Michurinsk

Michurinsk (Russian Мичуринск ) is a Russian city with 98 758 inhabitants (as of October 14, 2010 ), and raion administrative center of Tambov Oblast in the.

Geography

The city lies on a railway junction in the fertile Oka -Don plain on the river Voronezh Lesnoi in the headwaters of Voronezh, some 400 km south-east of Moscow and 67 km west of the regional center of Tambov. The nearest towns are Chaplygin (52 km north-west ) and Grjasi (57 km southwest), both located in the neighboring Lipetsk Oblast.

History

Founded Michurinsk 1636 as a fortress by the name Koslow ( Козлов ) after the family name of one of the first settlers. Originally intended as a protection against Tatar invaders in the Crimea, the town had an extensive defense system with an earthen wall, the remains of which are visible in places today.

In the 17th century the military significance of the fortress gradually subsided. Instead, it was in the wooded area around Kozlov won reinforced timber and built warships since the 1650s, for which separate a shipyard on Lesnoi Voronezh ( literally " forest -Voronezh" ) was built.

After the borders of the Russian state were extended so far to the south in the 18th century that Kozlov was able to play a military role more, it became a trading center. The fertile soils favored to a great extent on agriculture. 1779 Koslow was awarded the city status, and also a brisk trade in the 19th century was not indispensable various agricultural products from Kozlov. This was further boosted by the construction of the railway lines that have Koslow connected to the Russian rail network. Towards the end of the 19th century already lived about 40,000 residents in the city.

1932 Koslow was after the famous Russian botanist Ivan Mitschurin who lived here since 1872 and conducted research mainly in the agricultural sector, renamed or during his lifetime in Michurinsk.

Demographics

Note: Census data

Economy and Transport

Economically characterizes the city especially the location in the fertile Black Earth region. In mechanical engineering and light industry, there are food processing operations. Since Michurinsk no longer applies in this area since the work of Ivan Mitschurin only as agricultural town, but also as a center of scientific research, it was given the status of a Naukograd ( "City of Science " ) 2003.

Michurinsk is located on the highway M6 and is a railway junction where the lines intersect to Lipetsk and Tambov. For this reason, there are in the city, larger railway workshops.

Attractions

As one of the cities of central Russia, which were not affected during the Second World War battles, Michurinsk has a very well preserved old town with a number of architectural monuments of the 18th and 19th centuries. These include in particular the Church of Elijah the Prophet (1781 ) and the Cathedral of Icon of Our Lady of Bogolyubovo (1873 ). The latter was built to a design by the renowned architect Konstantin Thon, and is similar in form to the Moscow Christ the Savior Cathedral.

Further education institutions

• State Agrarian University Michurinsk
• State Pedagogical Institute Michurinsk

Twin Cities

Michurinsk maintains since 1991 a city partnership with Munster in Lower Saxony.

Sons and daughters of the town

• Alexander Gerasimov (1881-1963), painter
• Vladimir Zeldin ( born 1915 ), actor
• Pitirim of Volokolamsk and Yuriev (1926-2003), Russian Orthodox priest, bishop, archbishop and Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church
• Georges Wellers (1905-1991), French physiologist and biochemist