Stavropol is a large city that is the capital of the Stavropol Krai region in southwestern Russia. The city was founded by Grigory Potemkin as a military settlement in 1777, which was in the years following the Russo-Turkish War, which ended in 1774. Stavropol was strategically located, and from 1809 Tsar Alexander I allowed a larger settlement around the fort to encourage trade in the region. Stavropol grew to approximately 22,000 inhabitants by 1837 and became a busy trading center in the northern Caucasus. In 1843, a Russian Orthodox bishopric was established in the city, underscoring Stavropol’s importance.

Stavropol became part of the Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution and Civil War, and in the years 1935-1943 Stavropol changed its name to Voroshilov in honor of the politician and officer Kliment Voroshilov. During World War II, the city was occupied by German troops in August 1942, and it was under German occupation until January 1943, when the Red Army liberated Stavropol. The occupation period and the fighting during the liberation destroyed a part of Stavropol’s buildings. After the end of the war, a reconstruction started, and in these years the extraction of the gas deposits in the region’s underground was also started. The city then grew rapidly. There were 85,000 people living in Stavropol in 1939, and today that number is over 500,000.

There are many sights and nice places to go for a walk in Stavropol. For example, you can start at Ploshad Lenina, the city’s central square. Here you can see a statue of the head of state Lenin, erected in 1962, and the government building of the Stavropol Krai region. The government building was built in period style in the 1950s as the then Dom Sovetov. On the north side of the square is the Stavropol Regional Museum, where there are exciting exhibitions about history, culture and natural history. Behind the museum you can see the 25-metre-high patron saint obelisk, which was inaugurated in 2002 as part of the city’s 225th anniversary. The obelisk stands on the modern Aleksandrovskaya Ploshad, which is a fine urban space with, among other things, newer buildings and fountains.

From Ploshad Lenina, you can continue to the area behind the regional government building, where you can take a walk in the beautiful park that surrounds the Stavropol Drama Theater, which was built here in 1964. Continuing west, you will come to Stavropol St. Andrew’s Cathedral, which was consecrated in 1897. The beautifully decorated domed church had to close during the Soviet Union in 1930, but it became a church again from 1942 and has been so ever since.

You can also see a beautiful church in the northeastern part of the center. Here is Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral, which was built on Stavropol’s old fortress hill in the years 1843-1847. The church was demolished during the Soviet Union but rebuilt on the old foundation 2004-2012. If you continue east along Karl Marx Street, you can see the Stavropol Triumphal Arch, built in 1841 to commemorate the victory over Napoleon.

There are many fine gardens and parks in Stavropol, where in the city center you can take a walk in the Central Park with its many old trees and small lake. In the western part of the city is the Victory Park, where, among other things, there are various rides and a small zoo. In the north-western part of the Victory Park is the Stavropol Botanical Garden, and south-west of the park you can visit the museum Russia – My History, which depicts various topics in Russian history in an exciting way. In front of the museum there is a large light and music fountain that is popular among the city’s citizens.