Ulyanovsk is a large Russian city located along the Volga River. Its history began in 1648, when the boyar Bogdan Khitrovo founded the fort of Simbirsk, strategically located on a hill on the west bank of the Volga. The fort was part of the eastern defenses of the Russian Empire against nomadic tribes. The fort also came to play a military role as early as 1668, when it withstood a siege by 20,000 Cossacks.

During this time, Simbirsk had a central facility, the kremlin, which was the fortified city. With the Russian expansion to the east, Simbirsk’s military importance disappeared, as it was no longer a border town, but instead developed into a regional center. Simbirsk formally became a city in 1796, and at the beginning of the 19th century the city was considered a quite exclusive city, where there was a noble assembly in addition to Simbirsk’s churches, cathedral, governor’s residence, etc.

By the middle of the century, there were more than 25,000 inhabitants in the city, which was hit by a fire in 1864. Simbirsk was quickly rebuilt, and the population continued to grow to 43,000 in 1897. The most famous of the city’s sons was Vladimir Lenin, who was born in 1870 and grew up in Simbirsk. Lenin became world famous in connection with the Russian Revolution and the establishment of the Soviet Union, of which Simbirsk became a part.

When Lenin died in 1924, Simbirsk was named Ulyanovsk after Lenin’s surname. Ulyanovsk grew steadily throughout the 20th century, and in 1957 the Kuybyshev dam was completed south of Ulyanovsk, and it dammed the Volga on a colossal area that, among other things, put several of Ulyanovsk’s neighborhoods below the water line, but behind dams. Growth throughout the 20th century brought the population to over 600,000.

Today, Ulyanovsk lies on both sides of the Volga, and there are quite a few sights to see. The center lies west of the Volga, and the heart of the city is the square Ploshad Sobornaya, which has changed its name several times. It was originally called Ploshad Sobornaya after the city’s cathedral, which was located here, and from 1918 it was called May 1 Square until 1940, when it became Lenin Square.

The square was laid out when Simbirsk was founded, and it was centrally located in the city’s Kremlin. Here were the Trinity Cathedral and Nicholas Cathedral from 1712, both of which were demolished in the Soviet Union of the 1930s. In the square, the city’s large Lenin monument was built in 1940, and across from Lenin, the building of the Communist Party’s regional committee opened in 1957. Today, the large building houses the government of the Ulyanovsk region.

From Ploshad Sobornaya, you can walk along an esplanade to the north through the historic center of the city, and there is much to see along the esplanade and in the side streets. Going east, you can visit the Art Museum of the Ulyanovsk Region and the Museum of Regional Culture and History. The museums are located in the same beautiful building that was built 1912-1915 as a museum and archive.

From the museum, you can walk to the area’s promenade to the east, from where it is a magnificent view of the Volga, and where you can see an obelisk dedicated to the Red Army fallen in the battle for Simbirsk in 1918. At the end of the esplanade, you come to a large square, where the Lenin Memorial Museum is located. The museum was opened in 1970, and in the large museum building you can see, among other things, Lenin’s birthplace and the first childhood homes. There is also a large and interesting exhibition in the museum.

There are also other interesting museums in Ulyanovsk, and you can see more of Lenin in the Lenin House Museum, located on the street named after him. The museum is housed in the house where the Ulyanov family lived in the years 1878-1887. You can also visit Simbirsk’s classical gymnasium, which is a museum in the city’s first school of its kind, which opened in 1809.

In Ulyanovsk, you cannot visit the city’s historic cathedrals, but you can see the newer Ascension Cathedral west of the city center. This beautiful church building was constructed from 1994, and it was officially consecrated in 2015 by the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. The church is worth seeing with a large and finely decorated interior. Continuing west, you can visit the Museum of Civil Aviation, which has many aircraft in the exhibition, and among them is the Soviet Tupolev 144, which flew as the world’s first civilian supersonic aircraft in 1968.