Chelyabinsk is one of the biggest industrial, cultural, and scientific centres of Russia.
It was founded as a fortress in 1736 during Russia's colonization of the South Urals and got its status as a city in 1781.
Now it's one of the major industrial centres of Russia. Its products are very well known all over Russia and in the republics of former Soviet Union and exported to a lot of countries throughout the world. Chelyabinsk is among 10 Russia's largest cities with the population over 1 million people. It is the major railway junction "Moscow, Samara, Irkutsk and Vladivostok". Its highways connect the city with Kazakhstan, Middle Urals, Bashkortostan and Siberia.
There are a lot of universities, academies, 169 schools and colleges, 14 music schools and schools of art. Chelyabinsk boasts its theatres and art galleries. There is a concert hall, an organ hall, a circus, a great number of museums, 19 cinemas, a lot of restaurants, cafes, a zoo, magnificent theme parks and squares. If you care for some shopping huge supermarkets, boutiques are at your disposal. For churchgoers we have several churches of different confessions. If you are really into sports there is a great opportunity to do some skating (even in the summer) at "The Urals Lightning", a brand new and totally up-to-date skating centre. You can also visit the judo centre.
The city has a convenient system of public transportation so you can get to any part of the city with no problem.
