Dubna is one of the thirteen science cities of Russia, a well-known center for research in the field of nuclear physics. What is interesting about this city? What sights can a tourist see here? Where is Dubna located and how to get there? Our article will tell about all this.
City of Dubna (Moscow region): general information
The name of the city was given by one of the local rivers. In turn, the Dubron hydronym is associated by some linguists with the Baltic dubus, which translates as “deep”. The official symbols of the city are quite interesting (see photo below). So, the main figure depicted on its coat of arms and flag is an oak tree, in the green crown of which the yellow atom sign is placed.
The city of Dubna is located in the Moscow region, in its northern part. This is a world famous center of nuclear physics. In recent years, the field of IT-technologies has also been actively developing here. The city is relatively young, it was founded in 1956. Today, about 75 thousand people live in it.
The main city-forming enterprises of Dubna:
- Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR).
- Instrument factory "Tensor".
- Design Bureau "Rainbow".
- Machine-building plant named after N.P. Fedorova.
- NPO Atom.
By the way, Dubna is the only settlement in Russia immortalized in the periodic table. In honor of the city, one of the chemical elements is named, namely Dubnium. It was obtained at the particle accelerator in 1970, just in Dubna, thanks to the work of a group of scientists led by Georgy Flerov.
Where is Dubna located? And how can one get there from Moscow? Read about it later.
Dubna: geographical location and transport
So where is Dubna located? The city is located on the banks of the Volga, off the eastern coast of the Ivankovo reservoir. By the way, this is where the Moscow Canal (abbreviated as KiM) originates, connecting the Volga with the Moscow River. The city is located 120 kilometers north of Moscow, at the very border with the Tver region.
How to get to Dubna from the capital? By car, you need to move along highway A 104 (Dmitrovskoe Shosse). Distance - 118 km. If you go from Tver, you have to overcome the canal - in the winter on the pontoon bridge, in the summer - through the ferry. Both options are paid.
Buses 415 and 966 run on the Moscow – Dubna route. Both depart from Savelovskaya metro station. You can also get to the science city by rail. So, 2-3 pairs of Moscow-Dubna express trains and 7-8 pairs of ordinary electric trains leave daily from the Savelovsky station of the capital. Travel time is 2-3 hours, depending on the type of train.
In the city itself, you can get around on municipal buses, minibuses and taxis. A popular vehicle is also a bicycle. Almost every store or government agency has its own bike parking. In Soviet times, Dubna even had the unspoken status of the bicycle capital of the USSR.
We found out where Dubna is located. But is a tourist worth going there? What interesting can be seen in one of the main Russian science cities?
Sights of Dubna: what to see in the city?
Dubna is hardly a tourist city. There are no outstanding monuments of antiquity here, due to the too young age of the village. But there are still a few objects worthy of attention. Here is a list of the five most interesting sights of Dubna:
- Monument to V.I. Lenin.
- Museum of the castle.
- Tyapkin peak.
- Mosaics N. Leger.
- Object "Ball".
Some interest (primarily for connoisseurs of architecture) may be the development of the city. For example, the so-called "cottages of academicians" of the 50s or the 14-story "Vulykh towers" built in the 70s.
Monument to V.I. Lenin
The landmark of Dubna is the monument to Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. First of all, this object stands out for its size. The leader of communism, as for such a small town, is really gigantic! Its height (together with the pedestal) is 37 meters. According to some reports, this is the second highest Ilyich in the world.
The monument is located in the western part of Dubna, near the source of the Canal named after Moscow. On the opposite bank for a long time stood a similar-sized statue of Joseph Stalin. However, in 1961, as a result of the policy of debunking the cult of personality, this monument was blown up. From it there was only a pedestal.
Castle museum
A charming provincial museum, a lovely and very sincere place to visit - a must! Such reviews are most often written by tourists about this museum. The main "characters" of his expositions are door locks. Here they are presented for every taste - overhead, mortise, mounted, tiny and huge, traditional and unusual shapes. In addition to castles, the museum presents old gramophones, samovars, dishes and other antique and vintage gizmos. An important detail: almost any of the exhibits of this museum can be bought.
Tyapkina peak
This is a small artificial hill in the middle of the forest, created by the efforts of Professor Alexei Tyapkin in the late 50s. In winter they ski and sled, here in the summer they cook kebabs and have picnics. Alexey Tyapkin created this bulk hill in order to popularize skiing in the city. And he succeeded! In the Soviet years, special tracks for skiers were laid here, which were illuminated in the dark. But even today, Tyapkin peak has not lost its popularity.
Mosaics of Nadi Leger
Nadezhda Khodasevich-Leger is a Belarusian and French artist, assistant and wife of the famous painter Fernand Leger. She was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for her contribution to the development of Soviet-French relations. In particular, she was actively engaged in popularizing the work of her husband in the USSR.
In the 70s, Nadezhda Leger presented the city of Dubna with a part of her mosaics from the series “Portraits of outstanding personalities of the twentieth century”. Ten of them were installed in the park near the recreation center "Mir", and four more - near the recreation center "October". Among the works of Nadi Leger, which can be seen in Dubna, are mosaic portraits of the following personalities:
- Fernand Leger.
- Maya Plesetskaya.
- Maksim Gorky.
- Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
- Dmitry Shostakovich.
- Leonid Kogan.
- Rodion Shchedrin.
- Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.
- Lev Tolstoy.
- Vladimir Mayakovsky.
- Vladislav Volkov.
- Vladimir Komarov.
- George Dobrovolsky.
- Yuri Gagarin.
Mysterious ball
Four kilometers north of Dubna, in the forest there is a strange object of unknown purpose and origin - the so-called “Shar”. According to one version, this is an abandoned dome of the antenna of a huge locator. The structure is hollow and made of fiberglass. The diameter of the sphere is 18 meters. The walls of the structure have a honeycomb structure.
Inside the ball is a unique acoustic environment. Any sound is amplified several times, reflected from the walls and, concentrating in the upper part of the object, gradually subsides. In February 2012, an unusual acoustic concert was held here, which brought together about a hundred listeners.
After seeing all the attractions of Dubna and its environs, you can relax in the local anticafe (43 Bogolyubova Avenue). Here you can enjoy coffee and board games. Traditionally, in such an institution, visitors do not pay for drinks or desserts, but for the amount of time spent in it. Cinema evenings are held on Fridays in Dubna's anticafe, and on Saturdays and Sundays - various lectures, trainings and master classes.