Demidov, Smolensk Oblast

Demidov (Russian Демидов ) is a town in Smolensk Oblast (Russia) with 7333 inhabitants (as of October 14, 2010 ).

Geography

The city is located about 90 kilometers northwest of the Oblasthauptstadt Smolensk at the Mündeung of the river Gobsa in the Kasplja, a left tributary of the Daugava.

Demidov is the administrative center of the homonymous Rajons.

History

The place was first mentioned in documents in 1499 under the name Porechye, which simply indicates in Russian on the location along a river.

At the beginning of the 18th century reached the village in the possession of the Tsars court; 1723 did Peter the Great build a pier for commercial vessels. In 1776 Porechye received its town charter. At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, the city was an important transshipment point for hemp and flax fibers, grain and other goods between Central Russia and the Baltics.

During World War II, Demidov was occupied on 13 July 1941 by the German Wehrmacht and recaptured on 22 September 1943 by troops of the Kalinin Front Red Army under the Duchowschtschina - Demidower operation.

Demographics

Note: Census data

Culture and sights

In Demidov, the Assumption Cathedral are ( Успенский собор / Uspensky Sobor ) of 1852 and the Intercession Intercession Church ( Покровская церковь / Pokrowskaja Tserkov ) obtained from 1857.

The city has a Historical and Folk Museum.

In the settlement Prschewalskoje (formerly Kimborowo, also Kimbory ) there is a Przhevalsky Museum on the former estate of explorers.

In Rajon Demidov and neighboring Rajon Duchowschtschina there are about 30 major lakes, the largest of the Akatowskoje Lake is. In this area of ​​146 237 hectares of National Park Smolenskoje Poosjorje was established in 1992 ( Smolensk Lakes Landscape), which is classified as a Biosphere Reserve since 2002 and international importance as a bird transit and resting area. The management of the park is located in Prschewalskoje.

Personalities

• Yuri Nikulin (1921-1997), famous clown and film actor, born in Demidov; after him the town's main street is named
• Nikolai Przhevalsky (1839-1888), explorer, was born in what is now Prschewalskoje, Rajon Demidov

Economy

In Demidov, there are companies in the textile and food industries.