Surazh is a city (since 1781) in Russia, the administrative center of
the Surazhsky district of the Bryansk region.
By Order of the
Government of the Russian Federation dated July 29, 2014 No. 1398-r “On
approval of the list of single-industry towns,” the city was included in
the category “Single-industry municipalities of the Russian Federation
(single-industry towns) in which there are risks of deterioration of the
socio-economic situation.”
In the central part of Surazh, individual buildings dating back to
the late 19th and early 20th centuries have been preserved. A unique
symbol of the city can be called a small but very elegant chapel-tomb,
built in 1907 in the city center by order of the local nobleman Ivan
Isaev over the grave of his untimely departed wife Elena. In popular
memory, the chapel is associated with the more famous family of Surazh
nobles, the Iskritskys, which is why in literature today it is often
referred to as the “chapel-tomb of the Iskritskys.”
The
picturesque banks of Iput near Surazh are a favorite vacation spot for
townspeople.
10 km east of the city is the village of Lyalichi -
the former estate of Count P. V. Zavadovsky, where the estate palace and
the majestic Catherine Church (the architect of both projects was
Giacomo Quarenghi), as well as a badly neglected English-style park
surrounding the estate, are partially preserved.
The city is located on the Iput River (Dnieper basin), 177 km from Bryansk and 14 km from the border with the Republic of Belarus. The railway station of the same name on the inactive non-electrified line Krichev - Unecha.
According to unconfirmed reports, Surazh was first mentioned at the
beginning of the 17th century. The first reliable information about the
village of Surazhichi is contained in the so-called “Mglin Inventory” -
a socio-economic description of the Mglin volost for 1650. Initially, it
was a small settlement that was part of the Mglinsky hundred of the
Starodubsky regiment of the Zaporozhye Army.
In 1782, with the
abolition of the hundred-regiment system during the administrative
reform of Catherine II, the village of Surazhichi was transformed into a
district town (original name: Surazh-on-Iputi). By decree of June 4,
1782, the city was granted a coat of arms, which depicts “a bush of
ripened hemp in a golden field, as a sign of the abundance of this
plant, which residents trade with.”
In 1781-1796 - the center of
the Surazh district as part of the Novgorod-Seversky governorship. From
1797 to 1801 - a provincial town in Mglinsky district as part of the
Little Russian province, and in 1801-1802 - as part of the Chernigov
province. On February 27, 1803, it was restored to the rights of a
district town, the center of the Surazh district as part of the
Chernigov province.
Since the Pale of Settlement passed east of
the city, there was a significant Jewish population in Surazh until the
Great Patriotic War.
In 1919, Surazhsky district was transferred
to the newly formed Gomel province, and in 1921 the district center was
moved from Surazh to Klintsy, and therefore the district became known as
Klintsy. In 1926 it was transferred to the Bryansk province. Since 1929
it has been a regional center.
Zamsky, Hananiy Samsonovich (1913-1998) - Soviet scientist and
defectologist.
Shub, Esfir Ilyinichna (nee Roshal; 1894, Surazh -
1959, Moscow) - Soviet film director.
The city-forming enterprise of Surazh is the technical cardboard
factory of Proletary JSC. Due to the decisive role of the factory in the
city’s economy, in December 2009 Surazh was included by the Ministry of
Regional Development in the list of single-industry towns. In 2011,
Surazh was the first of the single-industry towns in the Bryansk region
to develop and submit for approval to the Ministry of Regional
Development a comprehensive investment plan (IIP) for the development of
the single-industry town.
Other notable enterprises in the city’s
economy include Surazhmolprom OJSC, the Surazh branch of Khlebogor LLC,
and the Surazhanka clothing factory.
Colony-settlement No. 3 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia
for the Bryansk Region operates in the city.
In the mid-60s of
the 20th century, a dispensary was opened for citizens with alcohol
addiction. The number of people undergoing treatment sometimes reached
up to a thousand people, but the length of stay did not exceed two
years. From 1976 to 1993, a medical and labor dispensary operated.
Citizens who ended up here were corrected through occupational therapy,
but only after undergoing a course of treatment for alcoholism. In 2001,
a colony-settlement was created on the basis of the dispensary.
Convicts work on subsidiary plots, build decorative fences, paving
slabs, monuments, and cut timber. The production of polypropylene bags
is also established here, and there is an auto repair shop.