10th VGIK International Summer School

Kuban and Krasnodar Region

Krasnodar Region (Krasnodarsky Kray) is located in the south-west of Russia and its main part composes Kuban lands stretching for 75.6 thousand square kilometers.

Its territory can be compared to that of Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland or Israel. It is washed by two warm seas: The Black and Azovskoye.

River Kuban divides Krai into two parts. There are both planes and mountains here.

Kuban in a strict sense is the name that geographers give to the area embraced by this river which waters houses, fields and meadows. Kuban’s basin encompasses the major part of

Krasnodarky Krai, the Republic of Adygea, the Karachay-Cherkess Republic and a small southern part of Rostov Region. But the population of Krasnodarsky Krai often calls the whole region Kuban for short.

People first appeared in these lands over a million years ago and have never left it since. There were nomad tribes here and Greek rulers who formed the Bosporan Kingdom. By the way, the very name Kuban stems from the ancient Greek word ‘hopanis” (‘hypanis’) meaning ‘horse river’ or ‘rapid river’.

The Cossacks began to appear there in the 17-18th centuries and formed the Cossack Republic.

In the late 1700s after the victory in the war with the Ottoman Empire Catherine II granted the Black Sea Cossacks gained territories of Taman and the right bank of River Kuban.

The Cossacks moved to Kuban where they began to reclaim the land protecting it from the Ottoman Empire’s attacks. The Cossacks named this place Yekaterinodar

(Catherine’s Gift) and founded a provincial capital there. Here, not only was the land reclaimed, but a new borderline was reinforced.

In the early 1900s Kuban became an agricultural center due to its favorable climatic conditions. And today this region is rightly known as Russia breadbasket and the center of winemaking.

After the October Revolution, an internal war between the native and newcomer population broke out, the former supporting the Red Army and the latter supporting the White Guard. Both sides suffered greatly because famine and devastation were everywhere. However, in 1920 the Soviet power was established.

During World War II the Germans occupied the region which led to the death of thousands of people and an economic collapse. It was only in 1943 that the invaders were driven out of Krasnodar Region. The perished defendants of Krasnodar are commemorated in the 5-meter figure of the Soviet soldier, the conqueror of German Nazism with an enemy banner at his feet and combat decorations on his chest. A container with information about the liberators of Krasnodar as well as the names of the monument’s creators and builders were immured in the monument basement.

Kuban can be proud of its outstanding figures such as Mikhail Babych, the first Kuban Cossack ataman, Akim Bigday, a public figure and folklorist, who collected and popularized Kuban folk songs, Yevgeniya Zhigulenko, a military pilot, Fyodor Kovalenko, an art collector and philanthropist, the founder of an art gallery, the Kirlian couple who invented photographic techniques used to capture the phenomenon of electrical coronal discharges (without a photo camera ), Yelena Choba, a Cossack woman who fought in World War I under a man’s name, and many others.

In the center of Krasnodar there is a memorial arc ‘The Pride of Kuban’ whose marble plates are covered with over two hundred names of Heroes of the Soviet Union. In front of it you can see the bust of Marshal Zhukhov. The statue of St. George rises at the arc’s top.

10th VGIK International Summer School

Krasnodar

Krasnodar is often called “The southern capital of Russia”. The city is located by the right side of the river Kuban which gave the name to the region.

The population of the city is about one million. Over five million people live in the region, that equals the population of Denmark.

Krasnodar is located about 120 kilometers from the Black Sea and Azov Sea coasts. It has a historical background. The first city on the spot sprung up way back B. C. belonged to Bosporian kingdom. The first Russian city

was founded here in 1793 and was named Ekaterinodar (“Catherine’s gift”) after the Empress of Russia Catherine the Great.

Today the monument to the Empress who had generously granted this region to Cossacks adorns the Сatherine garden square.

The city was founded as a military camp by Zaporozhian Cossacks who moved to Kuban after Russia had incorporated the West of Pre-Caucasusian region.

The first settlement consisted of typical Ukranian huts surrounded by wooden watchtowers. 150 years later it became a town. A rail track laid in the late XIXth century made Ekaterinodar a transport and industrial centre of Kuban region.

Passing by this country A. S. Pushkin wrote: “I looked at the banks of Kuban river and Cossack villages and admired our Cossacks: always riding

horses, ready to fight and cautious…”. Today the great poet’s statue is located in front of Krasnodar Regional library

In 1920, when the Soviet regime was established, Ekaterinodar was renamed as Krasnodar. After the Great Patriotic War the city was rebuilt and reconstructed, still preserving the centre planning as it had been since the early XIXth century.

The post war years were marked with economic and industrial growth. Nowadays Krasnodar is a developing city owning to tourism as well. There are plenty museums, art galleries, objects of architecture.

The main and central street of Krasnodar is Krasnaya street. Here the main objects of interest are situated, as well as public gardens, squares, fountains, a green walkway, monuments, office blocks, theatres, museums and cinemas.

To get to know the region history you should visit Krasnodar State Historical Archaeological Museum. The local historian Evgeniy Felitsyn had laid the ground for it in 1879 by organizing an exhibition based on his own collection. You can see unique manuscripts and blackletter books here. The exposition encompasses the artifacts found in archaeological excavations from ancient times

to nowadays.

The Kuban land is famous for its Cossacks who even became characters of a musical “Cossacks of the Kuban” showing postwar period of the region.

To learn more about Cossacks one should go to Krasnodar Cossacks museum which has a great number of art objects related to the history of Cossacks. There are thematic expositions allowing to plunge into Cossacks’ daily life and taste their authentic food and drinks as well as other unusual events.

Owing to celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Kuban Cossack Army, their liberation and seizing the lands donated to them by the Empress Catherine II the monument put up in the late XIXth century has lately been restored.

The oldest museum complex in Kuban region is the Krasnodar regional Art Museum opened to the public in 1904. The works of such famous painters as I. Repin and V. Polenov collected by the founder of the museum Feodor Kovalenko are presented here now.

Krasnodar is a relatively young city. Therefore, its churches and cathedrals are mostly new which does not belittle their cultural and historic significance. The main Krasnodar temple Svyato-Ekaterininsky cathedral was built in 1914. The sacred image of Kazan Virgin, the relics of St. Catherine and St. Barbara are kept here.

The locals consider the Svyato-Troitsky (the Holy Trinity) Cathedral as one of the most beautiful churches in Krasnodar. It was erected after the miraculous rescue of the Tsar family in a train crash. A wonderful high iconostasis is placed here.

Krasnodar is an important cultural center. There are Krasnodar State Academic drama theater and Music theatre in the city. As part of the «Premier» alliance there is also a Municipal Concert Hall of organ and chamber music with a wonderfully sounding organ made by maestros from Hamburg. The annual international organ music festival attracts year by year more and more participants.

Krasnodar is proud of the State Kuban Cossacks Choir directed by V. Zakharchenko which is famous both in the country and abroad.

The modern city coat of arms of Krasnodar based on the historic arms of Ekaterinodar also represents two Black Sea Cossacks standing on the green ground.

The golden field color symbolizes affluence, might, faith, distinction, stability and tenacity.

The silver one is the color of purity, honesty and honour.

The black one is the color of wisdom, prudence and permanence.

The new flag of Krasnodar was approved in 2006. In the midst of it, there is a red city wall with two side towers; a black two-head eagle crowned with three yellow imperial crowns is leaning on them. The horse-rider on the red shield placed on the breast of the eagle is spearing a black winged snake. On the wall there is a small red yellow-bordered heart-shaped scutum with a yellow

crowned monogram of Catherine II.

The monument to the Kuban Cossacks near the regional administration building is constantly watched by Cossacks in full-dress uniform. The Cossacks in Krasnodar are actively supported by the local administration and promoted in order to revive its historical significance

Visiting Krasnodar museums, parks and theaters, you will get a lot of fascinating information to come up with creative ideas!

Useful links:

http://www.russiakrasnodar.com/about.htm

http://russiatrek.org/krasnodar-city

https://www.flydubai.com/en/destinations/europe/russia/krasnodar