Volgograd

Area: 113,9 sq km (territory of Volgograd Oblast)

Population: approx 999,000

Climate: The climate is sharp continental with hot and dry summers and cold winters

Area code: 8442

The city of Volgograd ("Volga City") stretches almost 100 km on the right bank the major European river Volga. It was founded in 1589 of the fortress of Tsaritsyn to defend the trade route along the Volga River. The city was stormed by troupes under Stepan Razin and Yemelyan Pugachev during the times of Cossak rebels and peasants uprisings. The preserved Kurgans (city heights) make the evidence of those remote times. The city grew rapidly in the 19th century, the railroad came to it, the first tram line was built and the first theatre opened.

Volgograd was one of the leading industrial centres in the Soviet Union prior to the start of the Great Patriotic War and was renamed Stalingrad after Joseph Stalin. It came in the world history under this name and was a focus of pivotal battles of the war during the WWII. The Battle of Stalingrad started on 17 July 1942 and lasted for 20 days. That was the greatest casualty battle during the war and a battle of big importance for Russians as capturing Stalingrad meant cutting Russian army off from Volga and Ural back land.
After the German army surrendered and the city was liberated it was almost totally destroyed. First the decision was taken to built the city anew in the different place and leave the remains of Stalingrad as a war memorial, yet it was finally rebuilt where it was in the first post-war years.

Stalingrad was awarded the title of Hero City for its heroism during the Great patriotic War. A memorial complex commemorating the battle, a huge Mother Russia, was erected on the Mamayev Kurgan, the hill that saw some of the most intense fighting during the battle. Another war monument is a Panorama Museum that has WWII artefacts on display as well as panoramic painting of the battlefield. To follow Khrushchev's politics of de-Stalinization, the city was granted it's previous name - Volgograd in 1961. Stalingrad is a city of great significance not only for the people of Russia. It is a reminder of what determination to stand up against oppressors can achieve.

Today Volgograd is a very modern city, boasting many monuments honoring the history of this great city. It is important industrial city and a major railway junction and host international airport.

Stalingrad battlefield information- Original documents,maps, aerial photography,pictures taken at stalingrad battlefield