In the south of our vast country, on the banks of the Kuban, lies the beautiful city of Krasnodar, the former Yekaterinodar. It has a rather interesting story. The year of foundation of the city of Yekaterinodar falls on the distant 1793th. Since then, many changes have taken place in it.
general information
Today Krasnodar is the administrative center of one of the developed Russian regions. In 2016, its population exceeded 850 thousand people. Unofficially, the city is called the southern capital of Russia. In ancient times, this place was a fortification and a settlement of the Bosporus kingdom. Thanks to archaeological expeditions carried out here in the very center of today's Krasnodar, a fairly large Meotian settlement was discovered dating back to the third century before our reckoning. In the same period, not far from it was the castle of Tsar Arifarn. In ancient times, this territory was inhabited by Scythians, Meotians and Sarmatians. In this article we will talk about how the founding of the city of Yekaterinodar, renamed in 1920 in Krasnodar, happened. The reader will learn about the prerequisites for laying a new settlement, about interesting events related to it.
Foundation of Yekaterinodar
The city has a very interesting history. The foundation of Yekaterinodar is directly connected with the Black Sea Cossacks. After the annexation of the western territories of Ciscaucasia to the Russian state, they moved to the coast of the Kuban. On June 30, 1792, Catherine II granted the Black Sea Cossack Army a letter of appreciation, according to which land was transferred for free to the Cossacks for eternal possession. It was located between the Kuban River and the Sea of Azov. From the east, the line of Kuban land ran from the mouth of the Laba to Yeysk. In the spring of 1793, after the winter on Yeysk Spit, a detachment of Cossack migrants, led by ataman Zakhary Chepega, moved towards the Ust-Labinsk fortification, and then headed down the left bank of the Kuban. After every ten miles, the Cossacks created cordons designed to protect the borders of their land from the attacks of the highlanders.
How did the idea to create a city
The foundation of Yekaterinodar is entirely the merit of Zakhary Chepegi. In June 1793, in the Karasun Kut, the ataman publicly announced his intention to settle on the banks of the Kuban. In July of that year, in a letter addressed to the military judge Golovatom, Chepega announced that he had already found the place where the "military city" would be laid. The foundation of Yekaterinodar had the main goal - to provide the Black Sea Cossacks with a permanent residence. The city was to become the military and administrative center for the Black Sea Cossack army.
Year of foundation of Ekaterinodar
On August 15, 1793, the highest ranks of the Black Sea Cossack army decided to establish a city. It was supposed to be erected in honor of Catherine II, who gave land to the Cossacks. The city was called - Yekaterinodar, or "gift of Catherine." On November 19, 1793, the chief of the city was appointed ataman Zakhary Chepega. They became Danila Volkorez. At the same time, the date of foundation of the city of Yekaterinodar falls. In the beginning, only a quadrangular fortress was laid. Actually, it is from her that the history of the city originates. Almost simultaneously with the construction of fortifications, the Cossacks began to build a smoking area and houses, which were supposed to accommodate the garrison.
And although the fortress began to be built in the autumn of 1793, the date of foundation of Yekaterinodar was officially on the first of January 1794. It was on this day that the Cossack leadership adopted a document in which the status and name of the new settlement were legally recognized.
Life in Yekaterinodar
In the same year, the urban territory was delimited. They began to build houses and huts that were inhabited not only by military but also by civilians - blacksmiths, bakers, tailors, weavers, butchers and even icon painters. In total, about six hundred people lived in Yekaterinodar at that time. However, life in the new Cossack capital was not sweet. There was impassability and dirt everywhere, often people had malaria. In addition, the Caucasian war broke out, it was restless around. In 1802, some even suggested moving the capital to the city of Taman.
Important milestones in the history of the city
In 1795, the mass development of Yekaterinodar began. The first Orthodox military cathedral was consecrated in 1802, a year later a school was opened for the children of the Cossacks, and in 1804 a school was opened at its base. By 1805, more than 1,700 people were constantly living in Yekaterinodar. In 1819 an army gymnasium was opened here. Gradually, the city developed. In 1860, Ekaterinodar received the status of the center of the Kuban. In 1867, the city already had its own coat of arms. Later, a railway was brought to him, which was to connect it with Novorossiysk and Tikhoretsk.
City development
Yekaterinodar grew at an unprecedented pace. In 1868, a law was passed that served in the history of the city as the beginning of the stage of resettlement colonization. According to it, nonresident residents were allowed to settle in all cities and villages on the territory of the Kuban region. Not only its indigenous Cossack inhabitants could already own the land, therefore, Armenians, Persians and Turks engaged in trade began to come here. Industry began to develop. The city flourished and grew rich, theaters, entertainment venues, many beautiful mansions appeared in it, the Kuban newspaper began to be published.
The modern appearance of Krasnodar has retained some features of Yekaterinodar. In the old city, street layout, buildings and churches are preserved. Ekaterinodar was a military center. And since the buildings in it were mostly wooden, wicker, he looked a little like a city.
After the revolution, the city turned into the center of the Cossack counter-revolution. Therefore, it became the scene of fierce fighting from the very beginning of the Civil War. The situation around has changed. In fact, the city of Yekaterinodar has turned into the capital of the entire "White South" of Russia. Parts of the army of General Kornilov on March 27 (according to the old style) stormed the city. The fighting continued until March 31. On this day the city was taken. This was the First Kuban campaign, followed by the Second, led by Denikin. This continued until 1920, when Yekaterinodar was not conquered by the Red Army. This begins the story of another city - Krasnodar, in which it was renamed.
Interesting Facts
Ataman of the Black Sea Cossacks Zakhary Chepega chose a place for the foundation of the future city near the Arkhangelsk redoubt. The latter in 1778 was laid by Alexander Suvorov himself. The fortress, which began to be built in the autumn of 1793, was the prototype of Zaporizhzhya and had the shape of a quadrangle. Ekaterinodar became the center for the Black Sea Cossack army. Residential quarters of Yekaterinodar - the center of the Black Sea Cossack army - began to appear on the northern side of the fortress.
In 1820, the great poet A.S. Pushkin, passing from Pyatigorsk to Taman, drove through the city. In his travel notes, he wrote that he saw the shores of the Kuban, the watchtowers of the Cossack village, admired them. He wrote a lot of words about the inhabitants of Yekaterinodar themselves. According to Pushkin, the Cossacks were always on horseback, were always ready to fight and were "in eternal precaution ...".
In 1837, another great poet, M. Yu. Lermontov, also stopped in Yekaterinodar. At that time he served as an ensign in the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment. In Yekaterinodar, he found himself on the way to Taman, and then went to Gelendzhik, to the expeditionary detachment of A. A. Veliaminov, to which he was seconded.