Smolensk, a wonderful Russian city, stands on a hill on the south bank of the Dnepr, surrounded by lengths of ancient walls.

Every historical epoch has left its sign in the Smolensk Region - ancient barrows and "gorodischa", monuments of architecture of XII century, fortress wall, temples and monasteries, ancient country estates.

Smolensk and Smolensk Region are a unique phenomenon of the Russian culture, the motherland of many outstanding people: the state-figure Potemkin-Tavricheskyi, the navy admiral Nahimov, the inventors Lavochkin and Yurjev, the sculptors Mikeshin and Konenkov, the outstanding travelers Przhevalskiy and Kozlov, the writers Belyaev and Azimov, composer Glinka, first cosmonaut Gagarin and many other famous in Russia and abroad people.

Smolensk Region was organized on September 27, 1937.

Today Smolensk is a big commercial, industrial and cultural center that possesses a great potential for further development.

Around Smolensk

The Smolensk land is in close connection with Russian military history - many monuments denoted to the Patriotic War of 1812 are kept here. They are: monuments to the heroic defenders of the city, the monument to Sofiyskiy regiment, which took part in the Smolensk battle, the monument with eagles in Talashkino became the cultural center, this village was created by the famous social figure, painter, and collector Princess M. K. Tenisheva.

Museums

The region possesses a developed network of museums. Many of them are located inside historical and cultural monuments. The unique museums are: the Museum of History and Culture and the Museum-Reserve of A. S. Griboedov (Khmelita). This complex occupies one of the largest territories in Russia and houses the most valuable historic and cultural monuments: the land that belonged to Griboedov, the village Gorodok - the motherland of admiral P. S. Nakhimov (more than 25 monuments of architecture), Museum-Country Estate of M. I. Glinka in the village Novospasskoe, the Memorial Museum of Y. A. Gagarin, the Memorial Museum of M. V. Isakovskiy in the village Voshodi, and the House-Museum of N.M. Przhivalsky.