Satka is a city and administrative center of the Satka District
of the Chelyabinsk Region, Russia, located on the western slope of
the Southern Urals on the banks of the Satka River, 190 kilometers
(120 miles) from Chelyabinsk, the regional administrative center.
Population: 45,178 people (2010 census); 49,686 (2002 census);
50,664 (1989 census).
It was founded on November 19, 1758 as
a metallurgical plant. Magnesite, a mineral needed to make
refractory bricks used in blast furnaces, was found there.
At
the beginning of the 20th century, up to 10 thousand people lived in
Satka. There are many aliens among them. Old Believers of different
sects and beliefs (Austrians, Pomors, seniority, Filippovtsy,
Fedoseevtsy, etc.) came to work. There were two churches, two
schools, a post office, a telegraph office, a hospital, a consumer
society, two 46 industrial and commercial enterprises.
In
1824, the city was visited by Emperor Alexander I, which had a
positive effect on the further development of production. By the end
of the 19th century, there were two blast furnaces, between the
machine shop and the foundry. The Soviet government inherited a lot
of production. In 1928, Satka became an urban-type settlement, and
in 1937 - an urban district, and since 1957 - of regional
subordination.
Zyuratkul National Park. ☎ (351) 614-27-98. Ticket price (rubles
per day): 40 - for adults, 20 - for children, 150 - for foreigners.
National park with an area of 882 km2 at the junction of the taiga
and forest-steppe natural zones.
Neighborhood
Ski resort
Zavyalikha, town Trekhgorny, Gornaya str. 10. ☎ (351-91) 4-81-00,
4-03-31, 4-81-05. Daily from 10.00 to 18.00, Fri, Sat - night skiing
from 18.00 to 22.00. A large ski resort in Trekhgorny, 60 km from
Satka. The complex has 9 tracks.
Historical and natural complex
"Porozhskaya HPP" (Tract "Porogi"). The Porogi hydroelectric power
station is a historical and cultural monument of regional
significance, which is also included in the UNESCO list. The name of
the station was given by the turbulent river rapids that once were
on this place. The hydroelectric power plant was built at the
beginning of the 20th century and today it is the oldest operating
hydroelectric power plant in the country (some of the plant's
mechanisms have not changed since the start). True, the small
ferroalloy plant, for which the hydroelectric power station was once
built, is now closed. Tourists are allowed to the station, who, in
addition to the historical monument, are attracted by the local
picturesque landscapes and the spectacular descent of water in
spring, when Bolshaya Satka is full of water. There is even a small
hotel in the neighboring village, although tourists usually do not
disdain tents.
Sikiyaz-Tamak. A cave complex and an
archaeological site - the site of primitive people.
Aisky
fountain (geyser).
There are various versions about the origin of the Satka toponym. One of the interpretations: a crossroads, a fork, an interfluve from the Bashkir "sat", "satka". According to NI Shuvalov's point of view, the name could have come from the Bashkir clan ethnonym “satka”, which is mentioned in documents of the 18th century. The Satka clan is part of the Kuwakan tribe. There are also other interpretations: a spark, a sold land, a river.
Located on the Bolshaya Satka River, 176 km from Chelyabinsk, 60 km from Zlatoust. Railway station on the Berdyaush - Bakal branch of the South Ural Railway.
For a long
time, the banks of the turbulent Satka River and the mountains of
the western slope of the Southern Urals: Zigalga, Nurgush,
Zyuratkul, Lukash served as a refuge for Old Believers who had their
hermitages and secret prayer houses here.
In 1756,
entrepreneurs founded the Trinity-Satka iron-smelting and
iron-making plant. The owner of the plant became Count A.S.
Stroganov, who later sold it to the merchant Larion Ivanovich
Luginin, who, in turn, to Andrei Andreyevich Knauf. Trying to
improve his precarious financial situation, Knauf ceded the plant to
the State Assignment Bank, which after some time resold it again to
Knauf. But the latter was never able to develop production at the
proper level. In 1811, the plant, which was severely disrupted, was
finally taken away to the treasury.
The changing owners,
being slow-moving entrepreneurs, did not care about the condition of
the workers. This led to sad consequences: flight, riots and unrest.
The first open actions of workers were in 1760, then they
unanimously supported the uprising of E.I. Pugachev. Satka became
one of the centers of concentration of his armed forces. According
to the Cossack model, self-government was created here under the
command of Ataman I. Kuznetsov. It was here that the government sent
Colonel Mikhelson, who defeated the detachments of Pugachev,
Beloborodov and Salavat Yulaev. The battle, which took place on May
30, 1774, was bloody. The insurgents lost 400 people killed. Salavat
Yulaev was wounded. Before the retreat, the Pugachevites burned
Satka. The inhabitants and serfs of the breeder Luginin left with
the rebels in the woods. There, Pugachev put his battered troops in
order and again appeared at the Satka plant, but on July 5 he was
defeated by Mikhelson.
Nevertheless, the plant developed,
because the demand for metal was significant. He produced cast iron,
not inferior in quality to Swedish, puddling iron, made shells, gun
carriages. The excess iron contributed to the blacksmith industry.
In 1824 Emperor Alexander I visited Satka, which had a positive
effect on the further development of production. By the end of the
XIX century. there were two blast furnaces, and a rail track was
laid between the mechanical workshop and the foundry.
In
1898, deposits of blue stone - magnesite, which is a raw material
for the production of high-quality refractories, were discovered
near the Satka plant, on Karagai Mountain. This discovery determined
the fate of the city and the region. With the discovery of a
magnesite deposit, a plant for the production of refractory products
"Magnezit" was built, the products of the plant in 1905 at the World
Industrial Exhibition in the Belgian city of Liege were awarded a
gold medal.
All mining operations were carried out manually:
workers drilled holes up to 3.5 m deep, blasted the rock with
dynamite and white powder, the exploded mass was disassembled with
crowbars, crushed with sledgehammers, the rock was selected, loaded
into carts and transported for firing. From the equipment at the
plant at the beginning of the XX century. there was only a magnesite
kiln, a ball mill and a press. In 1901, a little more than 3
thousand tons of ore was mined, 600 tons of magnesite powder and 240
tons of bricks were fired. In the pre-revolutionary period, the
highest productivity "Magnezit" reached in 1916, when 31 thousand
tons of magnesite powder was fired, 10.4 thousand tons of products
were manufactured.
At the beginning of the XX century. up to
10 thousand people lived in Satka. There are many newcomers among
them. Old Believers of various sects and persuasions (Austrians,
Pomors, Polushkinites, Perfilians, Tikhvinites, Perebaprisians,
Filipovtsy, Fedoseevtsy, etc.) reached out to work. There were two
churches, two schools, a post office, a telegraph office, a
hospital, a consumer society, two industrial and 46 commercial
enterprises.
In 1928, Satka became an urban-type settlement,
in 1937 - a city of regional subordination, and in 1957 - a city of
regional significance.