13 Facts About Smolensk

1.

Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, 360 kilometers west-southwest of Moscow.

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2.

Smolensk is known for its electronics, textiles, food processing, and diamond faceting industries.

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3.

Smolensk is among the oldest Russian cities of the known Rus' era.

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4.

Smolensk had its own veche since the very beginning of its history.

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5.

The last sovereign monarch of Smolensk was Yury of Smolensk; during his reign the city was taken by Vytautas the Great of Lithuania on three occasions: in 1395,1404, and 1408.

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6.

Three Lithuanian Smolensk regiments took part in the 1410 Battle of Grunwald against the Teutonic Knights.

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7.

In 1632, the Uniate bishop Lew Kreuza built his apartments in Smolensk; they were later converted into the Eastern Orthodox Church of Saint Barbara.

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8.

In February–December 1918, Smolensk was home to the headquarters of the Western Front, North-West Oblast Bolshevik Committee and Western Oblast Executive Committee.

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9.

In June 2013, archaeologists of the Russian Academy of Sciences discovered and unearthed ancient temples in Smolensk dated to the middle to second half of the 12th century, built on the left bank of the Dnieper River.

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10.

In September 2013, Smolensk widely celebrated its 1,150th anniversary with funds spent on different construction and renovation projects in the city.

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11.

Smolensk Kremlin, built at the end of the 16th century during the reign of Tsars Fyodor I Ioannovich and Boris Godunov, under the supervision of the architect Fyodor Kon, is one of the greatest achievement of Russian medieval architecture and military engineering.

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12.

Smolensk has several factories including the Smolensk Aviation Plant and several electronics and agricultural machinery factories.

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13.

Smolensk is located on the M1 main highway and Moscow–Brest Railway.

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