Penza, Russia

Penza

Description of Penza

Penza is a city (since 1663) located on the Volga Upland in the center of the European part of Russia. It is an administrative, economic and cultural center of the Penza Region (since 1939). It is a city of regional importance, forms the municipality of the city district of Penza. Population - 523,553 people. (2018). The city was founded in 1663 by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.

 

Orientation

Penza is stretched along the left bank of the Sura, which has a difficult relief: the northern part of the center is at the level of the river, and the southern part is on top of a high hill. The elevation difference reaches 100 meters, so try to build the route so as not to climb the hill several times.

Three important streets pass through the center of the city from north to south: Volodarsky - merchant houses of the 18th-19th centuries have been preserved here almost unchanged; Moskovskaya - the main pedestrian street with a large number of attractions, cafes and shops; and Kirov - a transport highway, in the southern part of which the oldest buildings of the city are located.

 

Travel Destinations in Penza

Orientation

Penza stretches along the left bank of the Sura, which has a difficult relief: the northern part of the center is at the level of the river, and the southern part is at the top of a high hill. The elevation difference reaches 100 meters, so try to build a route so as not to climb a hill several times.

Three important streets pass through the center of the city from north to south: Volodarsky lined by merchant houses of the 18th-19th centuries are almost unchanged; Moskovskaya - the main pedestrian street with a large number of attractions, cafes and shops; and Kirov - a transport highway, in the southern part of which there are the oldest buildings of the city.

 

Lower city

1  Meat passage, st. Moskovskaya, 83. A beautiful eclectic building is one of the symbols of the city. It now houses a large department store.
2 House of Karpovs, st. Moskovskaya, 60. One of the most elegant mansions in the northern part of the center.
3  Cuckoo clock, Fontannaya Square. One of the symbols of the region: a monumental working cuckoo clock, made in 1974 in Serdobsk, Penza region - there was the only mechanical plant in the USSR that produced cuckoo clocks.
4  The Man with a Mug of Beer panel, Fontannaya Square. A six-meter mosaic of forty thousand beer caps is a copy of Eduard Manet's painting A Mug of Beer, commissioned by the Kuznetsk brewery Visit.
5  Mosaic "Kandievsky uprising", st. Moskovskaya, 56. At the end of the house are depicted peasants who raised a riot in 1861 under a red flag in the village of Kandievka, Penza province. The panel is made in the avant-garde style, rather bold for 1973: this is the most famous and most impressive Penza mosaic.
6  Moskva Cinema, st. Volodarsky, 68. Graceful stalin on the corner of the street. Pushkin. Pay attention to the bas-reliefs in the form of theatrical masks.
7  Sura embankment. A short well-groomed promenade with a pleasant view of Sura. In the center of the embankment is the “Rostok” monument, nicknamed “splinter” because of its strange appearance.
8  Mosque, st. Bakunin, 10 (from the center you have to go through the central market almost to the bank of the Sura). The building built in 1887 is the only mosque in the city. The architecture is quite simple, although the window decoration is interesting. A new minaret made of silicate brick was added to the historical building of the mosque, painted in light green color.

 

Upper town

9  Sovetskaya Square. Pre-revolutionary city center. The square used to be the Cathedral of the Savior (that's why the square used to be called the Cathedral), now it is being built again. Also on Sovetskaya Square is a monument to the fighters of the revolution and a monument to Lermontov - who visited Penza at a very young age, but is certainly considered the main Penza writer.
10 Defensive rampart, st. Kirov (Behind the Soviet Square). Memorial complex dedicated to the founding of the city: a wooden belfry with a cast-iron cannon. Behind the belfry is a segment of the same defensive rampart that has been preserved since the 17th century, and opposite it is a monument to the first settlers, which is called nothing more than “a man selling a horse”. Near the monument there is an observation deck overlooking the Sura valley.
11 Cathedral of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God, st. Chkalova, 26. Baroque brick church was built in 1765. At the beginning of the 21st century, after restoration, it became the cathedral church of the Penza diocese.
12 Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, st. Spaso-Preobrazhenskaya, 6a. (from the monument to the pioneers down the stairs). The oldest building in the city: the cathedral from the 1740s, once belonging to a monastery that was destroyed during the Soviet era.
13  Trinity Monastery, st. Kirova, 25. In the center of the monastery there is an ensemble of two churches: the heavy church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit (1858) and the graceful five-domed Trinity Church in the pseudo-Russian style (1900). In 2015, the final phase of the restoration is underway. Unfortunately, the view of the temples from the side of Kirov Street is blocked by a blank fence, but you can get to the territory of the monastery from the intersection of Kirov and Karl Marx.
14 Durnovo Estate, st. Red, 69. One of the most elegant wooden houses in the city with filigree architraves. Now here is the restaurant "Kadril".
15 Alekseev's estate, st. Volodarsky, 3. This small wooden house (1875) is no less interesting than large estates: carved pediments, pseudo-Russian architraves and unique hexagonal windows.
16  Mosaic of the Electromechanics plant (corner of Sverdlov and Gogol). A wonderful mosaic on the entire wall on the theme of the development of Soviet science.
17  Monument "Seeing Off" (corner of Kuibyshev and Tambov). Unusual - not pretentious, but sentimental - a monument to the participants of the Great Patriotic War: a soldier saying goodbye to his family. The monument was erected on the site from where during the war the Penza people went to the front.
Do not miss the building of the Museum of Folk Art, even if you are not going to visit the museum itself.

 

Museums

1 Penza Museum of Local Lore. The Penza Museum of Local Lore is the oldest in the Volga region. Created in 1905 as a natural history museum. At present, the museum's collection includes more than 100 thousand exhibits of the main and auxiliary backgrounds, incl. about five thousand works of art, more than 7,000 archeological items, about 8,000 numismatic items.
2  Penza Museum of Folk Art, Kuibyshev St., 45a. Open: from 10:00 to 17:00, seven days a week. Opened in 1975. The exposition of the museum includes art crafts and crafts of the Penza region: wood carving, basket weaving, ceramics, glass, down knitting and carpet weaving. Very often the museum hosts personal exhibitions of masters. The building of the museum deserves special mention - the estate of the Penza timber merchant S.L. Tyurin, an outstanding monument of Russian wooden architecture of the 19th century.
3 Museum of V. O. Klyuchevsky. Opened in 1991. The museum complex includes the house where V.O.Klyuchevsky spent his childhood, a neighboring house, as well as an outbuilding on the estate. The exposition of the museum consists of two sections: "The Penza period of the life of V.O. Klyuchevsky" and "Scientific, pedagogical and social activities of V.O. Klyuchevsky"
4 Art Gallery. K.A.Savitsky, st. Sovetskaya, 3. ☎ (8412) 56-56-00. Founded in 1892. The exposition presents paintings by French, Italian and Dutch artists of the 17th-19th centuries, as well as paintings by Russian authors of the 18th-20th centuries. The Russian collection is very good for Russia. The gallery occupies two historic buildings at the beginning of Sovetskaya Street: the building of the Peasant Land Bank (1912) in the Art Nouveau style and the governor's house.
Museum of one painting. G.V. Myasnikova, st. Kirov, 11. ☎ (8412) 66-44-27. The museum does not have a permanent exhibition. Its specificity is that only one work of the artist is exhibited here. The screening is accompanied by a demonstration of a slide film about the life and work of the artist and a story about the history of the creation of the presented painting.
5 Theatrical Art Center "Meyerhold's House", st. Volodarsky, 59. ☎ +7 (8412) 56-46-20. Theater Museum of Performing Arts, located in the house where V. E. Meyerhold was born (built in 1881). This is the country's first memorial to the great reformer of theatrical art, opened in February 1984. The troupe of the modern "Theater of Dr. Dapertutto" performs here.

 

Theaters

6  Penza Regional Drama Theatre. A.V. Lunacharsky     Wikidata item (89 Moskovskaya str.). ☎ (8412) 56-40-89; (8412) 56-30-46. One of the oldest provincial theaters in Russia. The first theater season was opened in 1793. At different times, V. Meyerhold, N. Masalskaya, I. Mozzhukhin, V. Sharlakhov, I. Slonov, M. Tambulatova played in the theater.

 

Getting in

By plane
From Moscow Domodedovo Airport (DME) twice a day in the morning and in the evening. AK AkBarsAvia, ship CRJ-200

By train
From Moscow from the Kazansky railway station on the branded train No. 52Y "Sura" Moscow-Penza. Travel time less than 12 hours (overnight). Also on passenger trains to Penza, Orsk and Ufa.

Station "Penza-1". Spacious station with ample seating. There is a cafeteria "Caramel" with cakes and a round-the-clock cafe "Pirogoff", where, in addition to the title pastries, hot dishes are also served. There is no Wi-Fi at the station.
On the ground floor there is an automatic storage room (180 rubles/day) and a kiosk with mineral water and cookies. On the second floor there is a waiting room of enhanced comfort (60 rubles per hour).

By car
From Moscow along the federal highway M5 "Ural" to Penza, the distance is about 630 kilometers.

By bus
From Moscow from the square near the Kazansky railway station, travel time is about 10 hours.

 

Shopping

In Penza, quite good (by Russian standards) Samko beer is brewed.

1 Shop "Samko", st. Liberson, 35. Company store of the Penza brewery.

Shopping centers and complexes
2 "TsUM" (Central department store), st. Kirova, 73. Daily from 9:00 to 21:00. The oldest operating trading company in Penza. Inside the store there are many departments of different directions: souvenirs, clothes and shoes, perfumes, books, cellular communications, electronics, cafes, toys and more. 0-4 floors.
3  Shopping center "Arbat", st. Moscow, 59. ☎ (8412) 66-00-82. Daily from 9:00 to 21:00. The building of the Arbat shopping center was originally intended for the Union of Artists and was built specifically for it, but due to the collapse of the USSR, the building passed into private hands. Shopping center "Arbat" positions itself as a center of fashionable clothes and shoes of the European level. This store sells the following goods: souvenirs, toys, cellular communications, photo services, clothes and shoes, dishes, jewelry, etc. 1-4 floors.
4 Shopping Center "Vysshaya Liga", st. Moscow / Kuraeva, 37/3. Large shopping and entertainment complex. It sells clothes, shoes, accessories, food, cosmetics and more. And also there are several cafes, a cinema, a skating rink. 0-5 floors
Shopping center "Sanimart", st. Plekhanova d. 19. Daily from 9.00 to 21.00. 54 stores in the shopping center.
"Vpereplete", st. Moscow, 12. ☎ (8412) 25-64-68. Daily from 10.00 to 20.00. Bookshop specializing in intellectual literature

 

Eat

There are enough places to eat in Penza, but still not enough to eat anywhere in the city center at any reasonable time. During unreasonable times, for example, on Sunday mornings, everything can be closed.

Cheap
1  Pizzeria "Yes!", st. Moscow, 90. ☎ (8412) 20-10-43; pizza delivery: 56-00-88. Student type pizzeria: cheap pizza and sushi.
2  Vkusno and point), st. Moscow, 73. Located in the former building of the Fish Rows.
3 Cafe "Sail", st. Belinsky, 6a (Soviet Square). hot — 80 rubles. The atmosphere and contingent of a Soviet diner, but in addition to draft alcohol and sandwiches for a snack, there is also a full-fledged hot meal: if the atmosphere does not bother you, you can have a very cheap lunch with acceptable quality.
✦  Dining room "Plate". 10:00-19:00. A network of popular city canteens. Long lines at lunchtime.
4   st. Karl Marx, 16.
5   st. Bakunin, 24.
6  Coffee house "Coffee house", st. Moskovskaya, 38 (corner of Kuraev). cappuccino - 100 rubles. There are few establishments in this format in Penza, which is probably why the owners did not bother to come up with a name. Coffee without frills, average quality; The menu also includes meat and alcohol.

Average cost
7 Royal London, st. Moscow, 95. Not a bad attempt to create an English pub in the Russian provinces. The entrance is stylized as a telephone booth, and the menu includes English ales, fish and chips, barbecue wings and similar British food. Hot - 250-350 rubles, expensive by local standards. Loud music, WiFi.

 

Night life

NK "Hollywood", st. Zlobina, 19.

 

Hotels

HELIOPARK Residence, st. Kirova, 49/22.
Hotel "Swallow", Mira street, 35.
Hotel "Russia", Moskovskaya st., 71.
Hotel "London-Paris", Kulakov str., 2.
Hotel "Old City", Moskovskaya st., 8. A small hotel with 15 rooms in the city center. Opened in 2012, on the basis of a renovated historic building
Hotel "Penza", street of Glory, 10.

 

History of Penza

The city was founded in 1663 as a fortress on the southeastern outskirts of the Russian kingdom, built by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.

On December 18, 1708, according to the Decree of Peter I "On the establishment of provinces and on the schedule of cities for them," the city of Penza became the center of the Penza district of the Kazan province.

Since 1719, the city has become the center of the Penza province of the Kazan province.

In 1780, the city became the center of the Penza governorate (in 1796 - the Penza province) and the county of the same name.

In 1786, the Penza Folk School, one of the oldest educational institutions in Russia, was founded.
In 1792, the first theatrical performance took place in Penza, and the first theatrical season of the Drama Theater opened the following year.
In 1796 Penza was declared a provincial city.

In 1797, the Penza province was abolished and Penza was made a county town of the Saratov province.

In 1801, the city again became the center of the Penza province and retained this status until 1928.

In 1837 the first public library was opened, in 1838 the first local newspaper, Penza Gubernskie Vedomosti, began to appear.
In 1848, one of the oldest hippodrome in Russia was founded.
In 1850 Sergeyev's stationery factory was opened.

In 1858 there was a fire that destroyed half of the city. In the same year, the Sokolov iron foundry began to operate.
In 1873, the first circus in Russia was opened.
In 1874, the railway traffic along the branch line Morshansk - Syzran was opened.

In 1907 Ivan Frantsevich Koshko was appointed governor. He remained in this position until October 19, 1910.
After October 1917, the transfer of power to the Bolsheviks in Penza took place without armed struggle, but dragged on until December 21

On May 29, 1918, the city was taken during the performance of the Czechoslovak Corps (a bloody battle lasted almost a day). However, for a number of reasons, the Czechs did not begin to gain a foothold in Penza and left the city two days later.

In 1928, after the abolition of provinces and counties, Penza became the center of the Penza region and at the same time the Penza district of the Middle Volga region, since 1930 - the regional center of the Middle Volga (Kuibyshev Territory), since 1937 - the Tambov region.

February 4, 1939 Penza becomes the regional center of the newly formed Penza region. In the same year, a teacher's institute was opened, later transformed into a pedagogical one.

During the Great Patriotic War, many enterprises from the west of the country were evacuated to the city, which marked the beginning of industrial growth; in 1943 an industrial institute was opened (now Penza State University).

After the war, there were a number of problems in Penza: a shortage of housing, lack of running water and sewerage, a lack of electricity, and a small number of paved roads. In 1946, Yakub Useinov became the chief architect. Useinov's staff consisted of five employees. Under his leadership, the reconstruction of the SAM plants, the compressor plant, the beer plant, the 2nd armature plant, Penzmash and Schotmash, the Mayak Revolution factory was carried out. The construction of the Penzkhimmash and Penzadieselmash plants began. In 1948, the first trolleybus was launched for which a trolleybus depot was built on the street. Suvorov. Also in 1948, the asphalting of the central streets of the city was started. During 1949-1952, the Sursk water supply and sewerage system was built.

In 1952, the Council of Ministers of the USSR approved the plan for the reconstruction and development of Penza, developed by Useinov's department. During Useinov's tenure as the architect of Penza, a number of public buildings in the Stalinist Empire style appeared in the city: The central entrance to the TsPKiO im. V. G. Belinsky, the House of Knowledge (Lermontov St.), the Moscow Cinema, the Penza Instrument-Making College and the city maternity hospital (both - Pushkin St.), the Ministry of Internal Affairs clinic (Plekhanov St.) and the Moscow-Kuibyshev Highway Administration (St. Gorky). Among the residential buildings can be identified: the building on the street. Moscow (opposite the meat passage), building on the street. Kalinin and the building on the street. October. Useinov also became the author of the restructuring of the Polish church into the Teacher's House (Volodarsky Street).

In 1985 the city was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

By the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated May 20, 2021, the city was awarded the title "City of Labor Valor".

 

Etymology

The name of the city is associated with the name of the Penza River, on the steep bank of which the fortress was built.

 

Physical and geographical characteristics

Geographical position

Penza is located in the center of the European part of Russia on the Volga Upland, 629 km (along the M-5 Moscow-Chelyabinsk highway) southeast of Moscow. The city is located on both banks of the Sura River in the central part of the Penza region, 26 km east of its geographical center. The area of the city is 310.4 km².

The average height above sea level is 174 m. The highest point (280 m above sea level) is on the hill Boevaya Gora, stretched from SW to NE like a ridge. The lowest is 134 m.

The length of the city from north to south is 19.3 km, from west to east - 25.3 km.

 

Hydrography

In addition to the Sura (the main water artery of the city), the Penza, Penzyatka, Ardym, Staraya Sura, Moika, Barkovka, Prokop and Bezymyanny streams flow through the city. Some of them within the city partly flow in sewers.

The main river recreation area in Penza is Staraya Sura. In the area of Staraya Sura, 3 large sub-districts of the city are connected - the Mayak factory microdistrict, Angarskaya street and the GPZ-24 microdistrict. It is located in the southeastern part of the city and is the largest equipped bathing area in the city, on which there are 4 beaches (the beach near the Mayak factory and 3 city beaches: Children's (1st Angarsky Lane), Sredny and Bolshoi (GPZ area -24, Antonov St.) The river originates outside Penza, in the form of a stream flowing from the Sursky reservoir and flows like a small river through the Akhuny; reservoir near the dam near the Mayak factory and again flows into the Sura.

 

Timezone

Penza is located in the MSK (Moscow time) time zone. The offset of the applicable time from UTC is +3:00. In accordance with the applicable time and geographic longitude, the average solar noon in Penza occurs at 12:00. This is due to the fact that the meridian of 45°00′ east longitude passes through Penza.

 

Flora and vegetation

In accordance with the general plan of Penza approved in 1973, the total area of the green zone was more than 25% of the total area of the city and, according to this indicator, was recognized in the 1980s as the greenest city in the Volga region, but since 1990 there has been an intensive reduction in urban squares, suburban green areas and parks due to the development of the territory.

Natural forest plantations in the urban area are represented on the left bank of the Sura, mainly by broad-leaved forests (oak forests with linden, maple, aspen and birch), on the right bank of the Sura - by pine-broad-leaved forests; the total area is about 9.8 thousand hectares.

On the territory of Penza there is a botanical garden named after I. I. Sprygin (created in 1917), divided into three sections: dendrological (about 230 plant species), systematic (about 200 plant species) and flower-decorative (more than 100 plant species), where the flora of different regions of the world is represented.

 

Climate

The climate of Penza is temperate continental. Winter in Penza is moderately cold and long, lasting from the beginning of November to the end of March, the coldest month is February with an average temperature of -9.1 °C. Summer is warm, lasts from late May to early September, the average temperature in July is 20.4 °C. The average annual temperature is 5.5 °C. The climate of Penza is close to Moscow, but the continentality is higher, and there is less precipitation.

 

Religion

At present, Christian and Islamic cultures successfully coexist with each other in Penza.

The majority of the population professes Christianity, the second largest religion is Islam, adherents of other religions are not numerous.

There are more than 30 religious institutions on the territory of the city: 25 Orthodox churches and monasteries, a cathedral, a mosque, a synagogue, a Catholic parish and others.

 

Economy

Industry
As of January 1, 2011, 15,539 business entities were registered in the city of Penza. More than 90% of registered enterprises belong to the non-state form of ownership, including 13,519 (87.0%) private enterprises. The state and municipal sectors of the economy own 701 enterprises (4.5%).

The main types of industrial products manufactured by the city's enterprises are: steel pipes, industrial pipeline fittings, air and gas drive compressors, machines for municipal utilities, medical equipment, automation devices and means, chemical equipment, computer equipment. JSC "PPO EVT named after V. A. Revunov" - production of household appliances. NPP "MedInzh" - the production of heart valves. "Mayak" provides 60% of the domestic Russian base paper market, used in design work, furniture production, wallpaper, decorative plastic. NPP "Era" - the production of flight simulators for pilots of civil aviation, mechanisms for the chemical and petrochemical industries. Penza confectionery factory - more than 130 confectionery items and others.

The volume of shipped goods of own production, performed works and services on its own in manufacturing for 2010 for 44.34 billion rubles, including: production of machinery and equipment - 12.8 billion rubles, production of electrical equipment, electronic and optical equipment - 5 .1 billion rubles

 

Transport

The railway came to Penza in 1874, it was the line of the Syzran-Vyazemskaya railway. Now Penza is a major railway junction. From the south, the Kharkov line of the South-Eastern Railway approaches the city; the Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazhskaya and Syzran lines of the Kuibyshev railway depart to the north, west and east. In 1964, the Penza-Syzran section was electrified with direct current. In 1966, from the side of the Rtishchevo station (then the Volga Railway), electrification was carried out on alternating current with a voltage of 25 kV, in 1971 the Penza - Ruzaevka - Krasny Knot section was completely transferred to electric traction (direct current with a voltage of 3 kV). In 1986, the laying of the second track began on the same section. The most loaded direction is east-south (the so-called South passage of the Trans-Siberian Railway), with a marshalling yard at the Penza III station (Zarechny Park). The Penza-Ryazhsk line is of primary importance for passenger transportation, it is on it that trains with the Penza-Moscow message follow, however, this line is single-track and non-electrified.

The Penza Regional Representative Office of the Kuibyshev Railway (the former Penza branch of the KBSH NOD-1) is located in Penza. Passenger trains for suburban and long-distance travel depart from the Penza I station. Within the city, suburban trains also stop at Penza-II stations in the direction of Kuznetsk; Penza-III, Zarechny park, o.p. 259 km, Krivozerovka towards Rtishchevo; Penza-IV, o.p. 135 km towards Ruzaevka; Arbekovo towards Pachelma.

Within the city of Penza passes the federal highway M5 "Ural" (Moscow - Chelyabinsk). Also, the P209 Penza-Tambov highway departs from the city, and the P158 Saratov-Nizhny Novgorod federal highway passes a few kilometers from Penza. Through the Penza bus station, Penza communicates with the district centers of the region, neighboring regional centers, as well as Moscow and the Black Sea resorts.

On the southern outskirts of the city (Ternovka district) is the Penza Airport named after V. G. Belinsky. It operates flights to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Yekaterinburg, and in the summer to Sochi, Simferopol, Anapa. Year-round flights are operated by S7 Airlines (Moscow, St. Petersburg and others on Embraer E170) and Rusline (Moscow on Bombardier CRJ-200). In the summer of 2019, flights to Sochi and Simferopol were also operated by Rusline (Bombardier CRJ-200), IzhAvia (Yak-42) and IrAero (Sukhoi Superjet 100, resumed in May 2020).

 

City public transport

Public transport of the city is represented by trolleybuses (traffic was opened in 1948, now there are 6 + 1 (reserve) routes), buses (35 routes) and fixed-route taxis (53 routes). Penza is one of the few large cities in Russia that do not have trams, although earlier (in 1935-1938) the city had its prototype - an intra-city passenger non-electrified narrow-gauge railway (for more details, see the article Penza tram). In 2006, it was planned to launch rail buses as an intracity train (ground metro) from the Penza I station to Arbekovo (and then to other microdistricts), but the project was not implemented due to a lack of funding.

The current location of any bus or trolleybus in Penza can be tracked on a special website.

Until 2014, when navigating the Sura, a river tram ran along the route “Rostok Pier – Barkovka Pier”, which is more used for recreational purposes. Currently, the passenger city Penza fleet has been liquidated, but a light boat runs to the village of Zasechnoye.

According to both the old (1972) and the new (2007) master plan of the city, it is also planned to build a high-speed tram in Penza in the future. The project has been delayed to the 2030s due to financial problems.

Penza has a children's railway, opened in 1985. Previously, it was planned to extend the road to the village of Akhuny, after which it could become one of the modes of transport, but this was not implemented. In the 1980s, forest management banned cutting down the forest; in the 1990s, when the issue of extending the railway track was raised again, there was no money. As of the end of 2013, the rolling stock has been renewed, the extension of 3 stations has been postponed due to financial problems. Now the children's railway is being prepared for reconstruction. By 2021, it is planned to complete the construction of a passenger building at Pionerskaya station, a new depot for rolling stock, upgrade the railway track and signaling devices.