Semiluki is a small industrial city in the Voronezh region, 13 km
from Voronezh. There is not much interesting in Semiluki, although there
are several interesting objects there and in its environs. It makes
sense to visit it when you’ve already seen everything interesting in
Voronezh, but you don’t want to go far.
In 1894, during the
construction of the Voronezh - Kursk railway, a small stop appeared
here, named after the nearby village of Semiluki. The construction of a
full-fledged village near the station began in 1926, the status of a
city was received in 1954. It is curious that the village of the same
name was never absorbed by the city; it is listed as a separate
settlement, although it is closely adjacent to the city from the north.
The name of the village comes from the phrase “seven bows” - seven bends
of the Don.
Despite the young age of the city, evidence of people
living in this place many years ago was found back in the 17th century.
In the first half of the 20th century, archaeologists discovered the
Semilukskoe settlement. In total, several sites of the Chalcolithic,
Bronze Age, Early Iron Age and Old Russian times were identified. Some
historians associate the settlement with the chronicle settlement of
Usugruv (from the Turkic Us - river, Ugrov - ditch, mountain), which
meant a settlement near a river on a high mountain. The Russian name of
this settlement was, apparently, Ogiben (this is how the monastery
located here was later named). In the Middle Ages, an important caravan
route from Volga Bulgaria to Kyiv passed here.
Located on the right high bank of the Don River. The key streets should be considered 25 Let Oktyabr and Dzerzhinsky. Transportnaya Street passes through the northern outskirts of the city. From north to south are the village of Semiluki, the city center, and the Yuzhny microdistrict.
1 Semiluki settlement. An ancient settlement in which people lived
at the end of the 3rd millennium BC, in the 1st millennium BC., IX-X
centuries, XII-XIII centuries.
2 Church of Mitrofan of Voronezh, st.
25 years of October, 112B (near the Three Aircraft Park). ☎ +7 (47372) 2
76 60. The thirteen-domed temple in the hipped eclectic style was built
in 1994-2010 according to the design of Alexander Poplavsky. The temple,
which has become one of the calling cards of the city, has a height of
42 meters and is visible from afar.
3 Dacha I. S. Bashkirtseva, st.
Dacha, 1A (along 25 Let Oktyabrya Street before it starts, then through
the forest park in the same direction to the suspension bridge over the
Devitsa River). The dacha of a relative of the poet Alexei Koltsov,
where he visited more than once, as indicated by the memorial plaque on
the building. After the revolution, a hospital was located here, which
continued to treat wounded Soviet soldiers even during the German
occupation during the Great Patriotic War. The two-story manor with a
mezzanine and its outbuilding were heavily damaged by military
operations and were restored in a simplified version. For a long time
there was a holiday home on the territory of the dacha, but now it is in
a neglected state. The orchard at the dacha is a natural monument.
4 Cross to the soldiers of the armored train “General Guselshchikov”,
bank of the Don (not far from Bashkirtsev’s dacha). Several crosses on
the banks of the Don, dedicated to the executed soldiers of the White
Guard armored train "General Guselschikov". But the place, date, and
even the fact of the execution are highly controversial.
5 War
Memorial, Semiluki village, st. 35 years of Victory (near the
roundabout). Memorial to a Soviet soldier at a mass grave. Next to it,
in 2019, a monument was unveiled to the feat of Praskovya Shchegoleva,
who saved a Soviet pilot in 1942 at the cost of her own life and the
lives of her five children and mother.
6 Mass grave of the
Shchegolev family, Semiluki village, Donskaya street, 59A. A mass grave
at the site where the Shchegolev family was executed by the German
military during the Great Patriotic War.
1 Ski complex “Dongor” , Chernyshova Gora, 1. ☎ +7 (920) 229-59-49.
summer: 10:00-22:00=; winter: 15:00-23:00 (Tue-Fri), 10:00-22:00
(Sat-Sun). Alpine skiing, cheesecakes and snow scooters. The complex has
several lifts and snow cannons. There is a cafe, a hotel and a
bathhouse. You can learn skating from instructors. The complex is
located in a picturesque area, next to the natural monument Chernyshova
Gora.
2 Central Park, st. 25 years of October, 26 (at the District
Palace of Culture). Park on the upper terrace of the Don. Here there is
a monument to those killed in the Great Patriotic War (“Soldier”),
numerous wooden sculptures, an observation deck and a descent to the
Don, a city beach on it (in very poor condition), and a spring. The
fountain in the park was once decorated with a typical but elegant
sculpture of Thumbelina on a water lily, which has now sunk into
oblivion and was replaced by an even more typical design.
3 Park
“Near Three Airplanes.” A picturesque park near the church. The alley of
heroes of the Semiluksky district leads through the park, along a small
pond. The architectural dominant of the park is the monument to the
soldiers of the 2nd Air Army, which is a tall stele on the edge of a
high cliff, on which three aircraft models are erected. The monument
offers a panoramic view of the Don, its floodplain and the western part
of Voronezh. A monument stone was erected on the ravine cape in honor of
the writer and public figure Valentin Sidorov. On the other side of the
ravine is the Semilukskoye settlement.
4 Historical and Local Lore
Museum of Semiluksky District, st. 25 years of October, 26 (in the
regional palace of culture). ☎ +7 (473) 722-68-24; +7 (920) 469-38-07;
+7 (920) 455-37-90. 09:00–17:00 (Tue-Sat).
5 City Palace of Culture
“October” , st. Tchaikovsky, 3. ☎ +7 (47372) 2-69-07. 9:00-18:00
(Mon-Fri).
The Novozhivotinnoye - Latnaya highway passes through Semiluki
(within the city limits the aforementioned Transportnaya Street),
connecting the M4 Don highway (part E115) and P298 Kursk-Saratov highway
(part E38) bypassing Voronezh. However, most tourists come to Semiluki
from Voronezh, 13 km from the center of which the city is located.
Bus No. 102 to Semiluki departs every half hour from Voronezh from
the Luch stop, making all city stops along 9 January and Arbatskaya
streets. Along these same streets, it is most convenient to get to
Semiluki from Voronezh by car. Another option, via Patriot Avenue, is a
little more difficult for both motorists and public transport
passengers. You can also take a taxi (200-500 rubles).
There is a
railway station of the same name in Semiluki. Electric trains from
Voronezh arrive at the station several times a day (from Voronezh-1
and/or Voronezh-Kursky station to Kastornaya or Nizhnedevitsk).
Long-distance trains do not stop in the city.
Despite the fact
that there is a river port in Semiluki, it is not possible to get there
by ship. The cargo port is located on the other side of the Don River.
There are 3 lines of minibuses in the city, but you can often use suburban buses (for example, the same number 102). The key terminus is Vokzal, and the main street is 25 Let Oktyabrya Street.
Metro Cash & Carry, 2nd Zarechnaya St., 52M (Yuzhny microdistrict).
1 On Quiet Don , st. 25 years of October, 32. ☎ +7 (473) 300-34-64.
Beautiful view of the Don. There is a small hotel nearby.
2 Pizza
coming soon, st. 25 Let Oktyabrya, 81A/4 (opposite Mitrofanovskaya
Church).
3 Shashlychny yard, st. Gagarina, 36A.
4 Fudzi , st.
Gagarina, 35. ☎ +7 (900) 303-04-42. 11:00–22:30. Japanese food. Sushi,
rolls, wok.
5 Dining room No. 1, Transportnaya st., 18. ☎ +7 (910)
240-68-50. 09:00–15:00 (Mon-Fri). Regular dining room. Homemade food.
Positive reviews: tasty and inexpensive.
1 Villa da Vinci , p. Endovishche, Krasnoarmeyskaya st., 90. ☎ +7
(473) 205-23-42. from 4500 rub. Author's mini-hotel with sauna and
swimming pool.
2 Glamping “White Well”. 30 houses on the shore of
the quarry lake. Glamping in 2022 became the best in Russia according to
the National Hotel Awards.
3 Rus , st. 25 years of October, 108B. ☎
+7 (919) 187-02-57. There is a cafe at the hotel.
4 Hostel, st.
Pobeda, 80.
Semiluk landline telephones have five-digit numbers, in international
format - +7 (47372) X-XX-XX, where 47372 is the Semiluk code.
The
main mobile operators (Beeline, Megafon, MTS and Tele2) work, but
sometimes there may be interference in some places.
Postal codes
Semiluk - 396900-396902. Russian Post branches are located at the
following addresses: Dzerzhinskogo Street, 12; Lenina Street, 6 and
Gazovaya Street, 3. You can send and receive letters, parcels, parcels
there, buy envelopes, postcards, postage stamps.
The city is located on the right bank of the Don River, opposite Voronezh (Pridonskaya and Podkletnoe microdistricts). One of the two westernmost cities in the region (the second is Ostrogozhsk).
In the spring of 1984, on the right bank of the Veduga, 4 km north of the city, students of the Geological Faculty of Voronezh State University discovered an incomplete skeleton of an ichthyosaur during field work. The fossil remains, consisting of skull bones, partial coracoid, limbs, fragments of the spine and ribs, were recovered from glauconite-quartz sands, whose age is established in the range from the Albian to the Cenomanian centuries (Cretaceous period). In 2008, the animal was named Platypterygius ochevi, in honor of professor of paleozoology Vitaly Georgievich Ochev. In 2020, this name was recognized as a junior synonym of the species Maiaspondylus cantabrigiensis.
In 1111, Prince Vladimir Monomakh approached the city on the Don, and
since it was captured by the Polovtsians, he set it on fire. The
campaigns of the Russian princes in 1111 and 1116 in these regions drove
the Polovtsy from these places.
Places near the city are rich in
archaeological sites. The first information about archaeological
monuments in the Semiluksky region dates back to the 17th century. In
the Middle Ages, an important caravan route from Volga Bulgaria to Kyiv
passed here.
In 1894, during the construction of the Voronezh -
Kursk railway, a small stop appeared here, named after the nearby
village of Semiluki. At that time there was only one building here - the
house of the trackman. And on September 1, 1926, construction began.
This is how a new settlement was born - the working village of Semiluki,
which was formed in 1932.
In the 20-30s of the 20th century, the
Semiluksky section of the Don River was examined by employees of the
Voronezh Museum of Local Lore, as a result of which they discovered the
Semiluksky settlement.
During the Great Patriotic War, on
November 14, 1941, Colonel Ilya Starinov in Semiluki activated a radio
mine planted by Svyatogorov’s group in a Kharkov mansion (a distance of
almost 300 km). As a result of the explosion, the German commandant of
Kharkov, General Georg von Braun, was killed. In July 1942, Semiluki was
occupied by German troops and became a springboard for the subsequent
capture of Voronezh. On January 26, 1943, as part of the
Voronezh-Kastorensk operation, Semiluki was liberated.
In
1954-1956, archaeological exploration was carried out within the
Semiluksky region by the Verkhnedonsky expedition of the Institute of
Archives of the USSR Academy of Sciences under the leadership of P. D.
Liberov. Among the significant number of identified monuments, three
settlements on the right bank of the Don in the vicinity of the village
of Semiluki, dating back to the 17th-18th centuries, should be noted.
In 1965, exploration along the Veduga River was carried out by an
expedition of Voronezh State University under the leadership of A.D.
Pryakhin. In 1985, the lower reaches of the Veduga River were explored
by A. S. Savrasov. In 1985, the area was surveyed by Yu. D. Razuvaev. On
the territory of the village of Semiluki, he discovered 2 settlements,
monitoring of which was carried out by the author in 2006. In 1999, Yu.
D. Razuvaev conducted excavations of the fortification line of this
settlement.
In 2006, archaeologist A. N. Golotvin carried out
archaeological exploration along the right bank of the Don from the
highway bridge across the Don in the area of the city of Semiluki to the
confluence of the Don Veduga. The settlement of Chernyshova Gora I was
discovered. From the settlement, ceramics of the Voronezh and Catacomb
cultures of the Bronze Age (1st half of the 2nd millennium BC),
Borshchev culture (X - 1st half of the 11th century), Old Russian time
(XIII-XIV centuries). The settlements revealed materials from the
Chalcolithic era (Repen culture), Bronze Age (Voronezh, Catacomb,
Abashevo, Srubnaya cultures), Early Iron Age (Scythoid, such as the
Kashirki-Sedelok monuments), and Old Russian times.
Some
historians of the Voronezh region associate the archaeological site with
the chronicle settlement of Usugruv (translated from Turkic Us - river,
Ugrov - ditch, mountain), which meant a settlement near a river on a
high mountain. The Russian name of this settlement was, apparently,
Ogiben (as the monastery was later called). There are also attempts in
science to connect the Semilukskoe settlement with the chronicle city on
the Don.
The city has developed industry. During Soviet times, the city
established the production of refractory products, building materials,
household chemicals, etc. Among the largest enterprises in the city are
a refractory plant, a building materials plant, a food plant and a
furniture facade factory.
In Semiluki, the Karton Chernozemye
company, which is now operating throughout the region, was founded and
received press coverage as one of the examples of successful social
entrepreneurship in Russia.
The city has two secondary schools and one primary school (in the Yuzhny microdistrict), a polytechnic college, and a children's art school.
Regional Museum of Local Lore
District House of Culture
Museum
of Military Glory named after. N. D. Ryazantseva (secondary school No.
2)
In 2010, the Church of Mitrofan of Voronezh was consecrated by
Metropolitan Sergius in Semiluki.
On the territory of
correctional colony No. 1 located in the city there is a St. Nicholas
Church.
Closest to Semiluki from the east (on the other side of the Don) is
the city of Voronezh, which can be read about in a separate guide. Below
are the most notable attractions in other destinations.
On the
northern side of the city the most significant are:
1 Nicholas the
Epiphany Church, p. Bogoyavlenovka. Here in 1669, on the banks of a
small river, an icon appeared, after which a small village was formed
here. In 1693-1701, the first wooden Epiphany Church was built here,
which in 1748 was replaced by a stone one in the Baroque style and
elements of medieval Russian architecture. The church was built by a
lieutenant colonel of the Losev family, who owned these lands until the
revolution. 100 meters from the temple are the ruins of the Losev
estate.
2 Lotus plantation, p. Bogoyavlenovka, SNT "Autumn" (on the
northwestern side of Bogoyavlensky Pond). A small area where the Far
Eastern lotus grows outside its natural range. Exotic flowers were
planted by a family of military personnel who moved from the Far East.
The plantation has a small beach.
3 Museum “Russian Izba”, p.
Chudovka, Ozyornaya st., 2. Small ethnographic museum. In addition to
village life, which you can try on literally and metaphorically, the
special features of local embroidery and weaving are described. In the
museum you can buy designer toys made of wood, straw and birch bark.
4 Epiphany Church, p. Ternovoe, Ternovskaya st., 2B. ☎ +7 (47372)
97239. Baroque temple built in 1769. Sergei Bondarchuk filmed several
scenes of the film “The Fate of Man” in it and in its surroundings.
5 Madagascar , village. State farm "Razdolye" ✉ ☎ +7 (920) 427-61-71.
On the western side of Semiluk there are 2 former county towns:
Zemlyansk (city in 1661-1923) and Nizhnedevitsk (city in 1779-1928),
each having in its arsenal more than a dozen architectural and
historical monuments.
On the south side of the city there are:
6 Alpaca Park.
7 Mikhailo-Arkhangelskaya Church , p. Devitsa, st.
Tankistov, 79A.
8 Palace of Culture, village. Strelitza. The
building is atypical (high columns, statues of a miner and a peasant
woman) for a recreation center of such a small settlement. Built in
1953.
9 The longest suspension bridge in the Black Earth Region,
village. Strelitza. The length of the bridge over the Maiden is 280
meters.