Vocabulary

1. to accelerate – ускорять

2. a booth – балаган

3. The Philharmonic Society – Филармония

4. revolt – мятеж

TEXT 16

The Rostov Region and its Towns

The Rostov Region occupies an area of about 100,000 sq.km. which is equal to the territories of Holland, Denmark and Belgium taken together. The Rostov region is situated on the South of the East European plain. It is washed by the Taganrog bay of the Azov Sea. The main rivers on its territory are the Don and the Seversky Donets. It is rich in many mineral resources: coal, gas, lime-stone, etc. The Rostov region is one of the richest agricultural regions in Russia. It was awarded several orders and awards by the state for its achievements in agriculture. It is famous for its wheat, vegetables and fruit and especially fish.

The Rostov region has a remarkable history. Many famous people: A. Chekhov, M. Sholokhov, E. Vuchetich and others considered it their native place. Even greater number of the world-known people visited it frequently and worked there.

The towns of the Rostov region are not only developed centres of industry and agriculture, but they have a lot of places of interest and are very picturesque.

In stanitsa (a village) Starocherkasskaya, for instance, you will find many monuments, dating back to those times when this place was the centre of the Cossack «free land» and was known as the town of Cherkassk. Stepan Rasin, Kondraty Bulavin and Emelyan Pugatchov lived in Cherkassk. Peter I, A. Suvorov and A. Pushkin who were interested in the life of the Don Cossacks visited it more than once. Cherkassk was founded in 1570 and soon became an administrative, military and trade centre of the Cossack army. In 1805 Novocherkassk was founded and a capital of the Don Cossacks was transformed there. At present in stanitsa Starocherkasskaya we can see the Starocherkassky Cathedral that was built between 1706 and 1720 and several unique Cossack dwelling houses.

A visit to a neighbouring Novocherkassk is very exciting. This town has a rich Museum of History of the Don Cossacks and many monuments of the past. Now Novocherkassk has again resumed its status of the capital of the Don Cossacks. Many ceremonies take place on its square where the Cathedral and a monument to Ermak are situated. At present Novocherkassk is an important industrial and educational centre. It has one of the biggest electric locomotive plants in the country.

Azov is the oldest town of the Don region. It was founded in 1067. Originally it belonged to the Turks but then Peter I after several war campaigns joined Azov to Russia. Among its places of interest the remains of the gates built in the 14-th century and the fortress wall are notable.

In 1696 when the Russian army occupied Azov Peter I decided to build a fortress on the shores of the Azov Sea. The cape was called Taganiy Rog – hence the name of the town is Taganrog. At the beginning of the 20-th century a monument to Peter I was erected in the town by the sculptor Antakolsky. There is an insciption on it: «To the founder of Taganrog – Peter I». Taganrog is proud of its famous son – the outstanding Russian writer Anton Chekhov. A small house where he was born, his gymnasium and other places became a place of pilgrimage for the tourists from many countries. There are many memorial sights in the town connected with the visits of A. Pushkin, P. Chaikovsky and G. Garibaldi to Taganrog. The town also hosts a unique Gallery of Art which possesses an outstanding collection of the Russian masters.

The remains of Tanais, an ancient Bosporus colony, can be seen near the village of Nedvigovka, on the road to Taganrog. Now it is an archeological preserve; the local museum displays unique things telling about the ancient history of the Don land.