In the summer of 2015 we with the wife and the younger daughter with curiosity inherent in us and interest to history of the homeland went to long travel on purpose to visit the Russian cities where lived many years ago I and my parents. For the first short-term stop Ulyanovsk was chosen. 
Such here benches come across in Ulyanovsk V. Zhestkov, personal archive
The reasons for that was two: too big there was a distance from Dzerzhinsk to Volsk, this the first, and secondly, it wanted to sweep on the way on streets and though superficially to go sightseeing, in which we had not to happen yet.
While we made the way on the web of city streets hammered by cars, our guide, Lyudmila Petrovna, managed not only to tell us history of creation of Ulyanovsk, but also shared assumptions of an origin of the name of the city.
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V. Zhestkov, personal archive -
V. Zhestkov, personal archive -
V. Zhestkov, personal archive -
V. Zhestkov, personal archive -
V. Zhestkov, personal archive -
V. Zhestkov, personal archive -
V. Zhestkov, personal archive -
V. Zhestkov, personal archive
So, in the spring of 1648 tsar Alexey Mikhaylovich angry with frequent attacks степняков, enjoined to choose a convenient place on eastern frontier of the country and to base there a fortress« … for an obereganiye from arrival of Nogai people and structures of the new cities and zasechny fortresses from the Profit river to the Volga River». Headed a campaign voivode Bogdan Matveevich Hitrovo from a noble seigniorial family and clerk Grigory Kunakov. When the army reached a bulgarsky site of ancient settlement Simbir, the voivode ordered to stop. It liked this place, exactly there and the fortress, and called – Simbir was put.
About an origin of the name heated arguments are still conducted. Someone considers that there was it on behalf of one of bulgarsky khans, someone looks for in it Chuvash (син бирен – the white mountain), Mordovian (сююн бир – the green mountain) or Turkic roots (the son a ber – the lonely tomb), but seems to the most probable the Mongolian origin. The name Simbir still is widely known in Mongolia. It and the city in the east of the country, and the settlement in the southeast, and the mountain. Moreover, in the Buryat — the Mongolian languages the word "simbir" is used in value «the sacred mountain». So, most likely, the site of ancient settlement found by boyar Hitrovo was on the high Volga coast where stood «сюм», or "this", that is кумирня, or the temple in Mongolian, here this mountain and was called «симбир».
The small town which has arisen soon was called Sinbirsk and carried such name till 1780 when Ekaterina II renamed it into Simbirsk. On a legend the empress simply allowed описку when approved a municipal coat of arms. Anybody to point to a mistake did not dare and the city changed the name. It grew and developed, therefore became the main town of the Simbirsk namestnichestvo as provinces at that time were called that with the decree Pavel I finally confirmed, having called it in 1796 the center of the Simbirsk province.
The city carried this name till 1924 when it was renamed into Ulyanovsk, in honor of the fellow countryman V. Ulyanov (Lenin) who was born in Simbirsk in 1870. At recovery of historical names of the cities and the streets, swept on all country after disintegration of the Soviet Union, the majority of residents was opposed by its renamings. And continues it and now to carry the name Ulyanovsk.
The city on the Volga height is located. There from two parties two rivers – Volga and Sviyaga flow to the opposite sides. Here on their coast Ulyanovsk also is located. It is curious that Sviyaga is the Volga inflow and, eventually, runs into the great Russian river.
Now in the city, whose area slightly less than 320 sq.km, live nearly 620 thousand people.
The first time absolutely still the young fortress was besieged at all at all by nomads, for protection from which it was created, and the vzbuntovavshy Cossacks headed by Stepan Razin. In the first of October, 1670 they tried to grasp a fortress. Attack in a forehead was not successful, Razin was wounded in fight and attacking were compelled to leave. For Sinbirsku’s this defense the first coat of arms was welcomed.
Through one hundred years in Sinbirsk brought other rebel – Yemelyan Pugacheva whom captivated nearby to a fortress. There was it in October, 1774. Any time Pugachev was in Sinbirska then it was sent to Moscow.
Passed nearly one and a half hundred more years, and in the third time the city had to meet enemies. This time they appeared risen белочехи, united with White Guard group under command of lieutenant colonel Kappel. They managed to grasp Simbirsk and to hold it within one and a half months. The division under legendary Guy Guy’s command managed to release the city then received the honourable name «Simbirsk Iron division».
The city which has been originally put as a fortress on the high coast of two rivers, considerably grew, having jumped both for Sviyagu, and for Volga. The central part of the city is connected to Zavolzhye by two bridges. The first was open as railway in October, 1916. From the very beginning of construction he received the name Imperial, but after revolution was renamed into Svoboda Bridge. Today it carries the initial historical name. In the fifties last century when Volga extended after construction of Kuibyshev hydroelectric power station, bridge support too were expanded and increased, thus on the bridge automobile movement was open. Bridge reconstruction at that time managed to be carried out without the termination of railway communication.
Due to the growth of the city there was a need for construction of one more bridge. Its design was begun in far 1980, and construction – in the 1986th. In two years concreted the first support, and in 1992 the first flight was mounted. It is curious that flying structures of the bridge started to establish with the middle of the bed of the river. Three next years some sheveleniye round the bridge still proceeded, and then there came silence. It seems and money was released and only business did not move in any way. Reached a presidential question. It is said that Putin in the usual manner with some malice asked: «You along Volga build the bridge, whether that?»
Business not simply moved out from a place, construction went fast rates, and on November 13, 2009 movement on the bridge began. Thus, built 22 goda Bridge, and the name Presidential it received because the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev took part in ceremony of its opening. Today this bridge is the second for length in Russia and enters into number 25 of the longest bridges in the world.
Continuation follows…