HISTORY OF SARANSK

Let's talk about history of our city. Saransk was founded in 1641 as a military fortress. The river "Saranka" gave the name of our city. Throughout its history Saransk was witnessed of many events. In 1670 it became one of the major centers of the peasant uprising led by Stepan Razin (now we have street was named in honor of him) . After that Saransk was occuped by the forses of Emelian Pugachev . Now there is a monument of Emelian Pugachev   It became the province of Penza since 1801. By the middle of the XVIII century the city finally losed military significance and became a commercial and industrial center. There were many differents small enterprises which produced grain , hemp , leather, meat, honey and other. At the beginning of XVIII century there were more than 700 households 5500 people. In the XIX century devastating fires (1817, 1825 and 1869.) destroyed almost all city, but it was built again. At the end of the XIX century it was passed through Saransk line of Moscow-Kazan Railway. Construction of the road revived economic and political life of the city.There were school of painting of Makarov (1828), City Bank (1844), the first small power station (1866), Paid Public Library (1893), free public library (1899) in Saransk. In the city by the end of the century there were 10 schools. The population of Saransk was more than 14 thousand people. During the Civil War Saransk was one of the centers formed units of the Red Army. The war led to famine, unemployment, a drop in production. Many enterprises of Saransk did not work due to lack of fuel and raw materials. But even in such a difficult time for the city cultural life continued. Regional museum was  founded in 1918. Saransk became the capital of Mordovia ASSR in 1934. About 17 thousand people of Saransk fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, more than 8,000 of them died. In the postwar years the it was created new industries: electrical, engineering, medical, food industry, production of building materials. The Mordovia State University was founded in 1957. Saransk became the capital of  Republic of Mordovia in 1991. In 2012 Saransk  had the title " The most well-appointed Russian city". 

                                                 The picture of Saransk in XVII century:

The photo of old Saransk:

The first trolleybus in Saransk in 1966:

The Soviet Square:

The photo of Lenin Avenue (the central street of Saransk):