Tolyatti is a Russian metropolis located on the Volga River in Samara Oblast. The city was founded as a fort in 1737, and at that time the city was called Stavropol. Through most of the 18th century, Stavropol was part of the Orenburg Province, and it remained a minor provincial town. Throughout the 19th century, the population remained at a modest level in comparison with the century’s development in many other cities. In 1924, Stavropol was even downgraded from a city to a village due to its low economic importance. In 1946, Stavropol became a city again, and four years later it was decided to establish a hydroelectric plant here.

In 1957, the Kuybyshev Dam was completed, creating the Kuybyshev Reservoir in the Volga. The reservoir changed the history of the city, as the water flooded most of the then city, which had therefore been built on a new site 1953-1955. In the new city, the VAZ car factory was established in 1964 as a collaboration between FIAT and the Soviet government, and on that occasion the city changed its name to Tolyatti after the Italian communist leader Palmiro Togliatti. The car factory was one of the reasons for Tolyatti’s great growth in population, which rose from under 10,000 in 1939 to over 700,000 today.

As a visitor to Tolyatti, you can see a relatively new city that has its attractions. The city is divided into different districts and is green with wide streets and open squares with Tsentralnaya Ploshad as the central square of the city. The square is in the district of Tsentralny Rayon, and here you can see the Tolyatti Palace of Culture from 1976 and the small Nativity Chapel, which was inaugurated in the year 2000 celebrating the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus. Immediately north of Tsentralnaya Ploshad, you can take a walk in the city park, Tsentralny Park, where you can see, among other things, a monument to the head of state and Communist Lenin.

South of the district of Tsentralny Rayon lies the Volga, and along the river you can see one of the city’s best-known sights; the monument to the statesman Vasily Tatishchev, who founded Stavropol and also the cities of Perm and Yekaterinburg. The monument is a plinth with an equestrian statue that was completed in 1998. The plinth is 14 meters high and the statue of Tatishchev 7.5 meters, and it is an impressive sight, designed with inspiration from smaller fortresses from the time of Peter the Great. When you are at the monument, you can take a walk in the green area and enjoy the view of the Volga and the dammed reservoir.

To the west is the district of Avtozavodsky Rayon, where you can take a walk in the beautifully landscaped Victory Park, which was established as a monument to the victory over Germany in World War II. The central element of the park is the Victory Monument, inaugurated in 1985 on the the 40th anniversary of the victory. The monument consists of four steles around a ring, and the steles symbolize the years of the war from 1941-1942 to 1944-1945. There are reliefs on the inside of the stelae, and in the center of the ring is an eternal flame.

In the area north of the park is the Tranfiguration of Christ Cathedral, which was built as the district’s main church in the years 1996-2002. The cathedral measures 62 meters in height, and under the gilded domes there is a beautiful church room. As the name suggests, the AvtoVAZ car factory is located in Avtozavodskij District, where you can also visit the AvtoVAZ Museum, where you can see the history of AvtoVAZ and the cars on display, best known as Ladas.