Coat of Arms

Kursk (Russian: Курск; Russian pronunciation: [ˈkursk]) is a city in the western part of Central Russia, at the confluence of Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. A coat of arms or armorial bearings (often just arms for short in European tradition is a design belonging to a particular person (or group of people Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Kur River (\IPA kuʀ\ река Кур \IPA 'ʀʲɛka 'kuʀ\ is a River in central Russia. Seym (also transliterated as Seim and Sejm, in Сейм is a River in Russia and Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Kursk Oblast. Kursk Oblast (Ку́рская о́бласть Kurskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an Oblast) The population of the city was 412,442 in 2002 (according to the 2002 population census). Russian Census of 2002 (Всеросси́йская пе́репись населе́ния 2002 го́да was the first Census of the Russian Federation carried This city was a key turning point of the Russian-German war during World War 2 and held the largest tank battle in World War 2

Contents 1 History 2 Attractions 3 Culture 4 Twinning (Sister Cities) 5 Honors 6 Prominent residents 7 See also 8 References 9 Websites

History

Archaeology indicates that the site of Kursk was settled in the fifth or fourth century B. Stalinist architecture (also referred to as Stalin 's Empire style Stalinist Gothic, or Socialist Classicism C. The settlement was fortified and included Slavs at least as early as the eighth century A. D.

The first written record of Kursk is dated 1032. It was mentioned as one of Severian towns by Prince Igor in The Tale of Igor's Campaign: "As to my Kurskers, they are famous knights—swaddled under war-horns, nursed under helmets, fed from the point of the lance; to them the trails are familiar, to them the ravines are known, the bows they have are strung tight, the quivers, unclosed, the sabers, sharpened; themselves, like gray wolves, they lope in the field, seeking for themselves honor, and for their prince, glory. Severia (Северщина Severshchina; Сіверія or Сіверщина translit Igor Svyatoslavich ( April 3, 1151 &ndash 1202 was the prince of Novgorod-Seversky from 1180 to 1202 The Tale of Igor's Campaign ( Old East Slavic: Слово о плъку Игоревѣ Slovo o plŭku Igorevě; Слово о полку Ігоревім "

The seat of a minor principality, Kursk was raided by the Polovtsians in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and destroyed by Batu Khan around 1237. Batu Khan (Бат Хаан Баты́й (c 1205–1255 was a Mongol ruler and the founder of the Blue Horde. The city was rebuilt no later than 1283. Kursk joined the centralized Russian state in 1508, becoming its southern border province. The Grand Duchy of Moscow (Великое княжество Московское was a medieval Russian polity centered on Moscow between 1340 and It was an important center of the corn trade with the Ukraine and hosted an important fair, which took place annually under the walls of the monastery of Our Lady of Kursk. Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. Our Lady of Kursk ( Богоматерь Курская Коренная, Bogomater Kurskaya Korennaya literally Theotokos of Kursk Found Among the Roots

The Soviet government prized Kursk for rich deposits of iron ore and developed it into one of the major railroad hubs in the Russian Southwest. Iron ores are rocks and Minerals from which Metallic Iron can be economically extracted During World War II, the village of Prokhorovka near Kursk was the center of the Battle of Kursk, a major engagement between Soviet and German forces which is widely believed by historians to have been the largest tank battle in history and was the last major German offensive mounted against the USSR. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Prokhorovka (Про́хоровка is an Urban-type settlement in Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located along the Psyol River southwest The Battle of Kursk (Курская битва refers to a series of German and Soviet operations on the Eastern Front of World War II The Battle of Prokhorovka was the largest tank battle in Military history, fought by armoured formations of Wehrmacht and the Red Army. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991

Attractions

The oldest building in Kursk is the upper church of the Trinity Monastery, a good example of the transition style characteristic for Peter the Great's early reign. The oldest lay building is the so-called Romodanovsky Chamber, although it was erected in all probability in the mid-18th century, when the Romodanovsky family had ceased to exist. Romodanovsky ( Russian: Ромодановские) was a Rurikid princely family descending from sovereign rulers of Starodub-on-the-Klyazma.

The city cathedral was built between 1752 and 1778 in the splendid Baroque style and was decorated so sumptuously that many art historians attributed it to Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Baroque architecture, starting in the early 17th century in Italy, took the humanist Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (Russian Франче́ско Бартоломе́о Растре́лли ( Although Rastrelli's authorship is out of the question, the cathedral is indeed the most impressive monument of Elizabethan Baroque not to be commissioned by the imperial family or built in the imperial capital.

The cathedral has two storeys, with the lower church consecrated to St. Sergius of Radonezh and the upper one — to the Theotokos of Kazan. Venerable Sergius of Radonezh (Сергий Радонежский Sergii Radonezhsky)—also translated as Sergey Radonezhsky or Serge of Radonezh was Our Lady of Kazan, also called Theotokos of Kazan (Russian Казанская Богоматерь) is a holy Icon, of which it The upper church is noted for an intricate icon screen which took 16 years to complete. The three-storey cathedral belltower derives peculiar interest from the fact that Seraphim of Sarov, whose father took part in construction works, survived an accidental fall from its top floor at the age of 7. Saint Seraphim of Sarov ( Russian: Серафим Саровский ( July 19, 1759 - January 2 (N The Resurrection Church is also shown where St. Seraphim was baptised.

The monastery cathedral of the Sign (1816-26) is another imposing edifice, rigorously formulated in the purest Neoclassical style, with a cupola measuring 20 metres in diameter and rising 48 metres high. Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century both as a reaction against the Rococo The interior was formerly as rich as coloured marbles, gilding, and frescoes could make it. During the Soviet period, the cathedral was desecrated, four lateral domes and twin belltowers over the entrance pulled down. There are plans to restore the church to its former glory.

The modern city is a home for several universities: Medical University, University of Technology, Kursk State University (former Pedagogical University) and Agricultural Academy, as well as the private Regional Open Social Institute (ROSI). There are also modern shrines and memorials commemorating the Battle of Kursk, both in the city and in Prokhorovka. The Battle of Kursk (Курская битва refers to a series of German and Soviet operations on the Eastern Front of World War II

The Command Station Bunker & Museum ^[1]was built specifically in memorial of the courageous Russian T-34 tank units that fought in the Battle of Kursk, where a T-34 tank is on display. The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1941 to 1958 It is widely regarded as having been the world's best Tank when the Soviet Union The Battle of Kursk (Курская битва refers to a series of German and Soviet operations on the Eastern Front of World War II Over 6,000 armored vehicles fought in close range over the open territory near Kursk in 1943. This battle stopped the German advance into the Kursk Salient, and was a turning point in WWII on the Eastern Front.

Kursk played a role in the Cold War as host to Khalino air base. Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the Vostochny Airport (Аэропорт Восточный is an Interceptor aircraft base in Kursk Oblast, Russia located 7 km east of Kursk

Nearby is Tsentralno-Chernozemny Zapovednik, a large section of steppe soil that has never been plowed. It is used for a variety of research purposes.

Culture

Kursk State University is home to the Russian Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of conductor and trumpet soloist Sergei Proskourin. The orchestra performs regularly, tours internationally and has produced multiple CDs. ^[2]

Twinning (Sister Cities)

• Zweibrücken (Germany, Rhineland-Palatinate)
• Speyer (Germany, Rhineland-Palatinate)
• Witten (Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia), since 1990
• Niš, Serbia
• Tczew, Poland

Honors

A minor planet 3073 Kursk discovered by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh in 1979 is named after the city. Zweibrücken is a City in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river at the border of the Palatinate forest. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz is one of the 16 federal states (German Bundesländer) of Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz is one of the 16 federal states (German Bundesländer) of Germany. Witten is a university city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen usually shortened to NRW, official short form NW is the westernmost and - in terms of population and economic output - the Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country Tczew ( Dërszewò is a Town on the Vistula River in Eastern Pomerania, Kociewie, northern Poland with 60128 inhabitants ( Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Minor planet is a term used since the 19th century to describe objects such as Asteroids that are in Orbit around the Sun but are not Planets 3073 Kursk (1979 SW11 is a main-belt Asteroid discovered on September 24, 1979 by N The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Nikolay Stepanovich Chernykh (Николай Степанович Черных ( October 6 1931 – May 26, 2004) was a Soviet and ^[3]

Prominent residents

• Georgy Sviridov, composer
• Alexander Deyneka, painter, sculptor
• Aleksandr Rutskoy, politician
• Seraphim of Sarov, monk and mystic
• The Tolmachevy Twins, singers

See also

• Our Lady of Kursk - holy protectress of the city
• Russian submarine Kursk
• Battle of Kursk

References

Websites

• http://www.kursk-uni.ru/pdf/ksu.pdf about Kursk State University
• http://www.wild-russia.org/bioregion3/tsent-chern/3_tsen-chern.htm about Biosphere reserve

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