Ufa - the capital of Bashkiria - is the largest scientific, cultural, industrial center of the Southern Urals. Due to the industriousness of the Ufa residents, the city is one of the most comfortable for living in Russia. Wide avenues, green streets, a harmonious combination of old quarters and modern neighborhoods form a positive image of the metropolis.
Early story
As part of Muscovy, Ufa - as a fortification - was founded in 1574. However, according to excavations of the ancient city of Ufa-II, the Bashkir capital is at least 1,500 years old. Evidence of active social life was found on the territory of the medieval city: gold blanks for jewelry, ingots of iron with traces of processing, ceramics. So the city was big and powerful. According to researchers, the ancient city of Ufa-II is nothing but the ancient capital of the Bashkirs, the legendary city of Imen-Kala (Oak City), which was written by Idrisi, an Arab historian of the 12th century.
Modern Ufa (Bashkortostan) derives its pedigree from the Kremlin, built on behalf of Ivan the Terrible on the land of Bashkiria. After the capture of Kazan, the formidable tsar was thinking at the same time to annex the lands related to the Tatars of the Bashkirs, but the army was too worn out. Then the Moscow ruler invited the local peoples to voluntarily join the strengthened, strong state, which became the core of the future of Russia.
From the fortress to the city
The old fortress was located at the foot of the hill (in the southern part of Pervomaiskaya Square), where the Friendship Monument was erected. The oldest streets of the city started from it: Bolshaya Kazanskaya (the very first, she is 400 years old), Siberian (Mingazheva), Posadskaya, Ilyinskaya, Frolovskaya, Usolskaya, Budanovskaya, Sergievskaya and Moscow.
The status of the city of Ufa (Bashkiria) received in 1582. Gradually, a small fortress turns into a central settlement of the Bashkir people. The town hall appeared here - a self-government body, in 1772 transformed into a magistrate. After 30 years, in 1802, the settlement became a provincial city.
Ufa XVII-XVIII centuries
The capital of Bashkiria during this period was a typical small provincial border town-fortress. It consisted of:
- jail;
- posada;
- suburban settlement.
The main task of the city was the defense of the southeastern borders of the expanding Russian state. The center of Ufa was the Kremlin, surrounded by a wall, behind which, in the event of an enemy threat, residents of the rest of the city could find refuge.
At first, there were about 300 people in the city, the total number of households was less than 200. The 17th century was marked by the active settlement of the settlement: together with the garrison, the total number of citizens exceeded one and a half thousand. In addition to military service, the townspeople were engaged in agriculture: animal husbandry, animal husbandry, gardening, and growing grain. Among the crafts, leather and blacksmithing flourished (forges were located on the bank of Sutoloki).
According to papers, the city of Ufa by the end of the 18th century had grown to 1,058 yards, 2,389 residents lived here, although, according to some historians, at that time there were more than 3,000 people in Ufa. Most of the citizens belonged to raznoshchintsy, bourgeois. There were much fewer military, merchants and nobles.
The entire network of streets in the historical center of Ufa was created by the largest specialist in the field of Russian urban planning, the architect William Geste, who was specially invited from St. Petersburg. He came to Ufa in 1819.
sights
Since then, few sights have been preserved. Frequent fires destroyed wooden buildings, and very few stone ones were erected. Only a few architectural monuments of antiquity can boast Ufa. Bashkortostan is the homeland of nomads who developed not material, but spiritual culture.
One of the surviving examples of wooden architecture is the Intercession Church (dated to the 19th century) on Mingazheva Street. In Soviet times, the Yondoz cinema was located here, now this building has again become a church.
Among the stone buildings of the pre-revolutionary era, the station of the Ufa station stands out. Bashkiria in 1888 was united with the metropolis by rail. Initially, a branch of the Samara-Ufa Railway was built. Since 1890, the station building was subordinate to the management of Samaro-Zlatousovskaya, since 1949 - the Ufa Railway. Since 2003 it has a modern name and status. Currently, the station complex of the Ufa station is undergoing major reconstruction.
Also in Ufa:
- House of Civil Governor (XIX century). Now the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus is located in this building.
- The monument of architecture is also the building of the Noble Assembly (built in 1852). He was transferred to the Ufa Academy of Arts.
- The building of the Provincial Institutions (1839). Now this is a donor point.
- Other attractions.
The oldest building is considered a corner one-story house of the miner Demidov (on the street of the October Revolution-57). The house was built in the middle of the 18th century. After the death of its owner, Ivan Demidov, in 1823 the house was acquired by the Ufa merchant F.S. Safronov. The house is also famous for the fact that in November 1774 the commander A.V. Suvorov stayed there.
Demography
The capital of Bashkiria is in the TOP of Russian million-plus cities, occupying 11th place by the number of inhabitants. At the beginning of 2015, the resident population, according to preliminary estimates, amounted to 1.1 million people. Compared to the beginning of 2008, it increased by almost 70,000 people. The general demographic situation since 2007 is characterized by an increase in the birth rate, a decrease in mortality, and, as a result, a natural population growth. For the first time since 1993, Ufa is the only million-plus city of the Russian Federation, where in 2008 there was a natural increase.
Symbols and administration
In administrative terms, Bashkortostan is a republic. Ufa is the capital of this Ural region. September 6, 2007 at a meeting of the City Council, deputies approved the flag of the city. This attribute, unlike the coat of arms of the Bashkir capital, appeared for the first time in the history of the city. The coat of arms appeared initially in the middle of the XVII century and underwent significant changes. The new coat of arms was approved on October 12, 2006 and registered by the Heraldic Council. Both the coat of arms and the flag represent the stylization of a marten running across the green field.
The first mayor of Ufa was Mikhail Alekseevich Zaitsev. He was transferred to this post from the post of chairman of the Ufa City Council on March 19, 1992. In 1995, M. A. Zaitsev was elected the first Chairman of the State Assembly - Kurultay - of the Republic of Bashkortostan. He is an honorary citizen of the city of Ufa. Today (2015) the head of GO Ufa is I.I. Yalalov.
The districts of Bashkiria are divided into districts. In turn, Ufa is divided into seven districts and 45 rural settlements subordinate to them. The city has 1237 streets. Their total length, taking into account the driveways, embankments, is 1475.2 kilometers. 1.4 million people live in the Ufa metropolitan area (2008), or a third of the total population of the republic.
Industry
Truly hardworking people are famous for the Republic of Bashkiria. The capital is no exception. The largest industrial enterprises are located in the north-eastern part of the city. Among them are the giants of the Bashkir oil refining and petrochemicals and the Ufa motor-building association (UMPO). The central street of this industrial region is Pervomaiskaya, it is crowned on two sides by two beautiful cultural palaces (named after S. Ordzhonikidze and the Ufa motor-building association).
About two dozen large enterprises of various forms of ownership are employed in construction. Among them are the “Housing Construction Fund of the Republic of Belarus”, “Investment and Construction Committee of Ufa”, “Bashkir Investment and Construction Company”, “Bashkir Industrial and Construction Company”, Institute “Bashkir Grazhdanproekt”, “Archproject”, “Bashmelievodkhoz” , "Prostor", OJSC KPD and others.
The first power station was built on 1.02.1898. It was built by engineer N.V. Konshin at its own expense and supplied electricity to the houses of the rich, city institutions, industrial, commercial facilities. Central streets were also lit, on which 50 arc lamps were installed. Today, the total length of the electric lighting lines of the capital of Bashkortostan is 1669.23 kilometers, including 549.3 km - cable lines. Street lighting is engaged in MUEP "Ufagorsvet."
Education
The capital of Bashkiria is a recognized scientific and educational center. The first schools were called “digital” and “garrison”. Digital is open in Peter's time. Little is known about the school - only “moments” about the peculiar measure of punishment have survived: the students were forbidden to marry if they left the school without permission. In the garrison taught the basics of mathematics, reading, artillery, fortification. In 1778, the garrison school was transferred to Orenburg.
The opening of the first institute took place on October 4, 1909. It was the Ufa Teachers Institute. Teachers of the Russian language, mathematics, physics, science, history and other tricks were trained here. Then he was transformed into the Bashkir Pedagogical Institute named after K. A. Timiryazev. Since 1957 - Bashkir State University. Today there are more than a dozen universities and hundreds of schools, colleges, lyceums.
Culture and sport
The capital of Bashkiria is also the cultural capital of the region. The Bashkir State Philharmonic was opened in Ufa in 1939 in the former synagogue building on 58 Gogol Street. It was organized by composer and performer Gaziz Almukhametov. The Philharmonic Society united the choir, operetta, brass, folk orchestras and other disciplines.
There are 1274 sports facilities in Ufa, including 4 stadiums with stands for 1,500 seats or more, the Sports Palace with two artificial ice rinks, the Akbuzat racecourse, the ski jump complex, the biathlon complex, Ufa Arena, and the modern Dynamo stadium. It is also planned to build water parks in Ufa. Of particular note is the Ufa circus.