Surgut

About Surgut

Surgut is a city in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Russia, located on the Ob River. It is one of the few cities in Russia to be larger than the capital or the administrative center of its federal subject in terms of population, economic activity, and tourist traffic. The population as per the 2021 Russian censuses was 396,443.

It was founded in 1594 by order of Tsar Feodor I. Surgut at the end of the 16th century was a small fortress with two gates and five towers, one of which had a carriageway. In 1596 the Gostiny Dvor was built. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was a center of the Russian development of Siberia. The fortification, built of strong wood, was located on the cape, so that it was impossible to approach it unnoticed either from the river or from the land. In the central square of the ancient settlement there was a cult shrine. Along the perimeter, the fortress was surrounded by a moat, which was blocked by the structures of the defensive system. Outside the village there were special buildings – handicraft workshops, in particular, a smithy. By the name list of 1625 there were...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.