Astrakhan Oblast.

History

In the Middle Ages these lands were ruled by the Khazars, the Cumans, the Golden Horde and the Astrakhan Khanate. Ivan the Terrible took the khanate in 1556, and in 1558 the city was moved to its present site, where a kremlin was laid out above the Volga. In 1569 Astrakhan withstood a Turkish siege. For nearly four centuries the city has been Russia's main centre of fish processing, and the oblast itself was created on 27 December 1943.

Culture & traditions

Astrakhan is a city of great ethnic diversity: Kazakhs, Tatars, Nogais, Kalmyks, Azerbaijanis and others live alongside Russians. It has Orthodox cathedrals, the Catholic Church of the Assumption and several mosques, including the White Mosque (1777) and the Baku Mosque (1907–1909). The painter Boris Kustodiev, the poet Velimir Khlebnikov and the soprano Tamara Milashkina were born here. The kremlin's two cathedrals were built by masters from Yaroslavl, combining traditional Russian forms with baroque decoration.

Nature

The oblast lies in the semi-desert and desert of the Caspian Depression, and the Caspian here is 27 m below sea level. The flooded expanses of the Volga Delta are spawning grounds for sturgeon, stellate sturgeon and beluga. The Astrakhan Nature Reserve was founded in 1919; it has been a Ramsar wetland since 1975 and a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1984, with 283 bird species recorded. To the north, in the Bogdinsko-Baskunchaksky Reserve, lies Lake Baskunchak, whose salt is 99.8% pure, and Mount Bolshoye Bogdo, the highest point of the Caspian Depression.

Sport

Astrakhan's main football club is Volgar, founded in 1960, which plays at the Central Stadium.

Food & drink

Local farming centres on vegetables, melons and gourds, rice and dairy and beef cattle. The oblast grows hundreds of thousands of tonnes of tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, courgettes and cucumbers a year, and potatoes yield two harvests. Astrakhan has lived by fish for almost four hundred years as Russia's main fish-processing centre, so Volga fish is the first thing to try.

Practical information

Since 27 March 2016 the oblast has been on UTC+4, one hour ahead of Moscow. Flights use Narimanovo International Airport, and trains link Astrakhan with Moscow, Volgograd and Central Asia. The climate is continental and dry, from −10 to −20 °C in January to heat of +35 to +45 °C in July. The season at Baskunchak runs from May to September, and late spring and early autumn are the most pleasant times for the Volga Delta.

What to see

• Astrakhan Kremlin — a fortress above the Volga with cathedrals consecrated in 1700 and 1710
• Astrakhan Nature Reserve — the protected Volga Delta and its hundreds of bird species
• Lake Baskunchak — near-pure salt and healing mud
• Mount Bolshoye Bogdo — the highest point of the Caspian Depression, sacred to the Kalmyks
• White Mosque — built in 1777, one of the city's historic mosques

Cities on the map

• Astrakhan 475,629