Novocherkassk

 

(nô'vəchĭrkäsk') , city (1989 pop. 188,000), SE European Russia, on the Aksai River (the right tributary of the Don). It manufactures locomotives, machine tools, mining and building equipment, and chemicals. Founded in 1805, it remained the administrative center of the Don Cossacks until 1920. Novocherkassk was the site of the hetman's palace and has a Don Cossack historical museum.

Coordinates: 47°25′N 40°5′E / 47.417, 40.083

Novocherkassk (Russian: Новочерка́сск) is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Tuzlov River and on the Aksay River. It was formerly the capital of the Don Cossacks. Population: 180,800 (2005 est.); 170,822 (2002 Census); 187,973 (1989 Census); 178,000 (1974); 123,000 (1959); 81,000 (1939); 52,000 (1897).

Novocherkassk was founded in 1805 as the administrative center of the Don Voisko Lands, when the inhabitants of the Cherkassk stanitsa were compelled to leave their abodes on the banks of the Don on account of the frequent inundations.

During the Russian Civil War, Novocherkassk was the heart of the Don counterrevolution. The Red Army finally ousted the Whites from this town on January 7, 1920. During World War II, Novocherkassk was occupied by the German army between July 24, 1942 and February 13, 1943. In 1962, the local food riots were brutally suppressed by the Soviet Army in the event known as the Novocherkassk Massacre.

Novocherkassk was once an archiepiscopal see of the Greek Orthodox Church and has a cathedral (1904), the palace of the ataman of the Cossacks, and monuments to Matvei Platov and Yermak Timofeyevich (Mikeshin, 1904). During the bicentenary celebrations in September 2005 another monument, dedicated to the reconciliation of White and Red Cossacks, was opened in the presence of the members of the Romanov family.

Novocherkassk is twinned with:

• Iserlohn, Germany - since 1990
• La Valette, France
• Kronstadt, Russia

External links

• City forum of Novocherkassk
• The Novocherkassk Tragedy, June 1-3 1962

	Cities and towns in Rostov Oblast
	Administrative center: Rostov-on-Don Aksay | Azov | Bataysk | Belaya Kalitva | Donetsk | Gukovo | Kamensk-Shakhtinsky | Novocherkassk | Novoshakhtinsk | Konstantinovsk | Krasny Sulin | Millerovo | Morozovsk | Proletarsk | Salsk | Semikarakorsk | Shakhty | Taganrog | Tsimlyansk | Volgodonsk | Zernograd | Zverevo

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