Welcome to Volgograd!
Volgograd (Russian: Волгогра́д) is a large city along the west bank of the Volga River in Southern Russia. It used to be known as Stalingrad, a name which the city is still known on several war-related dates each year (on account of local legislation). It was the scene of one of the most important and bloodiest battles of the Second World War.
Volgograd (Russian: Волгогра́д, romanized: Volgográd), formerly Tsaritsyn (Russian: Цари́цын, romanized: Tsarítsyn) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (Russian: Сталингра́д, romanized: Stalingrád) (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area of 859.4 square kilometres (331.8 square miles), with a population of over 1 million residents. Volgograd is the fifteenth-largest city in Russia, the second-largest city in the Southern Federal District, and the fourth-largest city on the Volga.
The city was founded as the fortress of Tsaritsyn in 1589. By the nineteenth century, Tsaritsyn had become an important river port and commercial centre, leading to its population expanding rapidly.
Early in the Russian Civil War, in November 1917, Tsaritsyn came under Soviet control. It fell briefly to the White Army in mid-1919 but quickly returned to Soviet control in January 1920.
On April 10, 1925, the city was renamed Stalingrad in honour of Joseph Stalin. During World War II, the Axis forces attacked the city, leading to the Battle of Stalingrad, one of the largest and bloodiest battles in the history of warfare. On 10 November 1961, Nikita Khrushchev's administration changed the name of the city to Volgograd. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the city became the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast.
Known locally as the "Hero City", Volgograd today is the site of The Motherland Calls, an 85-meter high statue dedicated to the heroes of the battle, which is the tallest statue in Europe, as well as the tallest statue of a woman in the world. The city has many tourist attractions, such as museums, sandy beaches, and a self-propelled floating church. Volgograd was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.