Look Who it Was Random video

Gzhatsk in pre-revolutionary photographs

787 views · Published 11 September 2015 · 2:47 · Indexed 8 November 2026

Channel: Nigel Fowler Sutton · 2015 · Travel & Events

Watch on YouTube

Дореволюционная Россия на фотографиях
Гжатск
1900-x

Russia in pre-revolutionary photographs
Gzhatsk
1900s

Here I present an album of photographs of the the town of Gzhatsk known as Gagarin since 1968.
The town is located in the Province of Smolensk and is actually closer to Moscow than the provincial capital of Smolensk (240 km from Smolensk; 166 km from Moscow). 
The town  originates from a decree of Peter the Great at the crossing of the Moscow road and the Smolensk road,  running parallel to the River Gzhat . In 1773 by decree of Catherine the Great it was granted town status  and was developed in triangular form.
On the day of Napoleon's invasion of Russia, the town was set on fire and burned for several days. Russian troops entered the town again on November 2, 1812 and was rebuilt in 1817.
During the Great Patriotic War, the town was occupied by German troops from October 9, 1941 to March 6, 1943.
In 1968, the town was renamed Gagarin in honor of the first person to travel into space, Yuri Gagarin, who was born in 1934 in the nearby village of Klushino.

Music: From the  "Arioso" for Piano & Violin by Cezar Cui

More from this channel