Kursk Oblast.

History

Archaeologists trace settlement on the site of Kursk to the 8th century, and the town is first mentioned in the Life of Theodosius of the Kiev Caves, written no earlier than 1032. In the Middle Ages Kursk was the capital of a small principality, and in 1596 it was rebuilt as a frontier fortress. Later it grew into a major centre of the grain trade and of fairs. In the summer of 1943 the Battle of Kursk, one of the largest of the Second World War, was fought here. Kursk Oblast was formed in June 1934.

Culture & traditions

Kursk keeps the Sergiev Cathedral, completed in 1778, and the cathedral of the Znamensky Monastery of 1816–26, a rigorous example of Neoclassicism. The city has the Pushkin Drama Theatre, and the Russian Chamber Orchestra plays regularly at Kursk State University. Kursk gave the country the painter Alexander Deyneka, composer Georgy Sviridov and actor Mikhail Shchepkin. The town-museum of Rylsk and other historic towns preserve the region's past.

Nature

The Alyokhin Central Black Earth Nature Reserve was set up in 1935 south-east of Kursk and joined the world network of biosphere reserves in 1978. Its Streletsky section preserves virgin meadow steppe that changes colour with the seasons, and about 1,340 flowering plant species have been recorded in the reserve. The main rivers are the Seym and the Psyol. Forests now cover only about 10% of the region and shelter otter, badger, wild boar and red deer.

Sport

Kursk's best-known athlete is the boxer Alexander Povetkin, who competed at the Olympic Games. The steppe sections of the nature reserve are well suited to hiking.

Practical information

Kursk is about 530 km south of Moscow and has been linked to it by rail since 1868; the city also has an airport with domestic flights. The region runs on Moscow time. Summers are warm, averaging about +19°C in July, and winters are fairly mild at around −8.6°C in January. Late spring and summer are the best seasons for the reserve's steppe.

What to see

• Central Black Earth Nature Reserve — virgin meadow steppe that changes colour through the seasons
• Znamensky Cathedral in Kursk — pure early 19th-century Neoclassicism
• Sergiev Cathedral — a landmark church of Kursk completed in 1778
• Rylsk — a historic town preserved as a town-museum

Cities on the map

• Kursk 440,052