransk. The monumental cathedral turned out to be surprisingly
successful and blended well into the surrounding urban environment. The
bells are placed on four belfries in the corner turrets. Next to the
cathedral there is a monument to Patriarch Nikon, who seemed to be an
ethnic Mordvin, and a monument to Admiral Ushakov, who was not a Mordvin
and did not live in Saransk, but in the Temnikovsky district of the
Tambov province, which became part of Mordovia only in the 20th century.
6 Memorial complex. In Saransk, they were able to find a non-standard
solution for a complex in memory of participants in various wars. In the
eastern part of the square there is a black-and-orange building of the
museum of military and labor feat, and to the right of it there are
three groups of monuments: to the participants of the First World War,
the Great Patriotic War (with the figure of a soldier who is blessed by
a woman in national costume - Motherland) and soldiers
-internationalists.
7 Children's art school, Moskovskaya st. 5. One
of the few surviving examples of functionalism in Saransk.
8 Church
of St. John the Evangelist, st. Democratic, 28. The oldest building in
Mordovia (1693): a one-apse church with brick cornices and kokoshniks.
9 Main building of Moscow State University, Bolshevistskaya street 68/1.
The University of Saransk is not called anyhow, but MSU - Mordovian
State University. Apparently, in an attempt to catch up with Moscow, the
main building was built in the center of the city, clearly stylized as a
building on Sparrow Hills. The decision can hardly be called successful,
but the building has become a high-rise dominant of Saransk.
10
Pugachevskaya tent, st. Moscow (in the courtyard of the Three Saints
Church). The oldest civil building in the city (beginning of the 18th
century) is the pantry of the estate, which belonged to the widow of the
Saransk governor Kamenitsky. Here Pugachev arranged his bet for the
duration of his stay in Saransk, and, according to legend, he hung the
mistress of the house on his own gate after a denunciation of
mistreatment of servants. Civilian buildings of this age and in general
in Russia are rare, and for the Middle Volga region this is an unusual
rarity, especially since the architecture of the tent fully corresponds
to the 17th century, even before any European influence.
11 Church of
the Three Hierarchs, 48 Moskovskaya st. An example of the late Baroque
(1760s), more familiar to the townspeople as a museum of local lore. In
2017, the museum left the building, which is now being prepared for
restoration. Behind the church, along Moskovskaya Street, there is a
small square of the Fighters of the Revolution, in which there is a
monument to the food detachments, modest in form, but creepy in fact.
12 House on Sovetskaya, Sovetskaya 16. Pre-revolutionary buildings in
Saransk are generally countless, and this is a pretty good example of
wooden Art Nouveau.
✦ Mordovian wood carving. Between Moskovskaya
and Staroposadskaya streets are sandwiched several quarters of wooden
log cabins, some of which have preserved carved national decorations.
Most of these houses are on Mordovskaya Street, (houses No. 9, No. 12,
No. 18, No. 28) and Republican (No. 73). In some incredible way, a
wooden house in the Art Nouveau style, known as the “house with a star”
(Gruzinskaya, 34), has crept in here.
1 Museum of Fine Arts. S. D. Erzya, st. Communist, 61.
9:00–18:00 except Mon; Thu 11:00–20:00. 150 rub. The museum exhibits
more than 200 works by the outstanding modernist sculptor of Mordovian
origin Stepan Erzya, a woodworking master. From 1927 to 1950, the
sculptor worked in Argentina, and his best works are created from South
American woods - quebracho and algarrobo. There is nothing similar in
the Russian sculptural tradition, and the museum is certainly worth a
visit. In addition to the Erzi collection, there is also a collection of
Russian paintings at the level of an average museum in the regional
center. Do not miss contemporary artists, they are rarely exhibited
anywhere, but they are worth a look.
2 Museum of Mordovian National
Culture , st. Sovetskaya, 19 (corner of Sovetskaya and Rabochaya).
Located in the mansion of the merchant Barablin. Mordovian national
clothes, household items, icons. The museum is quite interesting, but
there are no visitors at all.
3 Mordovian Republican United Museum of
Local Lore. I. D. Voronina, Saranskaya street, 2. Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00.
Standard local history museum.
4 Mordovian National Drama Theatre,
st. Sovetskaya, 27. The building of the theater is notable for its
national ornaments and sculptures in national costumes on the pediment.
A rare opportunity to hear Mordovian speech in Saransk: the performances
here are in Moksha and Erzya with simultaneous translation into Russian.
5 Park of Culture and Leisure. A. S. Pushkin (south of the center). The
entrance to the park is decorated with an Empire arch. The most
interesting thing here (except for the attractions, of course) is the
flower calendar, a flower bed in the form of a portrait of A.S. Pushkin
and a small monument to Lenin by M. Manizer (1936): Ilyich stands on top
of a disproportionately large pedestal, installed on the base in the
form of a five-pointed star.
By plane
Air traffic was resumed at the beginning
of 2018, there are two flights a day to Moscow in the morning and in the
evening.
If you are flying to Saransk during daylight hours, just
before landing, look around: the glide path passes over the Makarov
Monastery, which looks no less impressive from the air than from the
ground.
1 Airport. The airport is located on the southeastern
outskirts of the city. Theoretically, you can get to the center (to the
station) by bus number 13, in practice it is better to call a taxi. A
unique feature of the Saransk airport is a holiday village located
between the runway and the air terminal: from the platform to the exit
to the city, the airport bus travels almost two kilometers past
vegetable gardens and chicken coops. In 2018, all flights arrive and
depart from the temporary terminal, which is located quite far from the
old building.
By train
Saransk stands on the Arzamas-Penza
line, which is not very busy. Several trains pass through it a day,
mainly from the Urals and Western Siberia to the South and back. From
Moscow there is a night branded No. 42, as well as a daytime No. 120
(which takes 8.5 hours and is suitable mainly for trips Saransk-Ryazan,
which is 5.5 hours away). From St. Petersburg there are direct trains
347 St. Petersburg-Ufa and 337 St. Petersburg-Samara (30 hours), but it
will be a few hours faster to go with a change in Moscow or Ruzaevka.
Ruzaevka, a large station on the Ryazan-Samara line, is located 20
km south of Saransk. Many trains from central Russia to Samara and
further east go through it: sometimes it makes sense to get to Saransk
through Ruzaevka, which is well connected with Saransk by minibuses.
There is practically no suburban communication in the vicinity of
Saransk.
2 Saransk-1, st. Vokzalnaya, 7. Open: around the clock.
The new station building was built in 2009. On the station square, take
a look at the monument to the stratonauts: in 1934, three aeronauts
climbed on the Osoaviakhim stratospheric balloon to a record height of
22 km, but during the descent, the stratospheric balloon crashed on the
territory of Mordovia. 20 minutes walk from the railway station to
Sovietskaya Square.
By car
Saransk is located on the highway
R-158 "Nizhny Novgorod - Saratov".
From Moscow you can get on the
M7 to Vladimir, then on the M72 to Arzamas. You can also get on the M5
highway to the village of Zarubkino, then along the M180 to Saransk.
By bus
3 Bus station , st. Polezhaeva, 184. It mainly serves
flights around the region, as well as a few flights to neighboring
regional centers: Penza (4 hours), Ulyanovsk (4.5 hours), Nizhny
Novgorod (5.5 hours) via Arzamas - usually 3-4 times a day each. There
are direct buses to Moscow, Saratov, Togliatti.
City public transport is represented by trolleybuses, municipal and private buses and fixed-route taxis. The fare is 23 or 25 rubles (2020) depending on the type of transport. However, all the sights of the city are within walking distance.
1 SEC "RIO", st. Sovetskaya, 55a (behind the Ushakov
Cathedral). 10:00–22:00. Mall with a large supermarket.
2 SEC
"Ogaryov plaza" , st. Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 28 (on the Millennium
Square). 10:00–22:00.
3 Shopping center "Versailles", st. Communist,
35. 10:00–20:00.
4 "Planet" shopping center, Proletarskaya street,
118.
1 Grill-bar "Big Pig", st. Bolshevik, 60 (opposite
Millennium Square). 10:00–24:00. Hot: from 500 rubles. The institution
specializes not so much in pork as in all kinds of grills. Noisy in the
evenings.
2 Cafe "Karma" (Former Pyramid Cafe), st. Proletarskaya,
43 (Near the Republican Palace of Culture). 12:00–2:00. An interesting
cafe under the square with pyramidal glass domes. European and Japanese
cuisine, hookah. The average bill for dinner is about 1000 rubles per
person.
3 McDonald's, st. Polezhaeva, 36 (corner of the Bolshevik).
7:00–24:00. There are self-service kiosks in the hall, where you can pay
for your order with a card, and then pick it up at the pickup point.
4 Excellent dumplings , st. Sovetskaya, 31. Mon–Fri 10:00–23:00,
Sat–Sun 11:00–23:00. 200 rub. It serves soups, meat, and about a dozen
types of dumplings and dumplings, including Mordovian ones. Cozy (there
are places with sofas), tasty, but the portions are small.
✦ Pizzeria Milano. Chain of cheap pizzerias.
5 Lenin Avenue, 18.
10:00–22:00.
6 st. Communist, 59a. 10:00–22:00.
7 Pizza
"Sorento" , st. Moscow, 3A (at the entrance to the park). 10:00–22:00.
Establishment of the Volga network of pizzerias-snack bars: pizza
slices, nuggets, fried potatoes. Prices are low, there are many
visitors, and there are few places: it is better to take food to go.
8 Dining room "Niva", st. Vasenko, 1 (corner of Lenin). Mon–Fri
9:00–19:30. Cheap eatery near the train station. Good feedback.
9
AlecCoffee, Sovetskaya street, 47. Mon–Fri 8:00–21:00, Sat–Sun
10:00–21:00. A popular coffee shop in the heart of the city.
In Saransk hotels, the ratio of price and quality
leaves much to be desired. Look for apartments for rent. If you are
coming from Moscow, then the train schedule is such that you will arrive
early in the morning and leave late in the evening - this is quite
enough to explore Saransk.
1 Hotel "Sura" , st. Polezhaeva, 49.
☎ +7 (8342) 24-15-77. Double room: from 2700 rubles. Mostly positive
reviews.
2 Saransk Hotel, st. Communist, 35. ☎ +7 (8342) 47-88-82.
Double room: from 2300 rubles. Soviet typical hotel, recently renovated.
Conflicting reviews.
3 Hotel "On Kutuzova", st. Kutuzova, 4. +7
(8342) 33-91-27. Double room: 2000 rub. Mini-hotel with 10 rooms, there
is a bar. Good reviews, but located on the outskirts.
4 Complex
"Park-hotel", st. Red, 4. ☎ +7 (8342) 23-29-19. Double room: 4000 rub.
Hotel on the southern coast of Saranka. The “park” in the name,
apparently, refers to the adjoining TsPKIO them. Pushkin.
Several mobile operators operate in Saransk: Megafon, MTS, Beeline, TELE2.
Makarov Monastery. The main architectural ensemble of
Mordovia is located within the administrative boundaries of Saransk, but
in fact, 5 km southeast of the city. The complex was built at the end of
the 17th-beginning of the 18th century, and its main decoration is the
magnificent Baroque Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist (1704). The
ensemble also includes two more churches, Michael the Archangel (1702)
and Znamenskaya (1800s, exactly repeating the architecture of
Mikhailo-Arkhangelskaya) and a fence with towers from the beginning of
the 18th century. At the same time, after the revolution, all the
buildings of the monastery were demolished, except for the St. John the
Theologian Cathedral and the bell tower; churches and the fence were
restored in the 1970s according to the drawings. The monastery is now
functioning, but the monks live outside the wall, on the territory where
you just won’t get there (yes, you don’t need to go there), the
residence of the Metropolitan of Saransk and Mordovia is also there.
How to get there: bus number 7 to the village of Lukhovka (about a
kilometer from the monastery) or 200 rubles by taxi from the city center
to the gates of the monastery.
Ruzaevka. Large interchange
station. If you have free time before the train, you can take a walk
along Lunacharsky Street and the surrounding area, where dozens of
Mordovian houses with characteristic onion-shaped cutouts on the
pediments have been preserved.
The origin of the word is attributed to the hydronym erz. sara - "large sedge swamp", "marshy floodplain". In such an area, at the mouth of the Sarley River (modern Saranka), a fortress was founded, called the Saransk Ostrozhek. Saransk received its current name in 1780, being in the status of a county town.
Saransk was founded in 1641 as a small wooden fortress on the
southeastern outskirts of the Russian kingdom on the Simbirsk notch
line. The notch line consisted of reliable forest notches, was the least
labor-intensive type of fortification and served as protection against
predatory raids from the Crimea, the Black Sea region, and the North
Caucasus. The fortress was called Saransky Ostrozhek and was located on
the banks of the Insar River at the mouth of the Sarley River on its
left bank. In addition to the notch line, the future location of the
city was influenced by elevated terrain with lowlands on at least two
sides. On the southern side facing the enemy there was a steep slope and
a river.
The Saransk fortress was part of the Atemarsko-Saransk
notch line. It also included Atemarskaya, Inzerskaya and Shishkeevskaya
fortresses. Their forest barriers accounted for 82% of the total length
of the line. The remaining 18% are treeless areas formed from earthen
ramparts and various types of wooden fortifications.
The earliest
description of the fortress dates back to 1703. It consisted of powerful
walls made of oak logs, had an almost square shape. In the corners there
were four hexagonal towers up to 16 meters high, up to 8 meters in
diameter, with platforms for mounting guns. Four more square towers were
located in the middle of the walls. The ninth tower stood in the center
of the city (in case the enemy broke through), ammunition was stored in
it. From all sides the fortress was surrounded by an earthen rampart, on
the outer side of which deep ditches were dug. A city wall clock was
installed on the tallest Spasskaya Tower. The Crimean-Kazan road passed
through the northern and southern square towers. Inside the fortress
there was the Znamenskaya Cathedral Church, the courtyard of the first
Saransk voivode Savva Kozlovsky, a command hut, state-owned barns with
provisions and weapons, a prison, log cabins to accommodate nearby
civilians in the event of a siege. Only the governor and a few other
people who belonged to representatives of privileged social groups had a
permanent estate inside the fortress. Outside the fortress, around it,
there were settlements inhabited by a garrison and townspeople.
The first inhabitants of the fortress were Cossacks, archers and
gunners, transferred to it from the nearest cities, as well as the
population of nearby villages (Erzyans, Mokshans and Tatars). The basis
of the garrison in 1642 was 200 Cossacks and 15 archers.
In 1651,
Saransk became a city and the administrative center of the Saransk
district.
In the autumn of 1670, it was captured by one of the
detachments of Stepan Razin led by Mikhail Kharitonov, the city and the
county for some time became a stronghold that supplied Razin's troops
with food, fodder and weapons. In December of the same year, after
repeated attempts to storm the city, the tsarist troops captured the
city, and Razin's troops were forced to leave Saransk.
By the end
of the 17th century, the population of the city was more than 4 thousand
people. Along with Sloboda, a street division of the city appeared.
In 1708, during the reign of Peter I the Great, the voivodeship was
replaced by a governor's, and the territory of the Russian kingdom was
divided into 8 large provinces. Saransk was initially assigned to the
Azov province, but already in 1711 it was assigned to Kazan. In 1719, a
reform was carried out aimed at disaggregating the poorly managed vast
territories - the provinces were divided into provinces. Saransk became
part of the Penza province of the Kazan province.
By the
beginning of the 18th century, Saransk had practically lost its military
significance. The wooden fortress was very dilapidated and the military
officials who examined it noted that all its structures required
thorough repairs. Saransk gradually became a handicraft and trading city
(the main items of production and sales are grain, hemp, wood, leather,
meat, honey). This was favored by a favorable geographical position -
the city was located at the crossroads of large horse-drawn tracts
connecting Astrakhan with Moscow, Crimea with Kazan.
A memorable
historical event of the 18th century was the stay in the city in July
1774 of the leader of the Peasant War in Russia in 1773-1775. Emelyan
Pugacheva. On July 26, the representative of the rebels, the Yaik
Cossack ataman F.F. Chumakov arrived in the city with 30 mounted
Cossacks and brought a decree instructing him to prepare a worthy
meeting for "Sovereign Peter III" (for whom Pugachev pretended to be).
The next day, the people, as well as the city nobility, led by the
archimandrite of the local monastery on the banks of the Insar, met the
army of Pugachev, approaching the city from the side of the Inzer
prison, with a cross and bread and salt. After a solemn prayer service,
the inhabitants of the city were sworn allegiance to the "sovereign".
During his stay in Saransk, Pugachev issued a manifesto on granting
liberties to the peasants, ordered the release of prisoners from among
the peasants, courtyards and working people from the city prison, and
also distributed salt and grain from the city barns to the poorest
population. Meetings of the military college were held, many nobles,
officials, merchants and church ministers were executed. On the morning
of July 30, 1774, Pugachev's army left Saransk, heading towards Penza. A
day later, Count Mellin entered Saransk with a detachment of tsarist
punitive troops and arrested the governor of Saransk appointed by
Pugachev, representatives of the clergy who met Pugachev and other
persons "involved in indignation."
In 1785, Catherine II approved
a new development plan for Saransk, the settlements were replaced by a
rectangular street network with quarters and squares.
In 1780,
Saransk became part of the Penza province. In 1797 he was assigned to
the Simbirsk province. By the beginning of the 19th century, the
population of Saransk reached 7.4 thousand people.
In September
1801, Saransk again became part of the Penza province.
At the
beginning of the Patriotic War of 1812, one of the detachments of the
people's militia was formed in the Saransk district, which became part
of the 1st Infantry Regiment. When the militia began to be sworn in, an
uprising broke out in Saransk and Insar, in which about 5 thousand
people participated. The militia from among the peasants demanded that
they and their families be freed from serfdom, as they go to shed blood
for the fatherland. The uprising was brutally suppressed. The regiment
went on a campaign at the beginning of 1813, he participated in the
liberation of cities such as Dresden, Magdeburg and Hamburg from French
troops.
At the end of the 19th century, the line of the
Moscow-Kazan railway passed through Saransk (the railway station began
operating in 1893), which revived the economic and political life of the
region. However, the city never became a major industrial center; its
economy remained small-scale with a predominance of the agricultural
sector.
In the 19th century, the painting school of K. A. Makarov
(1828), the city bank (1844), the first small power plant (1886), a paid
public library (1893), and a free public library (1899) appeared in
Saransk. By the end of the century there were 10 educational
institutions in the city. The population was over 14 thousand people.
In 1817, 1852 and 1869 there were three major fires, each of which
destroyed several hundred houses. The city was quickly rebuilt, but
wooden buildings prevailed in its development until the middle of the
20th century.
In 1893, with the beginning of the movement of
trains through the Saransk station, the first building of the Saransk
railway station was built.
At the beginning of the 20th century,
the labor movement intensified in Saransk, as well as throughout Russia.
Strikes and strikes took place in the city, illegal workers' circles
arose. In July 1906, an uprising took place, in which about 200 people
participated, it was suppressed by the police.
In 1904, the
society of fine art lovers was founded by the city intelligentsia, which
made a significant contribution to the cultural life of the city.
Members of the society carried out cultural and educational work, staged
charity performances, on their initiative in 1914 the first public
cinema was opened in the city park (several cinemas that existed in the
city were privately owned).
On March 3 (according to the old style), 1917, after the abdication
of Nicholas II, the bodies of the tsarist administration ceased to
operate in Saransk, power passed to a temporary executive committee
chaired by the mayor. In the spring of the same year, councils of
workers' and soldiers' deputies and a council of peasant deputies were
created in the city. On December 8, 1917, Soviet power was established
in the city.
During the Civil War, Saransk was one of the centers
for the formation of military units of the Red Army; the mobilization
department of the 1st Army of the Eastern Front worked in the city. From
April to August 1919, during the offensive of Kolchak's army, the
Bashkir Military Revolutionary Committee was evacuated to Saransk.
The war led to hunger, unemployment, and a decline in production.
Many enterprises in Saransk did not work for a long time due to lack of
fuel and raw materials. But even in such a difficult time for the city,
the cultural life of the city continued: the house of educational
workers, a workers' club were opened, and in 1918 a museum of local lore
was founded.
By 1927, most of the existing enterprises and
workshops were restored, and several new enterprises were created. In
the 1930s, a radical restructuring of the city began. By 1935, 45
streets were supplied with electricity. From 1927 to 1940 industrial
output in Saransk increased more than 50 times. Developed health care,
education, culture. In 1930, the radio station began broadcasting in
Russian and Mordovian languages.
On July 16, 1928, Saransk became
the center of the Mordovian District as part of the Middle Volga Region,
on January 10, 1930, the center of the Mordovian Autonomous Region, and
on December 20, 1934, the capital of the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet
Socialist Republic.
During the Great Patriotic War, the 326th
Roslavl Red Banner Rifle Division was formed in Saransk. The enterprises
of the city produced food, ammunition, uniforms, vehicles for the army.
Many enterprises and institutions were converted into evacuation
hospitals for wounded soldiers. In 1941, a mechanical plant began to
operate, in 1944 a solid converter plant (the future "Electric
rectifier") was evacuated to Saransk from the Saratov region. About 17
thousand inhabitants of the city fought on the fronts of the Great
Patriotic War, more than 8 thousand of them died. In the post-war years,
new industries were created in the city: electrical, engineering,
medical, food industries, production of building materials. Thus, in the
1950s, a plant for reinforced concrete structures, an asphalt concrete
plant, a tool plant, a cable plant, a brick plant, a locomotive repair
plant, an electric lamp plant, an instrument-making plant, an excavator
plant, a dump truck plant, a medical preparations plant, a decorative
fabrics factory, and a meat processing plant were created. At the same
time, the city center was formed: Grazhdanskaya Street (now Lenin
Avenue) connected Sovetskaya Square with the railway station. It housed
4-storey residential buildings, a school for leading collective farm
personnel, the House of Unions (S. O. Levkov, 1957), the House of
Political Education (S. O. Levkov, 1953), the Music and Drama Theater
(M. S. Gelfer, 1961), made in neoclassical forms. In the late 1950s in
Saransk, the aesthetics of utilitarianism and minimalism were
established, and functionality prevailed in the layouts of
microdistricts and the architecture of buildings. Thus, the housing
problem was solved in the city; in 1959, the provision of living space
was 3.7 m² per person.
In 1960, the construction of new
residential areas of the city began: northwestern (currently known as
Svetotekhstroy) and southwestern. Saransk was included in the gas supply
system using the Saratov-Gorky gas pipeline. In 1965, the first
trolleybuses appeared in the city. The industrial and cultural
development of Saransk continued. By the 1970s and 1980s, the city had
become a developed industrial center.
At the end of the 20th century, great economic and political
transformations took place in Saransk.
On December 7, 1990, the
Mordovian ASSR was transformed into the Mordovian Soviet Socialist
Republic, Saransk remained its capital. In 1991 the city became the
capital of the Republic of Mordovia.
The unpreparedness of
enterprises for a market economy led to a significant decline in the
socio-economic development of the city. Almost all of his enterprises
experienced layoffs, there were significant delays in paying wages, and
the number of unemployed was growing. Health, education, culture and
other institutions found themselves in the same difficult situation.
The economic recovery in the early 2000s, observed in Russia, was
reflected in Saransk. Recently, the urban infrastructure has been
significantly developed. A new Yubileiny stadium, several large
residential areas, hotels and other facilities are being built.
Construction of two ring roads and a direct route between the urban-type
settlement Nikolaevka and one of the central arteries of the city,
Polezhaeva Street, is underway.
On July 19, 2007, the
international festival "Shumbrat, Finno-Ugria!" took place in the
capital of Mordovia. June 12, 2011 was the celebration of the 370th
anniversary of the founding of the city, and August 23-25, 2012 - the
celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the unity of the Mordovian
people with the peoples of Russia.
Sports events are regularly
held in Saransk. On September 8 and 9, 2011, the international sports
forum "Russia - a sports power" was held. In May 2012, the city hosted
the 25th IAAF Race Walking World Cup, which brought together
participants from 62 countries, which was a record. On September 29,
2012, Saransk was officially included in the list of cities that will
host matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Since 2004, Saransk has
been participating in the All-Russian competition "The most comfortable
city in Russia". During this time, 4 times the city became the owner of
a diploma of the II degree and 2 times - of the III degree. In 2012,
Saransk took first place in the competition and, following the results
of 2011, became the owner of the title "The most comfortable urban
settlement in Russia" among cities of the 1st category.
In 2017,
the first avenue in Russia named after the Russian army appeared in
Saransk. The decision to rename Yubileiny Avenue into the Russian Army
Avenue in Saransk was made by the Council of Deputies of the Saransk
City District at the November session. The avenue runs along the
Yubileiny microdistrict under construction and goes to the Mordovia
Arena stadium, where the World Cup matches were held in 2018.
From 14 to 28 June 2018, Saransk hosted four matches of the World Cup at
the Mordovia Arena stadium.
Saransk is located in the central part of the East European Plain on
the Volga Upland in the forest-steppe landscapes of the central part of
the Insar river basin. The connecting link of the location is the
Saransko-Ruzaevsky junction, formed at the intersection of the main
lines of railways and highways of republican and federal significance.
It is located about 250 km south of Nizhny Novgorod. The area of the
city is 81.478 km².
Saransk is located in the eastern part of the
Republic of Mordovia. Distance from Moscow in a straight line - 500 km,
by road - 642 km. The nearest regional center is Penza.
Saransk
is located in the MSK time zone (Moscow time). The offset of the
applicable time from UTC is +3:00. In accordance with the applied time
and geographic longitude, the average solar noon in Saransk occurs at
11:59.
The climate of the city is temperate continental, characterized by
relatively cold, frosty winters and moderately hot summers.
The
coldest month of the year is January. Winter in Saransk lasts from the
beginning of November to the end of March. The season covers 5 months
and is characterized by cyclonic activity with zonal movements of
cyclones. This period is characterized by sharp and intense temperature
fluctuations arising from the activation of atmospheric processes. The
absolute temperature minimum was recorded in January 1942 and amounted
to -44.0 °C.
The warmest month of the year is July. Summer in
Saransk is relatively short and moderately warm. The period with an
average daily temperature above +15 °C usually lasts 3 months and is
characterized by a weakening of the intensity of the general circulation
of the atmosphere. This time of year is characterized by wet cyclones
from the Atlantic, causing showers and thunderstorms. The greatest
duration of sunshine is characteristic - up to 10 hours a day. The
absolute temperature maximum was recorded in 2010, the air temperature
rose to +39.4 °C.
The average annual precipitation in Saransk is
at the level of 500 mm. The largest amount of precipitation of all
seasons falls in summer - about 180 mm. In 1978, 280 mm of heavy
precipitation fell on 3 summer months. Summer precipitation of a general
nature in Saransk is associated with western cyclones passing near the
city. The least amount of precipitation usually occurs in winter - about
100 mm or less. The driest season was the winter season of 1944-1945.
During this period, only 22 mm of precipitation fell.
The relief of the city is determined by its location on the Volga Upland. The main residential areas of the city are located in the altitude range of 125-200 m. The average height of the city center is 160 m above sea level. In watershed spaces, absolute heights reach 230–250 m. Most of the slopes in the territory of Saransk are oriented towards the valley of the Insar River. It is characterized by the smallest height marks (125 m). The complication of the relief morphology is influenced by the valleys of small rivers - Saranka, Tavla, Penzyatka. A characteristic feature of the relief is the asymmetry of the slopes. The steepest are the slopes of the southern and western exposures. The slopes of the northern and eastern exposures in conditions of slow thawing and drying of the soil reach an extremely low steepness.
Saransk is located in forest-steppe landscapes. In the southeastern part, on the outskirts, elevated remnant-watershed massifs are common, composed of eluvium of siliceous-carbonate rocks with light gray and gray forest gravelly soils and areas of broad-leaved forests. In the central part, these geocomplexes consist of wavy, gently undulating surfaces formed by eluvial-deluvial deposits of terrigenous rocks with dark gray forest soils and podzolized chernozems. The geological environment in the city is composed of Carboniferous, Jurassic, Cretaceous and Quaternary deposits. Modern technogenic deposits are widespread in the city - bulk soils up to 7.7 m thick. Loams predominate, which contain different amounts of construction waste.
Secondary deciduous forests dominate on the territory of the urban district. Mostly pedunculate oak, but small-leaved linden, common ash, Norway maple, and less often smooth elm, rough elm, and field maple are also widely found. The undergrowth consists of warty euonymus, hazel, brittle buckthorn, bird cherry, mountain ash. Near the edges there are laxative joster, forest apple trees, and steppe cherries. Birch occurs occasionally, as separate trees. The forests of Saransk are characterized by significant steppe formation and a rich floristic composition. Many southern species grow in the clarified areas. There are shrubs: blackthorn, spirea crenate. Among the herbaceous vegetation, coastal brome, steppe timothy grass, pubescent oatmeal, fine-leaved peas, steppe sage, Marshall's thyme and others are common.
The leading industry is mechanical engineering, represented by the
electrical and automotive sub-sectors. The industry of the nearby
regional centers (Lyambir, Kochkurovo, Ichalki) is mainly engaged in the
processing of agricultural raw materials.
Main Industries
mechanical engineering, metalworking and instrument making (LLC Saransk
plant of precision instruments, Medoborudovanie, Orbita, Saransk
instrument-making plant, Saranskkabel, EM-Plast LLC, Sura, Electric
rectifier, Iskra software, Saransk Mechanical Plant);
lighting
industry Lisma LLC, Optic Fiber Systems JSC;
electric power industry
(JSC Mordovskaya GRES Concern, Saranskaya CHPP-1, Saranskaya CHPP-2, a
branch of PJSC Rosseti Volga — Mordovenergo);
non-ferrous metallurgy
(Mordovvtorsyrye LLC, production of secondary aluminum alloys);
ferrous metallurgy (VKM-Steel LLC (formerly known as the State Unitary
Enterprise Saransk Foundry, does not produce ferrous metallurgy
products), is part of the RM Rail holding (RM Rail));
chemical (OJSC
Biokhimik, OJSC Saransk Plant Rezinotekhnika);
machine tool industry
(OJSC "Stankostroitel");
production of the Voronezh-DM radar station
(JSC Saransk Television Plant);
timber and woodworking industry (SE
"Mordovlestopprom", OJSC "Mirta" (furniture), LLC "ORIMEKS" (tables and
chairs made of oak), "Heat insulation");
production of building
materials (JSC ZhBK-1, OJSC Saransk Face Brick Plant);
light industry
(JSC Saransk Sewing Factory, Sarteks, Mordovian Patterns);
food
industry (OJSC Cannery Saransky, Saransk branch of OJSC SUN InBev (beer
production), OJSC Mordovspirt, confectionery factory OJSC Lamzur, butter
and dairy plants (OJSC Saransky Dairy Plant) , Saransk Pasta Plant OJSC,
Khlebozavod JSC, Saransky Meat Processing Complex CJSC, etc.).
In
the rating of innovative development of the constituent entities of the
Russian Federation for 2016, annually compiled by the Higher School of
Economics, Mordovia takes 4th place, second only to Tatarstan, Moscow
and St. Petersburg. In many ways, this result was facilitated by the
development of industrial clusters of fiber optics and lighting
technology in the region. The new cluster became one of the winners of
the priority project under the auspices of the Ministry of Economic
Development of Russia "Development of innovative clusters - leaders in
investment attractiveness of the world level."