Engels is a city in the Saratov Region of Russia, the second largest city in the region. The city of Engels is known throughout the country as a place of production of trolleybuses, they are an indispensable attribute of the streets of all cities of Russia without exception. And all over the world the city of Engels is known as the place where the first cosmonaut on the planet Yuri Gagarin landed.
- 1 Saratov Bridge
- 2 Church-chapel of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the Volga
- 3 Volga Embankment
- 4 Ship-Museum “Pokrovsky Watchman”
- 5 City Park “Pokrovsky”
- 6 Square named after Alfred Harrievich Schnittke
- 7 Monument named after the artist Andrei Andreevich Mylnikov
- 8 Engels Art Gallery
- 9 House-Museum of L. A. Kassil
- 10 Holy Trinity Cathedral
- 11 Monument to the “Bull-salt truck”
- 12 Museum of Long-Range Aviation
- 13 Yuri Gagarin’s landing place
- 14 Beach on the island of Pokrovsky sands
- 15 Attractions Engels on map
Saratov Bridge
The Saratov-Engels Bridge is one of the most important places in the region and is clearly visible among others. The Saratov Bridge connects the right and left banks of the Volga, where the city of Saratov and the city of Engels are located.
Construction of the bridge began in 1958, with the approval of its design, and lasted until July 1965 – the date of its opening. On the same day, July 11, 1965, the longest bridge in Europe at the time, was officially opened to vehicular traffic – a unique event of the 1970s. By the way, the length of the Saratov bridge is 2825 meters. The authors of the project were V. Iodzevich, V. N. Ivanov, B. M. Nadezhin is a well-known engineers and architects of Russia.
The construction of the Saratov bridge took about seven years and more than two hundred and fifty million rubles. In addition to four-lane traffic, the bridge has two sidewalks and a line for trolleybus traffic. However, today the trolleybus network on the bridge is not visible: it was liquidated in 2004 and decided not to restore.
During its existence, the Saratov Bridge has undergone several reconstructions, during which it was modified: important details in its design were replaced, and the flooring and railing of the fence, fixed lighting supports and a number of other details were changed. A feature of the Saratov bridge is that its height varies in different areas. From Saratov, the spans are higher, the closer to Engels, the smaller and already they are. Such an unusual fact is explained by the fact that large ships arrive in Saratov and a sufficient height of the bridge is required so that it is possible to freely pass to the port.
Saratov Bridge is one of the remarkable places of the city. From here you can enjoy magnificent views of the city of Saratov and the city of Engels. You can see all the most obvious sights of the cities.
During the construction of such a large hydraulic structure on the territory of the bridge, the film “A Bridge is Being Built” was shot, which was visited by Yuri Gagarin six months before the start of the bridge.
Address: Engels city, Lesozavodskaya street
Church-chapel of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the Volga
The Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the Volga is a memorial temple, a reminder of the history of the founding of the city of Engels. The religious building was erected in memory of the lost shrine that gave the city of Engels its name: in the XVIII century not far from this place there was a large temple that was dedicated to the Protection of the Virgin.
At first, a wooden temple was built, but it burned down after a fire in 1771. In 1781, the temple was rebuilt of stone. The icon of the Kazan Mother of God of ancient Greek painting, decorated with gold vestments, was considered very valuable.
The temple was not only the center of spiritual life, but also the center of culture and enlightenment. The church had a library and a parish school (a two-story stone building has survived to this day, now it is a residential building). At the end of the XIX century, 3,000 parishioners lived in it.
In August 1931, the temple was blown up, and now on the territory of the temple there is a kindergarten No. 1. The new temple, which was lit in 2016, is very different from its ancestor. It is built in an old Russian architectural style. Such churches were created in the XI-XII centuries. Inside the building is decorated with paintings by masters from the village of Palekh, Ivanovo region.
The temple is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Address: Engels city, Kalinin street/Volga bank.
Site: https://pravpokrov.ru/Temples/Index/1610
Volga Embankment
The embankment of the Volga River is the main pedestrian street of the city of Engels. Design for the dam began in the 1940s.
The paths are paved with asphalt, small cafes and hotels are built, benches, gazebos are installed and a pier is equipped. A low figured fence along the embankment is hung with locks “for good luck”. This is the tradition of the newlyweds, a sign of eternal love.
Saratov is located on the opposite bank of the Volga River and is clearly visible from the embankment of the city of Engels.
Address: Engels city, Volga Bank street.
Ship-Museum “Pokrovsky Watchman”
This is a real combat missile ship “Karachay-Cherkessia”, which was transferred to the reserve in 2012 and decommissioned in 2014.
After decommissioning, the ship was brought to the city of Engels. On August 29, 2015, it was moored to the embankment. The ship was brought to the city of Engels to create the museum “Pokrovsky Watchman”. But the museum is still not fully equipped. It was planned that the official opening of the museum will be in the summer of 2017.
The former ship “Karachay-Cherkessia” is a missile ship of project 206MR, the code of the project “Whirlwind”, the project of the Soviet missile ship.
These ships were built in order to destroy large enemy ships in the coastal areas of naval bases and protect the water area. With a full displacement of 257 tons, the ship received a powerful thrust-artillery armament.
The ship “Karachay-Cherkessia” was built at the Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard and on December 30, 1978 under the name R-50 was included in the Baltic Fleet of the USSR Navy. In 1998, the ship was transferred to the Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy, and in 2004 it was renamed the Karachay-Cherkessia Navy.
It was planned to make a museum from the ship, in which all the equipment was to remain the same. A year after the installation of the boat, the first excursion for the townspeople took place.
Address: Engels city, Bereg Volga street, 1 a.
City Park “Pokrovsky”
The park is located on the embankment of the Volga – this is a beautiful place where old oaks grow, and ducks and swans swim in the ponds. Here you can relax with family, noisy companies and couples in love. And in the evening go to hotels that are very close.
The park has long been the heart of the city: there are interesting festivals and events, theatrical and dance performances, films are shown in the open air. Everyone will find entertainment to their liking: there are new playgrounds, trampolines, a racetrack, a roller coaster, a city on ropes, a zoo and a park with lizards-dinosaurs. And there is also a Ferris wheel and many other attractions for children and adults.
In the center of the park there is a monument to the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War.
Infrastructure: Everything is in good condition – new asphalted paths, sound fountain, benches, trees. You can eat delicious food in cafes and park tents.
Open from 6:00 to 00:00.
Address: Engels city, Lenin Square.
Square named after Alfred Harrievich Schnittke
Square named after Alfred Harrievich Schnittke is located on the central square of the city of Engels, and nearby there are famous hotels of various comfort classes. Dedicated to the square, as its name implies, to the honorary citizen of the city of Engels, composer Alfred Schnittke.
In the park there is a memorial plaque, and in the middle there is a kind of monument to the musician sitting at the piano. This is a relatively recent monument: the square got its name only in 2017, and the monument was installed only in 2018. The author of the monument is the sculptor Andrey Shcherbakov.
Alfred Garievich Schnittke was born in Engels in 1934. During his creative years, he wrote music for more than 60 feature films, documentaries and cartoons, including: “The Crew” and “How Tsar Peter Arapa Married”.
A. Schnittke is a representative of the Soviet musical avant-garde. Festivals dedicated to the composer’s work are held in many cities of the world: Stockholm, London, Turin, Moscow, Gorky, Saratov and others.
Infrastructure: the alley with benches is densely planted, the trees give a good shade. Therefore, the square looks secluded and quiet, protected from city noise. At night it is lit by lanterns.
Monument named after the artist Andrei Andreevich Mylnikov
Andrei Andreevich Mylnikov is a Soviet muralist. He is considered one of the most important representatives of the Russian realistic school of the second half of the twentieth century. An example of his work: mosaic panels at the st. Petersburg metro stations “Vladimirskaya” and “Lenin Square”.
Born in 1919 in the city of Pokrovsk (in 1931 renamed the city of Engels). He lived here until 1930. Growing up, he always returned to his hometown. This contributed to his cultural and spiritual development. In particular, on his initiative, the Art Gallery was created in 2003. It is based on a collection of works by Mylnikov and antiquities, which he transferred to the new museum.
In August 2018, as part of the celebration of the City Day, a monument to Andrei Andreevich was opened in the city of Engels. It was installed in the central square in front of the Art Gallery.
Address: Engels city, Mylnikov square
Engels Art Gallery
The emergence of the Art Gallery falls on 1985. This happened during the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the outstanding museum of Saratov. Mylnikov offered to move his art collection to his hometown of Engels (Pokrovsk), provided that it would be in the main house of his grandfather N. A. Ukhin, an honorary citizen of the city of Pokrovsk (the city of Engels).
The collection was formed in April 1991, when the works of A. A. Mylnikov were delivered from St. Petersburg: three paintings and five graphic works.
In 1997, as part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the city of Engels-Pokrovsk, another donation took place. Two years later, all the works from the exhibition “Teacher and Students” which was held for the 80th anniversary of A. A. Mylnikov were also donated.
Later, the students of A. A. Mylnikov, graduates of the head of the workshop of monumental painting, began to give paintings. The gifts present landscapes, still lifes, portraits. A special place is occupied by the works of A. K. Bystrov, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts, one of the most popular students and successor of A. A. Mylnikov.
About seventy paintings and graphic works are presented in the collection of works by artists from the city of Saratov and the city of Engels. Including the works of the famous Saratov artist V. O. Fomichev and the cartoonist of the city of Engels P. I. Zori.
In 2003, the Engels Art Gallery began to be exhibited in the restored part of the building. And on September 7, 2017, after the completion of repair and restoration work, a comprehensive permanent exhibition “Russian Art of the Twentieth Century” was opened, here are the works of Russian and Soviet artists from the beginning of the last century to the present day.
Address: Engels city, Lenin Square, 36
Site: http://radmuseumart.ru
House-Museum of L. A. Kassil
The house-museum of L. A. Kassil was opened on November 9, 1995 in the writer’s hometown of Engels. Here, in the Volga city of Pokrovsk, the childhood and youth of Lev Kassil passed.
The house-museum is located in an old building of the late 19th – early XX century, on Lev Kassil Street (formerly Atkarskaya), in the house where the Cassilia family lived from 1918 to the mid-1950s.
The exhibition “Three countries that are not on the map” acquaints the visitor with the most important stages of the writer’s life and creative biography, the history of the ancient city of Pokrovsk, helps to travel to the countries invented by Lev Kassil. The exhibition is based on documents received from L. A. Cassil, his wife S. L. Sobinov, local history materials, manuscripts of the writer, photographs of different years, illustrations, books with dedicatory inscriptions, personal belongings of the writer.
The visiting card of the house-museum is the festive children’s carnival “Vivat, Shvam-Branya!”, which takes place annually on July 10, the birthday of the writer. On this day, the city turns into Schwambrania, a country of mischievous youth and noble princes. Carnival takes place from morning to evening, so it is better to book hotels.
In 2007, the house-museum of L. A. Cassil was visited by an American delegation headed by the President of the National Endowment for the Arts of the United States, Dayna Joya, as part of the Big Reading project. Every year the house-museum is visited by more than 15,000 people.
Address: Lev Kassil str., 18
Site: http://museumkassil.sgu.ru
Holy Trinity Cathedral
The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity was built in 1825 on the donations of believers. On April 23, 1929, Holy Trinity Cathedral was donated to the Republican Museum.
In the 30s of the last century, the bell tower and domes were demolished, and the central library was located in the Holy Trinity Cathedral itself. The interior of the Holy Trinity Cathedral was irretrievably lost. The rest of the building also gradually collapsed.
For a long time in the building of the Holy Trinity Cathedral there was a reading room and pantries of the central library of the city of Engels. And in one of the buildings of the Holy Trinity Cathedral there was a station of young technicians.
In the 90s, the almost completely destroyed building of the Holy Trinity Cathedral was completely rebuilt, but the appearance practically did not change. Holy Trinity Cathedral received a new bell tower.
Currently, daily divine services are held here, a church library and a cinema hall are open, there is a Sunday school where catechism, writing, lives of saints and other subjects are taught. And also in the Holy Trinity Cathedral there is an active missionary work and fundraising for orphanages of the city of Engels.
In connection with the creation in 2011 of an independent Intercession Diocese, the Holy Trinity Cathedral received the title of cathedral, and the building of the diocesan administration is located on its territory.
Address: Engels City, Freedom Square, 5
Site: http://pravpokrov.ru/temples/index/1472ru
Monument to the “Bull-salt truck”
The modern city of Engels was originally called Pokrovskaya Sloboda and was founded in 1747 as a settlement of Chumaks. It was a special category of the population engaged in the transportation and trade of salt. First, they brought this precious product of that time from the shores of the Black and Azov Seas, and then spread to all places of solid production. Trade is not easy and dangerous, so it was entrusted to quite experienced soldiers.
By order of Empress Elizabeth, several hundred salt-bearing families settled on the left bank of the Volga opposite Saratov to transport their cargo from Lake Elton to the inner provinces of Russia. To carry with them as much goods as possible, the cars were loaded “to the eyeballs”. Horses could not withstand such weight, so instead of them they were attached to the carts of bulls.
Ten years later, there were already two thousand carters and four thousand bulls in the city of Engels. They covered three-quarters of the empire’s need for salt, but in the middle of the XIX century this activity fell into decay.
At the beginning of the last century, the village became the city of Pokrovsk, which after the revolution was named in honor of Karl Marx’s colleague – the city of Engels. Today it is a developed industrial center with its own infrastructure, but its residents do not forget the past and are proud of their history.
The coat of arms of the city of Engels depicts a harnessed bull. And in 2003, it was decided to immortalize the bull in metal. On one of the central streets was installed a copper sculpture of a bull-salt farm height of about three meters. As usual, visiting the monument, you need to touch it – “for good luck”.
Address: Engels city, at the intersection of Telman and Polygraphic streets
Museum of Long-Range Aviation
The Museum of Long-Range Aviation in Engels is located right under the open sky in the famous military air base of the region. The unique museum is visited annually by tens of thousands of people. From the name of the museum it is clear that it is dedicated to military equipment, and especially aircraft, cruise missiles, bombs and other objects of historical value that have anything to do with aviation.
Not all the exhibits of the museum of long-range aviation are in the open air, some – indoors, in a special room. In the covered part of the museum there is a large exhibition with information stands and complete models of military aircraft, individual aircraft parts such as dashboards and gun mounts, photographs and destroyed aircraft.
The collection of the Museum of Long-Range Aviation consists of various models of aircraft, for example, Tu-22, Tu-95, An-2 and others. It also has cruise missiles KSR-2UD, Kh-20M, bombs NOSAB-100TK and others.
As already mentioned, the museum of distant aviators in the city of Engels works on a military base that has an interesting history. Since the 30s of the twentieth century, a flight school was opened in its place, which prepared aviation regiments during the Patriotic War. Already after ten years, a detachment of long-range aviation appeared on the territory of the modern museum on the basis of the flight school, and after that the first cosmonauts of the world and Yuri Gagarin in particular were trained here.
Getting to the museum of long-range aviation is not easy. You need to come to the flight city and go there to the checkpoint, ask to visit the museum. If the management gives “permission”, you can see the planes and at the same time make an interesting excursion. If the military plans its own events, the visit to the exhibition will be postponed to another day.
It is worth remembering that when visiting such an important object, it is necessary to have a passport with you.
Address: Saratov region, Engelssky district, v/h 42152.
Yuri Gagarin’s landing place
After a historic flight into space on April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin landed here. Now this place is called the Gagarin field. By the way, Yuri Gagarin, a student of the flying club and industrial school, also first launched in the Saratov region, so the world’s first cosmonaut is inextricably linked with the history of the city of Engels.
In July 2012, the landing site of Yuri Gagarin was recognized as a cultural heritage of federal significance and received the status of an architectural monument. Now there is also an obelisk with a space rocket and a monument to Yu. A. Gagarin, as well as a monument to the descent spacecraft Photon. In addition, there is an alley of Cosmonautics, which includes a composition dedicated to the founders of modern cosmonautics K. E. Tsiolkovsky and S.P. The Queen and twelve bas-relief portraits of astronauts.
Annually the landing site is visited by about 14 thousand people. The peak of visits – more than 8 thousand people – falls on April, when the Cosmonaut’s Day is celebrated. Every year the region prepares for this holiday, and the main events traditionally take place at the landing site of the first cosmonaut. To honor Yuri Gagarin come the most famous cosmonauts of the country and the world, as well as tourists from around the world. Currently, meetings are being held with residents of the region who witnessed the flight of Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin.
Address: Saratov region, engels city, Smelovka village
Beach on the island of Pokrovsky sands
The island on the Volga between the city of Saratov and the city of Engels is a popular place for beach holidays for Saratov residents. The island is 2300 meters long and 200 meters wide.
What is unique is that the island is gradually lengthening: the Volga is getting smaller and giving way to land.
The island has an artificial origin, it was formed when the Saratov-Engels bridge was built. The whole island is sandy, sometimes trees and bushes grow.
The main beach is located in the city of Saratov and is located on the western side of the island. There are cafes, hotels, volleyball courts and even a fountain with drinking water. In the city of Engels there is a “wild” nudist beach.
Engels is a very unusual city in the Saratov region. Despite the proximity to the metropolis, he managed to preserve his individuality. There are many attractions related to different spheres of cultural and social life. Visiting this place, you are sure to get a lot of new impressions and positive emotions.
Attractions Engels on map
