The Taganrog town at the Sea of Azov, the birthplace of A. Tchekhov
The Taganrog town have been founded by Russian Tsar Peter The First at 12th of September of 1698 as the first Russian fortress at the Sea of Azov.
The Turkic (?) root "tagan" means a high place, may be a hill. (We know in Moscow the "Tagan square" which occupies a noticeable hill on Garden Ring.) The Russian "rog" is equivalent to the English "horn" and it means "a narrow cap" in Geography.
About 60 kilometers from this cap the great Don river, which begins near Moscow flows into the Sea of Azov. Therefore the place of contemporary Taganrog is suitable for trading and it was populated for a long time.
In 19th century and till the begin of 20th rich Greek merchants invited Italian opera singers for every winter season to Taganrog town. Now we can meet in Taganrog town Russians and Ukrainians, offspring of Italians, Greeks and other peoples.
Many famous Russian artists, merchants and engineers was born there or lived there, or visited Taganrog.
These are the great poet Pushkin and the famous painter Kouindzy, the great composer Thaikovsky and Alexander The First, one of the most mysterious Russian tsars, who dead in Taganrog. The famous Russian writer Tchekhov was born here.
Now Taganrog is a medium Russian town with some plants oriented onto ship repairing. It is also
a well-known educational and scientific center as well as an artistic center.
I like Taganrog. I like the shady streets and very beautiful architecture of its old center. First, I'll invite you to make a short walk through Taganrog town. Than we'll visit the Tchekhov's Taganrog (see below).
