Samara Oblast.

History

People have lived here since deep antiquity: the region has yielded Europe's earliest pottery, from the Elshanka culture, and the world's oldest known horse burial. Samara was founded in 1586 as a fortress where the Samara River meets the Volga, guarding the country's eastern frontier. Samara Governorate was created in 1851, and from 1935 to 1991 the city was called Kuybyshev. In October 1941 government institutions were evacuated here and the city served as the Soviet Union's alternative capital; from 1960 it became a centre of rocket building, and the Progress plant produced the Vostok launcher that carried the first crewed spacecraft.

Culture & traditions

Samara has an opera and ballet theatre, a philharmonic hall and five drama theatres, along with museums of local history, art and natural history. The Cosmic Samara museum tells the story of the city's role in spaceflight. During the war Dmitry Shostakovich lived here and finished his Seventh Symphony. The oblast is home to many peoples: Tatars, Chuvash and Mordvins live alongside Russians.

Nature

The oblast spans three natural zones: forest, forest-steppe and steppe. Its most famous landscape is the Zhiguli Mountains on the Volga's right bank inside the Samara Bend, topped by Nablyudatel at 381 m. They are considered the only tectonically active mountains in European Russia, and their outcrops reveal limestone and dolomite from the Permian and Carboniferous periods. The Zhiguli Nature Reserve and Samarskaya Luka National Park protect the bend, home to red deer, roe deer, elk and occasionally bears.

Sport

The region's leading football club is Krylia Sovetov, which plays at the Samara Arena. The CSK VVS ice-hockey team plays at the Kristall Ice Palace, and the Samara basketball club at the MTL Arena.

Food & drink

Samara is known for two local products: Zhigulevskoye beer and chocolate from the Rossiya factory.

Practical information

The oblast is on UTC+4, one hour ahead of Moscow. Flights arrive at Kurumoch International Airport, the city is on the national rail network, and Samara has had a metro since 1987. The climate is continental, with cold winters and hot summers. Summer and early autumn are the best time to visit, for walks on the riverfront and trips to the Zhiguli Mountains.

What to see

• Samara riverfront — the main place to relax on the Volga for locals and visitors
• Stalin's Bunker — a wartime shelter that was built but never used
• Cosmic Samara museum — the story of the Vostok rocket and Samara's space industry
• Zhiguli Mountains — scenic limestone slopes inside the Samara Bend
• Samarskaya Luka National Park — protected landscapes in the Volga loop
• Monument of Glory — a landmark on Samara's skyline

Cities on the map

• Samara 1,173,393
• Tolyatti 662,683