Archaeology indicates that the site of Kursk was settled in the 5th or 4th century BCE. The settlement was fortified and included Slavs at least as early as the 8th century CE.
The first written record of Kursk is dated 1032. It was mentioned as one of Severian towns by Prince Igor in The Tale of Igor's Campaign.
The seat of a minor principality, Kursk was raided by the Polovtsians in the 12th and 13th centuries and destroyed by Batu Khan around 1237. The city was rebuilt no later than 1283. It was ruled by Grand Duchy of Lithuania between 1360 and 1508. Kursk joined the centralized Russian state in 1508, becoming its southern border province. It was an important center of the corn trade with Ukraine and hosted an important fair, which took place annually under the walls of the monastery of Our Lady of Kursk.
However, a century later the city re-emerged in a new place; date of re-considered grounds Kursk 1586. In 1596 a new fortress was built, in 1616 it was garrisoned by over 1,300 soldiers. At the beginning of the 17th century Kursk was repeatedly attacked by Polish-Lithuania (in 1612, 1616, 1617, 1634), the Crimean Tatars, and the Nogai horde, but Kursk fortress was never taken. Residents of Oryol and other southern Russian cities were resettled in Kursk (by 1678 2,800 had been resettled). The city developed due to its advantageous geographical position on the shortest route from Moscow to the Crimea and from Kiev to the Crimea.
It was raided frequently by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Crimean Khanate until the late 17th century and was ruled by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1611 and 1618. It was successively part of the Kiev Governorate (1708–1727), Belgorod Governorate (1727–1779), and Kursk Viceroyalty (1779–1797). Town status was granted to Kursk in 1779. It became the administrative center of Kursk Governorate in 1797.
At the beginning of the 20th century Kursk played a dominant role in the food industry (Kvilitsu AK, one of the largest breweries in Russia, operated in Kursk) and in other industries as well; so, in the 1900s, appeared in the city 4 sitoproboynye shops (of which the largest was a workshop Tikhonov, products are sent to foreign markets - Germany, Austria-Hungary, etc.). Organized several engineering enterprises (in 1914 there were seven, including one - rail). Working conditions in the factories of Kursk were harsh and often resulted in strikes (for instance, from 1901-03 the workers at the sugar mill went on strike). Kursk workers participated in the general political strike during the 1905 Russian Revolution.
On November 26 (December 9,) 1917 the Soviets took power. Kornilovites came to Kursk in September 20, 1919. On September 20th, 1919, troops under the command of General Denikin entered the city. On November 19, 1919, the Red Army took Kursk. The Soviet government valued Kursk for rich deposits of iron ore and developed it into one of the major railroad hubs in the Russian southwest. In 1932 in the Kursk was included Yamskaya Sloboda. In 1935 a tram system began operating in the city.
During World War II, Kursk was occupied by Germany between November 4, 1941 and February 8, 1943. Kursk region was the center of the Battle of Kursk, a major engagement between Soviet and German forces. That battle was very important for the Soviet Union, as after it the Red army had mostly victories in the future battles, which were becoming closer to the German borders.
Rebuilding efforts in the city began in February 1944. The cultural life recovered as well: on 19 February the cinema reopened and on February 27 the drama theatre. In 1953 the tram system began operating. By 1950 the urban economy had been completely restored.
In 2012 Kursk celebrated its 980th anniversary.
Places of interest.
There are lots of various interesting places in Kursk region. Here are only some of them.
First of all, Kursk region is the Motherland of many famous people. The general secretary of the Communistic party Nikita Chrushev was born in the village Kalinovka near Ukraine.
The last Russian classic composer Georgy Sviridov was born and lived in Kursk region. There is the museum of his name in 50 km to north of Kursk in the town Fatezh.
Russian famous folk singer Nadezda Plevickaya was also born in our region. She is very famous because the last Russian emperor Nickolay the second called her “Kursk Nightingale”.
There is also one of the most famous and important Russian Orthodox monasteries in 35 km from Kursk. It is well known even abroad because of its holy Kursk Root Icon (also Our Lady of Kursk).
The north part of Kursk region near the village Poniri is known as the place, where the cruelest and most important battles took place during the Big Kursk Battle in the summer in 1943. Some German soldiers called this battle “kursk’ Stalingrad”.
Kursk Magnetic Anomaly is a territory rich in iron ores located within the Kursk, Belgorod, and Voronezh oblasts in Russia, and constitutes a significant part of the Central Chernozyom Region. The Kursk Magnetic Anomaly is recognized as the largest magnetic anomaly on Earth.
In Kursk there are also plenty things to like. Kursk is very famous because of its memorial of the Great Russian War with very beautiful Arc of Victory, which is often compared to the famous arc in Paris.
There are also some wonderful churches, one of them is the historical center of Kursk, it was built in the 17th century and firstly used also like a fortress – Znamenskiy Cathedral.
But not only churches in Kursk are among the old buildings. You can still enjoy old architecture of the 19th or 18th century, including the works of Rastrelli.
If you like nature, you will exactly enjoy the park in the heart of Kursk known as Boevka and famous for the opportunity to become the part of real wild nature.
With over 5,500 students studying at KSMU (over 1,200 of which are international students) the campus is a bustling hive of activity and a real melting pot of multicultural cooperation. From sporting events, through to the arts, Kursk is a centre for innovation and culture like no other.
Our students are involved in a range of activities ranging from sports through to arts, social and other intellectual pursuits and enriching activities.
Kursk State Medical University
KSMU was founded in 1935. In 2004 by the decision of the independent public council "European quality" university ranked among the hundred best universities in Russia. Today the university includes: a library with literature(more than 500 thousand copies), Institute of Experimental Medicine, consultative - diagnostic clinic, medical school, 4 educational buildings, 5 well-equipped dormitories, 3 gymnasiums, a shooting gallery, dining, cafes and bars in the academic buildings and dormitories . The University has prepared more than 25,000 professionals. Training is provided by 16 departments. Each year more than 700 applicants become university students. Over than 5,000 students are trained in 67 departments. The University employs 633 teachers, 2 Honored Scientist of Russia, 2 Honored Worker of Higher School of Russia, an Honoured Cultural Worker of Russia, 14 Honoured Doctor of the Russian Federation, 32 academicians and corresponding members of Academy of Natural Sciences, MAI, MAN and other academies, including the international ones.
At the university located the Central Black Earth Center of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, 12 research schools, numerous research laboratories. The University is a medical - preventive, medical - diagnostic and advisory center for medical innovation in practical public health. Teaching staff of clinical departments was working hard to clarify the methodology and techniques implemented in the region of the priority national project "Health".
KSMU provides enough places in the hostels for all international students with comfortable living condition and affordable annual fee. Out of 6 (six) blocks of students hostel, 3 (three) modern hostels available for international students are very close to the University (about 5 to 10 minutes walking distance). All hostels are supplied with cold and hot water and central heating system, each room contains beds, a desk, chairs and storage space.
At present there are 5 hostels in KSMU. Foreign students live in hostels No. 1, 4, 5 and the pharm. collage hostel. All hostels are situated close to the University and are supplied with central heating, cold and hot water and the necessary furniture. Good living conditions, location near the University and reasonable fees make hostels the best place to stay. In every hostel there is a tutor who works with foreign students.
There are 2 types of room provided:
2 sitters room ( one room shared by 2 students)
3 sitters room (one room shared by 3 students)
The town does not retain many marks of antiquity. Its oldest buildings are three churches of the monastery of St. Nicholas, all erected in the mid-18th century. Some of the most prominent buildings in the town were commissioned by the Shelikhov merchants, the most famous of which, Grigory Shelikhov, was born in the town and has a monument erected to his memory on the central square. The foremost of the town's churches are the Uspensky Cathedral (1811) and the Pokrovsky Cathedral (1822), furnished with very lofty belltowers. In the environs of Rylsk, two manors are of infinite interest to the student of Russian history.
Art Gallery named after AA Deineka
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich was a Soviet Russian painter, graphic artist and sculptor, regarded as one of the most important Russian modernist figurative painters of the first half of the 20th century.
Museum of Local Lore
Currently, the museum houses more than 170 thousand exhibits: a unique collection of antique glass beads, porcelain, gold and silverware, old weapons, paintings, objects of ancient art, ethnography and Kursk way of life - old furniture, festive peasant clothes. Collection of museum includes more than 12 thousand rare books and over than 20 thousand numismatics, including rare Russian and foreign coins, coin hoards. Great value photodocumentary fund history of the Kursk region.
Kursk State Regional Museum of Archaeology
organizes archeological expedition, exploring towns and settlements, burial grounds and groundwater from different eras. Also organized lectures, guided tours and the intellectual and entertaining games.
On the dark canopy projected thousands of luminous dots - stars, which in nature are visible to the naked eye. Different brightness of the light spots corresponds exactly to the relative brightness of the true celestial bodies. Artificial sky created 30 separate projectors. Referring to complex tables and graphs, the staff of the planetarium exhibit sun and planets to the stars as they are on this day in reality.
The nature of the Kursk Region is rich and varied. Here in the steppe zone are about 265 species of birds, the "master" of them is the famous Kursk nightingales, whose trills are considered the highest achievement of the bird singing.