Place:Ryazan, Ryazan, Russia

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Ryazan is the largest city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. Ryazan is one of the oldest cities of Russia. As of the 2010 Census, Ryazan had a population of 524,927, making it the 33rd most populated city in Russia, and the fourth most populated in Central Russia after Moscow, Voronezh, and Yaroslavl.

An older city, now named Old Ryazan, was located 50 kilometers east of modern-day Ryazan during the late Middle Ages, and served as capital of the Principality of Ryazan up until the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' in 1237. During the Siege of Ryazan it became one of the first cities in Russia to be besieged and completely razed to the ground. The capital was subsequently moved to Peryslavl-Ryazansky, and later renamed to Ryazan by order of Catherine the Great in 1778. The Old Ryazan, however, was never rebuilt.

The city is known for the Ryazan Kremlin, a historic museum; the Pozhalostin Museum, one of the oldest art museums in Russia; the Memorial Museum-Estate of Academician I.P. Pavlov; and the Ryazan Museum of Long-Range Aviation.

History

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Principality of Ryazan

The area of Ryazan was settled by Slavic tribes around the 6th century.

It is argued that the Ryazan kremlin was founded in 800, by Slavic settlers, as a part of their drive into territory previously populated by Volga Finnic peoples. Initially, it was built of wood, gradually replaced by masonry. The oldest preserved part of the Kremlin dates back to the 12th century.

However, the first written mention of the city, under the name of Pereslavl, dates to 1095. At that time, the city was part of the independent Principality of Ryazan, which had existed since 1078 and which was centered on the old city of Ryazan. The first ruler of Ryazan was supposedly Yaroslav Sviatoslavich, Prince of Ryazan and Murom (cities of Kievan Rus').

Invasion by Mongols

In 12th century the lands of Ryazan being located on the border between woods and steppe suffered numerous invasions coming from the southern as northern parts of European Russia. The southern ones were usually carried out by military powers like Cumans, on the northern side, however, Ryazan was in a conflict with Vladimir-Suzdal duche who by end of the 12th century had burnt the capital of Ryazan several times already.

In the 13th century Ryazan was the first Russian city to face Mongolian invasion by hordes of Batu Khan. On December 21, 1237, after a short siege it was completely destroyed and never recovered. As result of the takeover, the seat of the principality was moved about to the town of Pereslavl-Ryazansky, which subsequently took the name of the destroyed capital. The site of the old capital now carries the name of Staraya Ryazan (Old Ryazan), close to Spassk-Ryazansky. Maps of the 16th-18th centuries show Ryazan (Old Ryazan) and Pereslavl-Ryazan together.

Golden horde

In 1380, during the Battle of Kulikovo, the Grand Prince of Ryazan Oleg and his men came under a coalition of Mamai, a strongman of the Tatar Golden Horde, and the Grand Duke of Lithuania, against the armies under the command of the Grand Prince of Vladimir, Dmitry Donskoy.

Late in the 13th century, the Princes of Ryazan moved their capital to Pereyaslavl', which is known as Ryazan from the 16th century (officially renamed in 1778).

The principality was finally dissolved and incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow in 1521. The principality's last duke Ivan V of Ryazan was imprisoned for a short time for being suspected in a treasonous attempt to seal a treaty with Crimean Khanate in order to outweigh Moscow's influence. The duke fled to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania where he died no later than 1534.

Being the southernmost border of Rus' lands at the time, Ryazan continued to suffer from invasions of Crimean Tatars and their allies.

Grand Duchy of Moscow

Tsardom of Russia

Time of Troubles

In June of 1605 Ryazan became a seat for Greek Cypriot-born Patriarch Ignatius, a clergyman who was sent by Russian Orthodox Church to serve as an archbishop of Ryazan. He was notorious for becoming the first church official to recognize a Poland-backed impostor False-Dmitry as a legitimate monarch, alleged Czar of Tsardom of Russia, after meeting with his forces in Tula.

Around that time Ryazan ex-duchy became a home for various noble families, most notable of which are Lyapunovs, whose brothers Prokopy and Zakhary Lyapunovs played a significant roles in shaping Russian history during Times of Troubles.

Soviet Union

During World War II, Ryazan was repeatedly bombed by German Luftwaffe. Immediately after the war, rapid development of the city began, and it became a major industrial, scientific, and military center of the European part of Russia. On October 19, 1960 a petroleum refinery produced its first gasoline.

Ryazan housed the USSR's only producer of potato-harvesting equipment at the time. Ryazselmash factory, an accounting machines plant, and a heavy forging equipment plant, among others, were also built.^[1]

Because of the city's industrialization, Ryazan Oblast's share of workers employed in the agrarian sector shifted into the industrial sector.^[1]

Ryazan was developed as a military center, and became the main training center of the Soviet Airborne Forces. Several positioned man-portable air-defense system protect the urban sky. Besides the Airborne School (at the time named after Kliment Voroshilov), Ryazan has the Automobile School and Institute of Communications, a regiment of railway troops, airbase strategic bombers, and a training center in Diaghilev.

Ryazan developed particularly rapidly while Nadezhda Nikolaevna Chumakova served as Chair of the Council of People's Deputies of Ryazan and Ryazan mayor. Under Chumakova, the city's population increased from 72,000 to 520,000. Chumakova oversaw the construction of social and cultural amenities, more than 20 urban areas, and hundreds of kilometers of trolleybus, tram and bus routes. Landscaping became a fundamental strategy for the development of the city at that time. A "green" ring of forests, parks, and garden associations surrounded Ryazan, with large parks located in each area of the city, and compositions of flowers and vertical gardening became customary, not only for the main streets, but also for industrial zones and factory buildings. Ryazan repeatedly won recognition among the cities of the Soviet Union for its landscaping. During her 26 years in office, Chumakova often accepted awards of the Red Banner of the USSR on behalf of Ryazan.

Post-Soviet period

By the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, more than half of the city's GDP was being exported into its satellite states. In the 1990s, Ryazan experienced significant economic troubles as part of the 1998 Russian financial crisis, with many ex-Soviet and newly established companies going bankrupt by the end of the decade. In September 1999, Ryazan suffered a series of attempted apartment bombing (see Ryazan Incident below).

As of 2001, Ryazan remained significantly influenced by its neighbor the Moscow Oblast, which exerted significant political and economic powers over it.

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