5 Russian cities named after famous writers (PHOTOS)
In many Russian towns, there are streets bearing the names of these great people, but there are also entire cities where their memory is immortalized.
1. Pushkin
Former imperial residence Tsarskoye Selo is located in this town in St. Petersburg’s suburbs. But, the name of Alexander Pushkin is no coincidence there – the great poet studied at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum and spent several years of his youth there, where he began to write his first poems. The city received its name in 1937, when the USSR commemorated the 100th anniversary of the poet's death.
2. Gorky
Many parks, streets and squares in the USSR were named after proletarian writer Maxim Gorky. And Nizhny Novgorod, his hometown, was renamed Gorky during the writer's lifetime. In 1990, the historical name was returned to the city, but it is still often referred to as ‘Gorky’.
3. Chekhov
In 1954, the village of Lopasnya near Moscow became a city called ‘Chekhov’. Melikhovo, the writer's estate, is located nearby. Chekhov lived there, wrote plays and short stories and also took care of patients in an outpatient clinic (as he was a fully licensed, practicing doctor!).
4. Lev Tolstoy
Surprisingly, only a small village and a station in Lipetsk Region are named after the most famous and prolific writer. An 82-year-old Leo Tolstoy died in the house of the stationmaster there, getting sick after running away from home. In 1918, this station and the village of Astapovo were renamed ‘Lev Tolstoy’.
5. Lermontov
The region of the Caucasian Mineral Waters is associated with the memory of famous poet Mikhail Lermontov. He served in the army there, he described these places in his famous novel ‘Hero of Our Time’ and, in Pyatigorsk, he died in a duel. The poet had never directly been to the city of Lermontov, as it was only founded in 1953 as a city of industrialists and miners.
