Samara

Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev during Soviet rule, is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 million residents, up to 1.22 million residents in the urban agglomeration, not including Novokuybyshevsk, which is not conurbated. The city covers an area of 541.4 square kilometers (209.0 sq mi), and is the eighth-largest city in Russia and tenth agglomeration, the third-most populous city on the Volga, as well as the Volga Federal District.
Formerly a closed city, Samara is now a large and important social, political, economic, industrial, and cultural centre in Russia and hosted the European Union—Russia Summit in May 2007. It has a continental climate characterised by hot summers and cold winters. The life of Samara's citizens has always been intrinsically linked to the Volga River, which has not only served as the main commercial thoroughfare of Russia throughout several centuries, but also has a great visual appeal. Samara's riverfront is one of the main recreation sites for both local citizens and tourists.
Samara is named after the Samara River, which likely meant "summer water" (signifying that it froze in winter) in the Indo-Iranian language which was spoken there around the third millennium BC. The Samara city gives its name to the Samara culture, a Neolithic culture of the fifth millennium BC, and the Kurgan hypothesis associates the region with the original homeland (urheimat) of the Proto-Indo-European language.
During Soviet times, the city of Samara was renamed to Kuybyshev in 1935 in honor of the Russian Bolshevik, Valerian Kuybyshev. The city reverted to its historical name of Samara on 25 January 1991 where it remains to this day.
Samara, together with its northern neighbour Kazan, is at the centre of the Idel-Ural historical region. Ahmad ibn Fadlan visited the area that is now Samara around 921 while on his journey to the Volga Bulgars who then controlled the region from their capital Bolghar.
Legend has it that Alexius, Metropolitan of Kiev, later patron saint of Samara, visited the site of the city in 1357 and predicted that a great town would be erected there, and that the town would never be ravaged. The Volga port of Samara appears on Italian maps of the 14th century. Before 1586, the Samara Bend was a pirate nest. Lookouts would spot an oncoming boat and quickly cross to the other side of the peninsula so that the pirates could organize an attack. Officially, Samara started with a fortress built in 1586 at the confluence of the Volga and Samara Rivers. This fortress was a frontier post protecting the then easternmost boundaries of Russia from forays of nomads. A local customs office was established in 1600.
As more and more ships pulled into Samara's port, the town turned into a centre for diplomatic and economic links between Russia and the East. Samara also opened its gates to peasant war rebels headed by Stepan Razin and Yemelyan Pugachyov, welcoming them with traditional bread and salt. The town was visited by Peter the Great and later Tsars.
In 1780, Samara was turned into an uyezd town of Simbirsk Governorate overseen by the local Governor-General, and Uyezd and Zemstvo Courts of Justice and a Board of Treasury were established. On January 1, 1851, Samara became the centre of Samara Governorate with an estimated population of 20,000. This gave a stimulus to the development of the economic, political and cultural life of the community. Samara was outside of the Pale of Settlement and as such did not have any significant Jewish population until the late 19th century. In 1877, during the Russian-Turkish War, a mission from the Samara City Duma led by Petr Alabin, as a symbol of spiritual solidarity, brought a banner tailored in Samara pierced with bullets and saturated with the blood of both Russians and Bulgarians, to Bulgaria, which has become a symbol of Russian-Bulgarian friendship.
In 1935, Samara was renamed Kuybyshev in honour of the Bolshevik leader Valerian Kuybyshev.
During World War II, Kuybyshev was chosen to be the alternative capital of the Soviet Union should Moscow fall to the invading Germans. In October 1941, the Communist Party and governmental organisations, diplomatic missions of foreign countries, leading cultural establishments and their staff were evacuated to the city. This decision was reversed in the summer of 1943. A dugout for Joseph Stalin known as "Stalin's Bunker" was constructed but never used. To mark its role as wartime national capital a special Revolution Day parade was held at the city's Kuybyshev Square on November 7, 1941, and since 2011 has been remembered in an annual military parade organised by the city government.
As a leading industrial centre, Kuybyshev played a major role in arming the country. From the very first months of World War II the city supplied the front with aircraft, firearms, and ammunition. Health centres and most of the city's hospital facilities were turned into base hospitals. Polish and Czechoslovakian military units were formed on the territory of the Volga Military District. Samara's citizens also fought at the front, many of them volunteers.
After the war the defence industry developed rapidly in Kuybyshev; existing facilities changed their profile and new factories were built, leading to Kuybyshev becoming a closed city. In 1960, Kuybyshev became the missile shield centre for the country. The launch vehicle Vostok, which delivered the first crewed spaceship to orbit, was built at the Samara Progress Plant. Yuri Gagarin, the first man to travel in space on April 12, 1961, took a rest in Kuybyshev after returning to Earth. While there, he spoke to an improvised meeting of Progress workers. Kuybyshev enterprises played a leading role in the development of Soviet domestic aviation and the implementation of the Soviet space program. There is also an unusual monument situated in Samara commemorating an Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft assembled by Kuybyshev workers in late 1942. This particular plane was shot down in 1943 over Karelia, but the heavily wounded pilot, K. Kotlyarovsky, managed to crash-land the plane near Lake Oriyarvi. The aircraft was returned to Kuybyshev in 1975, and was placed on display at the intersection of two major roads as a symbol of the deeds of home front servicemen and air-force pilots during the Great Patriotic War.
In January 1991, the historical name of Samara was given back to the city. Samara is one of the major industrial cities of Russia and has a multiethnic population. The city retains its leading positions in the region, mainly due to a number of oil and petrochemical enterprises. In September 2016, Samara was awarded the title "City of Labor and Combat Glory".
In 2018, Samara became one of the host cities of the FIFA World Cup, the matches of which were held at the Samara Arena stadium.
On July 2, 2020, the title "City of Labor Valor" was awarded to Samara. On December 10, 2021, the Memorial Complex was installed on the Alley of Labor Glory on the Young Pioneers Avenue. The central element of the memorial complex was a glass and metal stele about 26 meters high.
The development of the territory of modern Samara began in the 16th century with the foundation of the Samara fortress. Prior to the founding of the fortress, this area was home to piers for Volga ships. The official date of foundation of the settlement was the decree of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich of 1586. The location of the town was predetermined by several factors: strategic placement in order to ensure security from the raids of nomadic tribes; expansion of the Russian state in the Middle and Lower Volga regions; convenient location in the steppe landscape, at the intersection of the Volga and Samarka rivers.
The fortress was wooden with 11 towers, surrounded by a rampart and a moat, and occupied 5.2 hectares. Gradually, the population of the fortress increased, and the surrounding territories were developed. Simultaneously with the fortress in 1586, Boldyrskaya Sloboda arose on the Volga slope, and around 1645, upstream the Volga, Voznesenskaya Sloboda. During the 17th century, the settlements merged into a single whole.
In 1688, the settlement received the status of a city, which required the development of the first boundary plan. It is known that by the beginning of the 18th century the city stretched in a narrow strip along the Volga slope. From 1703 to 1706, a new earthen, diamond-shaped form was built to the east of the old fortress. The layout was unsystematic, with small blocks of bizarre shapes. Almost the entire territory was occupied by residential buildings and administrative, commercial and military buildings were concentrated only in the fortress. The territories along the banks of the Volga and Samarka were occupied by marinas and barns. By 1717, there were 210 philistine houses and 17 houses of yasak peasants in Samara. The settlement grew slowly due to its border position and by the end of the 18th century it occupied 61.2 hectares of territory, compactly stretching along the banks of the Volga.
In 1763, Empress Catherine II signed an order "On the making of all cities, their buildings and streets of special plans for each province especially." In the 70s, extensive activities were launched by the “Commission on the Stone Buildings of St. Petersburg and Moscow” to rebuild provincial cities. At the same time, the development of the first master plan for Samara began. In 1764, the settlement changed its administrative status, becoming a settlement. In 1780 it again received the status of a county town. In 1765 and 1772 it was badly damaged by fires. Despite these obstacles, in 1782 Samara received the first master plan with a rectangular grid of streets. According to the plan, the territory of the city was subject to a complete redevelopment: all buildings were liquidated, with the exception of several churches, houses and a fortress. In 1796, a second reconstruction plan was drawn up, identical to the first. As a result of its implementation, by 1804 the territory of Samara had increased to 70.4 hectares. The basis for the planning of the northern part of the city was a rectangular quarter measuring 130 × 260 m. The southern part of the settlement retained its irregular character. The main type of building of this period is a low-rise estate. The directions of the streets were determined by the direction of the channel, the so-called Samara break. The city was divided into functional zones: residential areas with trade facilities, administrative and religious buildings. Community centers were located around churches and at the ship's pier. Forges were located on the outskirts of the city. The fortress occupied 3.6 hectares, divided into a residential zone, an administrative zone (offices, a prison, a storehouse), a public one (a court, a thought), a commercial, an industrial one (warehouses, piers, forges, barns). In 1804, a new plan for the reconstruction and expansion of Samara was drawn up, following the model of the previous ones. The old buildings in the south of the city were demolished, and a regular layout appeared in its place. In 1839, the plan was almost completely implemented. The territory of Samara has increased by 3.5 times (246.4 ha). The city occupied the entire territory along the watershed of the Volga and Samara rivers, the banks of which were built up with marinas, grain barns, warehouses, and small-scale industries. The Samara fortress was still preserved, but had already lost its significance.
In 1840, a new development plan was approved, according to which the territory of the city expanded further along the watershed, while maintaining the planning structure. The new plan reflected the nature of the prevailing wooden buildings (stone houses accounted for only 10% of the total). The size of the quarters remained the same, the city grew at the expense of adjacent agricultural land. As a major trading center, with a railroad, Samara in 1851 received the status of a provincial city. The general plan of 1853 regulated only building within the city limits, however, the settlement began to grow chaotically, numerous industrial facilities appeared: tanneries, oil mills, brick factories and mills. The development of navigation along the Volga led to the fact that piers, warehouses, sawmills and other factories occupied the entire Volga coast of the city. From 1875 to 1877, a private railway to Orenburg was built through Samara, laid along the banks of the Samara River. The residential part of the city was cut off from the banks of the industrial rivers, with the exception of a small section of the Strukovsky Garden, overlooking the Volga. By the end of the 19th century, Samara was a single planning space with a regular plan (with the exception of the Zasamarskaya settlement, which arose no later than the end of the 18th century).
The rapid growth of Kuybyshev required the development of a new master plan "Big Kuibyshev" in 1937, which was designed for the future, until 1956. It provided for a significant expansion of the city, turning it into a major industrial center. The main compositional axes arose along the watershed of the Volga and Samara rivers, and the second axis - Novo-Sadovaya Street. The structure highlights the main urban centers: Samara Square and the area of the Botanical Garden. The existing historical buildings were renovated and redeveloped, old cemeteries and churches were demolished to accommodate new public and cultural facilities. The outbreak of the Great Patriotic War prevented the full implementation of the plan. In the 1940s, large defense factories were evacuated to Kuibyshev, in connection with which the area of the city during the war and the first post-war years increased by 50%, amounting to 6651.3 hectares by the end of the 40s. Factories and factories were located along the railway, east of the old city, in empty areas. Between them and the old city, new residential areas arose. New construction also unfolded in other immediate outskirts and further in the periphery.
In 1949, a new general plan of Samara was adopted, according to which the transport system developed (the emergence of new highways), a new industrial and residential area of Bezymyanka was built, new territories were developed, new planning units appeared: microdistricts. The development of the city proceeded at an intensive pace: the Kirovsky district, the village of Kryazh, the mouth of the Dry Samarka were built up. Landscaping work was underway, the reconstruction of squares (Kuibyshev and Chapaev squares), the laying of the TsPKiO. A new urban framework was formed by community centers and main highways connecting remote areas with the historical center. However, until the end of the 1950s, the city was a conglomeration of scattered workers' settlements, located around the largest industrial enterprises. In such a system, two centers were key: the Old City (historical merchant) and the new Bezymyanka industrial district (social city). Bezymyanka was connected with the Old Town by a railway line and bus routes. This two-part structure of the city lasted until the end of the 20th century. In the 1950s, during the construction process, the local architectural school was able to form outstanding architectural ensembles that connected the workers' settlements into a single urban system. These are the buildings of Revolution Square, Kuibyshev, Samarskaya, Chapaev, Agriculture, Kirov, Pobeda Street, Kirov, Metallurgists, Yunykh Pioneers, Kuibyshev, Novo-Sadovaya, Maslennikov, the Soviet Army and the Volga embankment.
Samara experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb, borders on Dfa). Samara's humidity levels are higher in the summer than many Russian cities thanks to the precipitation levels and the close proximity to the Volga. The humidity levels usually range from 29% to 98% humidity over the period of a year. There was a record high of +40.4 °C (104.7 °F) during a severe heat wave. Being far inland, summers are very warm and winters very cold for its latitude among European cities.
Samara is the administrative center of the oblast and, within the framework of administrative divisions, it also serves as the administrative center of Volzhsky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is, together with two rural localities, incorporated separately as the city of oblast significance of Samara—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the city of oblast significance of Samara is incorporated as Samara Urban Okrug. In April 2015, Samara's nine city districts were granted municipal status.
The Duma of Samara Urban Okrug (Russian: Дума городского округа Самара, romanized: Duma gorodskogo okruga Samara) is the unicameral city duma of Samara, Russia. A total of 37 deputies are elected for five-year terms.
Since 2015, deputies are elected in a two-tier system: district deputies are elected who then elect representatives to the duma. In a 2019 law, the number of representatives was reduced from 41 to 37 while maintaining the two-tier system.
The Samara City Duma was founded in 1870 following administrative reforms that year.
In 2020, 210 district deputies were elected who then elected 37 representatives to the duma.
The next election will be in 2025.
The population of Samara was 1,173,393 in 2021, up from 1,164,685 in 2010.
In the 2021 Census, the following ethnic groups were listed:
Samara is a multi-confessional city with various religious groups, including an Orthodox Christian majority and minorities of Armenian Apostolic Christians, Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, and Jews.
However, since 2009, a Russian "anti-extremism" law has led to an increase in repression of religious minorities. Local authorities and courts in Samara have targeted Jehovah's Witnesses by liquidating the group's legal entity ("Local Religious Organization" or "LRO") and designating it as an "extremist" organization. In November 2016, "the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation upheld the decision of the Samara Regional Court to recognize the Samara branch of Jehovah's Witnesses as an extremist organization and to ban its activities."
Samara is a leading industrial center in the Volga region and is among the top ten Russian cities in terms of national income and industrial production volume. Samara is known for the production of aerospace launch vehicles, satellites and various space services (Progress State Research and Production Rocket Space Center), engines (Kuznetsov Design Bureau) and cables (Volgacable, Samara Cable Company), aircraft (Aviakor) and rolled aluminum, block-module power stations; refining, chemical and cryogenic products; gas-pumping units; bearings of different sizes, drilling bits; automated electrical equipment; airfield equipment (Start plant); truck-mounted cranes; construction materials; chocolates made by the Russia Chocolate Factory; Rodnik vodka; Vektor vodka; Zhiguli beer; food processing and light industrial products.
Samara has an opera and ballet theater, a philharmonic orchestra hall, and five drama theaters. There is a museum of natural history and local history studies, a city art museum, and a number of movie theaters. As a dedication to the city's contribution to the development of aerospace industry, there is a space museum (called Cosmic Samara) and an exhibition of aerospace history in Samara State Aerospace University. In the 2000s, a large number of contemporary art galleries have also been built.
Samara Regional Museum of Local History named after Pyotr Vladimirovich Alabin is one of the oldest museums of the Volga region, founded on November 13, 1886. The museum offers 2,500 square meters of exposition and exhibition areas, a 270-seat cinema/lecture hall, and a library with a reading hall. Museum's funds contain around 230,000 items, including abundant archaeological and scientific collections (paleontological, mineralogical, zoological, botanical), and folklore and ethnographical collections. Visitors are offered a wide choice of expositions: paleoecological – "Natural communities of Samara region", archaeological – "Priceless heritage of the times gone by", ethnographic – "Circle of life, reflected in traditions and rituals of the Volga region indigenous peoples", historical – "The Crossroads of Samara history", and other exhibition projects.
The main branch of the Alabin Museum is the House-Museum of Vladimir Lenin in Samara is an object of cultural heritage of federal significance. It is located on the site of a former city merchant's mansion, dating to the last quarter of the 19th century. The Ulyanov family rented a second floor apartment of the house of Samara merchant Ilya Rytikov in 1893. During this time Vladimir Ulyanov graduated from St. Petersburg University law school and started employment at the Samara Regional Court. The museum opened in 1940. The museum's second floor houses a permanent memorial/household exhibition "Ulyanov family’s apartment in Samara, 1890–1893", recreating the living conditions and household atmosphere of the Ulyanov family. The ground floor contains a specialised display area, including a fragment of an artistic reconstruction of Ilya Rytikov's merchant shop.
Samara has a strong rock 'n' roll scene with indie bands and great festivals like Protoka, Metafest, and Volgafest.
Another branch of the museum is the Exposition Museum of Art Nouveau opened in 2012. It was the mansion of Alexandra Kurlina, a merchant's wife and philanthropist. The original façade and interior survive to this day, representing the works of European and Russian art nouveau masters. The museum is an exhibition space, which hosts major Russian museums’ projects (The Pushkin Museum, Abramtsevo Museum-Reserve, Moscow Multimedia Art Museum), and organises exhibitions of its own collections.
The final branch is the House-Museum of Mikhail Frunze which opened in 1934 but its building was constructed in 1891. On February 23, 2004, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the museum, a new, third exposition was opened, in which new materials, previously classified as top secret, were exhibited. The exposition details information on the Russian Civil War, the confrontation on the Eastern Front between the armies of Mikhail Frunze and Alexander Kolchak, about "The Reds", "The Whites" and "The Greens", and about the anti-Soviet uprising behind the lines of the Eastern Front.
International festivals, scientific congresses and other social events are held on the territory of Samara. Among them are:
Architecture of Samara dates back to 15th and 16th centuries. The city had numerous wooden buildings with elaborate decor and more than 2000 cultural heritage objects. However, after the 1990s many unique ensembles were destroyed by a "concrete tsunami" of modern office and apartment blocks.
Several sports clubs are active in the city:
Samara is also a popular venue for National and International Ice speedway, and the City won the Russian Ice Speedway Premier League in 2012/13 season, meaning they will now compete in the Super League in the 2013/14 season. Samara is one of eleven cities hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup with 6 matches (4 Group Stage matches, 1 Round of 16 match, 1 Quarter-Final) which will take place in the newly built Cosmos Arena stadium. The stadium's seating capacity is 45,000.
During the World Cup, the city hosted the FIFA Fan Fest on the Kuibysheva Square. Up to 20,000 fans were able to participate in the event at a time.
Three new training fields have been built in the city for the FIFA World Cup. Two major roads have been repaired before the championship: the airport road and Moskovskoye Highway.
Samara is a major transport hub.
Samara is located on the M5 highway, a major road between Moscow and the Ural region.
There are rail links to Moscow and other major Russian cities. The new, unusual-looking railway station building was completed in 2001.
Samara is a major river port, due to its location at the confluence of the Volga and Samara rivers.
The Kurumoch International Airport handles flights throughout Russia and Central Asia and to Frankfurt, Prague, Helsinki and Dubai. A Soviet Air Force base once existed east of the city at Bobrovka air base.
Public transportation includes the Samara Metro, trams, municipal and private bus lines, and trolleybuses. Local trains serve the suburbs.
Samara Tram [Wikidata] is an extensive light rail system covering most of Samara. First opened in 1915 it currently has 25 lines extending 168.2 kilometres (104.5 mi) served by 423 tram cars. Most of all Samara trams are Tatra T3SU, modified Tatra T3E and 1 unique Tatra T3RF.
Samara Metro is a single-line underground rapid transit system. Opened in 1987, its only line has been expanded through 2015 and currently has 10 stations. The 11th station "Teatralnaya" has been under construction since January 2022.
Samara has 188 schools of general education, lyceums, high schools, and the college of continuous education (from primary up to higher education). Samara is a major educational and scientific centre of the Volga area. Twelve public and 13 commercial institutions of higher education as well as 26 colleges.
Samara is the home of Samara State Aerospace University (SSAU), one of Russia's leading engineering and technical institutions. SSAU faculty and graduates have played a significant role in Russia's space program since its conception. Samara is also the hometown of Samara State University, a very respected higher-education institution in European Russia with competitive programs in Law, Sociology, and English Philology. Scientific research is also carried out in Samara. The Samara Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences incorporates the Samara branch of the Physical Institute, Theoretical Engineering Institute and Image Processing Systems Institute. Major research institutions operate in the city. Samara State Technical University (SamGTU) was founded in 1914. There are 11 faculties with over 20,000 students (2009) and 1,800 faculty members. On campus, there are four dormitory and ten study buildings. Samara State Academy of Social Sciences and Humanities was founded in 1911 as Samara Teachers Institute. Currently, the academy offers 42 various specialisations in its 12 faculties.
The asteroid 26922 Samara was named in honour of the city and the river on 1 June 2007.†
Samara is twinned with:
Samara travel guide from Wikivoyage