Before I went to Samara I knew next to nothing about the place I'll be spending the next half a year of my life in. When we hear of Samara, most of us usually think of the Lada car model, which used to be quite abundant on our roads. Between the years of 1935 and 1991 the city was named after the soviet statesman Valerijan Kujbišev. Today it’s an important political, social, economic, industrial and cultural city. The former statesman currently, instead of the whole city, has the largest square on the European continent named after him – the Kujbišev’s square.
It’s probably the most socialistic city of current day Russia. Most of it was built during or after the Second World War, so we can find many wide open spaces and squares – including the largest one in the whole of Europe. The city also has many huge house and monuments to the efforts during the Second World War, to give it the socialistic touch. It was also the centre of the Soviet Union’s rocket and aircraft industry. It was here in Samara that the rocket, which carried Jurij Gagarin, as the first human in space, was built back in the distant 1961. That’s the reason the city was closed to foreigners. It was not possible to travel out of or into the city. You can still feel the effects of this among the people today, as they are not willing to break the rules and are, especially older people, very closed and reserved towards strangers. The city features a typical continental climate and has hot summers and freezing winters.
Samara is sixth on the list of largest cities in Russia and has just little under 2 million inhabitants. For a short period of time (between 1941 and 1942), during the Nazi invasion, when Hitler’s forces endangered Moscow like Hannibal’s forces endangered Rome in the antique time, Samara was the state capital. The city is located on the banks of the Volga River (the longest river in Europe, with 3692km), which connects the cities of: Saratov, Volgograd and Astrakhan, before it reaches the Caspian Sea. The river has a very strong symbolism in Russian literature and folklore, for they usually refer to it as Volga-Matushka (mother Volga). In the year 2018 Samara will be one of the locations to host the football world cup. Just a few months ago they’ve presented the plans for the new and modern stadium the city will get. I do hope our Slovenian national team will qualify and that we’ll hear our chant: 'Kdor ne skače ni Slovenc!' (Who’s not jumping’s not Slovene) for the third time at the world cup. The most prominent football club of Samara is Krylia Sovetov, and our national representative Nejc Pečnik played for them in the season of 2011/12. Russians will long remember his name for scoring the goal at the additional qualifications at the Lužniki stadium that cost the Russian team not to qualify of the world cup 2010. While living there I’ve visited a few football and a few basketball matches and I must say the local supporters are really hot blooded, as often real fire started burning in the arena. The city is also proud of its opera and ballet, the hall of the philharmonic orchestra and five drama theatres. You should definitely visit the major museum – the museum of natural history and the space museum… and there is also the city art gallery and many cinemas.
But if you ever visit the city, you simply must go to their ZOO, which is among the most beautiful ones, and I’d also suggest a visit to the circus, which offers a different show every week.
Next to the opera house, in the very centre of the city, is a special bunker on seven different levels, which Stalin himself commissioned. The walls are so thick they can even withstand the nuclear explosion. The guide to the bunker told us, Stalin never used it, and it’s now out of use anyway. It’s only a museum today, if you announce your visit beforehand.
A two hour’s drive from the city is the town of Toljati, which is known mostly for its car industry. The city is the home of the humongous automobile factory »AvtoVAZ« (АвтоВАЗ), which is the home for the world renowned Lada cars. Many say the town is the capital of Russian automobile industry. The factory itself is so huge is has twenty entrances for the thousands of its employees. The cars are usually sold on the domestic Russian market and to the former soviet republics. Otherwise the city of Samara is considered the city of the most beautiful girls in Russia. Russians all agree with that statements and we foreigners can only contently smile at it. If you ever come to this part of Russia, chances therefore are, you will never want to leave again.
