Kungur

Kungur ( _ru. Кунгу́р) is a town in the south-east of Perm Krai, Russia, and is the administrative center of Kungursky District. Population: 68,943 (2002 Census); 81,402 (1989 Census); 64,800 (1959); 36,000 (1939). Geographical location: coord|57|26|N|56|57|E. Area: 68.7 km².

Kungur was founded in 1663 and granted town status in 1781. It is situated in the Urals at the inflowing of the Iren and Shakhva Rivers into the Sylva River (Kama's basin).

Kungur is an old Russian town with historic architecture. It is a trade, industrial, and transport center. It was the first European town on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Сoat of arms

The town's original coat of arms became official according with the Highest Law of Empress Anna Ioannovna in 1737. Current coat of arms was adopted in 1994.

History

Kungur was founded seventeen kilometers above the Iren River's mouth on the banks of the Kungurka River in 1648. In 1662, it was burnt by Bashkirs. In 1663, it was rebuilt as a fortress on the place of Mysovskoye village. In 1674, it withstood a siege by Yemelyan Pugachev's Cossack forces. In the beginning of the 18th century, leather and footwear industries started to develop here, and in 1724, a tannery was built. By the mid-18th century, Kungur became one of the most populated areas in the Urals. In 1759, Perm administration of mining plants was moved to Kungur. By the end of the 18th century, Kungur is an important transit trade centre of the Siberian road, as well as the centre of leather manufacture in Perm province. Kungur rope and linseed oil were widely known. By the end of the 19th century it became a significant industrial (including manufacture of leather footwears, gloves, and mittens) and cultural centre.

Economy

Major industries are SIA "Turbobur" and JSK "Kungur-footwear" (leather including army footwear). The town produces art goods (souvenirs from stone, majolica), musical instrument (guitars) factories, repair-mechanical plant, clothing and knitting mills, and food industry companies. Rye, wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, vegetables are grown in Kungur, and the town also has meat-dairy cattle husbandry and aviculture.

Architecture

Among the notable buildings in Kungur are the Transfiguration Church (1781), Nikola Cathedral, former Guest courtyard with the Burse (1865-76, architect R. O. Karvovsky), the Zyryanov Hospice (1881, now the surgical department of a hospital), the 19th century storehouses of the Kopakov merchants (now a culture centre).

The Tikhvinsky Temple was built in 1763 and got its name from the holy icon of Tikhvinskaya Bogomater. Now the movie theater "Oktyabr" is located in the building.

In the lower part of the town, on Kittarskaya street, is the Uspenskaya Church, built in 1761. On the opposite bank of the Sylva river stands the Preobrazhensky Temple.

Tourism and attractions

Kungur Ice Cave

The Kungur Ice Cave is located in the vicinity of Kungur, on the right bank of the Sylva River. Ramified passages stretch under the ground for over 6,000 metres, and only a small part has already been explored. To this day old slides and crumblings do not allow to determine the total length of the passages. In the explored part of the cave there are several dozens of grottoes; the largest one, which is called the Druzhba (Friendship) Grotto, was given its name in honour of the participants of the International Geological Congress who visited the cave in 1937. Inside this grotto there is a lake with the area of 750 m². The grottoes are "adorned" with columns of stalagmites and icicles of stalactites up to two metres in height. Over millennia, limestone bearing water has created an infinite variety of forms in the cave, like snowflakes which change in size during the year and reach the size of a maple leaf during late winter. The cave is filled with water from the Sylva River twice a year, in spring and in fall, when it is not accessible to tourists.

Other attractions

The Belogorsky Monastery is located fifty kilometers from Kungur, not far from the village of Kalinino. There is a natural reserve in Spasskaya Mountain, an area of mat-grass steppe, in the Kungursky District.

Transport

Kungur is located at the crossing of the Solikamsk route, the Siberian path, and the Transsiberian highway.

Distance from Kungur to:
*Perm—100 km
*Yekaterinburg—300 km
*Moscow—1,533 km

Education

Educational facilities in the town include:
*Kungur Lyceum
*Kungur College of Woodwork
*Kungur Professional Art Lyceum
*School of Arts
*Kungur Pedagogical College
*Kungur Agricultural College
*Kungur College of Autotransport

External links

*en icon [http://splyusn.chat.ru/kungure.htm About Kungur] .
* [http://www.welcome-ural.ru/tours/51/294/166/ Kungur for travelers] Sights of Kungur
* [http://www.uraltourism.com/kungur.php Kungur - ancient merchant town]
* [http://www.showcaves.com/english/misc/showcaves/Kungur.html about Kungur Ice Cave]
* [http://www.gsbox.com/docs/cave.htm Photo and info about Kungur Ice Cave]
* [http://www.suvenirograd.ru/geography.php?lang=2&id=58&filtr_g=58 Sightseeing of Kungur]