Kaluga, on the Oka River southwest of Moscow, is the capital of the Russian oblast of the same name. The city was founded in the middle of the 14th century as a fort in the Grand Duchy of Moscow’s border area. A settlement grew at the fort, which briefly formed its own principality in the 16th century. Later, Kaluga became a trading town on the route between Moscow and the south-western parts of the country, and in the early 18th century,

Peter the Great founded several factories in the city. Kaluga became known in the 19th century as the place where Kutuzov’s troops prevented Napoleon from escaping from Moscow. In 1892, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky founded an institute of physics in the city, and Tsiolkovsky later became known as the father of Russian space travel, and Kaluga also developed in this field. During World War II, Kaluga was occupied by German troops for a period in 1941.

Today, Kaluga is a big city with several attractions. You can start a stroll at Teatralnaya Ploshad square, where you can see a green area and Kaluga’s beautiful regional drama theater. The history of the theater started in 1777 with four actors who arrived from Saint Petersburg. The current theater building is the result of several reconstructions, which were completed in 1958.

On the opposite side of the square, you can see Kaluga’s puppet theater, and here you can also take a stroll along the Teatralnaya ulitsa pedestrian street. From the square you can also walk along Ulitsa Kirova, where at the next intersection to the east you can see the beautiful John the Baptist Church. The church was built in 1735 and expanded later in the 18th century after a fire.

If you continue east along Ulitsa Kirova, you come to Victory Square, where you can see the Victory Monument, an impressive monument commemorating the Soviet victory over Germany in World War II. The monument was built in several stages in the 1960s and 1970s. You can also go south in the direction of Oka, and here is the square Stary Torg with a monument to Ivan III.

On the square is the modern government building of Kaluga Oblast to the south and the Gostinyj Dvor trading houses from 1784-1829 to the north. To the west there is a small park where you can see the city’s Lenin monument. In the area you can also see several churches such as the Trinity Cathedral from 1786-1819 in the Central Park and the Byzantine-inspired Kazan Cathedral of the Mother of God.

In Kaluga there is also an interesting museum for those interested in space travel. It is because of Kaluga’s most famous resident in recent times, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who was one of the Soviet pioneers in rocket science. Tsiolkovsky died in 1935, and his scientific work provided inspiration for the researchers who later in the 20th century gave the Soviet Union one space travel success after another.

The museum’s name is the State Historical Museum for Space, and at the museum you can see things from the Russian launches such as the Vostok program, the highlight of which was when Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. You can see a full-scale model of Gagarin’s spaceship, Vostok 1, and otherwise the museum is built according to different themes and eras in space travel, and of particular interest is the outdoor rocket park.