Armavir

City in Krasnodar kray (region), kray subordination, 202 km north-east of Krasnodar. Located on the left bank of the Kuban River, at its exit from northern foothills of the Greater Caucasus, at confluence with Urup, its tributary. Junction of railway lines (to Rostov-on-Don, Tuapse and Baku) and motorways. Population (1992 est.) 162.7 thousand, (1939 est.) 84 thousand, (1959 est.) 111 thousand, (1970 est.) 144 thousand, (1979 est.) 160 thousand.

Founded in 1839 under the name of Armyansky aul. It was inhabited by the Armenians (refugees from Circassian villages), engaged mostly in trade. In 1848, the village was named Armavir to commemorate the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Armenia. By 1876, it turned into a multinational village. In the late 19th century, Armavir was the capital city of Labinsk section of Kuban oblast (province) with about 8 thousand of inhabitants. They were mostly engaged in trade, selling mostly soft goods, which Armavir supplied to a large part of Kuban government and the western part of Terek government. In 1900, Armavir had 500 stores and shops, 36 enterprises. After laying of the Rostov-on-Don - Vladikavkaz railway (1875) and then the Armavir - Tuapse (1914) railway, it became a large railway junction. It became a town in 1914.

During the Civil war and the military intervention of 1918 - 1922, the area of Armavir was an arena of fierce fights. Power over the city changed three times. It was in Armavir that the campaign of the Taman Army was over. By the end of the 1930s, the number of industrial enterprises in Armavir totalled to about 60.

During the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945, the city was occupied by Nazi troops (from August 7, 1942 to January 24, 1943). 56 enterprises were destroyed, while residential houses and the railway were heavily damaged during the war.

Modern Armavir has machine industry and metal working industry (an electrotechnical factory, an instrument-making plant, a testing-machine works, a petroleum engineering plant, etc.), food-processing industry (a meat-packing plant, a dairy, a fat-and-oil factory, etc.), chemical, woodworking, light industries, production of building materials. Agricultural centre.

The city has a pedagogical institute, a branch of Krasnodar polytechnic institute, the Higher Military Air College.

Armavir Drama Theatre is the oldest on the Kuban. There is a museum of local lore in the city; and the Central Children's Library has a picture gallery named S myslyu o materyakh (Thinking of Our Mothers). It is a collection of paintings, graphics and sculptures granted by the writer S.A. Dangulov, who was born in Armavir.

Since the late 19th century, Armavir was built up with brick buildings (some of them having turrets with domes and tent roofs, over-porch sheddings of metal gratings, sculptural figures at entrances), there was a well-developed marketplace of a stretched form. The Armenian Gregorian cathedral has survived to this day (1846).