Prokhorovka - urban-type settlement (since 1968), the administrative center of the Prokhorovsky district of the Belgorod region of Russia. Population - 9081 people. (2017). The city is located in the north of the region, not far from the source of the river Psel, 56 km from the regional center. It has a railway station on the Kursk - Belgorod line of the South-Eastern Railway.
During the Great Patriotic War, on July 12, 1943, in the vicinity of the Prokhorovka railway station and the village of Aleksandrovskoye, the Battle of Prokhorovka was a major oncoming tank battle of World War II, where more than 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns participated on both sides. It became known as the battle of Kursk.
In 1995, the State Military History Museum “Prokhorovka Field” was founded, which includes a memorial and the places where the main events of the Prokhorovsky tank battle took place during the Battle of Kursk in 1943.
The house of
merchant Alekseev I.F. Located in p. Prokhorovka (Sovetskaya st.,
150). It was built at the end of the 19th century in the Russian
modern style. The house is two-storeyed, the walls are brick. Until
1918 the house belonged to the merchant I. F. Alekseev. It currently
houses the district court. It is designated as a monument of local
importance.
Belfry - Monument of Victory at Prokhorovsky
Field
The bell of unity of the three fraternal Slavic peoples.
Monument to the soldiers who fell on the Prokhorovsky field.
The
belfry on the Prokhorovsky field.
Church of the Holy Apostles
Peter and Paul.
Regional value park "Klyuchi (Keys)"
History Museum Prokhorovsky tank battle.
Museum of
Military Glory "Third Battlefield of Russia".
Museum of Nature
Belogoriya.
Museum of armored vehicles
Sloboda Ilyinskaya bore the surname of the Poles Kirill and Savva
Ilyinsky (Ilinsky) from the Korczak family.
In the 1860s, after
the “Great Reform” of 1861, Ilyinskaya Sloboda was renamed in honor of
the reigning Emperor Alexander II into the village of Aleksandrovskoye.
On September 20, 1968, the working village of Aleksandrovsky was
renamed Prokhorovka. Named after the station, named after the track
engineer V.I. Prokhorov, responsible for its construction.
The first mention of the settlement in historical documents dates
back to the second half of the 17th century. The Polish nobleman
Kirill Grigoryevich Ilinsky (Ilinsky) from the Korczak family and
his son Savva left Poland during the Russian-Polish war of 1654-1667
to Belgorod, where they founded the Ilinskaya settlement.
At
the end of the 1880s, the line of the Kursk-Kharkov-Azov Railway
passed west of the village. At the same time, Prokhorovka station
was built.
In 1868, Alexander II signed a decree on the
construction of the Kursk-Kharkov railway, the concession was
received by Samuil Solomonovich Polyakov, a famous concessionaire of
the village road. In the same year, work began, and already in 1869,
traffic began along the Southern Highway. The work acceptance
committee noted the following: “Prokhorovka station - 4 classes. The
following buildings were erected: a) a wooden passenger house with a
wooden platform 60 fathoms long and 2.5 fathoms wide. The building
was built according to the drawings approved by Mr. Minister on June
31, 1868. The passenger platform is made of wood on oak chairs,
according to the models of the Moscow-Kursk Railway. Crew visits
have not yet been made; b) building for the tank; c) a building for
a hoisting machine with a room for a typist; d) wooden residential
buildings have been built and are being finished. Storerooms were
built near residential buildings; e) a hydraulic valve is installed;
f) began building bridges and fences. In addition, a goods platform
20 fathoms long with earthen deposits is being built. In addition, a
goods platform 20 fathoms long with earthen deposits is being built.
Water supply to Prokhorovka for 880 linear fathoms from the station
from a ravine, replenished by rain and spring waters; The capacity
of the artificial reservoir is up to 6 thousand cubic meters. The
platinum has been installed, the drainage has not yet been
completed. The water is pumped by a steam engine. Currently, due to
the dam's failure, there is a water supply of only up to 500 cubic
fathoms. In general, water supply has not yet been fully explored.
Seven versts from Prokhorovka station (at the 89th verst) a
temporary water supply with a tank with a capacity of up to 1 cubic
meter was built using collected spring water in a ravine. soot The
commission, due to the insufficient water supply at the Prokhorovka
station, considers preserving this temporary reservoir with the
construction of a warm room above it.”
In mid-October 1941
(until October 26 inclusive), the headquarters of the Soviet 227th
Rifle Division of the Red Army of the 1st formation was located in
Prokhorovka.
Nazi German troops first entered Prokhorovka on
November 4, 1941. On November 9, 1941, Prokhorovka was liberated by
the cavalry squadron of the 227th Rifle Division of the Red Army.
From November 14 to 16, fighting took place for the village. On
November 16, 1941, Prokhorovka was attacked by the Germans from two
directions: from the northwest from Petrovka and from the west from
the Oktyabrsky state farm village; after the battle it was
re-occupied by the Wehrmacht. On November 21, 1941, a Soviet
reconnaissance group threw grenades and machine-gunned a funeral
procession of Nazis in Prokhorovka. During the occupation,
Prokhorovka was used by the Germans as a stronghold, from where they
traveled to nearby settlements. groups of fascists to rob civilians
(food and things), even women's shirts.
During the Great
Patriotic War, on July 12, 1943, in the area of the Prokhorovka
railway station and the village of Aleksandrovskoye, the Battle of
Prokhorovka took place - a major oncoming tank battle of the Great
Patriotic War, where over 800 tanks and self-propelled guns took
part on both sides.
In the post-war years, the village of
Aleksandrovskoye grew and included the Prokhorovka station, which
became the western part of the village. On June 20, 1968, the
village of Aleksandrovskoye was given the status of a working
village, and on September 20 it was renamed Prokhorovka.