Tula, Russia

Tula Тула
City[1]
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Tula
Tula Location of Tula Show map of Russia Tula Tula (Tula Oblast) Show map of Tula Oblast
Coordinates: 54°12′N 37°37′E / 54.200°N 37.617°E / 54.200; 37.617Coordinates: 54°12′N 37°37′E / 54.200°N 37.617°E / 54.200; 37.617
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Tula Oblast[1]
First mentioned	1146 (disputed)[2]
Government
• Body	City Duma[3]
• Mayor[4]	Yuri Tskipuri[4]
Area [5]
• Total	153.52 km2 (59.27 sq mi)
Elevation	170 m (560 ft)
Population  (2010 Census)[6]
• Total	501,169
• Estimate  (2018)[7]	482,873 (-3.7%)
• Rank	37th in 2010
• Density	3,300/km2 (8,500/sq mi)
Administrative status
• Subordinated to	Tula City Under Oblast Jurisdiction[1]
• Capital of	Tula Oblast[1], Tula City Under Oblast Jurisdiction[1]
Municipal status
• Urban okrug	Tula Urban Okrug[8]
• Capital of	Tula Urban Okrug[8]
Time zone	UTC+3 (MSK [9])
Postal code(s)[10]	300000–300999
Dialing code(s)	+7 4872[11]
Twin towns	Albany, Kutaisi, Kaluga
OKTMO ID	70701000001
Website	www.tula.ru

Tula (Russian: Тула, IPA: [ˈtulə]) is an industrial city and the administrative center of Tula Oblast, Russia, located 193 kilometers (120 mi) south of Moscow, on the Upa River. Population: 501,169 (2010 Census);^[6] 481,216 (2002 Census);^[12] 539,980 (1989 Census).^[13]

Etymology[edit]

The name of the city is probably pre-Russian, probably Baltic, origin.^[14]

History[edit]

Tula was first mentioned in the Nikon Chronicle in 1146;^[2] as the chronicle was written in the 16th century, the date is disputed. The first confirmed mention of Tula dates to 1382.^{[citation needed]}

In the Middle Ages, Tula was a minor fortress at the border of the Principality of Ryazan; as soon as it passed to the Grand Duchy of Moscow, a brick citadel, or kremlin, was constructed in 1514–1521.^[15] It was a key fortress of the Great Abatis Belt and successfully resisted a siege by the Tatars in 1552. In 1607, Ivan Bolotnikov and his supporters seized the citadel and withstood a four-months siege by the Tsar's army. In the 18th century, some parts of the kremlin walls were demolished. Despite its archaic appearance, the five-domed Assumption Cathedral in the kremlin was built as late as 1764.

In 1712, Tula was visited by Peter the Great, who commissioned the Demidov blacksmiths to build the first armament factory in Russia. Several decades later, Tula was turned by the Demidovs into the greatest ironworking center of Eastern Europe; the oldest museum in the city, showcasing the history of weapons, was inaugurated by the Demidovs in 1724, and Nicholas-Zaretsky Church in the city houses their family vault. The first factory to produce samovars industrially was also established there in the course of the 18th century. After the Demidovs moved the center of their manufacture to the Urals, Tula continued as a center of heavy industry, particularly in the manufacture of matériel.

In the 1890s, Ivan Savelyev, a medical orderly, became the founder of social democracy in Tula and set up a workers' study circle.^[16]

The city grew rapidly in the early 20th century as a result of arms production during the 1905 Russo-Japanese War and World War I. Tula's factories also manufactured weapons for the Red Army during the Russian Civil War of 1918–1921.

During the World War II of 1941–1945, the city was important in the production of armaments. Tula became the target of a German offensive to break Soviet resistance in the Moscow area between Friday, October 24 and December 5, 1941. According to Erik Durschmied in The Weather Factor, The Day The Panzers Froze, 5th December 1941, one General Reached the South Western Outskirts of Tula on 29th-30th October 1941; the heavily fortified city held out, however, and Guderian's Second Panzer Army was stopped near Tula. The city secured the southern flank during the Battle of Moscow and the subsequent counter-offensive. Tula was awarded the title Hero City in 1976, it is home to the Klokovo air base and the Tula Arms Plant.

Administrative and municipal status[edit]

Tula serves as the administrative center of the oblast.^[1] Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as Tula City Under Oblast Jurisdiction—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.^[1] As a municipal division, the territories of Tula City Under Oblast Jurisdiction and of Leninsky District are incorporated as Tula Urban Okrug.^[8][17]

Mayors[edit]

• Sergey Kazakov (1997–2005)
• Vladimir Mogilnikov (2005–2010)
• Alisa Tolkachyova (2010–2011)
• Yevgeny Avilov (2011–2012)
• Aleksandr Prokopuk (2012–2014)
• Yuri Tskipuri (2014–present)

Economy[edit]

For more than four centuries Tula has been known as a center of crafts and metalworking. Tula is a developed industrial center. Importance in the industrial structure of Tula are metallurgy, machinery and metal with a high share of the military-industrial complex and food manufacturing.

Armaments industry[edit]

• Almaz-Antey Concern: Scientific Production Association Strela (Russian: ОАО НПО «Стрела»)
• Splav (Russian: ОАО НПО «СПЛАВ») part of the Techmash holding of Rostec; only manufacturer of multiple rocket launchers in Russia: BM-21 Grad, BM-27 Uragan, BM-30 Smerch
• KBP Instrument Design Bureau
• Shcheglovsky Val plant (Russian: «Щегловский вал» завод): manufacturer of the Bumerang-BM for the T-15 Armata
• Tactical Missiles Corporation: TsKBA (Russian: ОАО «ЦКБА»)
• Tula Arms Plant
• Tulamashzavod
• Tula Cartridge Plant

Other companies[edit]

• Shtamp Machine-Building Plant
• Oktava
• Yasnaya Polyana: a confectionery factory established in 1973 under the holding of United Confectioners (Russian: Холдинг «Объединенные кондитеры») that produces 340 different candies including "Yasnaya Polyana"^[18]

Culture[edit]

A musical instrument, the Tula accordion, is named after the city, which is a center of manufacture for such instruments sold throughout Russia and the world. Tula is also renowned for traditional Russian pryanik, cookies made with honey and spices (see Tula pryanik). In the West, Tula is perhaps best known as the center of samovar production: the Russian equivalent of "coals to Newcastle" is "You don't take a samovar to Tula". (The saying is falsely ascribed to the writer and playwright Anton Chekhov, whose made a satirical portrait of one of his characters saying "Taking your wife to Paris is the same as taking your own samovar to Tula".)

The most popular tourist attraction in Tula Oblast is Yasnaya Polyana, the home and burial place of the writer Leo Tolstoy, it is situated 14 kilometres (9 miles) south-west of the city. It was here that Tolstoy wrote his celebrated novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina.

Education[edit]

Tula is home to:

• Tula State University
• Tula State Pedagogical University^[19]
• The Tula artillery and Engineering Institute
• A branch of the All Russia Economic and Finance Institute
• A branch of The Moscow Economics and Management Institute

Transportation[edit]

Since 1867, there has been a railway connection between Tula and Moscow.^[20] Tula is a major railway junction with trains to Moscow, Oryol, Kursk and Kaluga; the Moscow to Simferopol M2 motorway runs past the city. City transport is provided by trams, trolleybuses, buses, and marshrutkas. Tula trams, trolleybuses, and bus routes are operated by "Tulgorelectrotrans" (Tula city electrotransport company).

• 

  Bus LiAZ-5256

• 

  Tram Tatra T3

• 

  Tatra T6B5

• 

  LM-2008

• 

  Trolleybus VMZ-5298

Religion[edit]

Most of Tula's churches are Russian Orthodox churches. Next in number are Protestants and Catholics. Non-Christian organizations that are present include Muslims, Jews, Hare Krishna, Buddhists and Taoists.

All Orthodox organizations in Tula and the Tula Oblast are included in the Diocese of Tula and Yefremov. Among the Tula Orthodox churches should be mentioned Saints Cathedral (1776-1800), the oldest church in Tula - Annunciation (1692) and the Assumption Cathedral of the Tula Kremlin (1762-1764). In Tula also Old Believers' community services which are performed in the church of St. John Chrysostom.

In Tula there is the only Catholic church in the area, the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. Since the 1990s, Tula has several Protestant denominations, the largest church of which is a Baptist church with a prayer house in Tula. Representatives of other Protestant churches in Tula are Seventh-day Adventists, Presbyterians (Church of the Holy Trinity, The Glorious Jesus the Lord, the Good News), Pentecostals (Tula Christian Center, Church of the New Testament) and other evangelical churches (Word of Life, the Vine Gypsy Church).

Also the city has a synagogue and the Jewish Community House.

Sports[edit]

In Russian fist fighting, Tula was considered to have some of the most famous fighters.^[21][22]

The city association football club, FC Arsenal Tula, plays in the Russian Premier League in 2014/2015 and 2016/2017 seasons.

People[edit]

Arts[edit]

• Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), Writer
• Leonid Bobylev (born 1949), composer
• German Galynin (1922–1966), composer
• Vladimir Mashkov (born 1963), theater and film actor and director
• Vyacheslav Nevinny (1934–2009), theater and film actor
• Maria Ouspenskaya (1876–1949), actress and acting teacher
• Vsevolod Sanayev (1912–1996), theater and film actor, acting teacher
• Sofia Sotnichevskaya (1916–2011), actress
• Gleb Uspensky (1843–1901), writer
• Vikenty Veresaev (1867–1945), writer
• Alexey Vorobyov (born 1988), singer, actor and model

Public services[edit]

• Vyacheslav Dudka (born 1960), governor of Tula Oblast (2005–2011)
• Vladimir Ivanov (1893–1938), Soviet politician

Sciences, technologies[edit]

• Vladimir Bazarov (1874–1939), philosopher and economist
• Vasily Degtyaryov (1880–1949), weapons engineer
• Valery Legasov (1936–1988), inorganic chemist
• Valery Polyakov (born 1942), cosmonaut
• Ivan Sakharov (1807–1863), folklorist, ethnographer
• Petr Sushkin (1868–1928), ornithologist
• Sergei Tokarev (1899–1985), historian, ethnographer

Sports[edit]

• Alexander Kotov (1913–1981), chess player, international grandmaster, SSSR champion, author, mechanical engineer
• Ksenia Afanasyeva (born 1991), Olympic artistic gymnast, world and European champion
• Ekaterina Gnidenko (born 1992), track cyclist
• Yevgeny Grishin (1931–2005), speedskater, Olympic and European champion
• Oksana Grishina (born 1968), track cyclist
• Irina Kirillova (born 1965), volleyball player, Olympic, world and European champion
• Sergei Kopylov (born 1960), racing cyclist
• Viktor Kudriavtsev (born 1937), figure skating coach
• Andrey Kuznetsov (born 1991), tennis player
• Vladimir Leonov (born 1937), cyclist
• Valentina Maksimova (born 1937), track cyclist
• Ihor Nadein (1948–2014), football player and coach
• Yelena Posevina (born 1986), rhythmic gymnast, Olympic, world and European champion
• Evgeniya Romanyuta (born 1988), racing cyclist, European champion
• Anastasia Voynova (born 1993), racing cyclist, world and European champion

Others[edit]

• Nikita Demidov (1656–1725), industrialist, founder of Demidov dynasty

Climate[edit]

Tula has a humid continental climate;^[23] this is pronounced by warm summers and cold but not severe winters by Russian standards.

Twin towns and sister cities[edit]

Tula is twinned with:^[26]

• Albany, New York, United States
• Mogilev, Belarus
• Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany
• Banská Bystrica, Slovakia^{[citation needed]}
• Kerch, Russia
• Kutaisi, Georgia
• Barranquilla, Colombia

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Тульская областная Дума. Закон №954-ЗТО от 27 декабря 2007 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Тульской области», в ред. Закона №2131-ЗТО от 11 июня 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в Закон Тульской области "Об административно-территориальном устройстве Тульской области" и Закон Тульской области "Об установлении границ административно-территориальных единиц – районов в городе Туле"». Вступил в силу по истечении десяти дней после дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Вестник Тульской областной Думы", №11–12(142–143), часть 4, ноябрь–декабрь 2007 г.. (Tula Oblast Duma. Law #954-ZTO of December 27, 2007 On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Tula Oblast, as amended by the Law #2131-ZTO of June 11, 2014 On Amending the Law of Tula Oblast "On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Tula Oblast" and the Law of Tula Oblast "On Establishing the Borders of the Administrative-Territorial Units–the Districts in the City of Tula". Effective as of the day which is ten days after the official publication date.).
• Тульская областная Дума. Закон №553-ЗТО от 11 марта 2005 г. «О переименовании "муниципального образования город Тула Тульской области", установлении границы муниципального образования город Тула и наделении его статусом городского округа», в ред. Закона №2133-ЗТО от 11 июня 2014 г. «Об объединении муниципальных образований, расположенных на территории Ленинского района Тульской области, с муниципальным образованием город Тула, о внесении изменений в Закон Тульской области "О переименовании "муниципального образования город Тула Тульской области", установлении границы муниципального образования город Тула и наделении его статусом городского округа" и признании утратившими силу отдельных законодательных актов (положений законодательных актов) Тульской области». Вступил в силу через десять дней после официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Тульские известия", №66–69, 22 марта 2005 г. (Tula Oblast Duma. Law #553-ZTO of March 11, 2005 On Renaming "Municipal Formation of the City of Tula of Tula Oblast", Establishing the Border of the Municipal Formation of the City of Tula, and on Granting It Urban Okrug Status, as amended by the Law #2133-ZTO of June 11, 2014 On the Merger of the Municipal Formations on the Territory of Leninsky District of Tula Oblast with the Municipal Formation of the City of Tula, on Amending the Law of Tula Oblast "On Renaming "Municipal Formation of the City of Tula of Tula Oblast", Establishing the Border of the Municipal Formation of the City of Tula, and on Granting It Urban Okrug Status", and on Abrogating Various Legislative Acts (Clauses of Legislative Acts) of Tula Oblast. Effective as of the day ten days after the official publication.).
• Государственный комитет Российской Федерации по статистике. Комитет Российской Федерации по стандартизации, метрологии и сертификации. №ОК 019-95 1 января 1997 г. «Общероссийский классификатор объектов административно-территориального деления. Код 71», в ред. изменения №278/2015 от 1 января 2016 г.. (State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation. Committee of the Russian Federation on Standardization, Metrology, and Certification. #OK 019-95 January 1, 1997 Russian Classification of Objects of Administrative Division (OKATO). Code 71, as amended by the Amendment #278/2015 of January 1, 2016. ).

Further reading[edit]

• Annette M. B. Meakin (1906). "Tula". Russia, Travels and Studies. London: Hurst and Blackett. OCLC 3664651.
• "Tula". The Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). New York: Encyclopædia Britannica. 1910. OCLC 14782424.

External links[edit]

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Tula.

• Map: Battle of Tula 1941
•  "Tula" . The New Student's Reference Work . 1914.