THE SANDS OF DON
The town of Tsaritsyn undoubtedly deserves a separate story. It has
been renamed twice: to Stalingrad and later to its present name
Volgograd. It has always played very important role in Russian
history due to the unique geographical situation. Since olden times
the steppe between the two rivers - Don and Volga - used to be the
centre of numerous battles and confrontations. For this reason in
1589 a watch fortress, that later became the town of Tsaritsyn, was
built on the bank of Volga.
Tsaritsyn has witnessed multiple revolts of Cossacks, peasants and
villeins, but the largest battle it had ever seen (Stalingrad at
that time) was the one that lasted from July 1942 to February 1943.
It is the famous Battle of Stalingrad that became the turning point
of the Second World War and marked the decline of fascism. The
battle that lasted 200 days and nights and resulted in the victory
of the Russian troops. In honour of this victory the famous memorial
complex "To heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad" was created on the
Mamaev Kurgan (the tumulus of khan Mamay), where the battle ended.
Nowadays this historical memorial is the most visited one in Russia.
Another memorial to history is situated on the South outskirts of
Volgograd. That is Sarepta - a well-remained settlement of the
German colonists. In 1762 by order of Russian Empress Catherine II a
manifesto was issued, inviting the migrators from Europe to settle
in Russia, in Tsaritsyn. This was done in order to develop the
uninhabited Southern districts of Russia and to defend them against
nomads. The manifesto specified conditions and rights of the
settlers as well as the limited area of their residence - that was
Tsaritsyn. The migrators responded to her call and founded a small
fortified settlement on the outskirts of present-day Volgograd. It
has now become "The State Historical, Ethnographical and
Architectural Memorial Preserve "The Old Sarepta" in Volgograd".
The story of Volgograd would be incomplete without the description
of the Volgo-Donskoy shipping canal. The problem of connecting Don
and Volga rivers has a centuries-old history. The Volgo-Donskoy
watershed had always been attractive for transportation because of
extremely fortunate place of maximum rapprochement of the two
rivers. In the late 17th century Peter the Great made an attempt to
build a shipping canal but failed. All later projects of joining the
rivers were a failure too. Construction of the canal began before
the Second World War by which it was interrupted, but in 1948 the
construction works were resumed and the Volgo-Donskoy shipping canal
was officially opened on July 27, 1952. It is 101 kilometres long,
45 of them run through rivers and reservoirs. The canal currently
serves for cargo and passenger ships traffic.
The Volgo-Donskoy canal is a part of a large structural complex. The
system "Don river - Volgo-Donskoy canal - Volga river" ties Russia
with Central Asia, Transcaucasia and Iran through the Caspian Sea
and with many Mediterranean countries through the Sea of Azov and
the Black Sea.
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