Saratov Oblast.

History

People settled here as early as the Palaeolithic and Eneolithic, and the ancient Khvalynsk culture is named after the town of Khvalynsk. In the 13th century the Golden Horde city of Uvek stood on the Volga, until Timur destroyed it in the late 14th century. Saratov was founded around 1590 under Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich to guard the south-eastern frontier, and became a town in 1708. After Catherine II's manifesto of 1763, German colonists settled along the Volga; Pokrovsk, today's Engels, became the capital of the Volga German autonomy in 1918, which was abolished in 1941. The present Saratov Oblast was created on 5 December 1936.

Culture & traditions

The Saratov Drama Theatre, founded in 1802, is one of the oldest in Russia. The conservatory opened in 1912 as the third in the country, and the university dates from 1909. The Radishchev Art Museum holds more than 20,000 items, and Khvalynsk, birthplace of the painter Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, has had a museum in his honour since 1995. Saratov natives include the thinker Nikolay Chernyshevsky, the Nobel Prize-winning chemist Nikolay Semyonov and the actor Oleg Tabakov.

Nature

The oblast spreads across both banks of the Volga, and the soils are fertile black earth and chestnut soils. The highest point is an unnamed hill in the Khvalynsk Mountains, 369 m above sea level; the old town of Khvalynsk sits at their foot on the right bank of the Volga. The climate is temperate continental, with long, dry, hot summers and frosty winters, sometimes with blizzards.

Sport

Saratov is a city of many team sports. It is home to Kristall in ice hockey, Sokol in football, Avtodor in basketball, Universal in bandy and Proton in volleyball.

Practical information

The oblast is on UTC+4, one hour ahead of Moscow. Flights use Saratov Gagarin Airport, opened in 2019; a bridge over the Volga links Saratov and Engels, and Saratov's trams have been running since 1908. The climate is continental: July averages about +23 °C and midsummer can top +30 °C, while February averages about −8 °C. Late spring and early autumn are the most pleasant times for walks along the Volga.

What to see

• Radishchev Art Museum — a rich art collection of more than 20,000 items
• Saratov Drama Theatre — a stage with a history going back to 1802
• Saratov Conservatory — the third to be founded in Russia
• Khvalynsk and the Khvalynsk Mountains — an old Volga town and the region's highest ground
• Petrov-Vodkin Museum in Khvalynsk — in the painter's home town
• Engels — formerly Pokrovsk, a centre of Volga German history

Cities on the map

• Saratov 886,165