Lipetsk Oblast.

History

The first Slavic settlers here were probably the Don Slavs. Yelets is recorded in 1146; the Mongols burned it in 1239, and in 1395 Prince Fyodor Ivanovich tried in vain to defend it against Timur. Recovery began around 1600 with new forts, Yelets being rebuilt under Boris Godunov in 1591. In 1703 Peter the Great ordered an ironworks for artillery to be founded at Lipetsk. The oblast was formed in January 1954 from districts of several neighbouring regions.

Culture & traditions

In the 19th century Yelets became the main trading town of the area and grew famous for its handmade lace. Its Ascension Cathedral, built between 1845 and 1889 in the Russian Revival style, dominates the skyline, and the town is linked with the writers Ivan Bunin and Mikhail Prishvin. At Polibino in Dankovsky District, Vladimir Shukhov built and patented a steel lattice hyperboloid tower in 1896, an idea that later inspired Gaudí, Le Corbusier and Niemeyer. Lipetsk has a regional art gallery, the Dom Mastera art museum and the Nativity Cathedral of 1791.

Nature

The main rivers are the Don and the Voronezh. The Galichya Gora reserve is made up of six sections and preserves pre-glacial flora. Part of the region also belongs to the Voronezh Nature Reserve. Some 62 mammal species and 167 nesting bird species are recorded here.

Sport

Lipetsk has the football club Metallurg, the women's volleyball team Lipetsk, the futsal club LKS and the ice hockey side MHK Lipetsk. The city's main indoor venue is the Zvezdny Palace of Sports, opened in 1974.

Food & drink

Lipetsk mineral water is a local pride, and it turned the city into a spa resort in the early 19th century. The region is also a major producer of sugar and canned vegetables.

Practical information

Lipetsk is 438 km south-east of Moscow and has been linked to it by rail since 1868. Lipetsk International Airport is 10 km from the centre, and Yelets lies on the M4 highway. The region runs on Moscow time. The climate is moderately continental, with January averaging about −7 to −10°C and July +20 to +21°C. May to September is the best time, for both Lipetsk's Lower Park and the Don valley.

What to see

• Yelets — a merchant town with the Ascension Cathedral and a lace-making tradition
• Shukhov Tower at Polibino — the world's first hyperboloid structure, from 1896
• Lower Park in Lipetsk — an early 19th-century English-style garden by the mineral springs
• Galichya Gora — a nature reserve with pre-glacial flora
• Nativity Cathedral in Lipetsk — a church dating from 1791

Cities on the map

• Lipetsk 496,447