Penza is a city on the Sura River, and it is the capital of Penza Oblast. The town’s history began as one of the area’s border forts in 1640, but it was not until 1663 that the tsar ordered the architect Yuri Konstransky to build a fortress town on the site. It became Penza’s formal foundation, and the first facility became Penza’s kremlin with a village and the quarters for the nobility, merchants and artisans. Cossacks were the first to come here, and later Russian settlers arrived, who became the basis of modern Penza.

In 1718, Penza was given the status of the provincial capital of the Kazan governorate, and in 1796 the city became the capital of its own governorate. Throughout the 19th century, Penza developed, and the city got, among other things, a library, factories and Russia’s first circus. In 1874, the city became part of the Russian railway network, stimulating new growth. By the end of the century, Penza had approximately 60,000 inhabitants, and that number grew steadily throughout the 20th century. Part of the growth came from the evacuation of factories from the western Soviet Union during World War II, some of which were opened in Penza. During the rest of the century, the population rose to over 500,000.

Today you can experience a city with several sights and opportunities for good walks. You can start at Lenin Square, the center of modern Penza. In the large and finely landscaped square, you can see the city’s Lenin monument from 1959, which stands in front of the Penza Region government building, which was built in 1958 in a period Soviet architecture. If you walk a few streets north from here, you will come to the Penza Oblast Academic Drama Theater from 2009, which is one of the city’s major constructions. Opposite the theater is a park where you can see a statue of the writer and literary critic Vissarion Belinsky, who was born in 1811 in present-day Finland.

In the older part of Penza around the squares Lermontovsky Skver and Sobornaya Ploshad, you can see the city’s Savior’s Cathedral, which was built in classicism 1800-1824, but destroyed during the Soviet Union in 1934. The church was reconstructed in the years 2011-2021 and stands again as before the destruction with an elegant exterior and a finely decorated church space. Opposite the cathedral you can see the Penza governor’s residence, built in 1790, and next to it you can visit the Penza regional art museum, housed in an Art Nouveau building from the 1890s. Close to this is also the Penza regional museum, which has exciting exhibitions in the field of cultural and natural history.

Penza was founded in 1663 on the Sura River, and close to the site of the city’s founding is the Trinity Monastery, established as a nunnery in 1692-1693. A few years before, the priest in the city’s Church of the Nativity had donated land for the purpose, and over the following centuries several churches were built, such as the Church of the Holy Spirit in 1858-1859 and the Trinity Church, which was built in its current version in 1900.

During the Soviet era, the monastery was closed, and the Russian Orthodox Church got it back in 1992. Today the monastery is still active. Opposite the monastery lies the island of Ostrov Peski in the Sura River, and here you can almost walk in a village environment in the middle of the big city. South of the centre, you can experience more of a village atmosphere in the Museum of Folk Art, which is housed in a particularly beautifully decorated wooden house.