Kemerovo.

History

The city grew from several settlements, the oldest being the village of Shcheglovo, known from 1701. Coal was discovered nearby in 1721, the same year the village of Kemerovo is first recorded. Shcheglovsk was granted town status on 9 May 1918 and renamed Kemerovo in 1932. In 1921 the Kuzbass Autonomous Industrial Colony arrived: some 650 workers from 20 countries built the coke and chemical plant.

Culture & traditions

Dutch architect Johannes van Loghem designed housing for the colonists. The city has a regional museum of local history, a fine arts museum, a drama theatre and a philharmonic. Its industrial past even shows in the coat of arms, with a silver retort, a cogwheel and ears of grain standing for chemistry, engineering and fertiliser production.

Sport

Kemerovo is a stronghold of bandy: it is home to the club Kuzbass, and the city hosted the 2007 Bandy World Championship. The Khimik Stadium has artificial ice, and there are also indoor ice palaces.

Practical information

Kemerovo International Airport, named after cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, a Kuzbass native, is about 10 km southeast of the city. Kemerovo is connected to the Trans-Siberian Railway. Local time is Moscow plus four hours. The climate is sharply continental, averaging −17 °C in January and +19 °C in July, with a short summer, which is the best time to come.

What to see

• Kuzbass colony housing — homes designed by Johannes van Loghem
• Regional museum — the story of the coal country
• Fine Arts Museum — the city's main art collection
• Khimik Stadium — the home of bandy
• The Tom riverside — a city on both banks