Republic and city

Information about the republic (General description of the Republic of Mari El, sights).

Mari El is a land of great natural beauty, rich in beautiful lakes and coniferous-deciduous forests. It is located to the east of the East European Plain, in the middle reaches of the Volga River. The majority of the republic is located on its left bank. The length of the territory from north to south is 150 km, and from west to east it is 275 km. In the south, the Mari El Republic borders the Chuvash Republic and the Republic of Tatarstan, in the west it borders the Nizhny Novgorod oblast, and in the north and east it borders the Kirov oblast. The length of the borders of Mari El exceeds 1200 km, and the total area is 23.4 thousand square kilometers. The population of the republic is about 700 thousand people.

The official languages ​​are Mari (meadow and highland) and Russian.

The climate is moderately continental with long cold winters and warm summers. The average summer temperatures range from +18, +20 C in summer to -18, -19 C in winter. The hottest weather is in the middle of July. The air warms up to +34, +38 C. Winter begins in November. The Mari El Republic is a great place for winter sports such as skiing and skating. Spring is generally fresh and dry.

The Volga River is the longest river in Europe and the largest in terms of its watershed. It flows for a distance of 155 kilometers through the Mari El Republic. On its banks, the museum of the ancient city of Kosmodemyansk and Sheremetevo Castle in the village of Yurino welcome visitors. In addition to the Volga, there are 11 large rivers in the republic. In total, there are 476 rivers.

200 large lakes are national property of Mari land. They invariably attract visitors with their summer coolness and pure, refreshing water. Most cave-in lakes are located in forest areas and are very picturesque. On their banks are many hiking trails, parking lots, camping sites, sports camps, vacation homes and health resorts.

National Park "Mari Chodra" ("Mari forest") is a very interesting natural complex. The park's territory includes the health resort “Klenovaya Gora” and such popular tourist attractions like the spring “Zeleniy Kluch”, Lakes “Yalchik” and “Gluhoe”, and the rivers Ilet’ and Yushut. The oldest specimen of oak, which is called Oak of Pugachev is also located there. It is a natural monument, protected by the state.

For tourists, there is a developed network of transportation routes represented by all modes of transport: there is a river network on the rivers Volga and Vetluga with landing stages at Zvenigovo, Volzhsk, Kozmodemyansk, Yurino, and Kokshaysk. The Yoshkar-Ola airport operates flights toMoscow, Nizhny Novgorod, and Saratov. There are railways to Moscow and Kazan and highways to Cheboksary and Kazan.

Information about Yoshkar-Ola (from the point of view of students: general information, sports facilities, sights, culture and leisure).

Yoshkar-Ola, the capital of the Mari El Republic is a dazzling gem on the map of Russia. Translated from the Mari language “Yoshkar-Ola” means “Red City”, that is “beautiful city”. And it is really true. Amazing architectural ensembles, the beauty of boulevards and streets fit perfectly into the color of the modern and hospitable city. The city was founded in 1584, until 1919 it was called Tsaryovokokshaisk, then - Krasnokokshaysk, and since 1927 the city has had its current name - Yoshkar-Ola. In 1990 it was included in the list of historical cities of Russia.

The capital of Mari El is located 150 kilometers from the city of Kazan and 862 kilometers from Moscow. The city is connected with the capital of the Russian Federation by railway and air communications.

The population of Yoshkar-Ola is over 260 thousand people of 50 nationalities; the most numerous national groups are Russians, Maris, Tatars.

Modern Yoshkar-Ola is a large industrial, cultural and scientific centre of the republic, one of the cultural centres of the Finno-Ugric world. The capital of Mari El is one of the industrial centres of the Volga Federal District, where the key industries are mechanical engineering, the production of building materials, the food and processing industry, woodworking.

Yoshkar-Ola is a city of students. About 23 thousand students study full-time and part-time at the leading higher educational institutions: Mari State University and Volga State Technological University. Young people can receive vocational education in more than twenty technical schools and colleges.

In recent years the city has changed beyond recognition. Many visitors to the capital start their tour of the city with a visit to the cultural and historical complex "Tsaryovokokshaisky Kremlin". It is a modern architectural structure, a stylized copy of an Old Russian Kremlin.

The embankment of the river Small Kokshaga is one of the most picturesque places, touched by global reconstruction. There is the Sports Island with a health and fitness complex, an ice hockey stadium, a water sports palace, a swimming pool. On the other side of the river the buildings of the Republican Centre for Young Readers and the Chess Club are under construction.

The Brugge embankment is very unusual for a provincial Russian city. It is occupied by administrative and office buildings in the pseudo-Danish style. Another unusual area of ​​Yoshkar-Ola is the Arkhangelsk Settlement. It is the business centre of the city, built in the Italian style. In Yoshkar-Ola there are also copies of the Annunciation Tower and the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin and a puppet theater resembling the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland.

If you wish, you can visit the city's museums - the Evseev National Museum of the Mari El Republic, the Memorial Museum of I. Klyuchnikov-Palantai, the Museum of Fine Arts of the Mari El Republic, the History Museum of Yoshkar-Ola, the Museum of National Applied Arts, the National Art Gallery, which is the largest exhibition area at Yoshkar-Ola.

Yoshkar-Ola has a number of theatres, such as the Konstantinov Academic Russian Drama Theatre, the Sapaev Mari State Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Shketan Mari National Drama Theatre, the Mari Youth Theatre, the Republican Puppet Theatre.

People of different nationalities living in Yoshkar-Ola, such as Russians, Maris, Tatars, Chuvashes, Udmurts, Ukrainians, Byelarussians, Azerbaijanians, and others have their cultural autonomy and cultural centres.

In the capital of Mari El there are many leisure and recreational facilities: the Eshpai Mari State Philharmonic Society, the Youth Palace, the Cultural centre named after the XXX anniversary of the Victory, the Lenin Cultural centre, the cinemas "Rossia", "Erviy", "Octyabr’", the billiards club "Seventh pocket", the pizzeria-bar «AL SOLE», the sports bar "Boheme", the hotel complex "Moulin Rouge", the cafes «Voff cafe», "Chicago", "Avenue", "Aladdin", the coffee-bar "Aquarium", the cafeterias "Akpars", "Alair", "Meridian", "Amrita", the bars "100 pounds", "Zhiguli" and others.

One of the asteroids (2010) has been named "Yoshkar-Ola". Yoshkar-Ola is the only city in Russia, beginning with the Russian letter "Y" (Yoshkar-Ola). In a French twin city of our capital there is a street of the same name - Ioskar-Ola. In the Hungarian town of Sombathei there is a district named after Yoshkar-Ola (Ioskar-Ola lakoteler), where an annual sports festival is held.