Chelyabinsk is the largest city and the administrative center of the oblast of the same name. The city’s history began as the Tcheljaba fort, which Alexei Tevkelev founded in 1736. The fort and the current city got its name from the Bashkir rural town of Tcheljaba, which was located here when the fort was built. Chelyabinsk was founded as a fort to protect the trade routes in the area, and after more than 50 years, Chelyabinsk formally became a city in 1787. However, Chelyabinsk remained a small provincial town until the late 19th century, when railways were built in the area.

In 1892, the Samara-Zlatoust railway was completed, connecting Chelyabinsk with Moscow and European Russia. In the same year, the construction of a part of the Trans-Siberian Railway from Chelyabinsk started, which in 1896 was connected to Yekaterinburg, and thereby the city had become a hub for traffic to Siberia. Many Russians came through Chelyabinsk and many stayed in the city, which grew from 20,000 inhabitants in 1897 to 70,000 in 1917. Chelyabinsk also became a trading city between Europe and Asia, and from the 1930s in the Soviet Union many industries and factories were built in the city, which Among other things, produced tanks and ammunition during World War II.

Today, Chelyabinsk is one of Russia’s largest cities, and it is a city with several attractions. You can start a stroll on Revolution Square/Площадь Революции, which is a very large urban space. To the north stands the city’s statue of Vladimir Lenin, to the northwest you can see the youth theater Chelyabinskiy Molodezhnyj Teatr/Челябинский Молодежный театр, and to the northeast you can visit the Museum of Fine Arts/Музей изобразительных искусств. From this part of the square you can walk through a green park area to the south, where the Chelyabinskiy Gosudarstvennyj Teatr Dramy/Челябинский государственный театр драмы is located. It is the city’s large drama theatre.

The street ulitsa Lenina/улица Ленина cuts across the northern end of Revolution Square and is the main street of the city. If you go west, after a few intersections you come to Park Aloe Pole/парк Алое поле, which is one of the city’s parks. But can visit Aleksander Nevsky Church/Храм Александра Невского in the park. It was built in the years around 1900 as a church on the outskirts of the then town. The church was open until 1930, after which it was used for various purposes during the Soviet era. In recent years, the church was set up as a philharmonic before it became a church again. In 2010, the first church service was held here in 80 years. To the north of the church you can see the Chelyabinsk Palace of Pioneers.

Chelyabinsk is a relatively new city for the most part. It gives the opportunity to look at quite a few different styles in 20th century architecture. On Revolution Square there is a large housing block to the north. It was built in 1938 in imposing socialist classicism. At the western end of ulitsa Lenina is the South Ural State University/Южно-Уральский государственный университет, housed in a Stalinogtic building. The university was built in a style reminiscent of the famous state university in the capital Moscow. Along the pedestrian street ulitsa Kirova/улица Кирова you can see mixed architecture with the Chelyabinsk Opera and Ballet/Челябинский театр оперы и балета as one of the most beautiful performances.