Mon 6th Oct 2008
- Perm Travel Guide & City Information
Perm is the most Eastern city of Europe, and therefore its province is often referred to as Eurasia. Having a population of 1.2 million, Perm is the 5th largest city in Russia and the second largest in the Urals. The city was formerly called Molotov, after the minister of foreign affairs during Joseph Stalin's ruling. The Perm province, "Permskaya Oblast", or "Prikamye", is around two-third the size of the United Kingdom and covers a great area in the very heart of the Ural Mountains.
Perm is internationally known as the name for the geological period in which the Ural Mountain Range was formed, 45 million years ago. In contrary to the Urals, Perm itself is rather young. The citizens loudly celebrated its 280th birthday in 2003 with street parades, concerts and fireworks throughout the whole city!
Perm owes its existence to two factors: firstly the large amounts of natural resources (minerals, oil and timber) that are present in the region, and secondly (but more important): its location. The mighty Kama River (up until 4 kilometers wide!), the Great Trans Siberian Railroad and main motorways from Moscow/Kazan to Siberia all cross in Perm, making Perm a main Russian transportation hub. The city is the doorway from Europe to Asia and to Siberia in particular.
During Soviet times, Perm was a proper fortress because of the huge military industry in its region. All artillery and rocket vehicles, as well as rocket launching systems, jet engines for MiG jetfighters and canons of all ranges were (and in less proportions still are) produced in Perm. The Soviets did an excellent job in hiding Perm and keeping it secret. Most people from outside the Urals simply did not know of the existence of the then 1-million-people-city. Until the end of the cold war, Perm did not appear on any Soviet-made map, nor did the roads towards it.
Nowadays, Perm is obviously accessible to anybody. Actually it is the third fastest growing city in Russia because of its economical prosperity.
Perm is known as Russia's leading city for opera, ballet and drama after St. Petersburg. Arguably Russia's greatest balerina, Anna Pavlova, was born in Perm. Furthermore the city and its region brought forward a number of famous people: the composer Tchaikovsky, inventor of the radio Popov, the industrial revolutionist Stroganov family and the writer of Dr. Zhivago, Boris Pasternak.
Perm is not the only city in the Ural Mountains, yet it provides the best access to the mountains of all of them. The mountains gain popularity among adventurous tourists every year.
.