Rostov Oblast.

History

In the late 3rd century BC settlers from Miletus founded Tanais, a trading town in the Don delta; Venetian and Genoese merchants later traded on the same spot. From the late 16th century Cossacks settled along the Don, and for almost two centuries their capital was Cherkassk, today the village of Starocherkasskaya. Peter the Great founded Taganrog in 1698 as Russia's first navy base, and in 1749 a customs post on the Temernik river gave rise to Rostov. In 1805 Ataman Platov moved the Don Host's capital to newly built Novocherkassk; the oblast in its present form dates from 1937.

Culture & traditions

Cossack culture, with its assemblies and elected atamans, is still felt in the region's villages and museums. Taganrog is Anton Chekhov's hometown and appears in many of his works; actress Faina Ranevskaya was born there too, and the town's theatre dates back to 1827. A state museum-reserve is devoted to Mikhail Sholokhov, author of And Quiet Flows the Don. Armenians resettled from Crimea founded Nakhichevan-on-Don in 1779, now part of Rostov, and their Holy Cross Church of 1792 still stands. Among local crafts, Semikarakorsk ceramics are the best known.

Nature

The main river is the Don, one of Europe's longest, joined here by its large tributary the Seversky Donets. The Don feeds the vast Tsimlyansk Reservoir, and the salty Lake Manych-Gudilo lies in the south-east. Most of the oblast is steppe of feather grass, couch grass and wormwood, turning to forest-steppe in places. The coast is the Taganrog Bay of the Sea of Azov, and summers are dry and hot.

Sport

The Don lands have long been horse country: the Budyonny breed was developed here, and Don Cossacks were famed cavalrymen. Football club FC Rostov plays at the 45,000-seat Rostov Arena, which hosted five matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The Rostov-Don name covers local handball, basketball and ice hockey teams. Since 2002 the oblast has also staged tractor races.

Food & drink

Don Cossack cooking is built around the river: baked carp or bream, ukha fish soup and kulesh. Alongside come porridges, noodles, pies, cabbage rolls and aspic. A local signature is pickled watermelon, served with strong drinks. The oblast ranks among Russia's leading grain producers, so bread and pies are very much home-grown.

Practical information

The main gateway is Platov International Airport near Rostov, opened in 2017. Trains between central Russia, the Caucasus and the Black Sea run through Rostov-Glavny station, and the M-4 Don highway crosses the oblast. The region is on Moscow time. The climate is continental: Rostov averages about −3 °C in January and +23 °C in July. Late spring and early autumn are the most comfortable seasons, before or after the summer heat.

What to see

• Starocherkasskaya — the old Cossack capital, with the Resurrection Cathedral of 1719 and its gilded iconostasis.
• Tanais — excavations of an ancient Greek trading town in the Don delta, now an open-air museum.
• Taganrog — Chekhov's hometown, which turns up in many of his stories.
• Novocherkassk — the 75-metre neo-Byzantine Ascension Cathedral.
• Sholokhov Museum-Reserve — the places where the author of Quiet Don lived and wrote.
• Rostov's Don embankment — a riverside walk past the city's bridges.

Cities on the map

• Rostov-on-Don 1,142,162