Saratov.

History

The fortress was founded around 1590 under Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, near Uvek, a Golden Horde town destroyed in 1395. Saratov became a town in 1708 and a provincial capital in 1780. After Catherine II's manifesto of 1763, German colonists settled along the Volga and Saratov became an important centre of the Volga Germans, who were deported in 1941. In Soviet times the city was closed because of its aircraft industry.

Culture & traditions

Saratov's drama theatre, founded in 1802, is among the oldest in Russia. The conservatory, opened in 1912, was the third in the country. The Radishchev Art Museum holds more than 20,000 works, including pieces by Corot and Rodin. The university has been teaching since 1909, and natives of the city include Nikolay Chernyshevsky, Pyotr Stolypin and Oleg Tabakov.

Sport

The city's best-known club is the basketball team Avtodor. Football is played by Sokol and ice hockey by Kristall.

Practical information

The new Gagarin Airport opened in 2019. The railway reached Saratov in 1870, the city remains a major Volga port, and a bridge crosses the river to neighbouring Engels. Trams and trolleybuses run in the city, and since 2021 an intercity trolleybus has crossed the Volga. The climate is continental, averaging about +23 °C in July and −8 °C in February; late spring or early autumn is the best time to come.

What to see

• Radishchev Art Museum — over 20,000 works, from Russian masters to Rodin
• Drama Theatre — a stage founded in 1802
• Conservatory — the third oldest in Russia
• Stolypin Prospekt — formerly Kirov Prospekt, renamed in 2022
• Volga bridge to Engels — wide views over the river