The most unusual city in Russia

Togliatti is a unique city. It is located on the left bank of the Volga river, in the heart of the picturesque Zhiguli Riviera, and today it is home to more than 700 thousand people – representatives of over a hundred nationalities and ethnic groups. It is a major industrial and economic center and one of the youngest and fastest growing cities in the country. 50 years ago AVTOVAZ was built here – the most famous car factory in Russia, which unites automotive cluster of Samara region. And Togliatti is the largest city in the country, which is not the capital of the subject of the Federation.

About Togliatti people often say that it was “thrice born”. And that’s true. The first birth relates to 1737 when the fortress town of Stavropol-on-Volga was founded by Vasily Tatishchev, the associate of Peter I.

In 1950, it became the center for construction of the Volga Hydroelectric Power Station (HPS). In 1957, HPP was brought to full capacity, and the city was moved to a new location in connection with the filling of the bed Kuibyshev reservoir. The emergence of a powerful hydroelectric power station was the reason for the birth of a new city – industrial Stavropol, which became a major center of the chemical industry, engineering and construction industry.

The third birth. In 1964, the city was named Togliatti. – in honor of General Secretary of the Communist party of Italy Palmiro Togliatti. In 1966, the construction of the Volga Automobile Plant, the largest car manufacturing plant in Russia, began. In parallel with the construction of the plant a new residential area Togliatti – Avtozavodsky was built. From 1964 to 1970, the urban population grew more than two times. According to the 1970 census, there were already 251 thousand people.

Modern Togliatti is a large industrial and economic center, one of the youngest and fastest growing cities in the country. There are dozens of large and medium-sized industrial enterprises: AVTOVAZ, JV “GM-AVTOVAZ”, Valeo, Faurecia, Otto Bock, Gestamp, Nizhny Novgorod JSC “Avtokomponent Togliatti”. Enterprises for the production of automotive components and materials, cement machinery plants, ship repair and mechanical plant, transformer plant, fire-fighting equipment plant, plant of protective coatings and plastics, plant of technological equipment. Chemical industry is well developed in the city: the world’s largest producer of ammonia “Tolyattiazot”, the plant of synthetic rubber “Tolyattikauchuk”  (SIBUR) and the plant of mineral fertilizers “KuibyshevAzot”.

In the industrial area near the city there is a special economic zone on the territory of which Nobel Automotive, CIE Automotive, Edscha, HI-LEX are located.

Togliatti is a special city. And, despite a number of city-forming enterprises of the automobile and chemical industry, represents not only sleeping areas. Located on the banks of the Volga river, near Zhiguli mountains, Togliatti is very diverse in nature and architecture. Being surrounded on three sides by forest, and with the fourth coming close to the shore of the Kuibyshev reservoir, Togliatti is very picturesque: all along the coast from the river port there are city beaches and boat stations.

The ancient Zhiguli mountains, located on the opposite bank from the city, are considered to be the pearl of Russia. It is here the most original and beautiful area along the Volga river is located. The beauty of Zhiguli mountains was reflected in music and painting, works of poets and folk tales.

Togliatti is a major hub of automobile, rail, river and air transport. By virtue of its position it has a very developed transport infrastructure, ensuring its viability. External transport links of the city are provided by three bus stations, large railway stations, river port and airport.

Togliatti river port is one of the largest transportation hubs in the Volga region, it is often called “port of five seas”.

Togliatti is a city with a specific layout. All three districts – Central, Komsomol and Avtozavodsky – are separated by forests.

The peculiarity of Avtozavodsky district of Togliatti is that it was built for the first time in Russia without a single temporary premises. This is the standard of the city-dream, the city of the future according to the architects of the late 60’s – early 70’s of the twentieth century. And as a standard for the construction of that period, Togliatti appeared in the textbooks of architecture, which were published in Italy. The district is divided by wide avenues and streets into almost equal squares – residential quarters, each of them has its own special layout.

There are five higher education institutions in Togliatti, the oldest of which is Togliatti State University. The city has museums, theatres, city Symphony orchestra and Philharmonic hall. Grushinsky festival and the festival of classical music and arts “Tremolo” are held annually in the vicinity of the city, which gather hundreds of thousands of participants.

Togliatti is a major center of Motorsport competitions: rally, circuit racing, autocross, buggy. The most famous of Togliatti athletes is a gymnast Alexey Nemov – the quadruple Olympic champion and multiple world champion.

The most titled athlete of the city on fighting single combats is Alexander Gerunov – the numerous Russia and world champion in karate in all its types: personal, team, specific and absolute Championships.

Infrastructure, beautiful nature, pleasant atmosphere of the city, as well as a large number of entertainment make Togliatti attractive to tourists. So, tourism has recently been one of the most significant components of the city’s policy and one of the strategic directions of its development.