SARANSK - an unfamiliar old acquaintance. Part 1. Introductory front
There is a lot about what there is on Turpravda, but there is neither truth nor falsehood about the city of Saransk : )). Let me be the first!
T. Since the story turned out to be long (and tedious), I’ll immediately voice the main idea: Saransk has places to go out and places to walk. Well, why not come for a couple of weekends for a change. . . Welcom!
I invite you to take a walk together around the city where you were born and raised, but no longer live. I tried to make a story something like "how it was - how it became. " I attached photos from the 80s and 90s of the last century, taken from here. We used photos from a personal archive, as they say, taken in different years, using different equipment.
The text does not contain historical research, practical recommendations for a potential tourist. I will try to show the city with restrained pride for it, but not without a slight grumbling, so, in a kindred way : )). And I apologize in advance for perhaps unnecessary nostalgic memories.
Who doesn't know Saransk now? … Of course, not all, but many have already heard : ))
And fifteen years ago, quite often after answering the question of where I come from, sometimes I had to give explanations that Mordovia is not Moldova, and that there is such a city - Saransk is the capital of Mordovia, Russian region number 13…
My school and student years fell on those same 90s of the last century, so my childhood Saransk remained in my memory as a gray, gloomy, depressive city. Otherwise, as in rhyme - Zasr... sk - then we did not call the city names. In 2000, my husband and I joined the ranks of those who came in large numbers in Moscow. And the whole process of transformation into a vibrant, almost postcard city passed us by.
Yes, we often come, but somehow everything is for two or three days, for a maximum of a week, all some business-concerns... No, this will not work, it's time to get to know each other again : ))
The idea to create at least some material about Saransk arose a long time ago, but still nothing. And it was these signs on the houses that finished me off, prompted me to tell a story about Saransk, it was very unexpected to see the English version in the most residential area of the city. Let me explain: in Mordovia, along with Russian, the state (official) languages are the languages of two Mordovian ethnic groups - Moksha and Erzya, so all the names of streets, institutions and documents are drawn up in three languages. Well, the presence of English on signs and signs is already a trend of the Championship.
I will not reprint the main milestones in the history of the city, you can read here. Saransk was founded in 1641 as a guard fortress on the southeastern outskirts of the then Russian state.
And the main milestones of the recent history of Saransk, thanks to which the city received significant financial injections, we will briefly describe as follows:
The end of the 90s - the active revival, formation and development of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), the surviving church buildings are being restored and new ones are being built.
The beginning of the 2000s - the construction of several sports facilities at once, where events of both Russian and international scale begin to be held.
2007 - International festival of Finno-Ugric peoples
2011 - magnificent celebrations on the occasion of the 370th anniversary of the city
2012 is the 1000th anniversary of the unity of the Mordovian people with the peoples of Russia. The event, of course, is large-scale, but the fact is that in 1985 the 500th anniversary of the entry of the Mordovian people into the Russian Empire was widely celebrated. Well, okay, we became friends 1000 years ago, and formalized the relationship 500 years ago : ))
2018 – FIFA World Cup.
Here's who and how spent, mastered or invested many billions of dollars - it's not my business, there are specially trained people for this)). Similar topics can be discussed as much as you like in the kitchens and on the forums, but we will not be here. In any case, the city also fell on this money - Saransk noticeably prettier, flourished! Perhaps something is clumsy, something pretentious, there is a certain bust with glass on the facades, but all this is cheerful and life-affirming. You know, Saransk is an optimist who has problems through the roof, but he continues to live, strive for the best, prefers not to savor his problems, but to smile and live on : ))
Officially, Saransk is divided into three administrative districts - Leninsky, Oktyabrsky and Proletarsky. But many people don’t know about this, in everyday life such names as the Center, the older generation of the City, Niza - for the most part the private sector, Gypsy (private sector, actively built up), Svetotekhstroy, and quite the backyards of the city during our youth - a thermal power plant and a Remzavod. In recent decades, adjacent towns and villages have been attached to the city, and everything has now become known as the urban district of Saransk.
As a rule, guests of Saransk begin their acquaintance with the city from the railway station, so let's start with it. The history of the station dates back to 1893. Despite the fact that Saransk is the capital, it is not a major railway junction, serving a maximum of a dozen trains, and even then not every day. Either the Saransk authorities at that time (the end of the 19th century) did not really want to see the railway in the city, or they demanded a lot from railway officials, but it so happened that the locomotive depot was transferred from Saransk to neighboring Ruzaevka, which then it was just a village, and now the second most important city of Mordovia. But one way or another, you can’t do without a railway, so there is a station, and it’s very pretty: not big and not small, not pretentious. By the way, precisely because of the presence of the railway in the 30s of the last century, when appointing the capital of the region, the choice fell on Saransk, the oldest city of the republic, Temnikov (founded in 1536), was the contender, but there was no railway there. This is the 2009 version.
The previous building has served since the 40s of the last century.
Old railway station building
The railway station square has also undergone changes in recent years, but the monument to the stratonauts has remained
Station square after reconstruction
Station square before reconstruction
The monument is dedicated to the stratonauts who died on the territory of Mordovia in 1934 during a test flight. Then the pilots on the Rosaviakhim-1 stratospheric balloon climbed to a record height of 22 km.
In Saransk, as in any city, touristic and not very, ancient or young, the main beauties are concentrated in the Center. Let's start, perhaps, with the 1st building of Moscow State University.
Yes, yes, it’s Moscow State University, and I won’t lie a bit when I say that I studied at Moscow State University : )) – N. P. Ogarev Mordovia State University.
It used to look like this
1st building of Moscow State University is now the tallest building in Saransk (90 m), there is an observation deck, but it’s somehow difficult to visit there, you need to make an appointment by phone... The opening of the new building took place in 2016, dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the University. They say it was built according to the latest modern superfood requirements, which is good, otherwise there was such a viper there : ))
In general, Moscow State University. N. P. Ogareva is, of course, not only this nice building, but behind it is a whole block of educational buildings and dormitories. The university economy is scattered throughout the city and its borders: 29 educational and laboratory buildings, in which 10 faculties and 7 institutes work. We will look into one of the buildings a little later for comparison due to my mischievous nature : )) (Part 2) …
Instead of the Svetotekhnika stadium, there is now a new Sports Palace and Millennium Square with the Star of Mordovia light and music fountain.
We didn't manage to see this fountain ourselves, for some reason it didn't work just when we came to look at it specifically. The local guys laughed, they say, that's it, the championship is over - and the water too : )). In fact, Mondays are prophylactic days, and we managed to be there on Monday. But they sent me this photo
Star of Mordovia Fountain
Now it is a favorite place for evening walks. Millennium Square in the past, when it was University
Millennium Square in the past
If you go from the University along Bolshevik street,
Bolshevik street. Monument to N. P. Ogarev in front of the administrative and library building of Moscow State University
The building of the Main Post Office will be at the crossroads with the Communist, now there is also an MFC
This is what Mail looked like before
The second photo clearly shows the white building - the Saransk Hotel, located along Kommunisticheskaya Street. The modern look is such, for identification: the Saransk hotel has become some kind of beige)).
Intersection of Kommunisticheskaya Street and Lenin Avenue
Even in my lifetime, this street has been expanded and reconstructed a thousand times. Frankly, I myself don’t even remember what was on the site of this House of Finance (Ministry of Finance), in old photos it looks like this
And instead of modern cheerful handsome men
during my student days (20 years ago) there were houses like this
Oh, we deviated from the route, let's go back to the Main Post Office : ))
And now we are approaching the center of gravity of the city - St. Fedor Ushakov, built and illuminated in 2006
A. Nevsky Chapel, built and illuminated in 2000
Monument to the "Heroes of the First World War", opened in 2014
Here is a monument to Patriarch Nikon. Honestly, I don’t understand why he is here, but oh well
There is a version that Nikon is a native of the Mordovian land. I didn’t study it deeply, but the first queries on the Internet revealed that he was born into a “Nizhny Novgorod peasant family” in the village of Veldemanovo. Perhaps he was a Mordvin by nationality, but again, according to some sources, "Nikon's father was a Mari, and his mother was Russian. "
This is how these places looked before the construction of the cathedral and the reconstruction of the square. We look from the Cathedral of Ushakov: on the left, the hotel building was demolished, on the right, one of the first cinemas in Saransk - Oktyabr, which was also demolished due to dilapidation
Now there is a rather beautiful walking area. Photo of snowless January 2018
There used to be very active landslide processes in this place, which is probably why such areas and in the very center remained without capital buildings. Here is a very nice observation deck with the Rotunda,
from where the views of Saransk open: the park named after. A. S. Pushkin, the Museum of Local Lore, and the so-called Nisy
But let's move on. . . Victory Square.
The military memorial dedicated to the Great Patriotic War with the Eternal Flame was reconstructed in the early 2000s
It used to be a fashionable place for photo shoots of newlyweds with the obligatory laying of flowers, directly opposite is the Wedding Palace. Now I don’t know, I haven’t participated in wedding events for a long time, in my opinion, photos near the Christmas trees and at the Rotunda are more popular. And, of course, solemn events took place here on the occasion of all public holidays.
Memorial Museum of the Battle and Pond Feat of 1941-1945, opened in 1995
Behind the museum building there is a small exposition of military equipment in the open air and in free access to the great joy of the children.
Monument to the Fallen in Local Conflicts, erected in 2005 I confess, to my shame, I found out about him only in the summer of 2018
On one side there is a commemorative inscription “To the courage, steadfastness and honor of the warriors who fulfilled their sacred duty. 1952-1989”, on the other “Forever in the hearts of your descendants, the feat of your sons, Russia. 1994-2003 , the names of the dead guys are indicated.
And then there is the historical and geographical center of the city of Saransk - Sovetskaya Square.
It was here that the first buildings of the future city once were. Later, the city life on the Market Square boiled and seethed here. And now it is the venue for all city events.
The appearance of this square has not changed for several decades, find the differences : )) Except that Lenin was gilded
A large white building built in the shape of a waving flag (I remember this from school) is the House of the Republic, in common people the "White House" is the residence of the Head of the Republic. A beautiful red building, built in the early 20th century - the administration of the city of Saransk, in the people - the mayor's office.
From Sovetskaya Square to PKiO im. A. S. Pushkin there is a beautiful fountain descent, which also practically does not change for many years, something is being repaired, patched. I remember there was a period when the fountains did not work, everything was abandoned, but not for long.
At the bottom, at the end of the fountain descent, in 2001, a monument to A. S. Pushkin was erected
The monument continues (or begins) the theme of the Park named after. A. S. Pushkin, to whom we are going
And this is how these places looked 20 years ago
But about the park itself and other sightseeing and not very remarkable places of the city will be in the following parts
SARANSK is an unfamiliar old acquaintance. Part 2. Nostalgic
SARANSK is an unfamiliar old acquaintance. Part 3. Museum and theater
SARANSK is an unfamiliar old acquaintance. Part 4. About churches
