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Rostov-on-Don (often colloquially - Rostov) is the
largest city in the south of the Russian Federation. It is the
administrative center of the Southern Federal District and the
Rostov Region. City was named the city of Military Glory (2008).
It was found by the charter of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna on
December 15, 1749. Located in the southeast of the East European
Plain, on the banks of the Don River, 46 km from the place of its
confluence with the Sea of Azov, 1092 km south of Moscow. The
population of 1,130,305 people (2018) is the tenth largest city in
Russia. More than 2.16 million people live in the Rostov
agglomeration (the fourth largest agglomeration of the country).
The city is a major administrative, cultural, scientific,
educational, industrial center and the most important transport hub
of southern Russia. Rostov is unofficially referred to as the “Gate
of the Caucasus” and the southern capital of Russia, as well as the
Don capital. The notion of “Rostov-papa” is widespread.
In
2012, Rostov-on-Don took the 5th place in the quality rating of the
urban environment. In 2018, Rostov-on-Don was one of the cities in
which matches of the World Cup were held.
Establishment to the early 20th century
From ancient times,
the area around the mouth of the Don River has held cultural and
commercial importance. Ancient indigenous inhabitants included the
Scythian, Sarmat, and Savromat tribes. It was the site of Tanais, an
ancient Greek colony, Fort Tana, under the Genoese and Fort Azak in
the time of the Ottoman Empire.
In 1749, a custom house was
established on the Temernik River, a tributary of the Don, by edict
of Empress Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great, in order to
control trade with Turkey. It was co-located with a fortress named
for Dimitry of Rostov, a metropolitan bishop of the old northern
town of Rostov the Great. Azov, a town closer to the Sea of Azov on
the Don, gradually lost its commercial importance in the region to
the new fortress.
In 1756, the "Russian commercial and
trading company of Constantinople" was founded at the "merchants'
settlement" (Kupecheskaya Sloboda) on the high bank of the Don.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century, with the incorporation of
previously Ottoman Black Sea territories into the Russian Empire,
the settlement lost much of its militarily strategic importance as a
frontier post.
In 1796, the settlement was chartered and in
1797, it became the seat of Rostovsky Uyezd within Novorossiysk
Governorate. In 1806, it was officially renamed Rostov-on-Don.
During the 19th century, due to its river connections with Russia's
interior, Rostov developed into a major trade center and
communications hub. A railway connection with Kharkiv was completed
in 1870, with further links following in 1871 to Voronezh and in
1875 to Vladikavkaz.
Concurrent with improvements in
communications, heavy industry developed. Coal from the Donets Basin
and iron ore from Krivoy Rog supported the establishment of an iron
foundry in 1846. In 1859, the production of pumps and steam boilers
began. Industrial growth was accompanied by a rapid increase in
population, with 119,500 residents registered in Rostov by the end
of the nineteenth century along with approximately 140 industrial
businesses. The harbor was one of the largest trade hubs in southern
Russia, especially for the export of wheat, timber, and iron ore.
In 1779, Rostov-on-Don became associated with a settlement of
Armenian refugees from the Crimea at Nakhichevan-on-Don. The two
settlements were separated by a field of wheat. In 1928, the two
towns were merged. The former town border lies beneath the
Teatralnaya Square of central Rostov-on-Don. By 1928, following the
incorporation of the hitherto neighboring city of
Nakhichevan-on-Don, Rostov had become the third largest city in
Russia.
In the early 20th century, epidemics of cholera
during the summer months were not uncommon.
20th century
During the Russian Civil War, the Whites and the Reds contested
Rostov-on-Don, then the most heavily industrialized city of South
Russia. By 1928, the regional government had moved from the old
Cossack capital of Novocherkassk to Rostov-on-Don.
In the
Soviet years, the Bolsheviks demolished two of Rostov-on-Don's
principal landmarks: St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (1908) and St.
George Cathedral (1783–1807).
During World War II, German
forces occupied Rostov-on-Don, at first for ten days from November
21, 1941 to November 29, 1941 after attacks by the German First
Panzer Army in the Battle of Rostov and then for seven months from
July 23, 1942 to February 14, 1943. The town was of strategic
importance as a railway junction and a river port accessing the
Caucasus, a region rich in oil and minerals. It took ten years to
restore the city from the damage during World War II.
27,000
Jews were massacred by the German military on August 11 and 12, 1942
in Rostov-on-Don on a site called Zmievskaya Balka.
Modern
period
In 2018, Rostov-on-Don will be a host city to matches of
the FIFA World Cup.
To Rostov-on-Don by plane
Rostov-on-Don Airport (Russian: Аэропорт Ростов-на-Дону) Aeroport Rostov-na-Donu (IATA: RVI (after Nov 26, 2017) / ROV (before Nov 27, 2017), ICAO: URRR) was an international airport located 8 km (5 mi) east of the city of Rostov-on-Don, in southern Russia. It was one of the largest airports in the south-west of Russia and the 12th busiest in the country. It was founded in 1925 and was designated an international airport in 1986. The airport served 50 destinations in Russia and abroad and hosted 30 airlines. It was a hub for Donavia. In 2015, Rostov Airport handled 2.06 million passengers, including 565 thousand on international routes.