Kaluga

Kaluga, founded in the mid-14th century as a border fortress on the southwestern borders of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, first appears in the historical record in chronicles in the 14th century as Koluga; the name comes from Old Russian kaluga is "bog, quagmire".E.M. Pospelov, Geograficheskie nazvaniya mira (Moscow: Russkie slovari, 1998), p. 181. During the period of Tartar raids it was the western end of the Oka bank defense line. The Great stand on the Ugra River was fought just to the west. In the Middle Ages Kaluga was a minor settlement owned by the Princes Vorotynsky. The ancestral home of these princes lies southwest of the modern city.

On 19 January 1777, the Kaluga drama theatre opened its first theatrical season, established with the direct participation of the Governor-General Mikhail Krechetnikov.{{cite book| author = Ассонов В. И. | chapter = К истории театра в Калуге| chapter-url = http://elib.shpl.ru/ru/nodes/13501-vyp-xxi-1911#page/64/mode/inspect/zoom/6| format = | url = | title = Известия Калужской Ученой Архивной Комиссии. Выпуск XXI | orig-year = Извѣстія Калужской Ученой Архивной Комиссіи. Выпускъ XXI| agency = | edition = |location= Калуга |date = 1911 |publisher= Типография Е. Г. Архангельской |volume= | pages = 56–69| series = | isbn = }}

Kaluga is connected to Moscow by a railway line and by the ancient roadway, the Kaluga Road (now partly within Moscow (as the Old Kaluga Highway), partly the A101 road).{{cite web|title=Товарные знаки — тоже искусство|author=Сергей Алтухов|url=http://kbanda.ru/index.php/vystavki-festivali/19-vystavki-news/108-tovarnye-znaki-tozhe-iskusstvo|date=2011-09-13|ref=Товарные знаки — тоже искусство|accessdate=2018-12-06}} This road offered Napoleon his favored escape route from the Moscow trap in the fall of 1812. But General Kutuzov repelled Napoleon's advances in this direction and forced the retreating French army onto the Old Smolensk Road, previously devastated by the French during their invasion of Russia.

On several occasions during the Russian Empire Kaluga was the residence of political exiles and prisoners such as the last Crimean khan Şahin Giray (1786), the Kyrgyz sultan Arigazi-Abdul-Aziz (1828), the Georgian princess Thecla (1834–1835), and the Avar leader Imam Shamil (1859–1868).{{Cite web|url=https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/325137/|title=Историки указали на стереотипность мнений про пленение Шамиля|author=|website=Кавказский узел|date=8 September 2018|access-date=2023-02-13|archive-date=2023-02-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213204046/https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/325137/|url-status=live}}

The German army briefly occupied Kaluga during the climactic Battle of Moscow, as part of Operation Barbarossa. The city was under full or partial German occupation from October 12 to December 30, 1941. In 1944, the Soviet Government used its local military buildings to intern hundreds of Polish prisoners of war — soldiers of the Polish underground Home Army — whom the advancing Soviet front had arrested in the area around Vilnius.

{{Historical populations|1897|49513|1926|49425|1939|89396|1959|134235|1970|210906|1979|265013|1989|311399|2002|334751|2010|324698|2021|337058|type=|footnote=Source: Census data}}As of the 2021 Census, the ethnic composition of Kaluga was:{{cite web |url=https://40.rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/+%201%20%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BB.pdf |title=Территориальный орган Федеральной службы государственной статистики по Калужской области |publisher=|access-date=24 May 2023}}

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Kaluga is the administrative center of the oblast.Charter of Kaluga Oblast Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with seventy-two rural localities, incorporated as the City of Kaluga—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the City of Kaluga, together with one rural locality in Ferzikovsky District (the selo'' of Novozhdamirovo), is incorporated as Kaluga Urban Okrug.Law #7-OZ

The Kaluga Turbine Plant is located here as is Kaluga Machine Works, which manufactures track machines for railways. In recent years, Kaluga has become one center of the Russian automotive industry, with a number of foreign companies opening assembly plants in the area:{{Cite web |url=http://docs.cntd.ru/document/972215857 |title=О Стратегии социально-экономического развития Калужской области до 2030 года (с изменениями на 12 февраля 2016 года) |access-date=2017-07-22 |archive-date=2017-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727205935/http://docs.cntd.ru/document/972215857}}

On 28 November 2007, Volkswagen Group opened a new assembly plant in Kaluga, which further expanded by 2009. The investment has reached more than 500 million Euro. {{asof|2014}} the plant assembled the Volkswagen Passat, Škoda Fabia and Škoda Rapid.{{Cite web |url=http://www.skoda-auto.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/company/investors/annual-reports/en/skoda-annual-report-2014.pdf |title=Škoda Annual Report 2014 |access-date=January 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924102422/http://www.skoda-auto.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/company/investors/annual-reports/en/skoda-annual-report-2014.pdf |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |url-status=dead }}

On 15 October 2007, the Volvo Group broke ground on a new truck assembly plant, that was inaugurated on 19 January 2009,[http://www.just-auto.com/news/volvo-truck-starts-production-at-kaluga-plant_id97595.aspx Volvo Truck starts production at Kaluga plant], Just-auto.com, 19 January 2009. with a yearly capacity of 10,000 Volvo and 5,000 Renault trucks.[https://web.archive.org/web/20071101161608/http://www.volvo.com/group/global/en-gb/newsmedia/corpnews/NewsItemPage.htm?channelId=1389&ItemID=30465&sl=en-gb New Volvo Group assembly plant in Kaluga], Volvo Group corporate news, 15 October 2007.

On 12 December 2007, PSA Peugeot Citroën announced its decision to build a new assembly plant in Kaluga.[http://www.psa-peugeot-citroen.com/en/psa_espace/press_releases_details_d1.php?id=751 PSA Peugeot Citroën to Build Plant in Kaluga, Russia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071230132440/http://www.psa-peugeot-citroen.com/en/psa_espace/press_releases_details_d1.php?id=751 |date=December 30, 2007 }}, PSA Peugeot Citroën press release, 12 December 2007

The city is served by the Grabtsevo Airport. Since 1899, there has been a railway connection between Kaluga and Moscow.{{cite web |url=http://www.nnov-airport.ru/rus/wokzal_kaluga.html |title=Train Station in Kaluga |publisher=Nnov-airport.ru |access-date=2014-02-24 |language=ru |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929093540/http://www.nnov-airport.ru/rus/wokzal_kaluga.html |archive-date=September 29, 2013 |url-status=dead }}

Public transportation is represented by the trolleybuses, buses, and marshrutkas (routed taxis).

Kaluga Lenina 96 02.jpg|ZiU-682 trolleybus

Kaluga trolleybus 129 2013-07.jpg|ZiU-682 trolleybus

Kaluga 2013 trolleybus 34.jpg|BKM-321 low-floor trolleybus

Terminal of Grabtsevo Airport (Kaluga, Russia) KLF UUBC (33977439235).jpg|Kaluga Airport

Kaluga-1_station_01.JPG|Kaluga Railway Station

Kaluga has a humid temperate continental (Köppen climate classification: Dfb), with warm and humid summers; and long, cold and snowy winters. Winter extreme records can be as low as {{convert|-45|C}}, while summer heat may reach up {{convert|+40|C}}, but normal variation is between {{convert|-5|C}} and {{convert|-20|C}} during winter and between {{convert|15|C}} and {{convert|30|C}} during summer in Kaluga.

{{Weather box

|location=Kaluga, Russia (period 1961–1990)

|metric first=yes

|single line=yes

|Jan high C=-6.6

|Feb high C=-5.0

|Mar high C=0.4

|Apr high C=10.3

|May high C=18.7

|Jun high C=21.5

|Jul high C= 23.0

|Aug high C= 21.9

|Sep high C= 15.7

|Oct high C= 9.0

|Nov high C= 0.7

|Dec high C= -3.7

|year high C= 7.2

|Jan mean C= -10.1

|Feb mean C= -9.0

|Mar mean C= -3.5

|Apr mean C= 5.7

|May mean C= 12.7

|Jun mean C= 15.8

|Jul mean C= 17.5

|Aug mean C= 16.3

|Sep mean C= 10.9

|Oct mean C= 5.4

|Nov mean C= -1.9

|Dec mean C= -6.6

|year mean C= 4.4

|Jan low C= -13.5

|Feb low C= -12.9

|Mar low C= -7.4

|Apr low C= 1.0

|May low C= 6.7

|Jun low C= 10.1

|Jul low C= 12.0

|Aug low C= 10.7

|Sep low C= 6.1

|Oct low C= 1.8

|Nov low C= -4.5

|Dec low C= -9.5

|year low C= 0.1

|Jan precipitation mm= 39

|Feb precipitation mm= 33

|Mar precipitation mm= 35

|Apr precipitation mm= 39

|May precipitation mm= 43

|Jun precipitation mm= 77

|Jul precipitation mm= 80

|Aug precipitation mm= 71

|Sep precipitation mm= 55

|Oct precipitation mm= 50

|Nov precipitation mm= 53

|Dec precipitation mm= 55

|year precipitation mm= 630

|source 1= www.meteoinfo.ru

{{cite web

|url=http://meteoinfo.ru/climate/klimatgorod/1695-1246618396

|title=www.meteoinfo.ru

|access-date= 3 September 2012}}

}}

{{More citations needed section|date=April 2025}}

Kaluga's most famous resident was rocket science pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.

Other notable people include:

• Sergei Avagimyan, former professional footballer. Born in Russia, he played for the Armenian national football team.
• Alexander Amfiteatrov
• Yuri Averbakh, chess grandmaster
• Mykola Azarov
• Pafnuty Chebyshev, mathematician
• Alexander Chizhevsky
• David Edelstadt
• Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian-American composer
• Jonah of Hankou
• Andrei Kalaychev
• Valery Kobelev, ski jumper
• Mikhail Linge
• Pavel Popovich, cosmonaut, the only person to receive two honorary citizenships of Kaluga (1962 and 1964){{cite web|url=http://www.kaluga-gov.ru/index.php?do=cat&category=imi_gorditsja_kaluga|title=Ими гордится Калуга ("They Bring Pride to Kaluga")|publisher=Office of the Affairs of the Mayor of Kaluga|language=ru|access-date=2009-10-01|location=Kaluga|archive-date=24 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724022931/http://www.kaluga-gov.ru/index.php?do=cat&category=imi_gorditsja_kaluga|url-status=dead}}
• Larisa Popugayeva
• Nikolai Rakov
• Imam Shamil
• Nikolay Skvortsov, swimmer
• Yuliya Tabakova
• Georgy Zhukov
• Olesya Zykina, 400m athlete
• Bulat Okudzhava, lived and taught Literature in public school in the 1950s.
• Serafim Tulikov
• Ivan Kuliak
• Stanislav Kunyaev

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Russia}}

Kaluga is twinned with:{{cite web |title=Города-побратимы|url=https://www.kaluga-gov.ru/?q=%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BC%D1%8B_1159173114|website=kaluga-gov.ru|publisher=Kaluga|language=ru|access-date=2020-02-05}}

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

• {{flagicon|GER}} Suhl, Germany (1969)

• {{flagicon|MDA}} Tiraspol, Moldova (2005)
• {{flagicon|GRC}} Panorama, Greece (2011)
• {{flagicon|BLR}} Minsk, Belarus (2015)
• {{flagicon|CHN}} Binzhou, China (2015)
• {{flagicon|UKR}} Yalta, Ukraine (2016)
• {{flagicon|SRB}} Niš, Serbia (2017)

{{div col end}}

In addition to twin towns, Kaluga cooperates with:

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

• {{flagicon|USA}} Clearwater, United States (1992)
• {{flagicon|CHN}} Xianyang, China (2000)
• {{flagicon|RUS}} Tula, Russia (2002)
• {{flagicon|RUS}} Oryol, Russia (2003)
• {{flagicon|RUS}} Smolensk, Russia (2003)
• {{flagicon|RUS}} Makhachkala, Russia (2012)
• {{flagicon|RUS}} Tsiolkovsky, Russia (2016)
• {{flagicon|RUS}} Ryazan, Russia (2017)
• {{flagicon|RUS}} Tambov, Russia (2017)

{{div col end}}

File:Kaluga 2012 MainSquare 03 1TM.jpg|Kaluga. Main Square

File:Kaluga 2013 Lenina 70 03 1TM.jpg|Kaluga. Polman House

File:Калуга. Театр драмы..JPG|Kaluga Region Drama Theatre building

File:Kaluga01 0812 168g.jpg|Kaluga. Eastern archway at the Administration Building

File:Mgtu-kaluga.jpg|Kaluga. Moscow State Technical University (local branch)

File:Kaluga, Kirova Street and Plekhanova Street (16).jpg|Streetside stores in Kaluga

File:Kaluga01 0812 170g.jpg|Kaluga. Region administration

File:Kaluga 2013 trolleybus 34.jpg|Trolleybus in Kaluga

File:Space_museum_(Kaluga).jpg|Astronautics Museum

{{Reflist|2}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{RussiaBasicLawRef|klu}}
• {{RussiaAdmMunRef|klu|mun|list3}}

{{refend}}

{{Commons category-inline}}

• {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Kaluga (town) |volume= 15 | page = 644 |short= 1}}
• [http://www.kaluga-gov.ru/?language=en Official website of Kaluga] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504211044/http://www.kaluga-gov.ru/?language=en |date=4 May 2012 }}
• [https://kaluga.jsprav.ru/ Kaluga Business Directory] {{in lang|ru}}
• [http://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2006-05/artikel-6488362.asp Article in German about Kaluga plant]
• {{JewishGen-LocalityPage|2919283|Kaluga, Russia}}

{{Kaluga Oblast}}

{{Golden Ring}}

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Category:Kaluzhsky Uyezd

Category:Golden Ring of Russia