Tambov.

History

Tambov was founded on 17 April 1636 by decree of Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich as a fortress against Crimean Tatar raids. By the late 17th century the frontier outpost had become an administrative and trading centre, and it was granted town status in 1719. In 1781 Catherine II approved its coat of arms with a beehive, and in 1786–1788 the poet Gavrila Derzhavin served as governor, bringing a cultural revival. Since 1937 Tambov has been the capital of Tambov Oblast.

Culture & traditions

According to sources, Tambov is home to Russia's oldest drama theatre. The Tambov Art Gallery holds a large collection of paintings by Russian and Western European artists, and there is also a museum of local history. The oldest building in the city is the Transfiguration Cathedral, while the Kazan Monastery gained a new 107-metre neoclassical bell tower in 2009–2014. Composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, mathematician Andrey Kolmogorov, inventor Alexander Lodygin and chemist Constantin Fahlberg, who discovered saccharin, are all connected with Tambov.

Sport

The city has the basketball club BK Tambov and the ice hockey club HC Tambov; the football club FC Tambov was dissolved in 2021. Footballer Yuri Zhirkov and tennis players Anastasia and Arina Rodionova come from Tambov.

Food & drink

Tambov sits in the forest-steppe of the Central Black Earth region, where livestock farming is a notable part of the local economy. Its best-known local saying is not about food at all: "a Tambov wolf is your comrade", meaning "you are no friend of mine".

Practical information

The nearest airport is Tambov Donskoye. A railway has linked the city with Moscow since 1871, and suburban trains run to Michurinsk, Uvarovo and Kirsanov. Tambov is on Moscow time. The climate is humid continental, with February averaging about −8 °C and July about +20 °C; May to September is the easiest time to travel.

What to see

• Transfiguration Cathedral — the oldest building in the city
• Kazan Monastery — crowned by a new 107-metre bell tower
• Tambov Art Gallery — Russian and Western European painting
• Drama Theatre — described as Russia's oldest drama theatre