Early history As a result of archaeological excavations on the territory of the city and the district conducted in 1994-1997, bone and silicon objects dating back to the 7th millennium BC, that is, to the
Mesolithic era (VII—V millennia BC), were found. The first settlement, a site of primitive people, was found in Dubrovitsy, at the confluence of the Desna and Pakhra rivers. In turn, on the territory of the Podillya Museum-Reserve in the city there is the only multi-layered archaeological monument in the Moscow region with traces of human activity, starting from the Mesolithic era and including the
Neolithic,
Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, and Ancient Russian times. In the
Iron Age (VIII—V centuries BC), the territory of modern Podolsk was inhabited by representatives of the
Finno-Ugric (including the Merya tribe) and
Baltic tribes. Among the settlements of the Iron Age, the Finno-Ugric settlement of Grasshoppers stands out, which occupied a promontory flowing into Petritsa, a tributary of Urine. The remains of a house, hearths, ceramic products, Dyakov-type weights were found here. The Finno-Ugric influence was reflected, among other things, in the local toponymy: it was the Finno-Ugric Peoples who gave the name to the Pakhra River. In the 12th century, information about Vyatka cities also appeared in Russian chronicles, primarily Moscow's Peremyshl, located on the Moche River (founded by
Yuri Dolgoruky in 1152) near modern Podolsk. By the 17th century, the role of Przemysl had declined, and at that time it was no longer called a city in the scribal books, but a settlement. In general, the emergence and further development of the Hemline was a reflection of the trend in the formation of a radial settlement structure along the tracts.: Podol was formed on a steep bend of the Pakhra River, which was used as a waterway, and a highway passed through the settlement that connected Moscow with the western and southern principalities of Russia. At the same time, the construction of the low left bank of the Pakhra was initially carried out, and only then — the right bank.
The village of Podol During the
Time of Troubles, the village of Podol became the scene of active hostilities. Although documentary evidence about this period remains scarce, one of the documents-reports of 1606 speaks about the battle on the Pakhra of government troops with the rebel army of
Ivan Bolotnikov: "there was a battle with thieves on the Pakhra ... and thieves were beaten." According to the surviving information, a month after the battle, in November 1606, the priest of the village of Podol, Elisey, and the peasant of the Danilov monastery's patrimony, Danil Mitrofanov, were among the prisoners in the Discharge Order. The advantageous position of the village contributed to the active growth of Podol: from 1678 to 1704, the number of peasant and Bobyl households increased 1.8 times (from 43 to 78), and from 1626-1628 to 1766, the size of the village increased 4 times. At the same time, the population of Podol was exceptionally stable, and the population grew mainly due to natural growth rather than migration. By that time, there were 108 households and 856 townspeople in the city. The main occupation of the inhabitants was the extraction of rubble and white stone, from which, for example, the famous Church of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dubrovitsy was built. On December 20 (December 31), 1781, the city was awarded a coat of arms: "Two golden tools used by stonemasons in a blue field; as a sign that the inhabitants are enriched by this trade." On January 16, 1784,
Catherine II approved a "projected" regular rectangular building plan for the city with a longitudinal and transverse grid of streets, developed in St. Petersburg by the "commission of buildings" (the plan was signed by architect Ivan Lem). In general, despite the rise in status, Podol-Pekhra retained the character of a roadside village, rather than a city of merchants and industrial capital, until the second half of the 19th century. However, the new status led to the formation of administrative authorities and a new, more educated class. The spread of education was facilitated by the construction of the national school, one of the first government buildings in the city, built after the decree of Catherine II. In memory of the victory in the
Patriotic War of 1812, in the period from 1819 to 1832, the Trinity Cathedral was erected in Podolsk (now located in the city center, opposite the Recreation Center. By Karl Marx). It was after the Napoleonic invasion that the spatial structure of the historical city center finally took shape in Podolsk. By the middle of the 19th century, the area of the city was already 106 hectares. In 1866, the
Moscow-Kursk Railway came to Podolsk, which gave an impetus to the development of local industry. The trading capital acquired in the inns led to the appearance of private factories in the city. The most famous of them in the first half of the 19th century were the Wax and Tannery (originated in 1843), the Brewery and Malt Factories (originated in 1849). In the first half of the century Podolsk remained, for the most part, a city of merchants and burghers, therefore trade continued to play a key role. But in the second half of the 19th century Podolsk became a city of industrial capital, and the rapid development of industry began. In the same year, the first products of JSC were received:
Portland cement, Romanesque cement, lime, baked brick. Despite the loss-making nature of the plants in the early years of their existence, by the end of the 19th century, the state of affairs in the Joint-Stock Company had improved significantly, and the production of building materials at the plants had increased 17-fold. The Singer company itself appeared on the Russian market back in the 1860s. However, before the construction of the Podolsk plant, all products were imported from abroad, which significantly increased the cost of sewing machines. It was the desire to avoid product price increases that largely pushed Singer to build its plant in Russia. Production of the first products (household sewing machines) it was established in Podolsk already in 1902. In 1915, one of the Singer's buildings was leased to the Zemgor military plant, which was evacuated from the
Baltic States and produced military shells. In the same year, the construction of a cable factory by the Moscow Association of Copper Rolling and Cable Factories began, but it was not completed due to the revolution. Along with the growth of industrial production in the city, demographic growth was also noted, while Podolsk experienced the highest levels of population growth among the cities of the Moscow province. The increase in the city's population and its density, in turn, contributed to the development of the social sphere (healthcare and education). The first official information about the organization of the Podolsk county hospital (since 1868 — the Zemstvo hospital) dates back to 1866. However, its small capacity (it was located in a small two-story brick building on Moskovskaya Street and had only 42 beds), as well as the cholera epidemic in Podolsk in 1871, prompted the Zemstvo Government to actively build hospitals in the city. In 1880, five years after the foundation stone was laid, the building of the new Zemstvo hospital was opened, and in 1882, a new hospital with five independent departments, including obstetric beds. In 1887, the first women's gymnasium appeared in the city, and in 1895, the Kozlov Vocational School. With the construction of the Singer plant and the further development of industrial production in Podolsk, a number of important facilities (mainly stone objects) were built: the building of the City Duma and the bank (1901), the women's gymnasium (1903), the building of the Red Rows (1910), the Society of Consumers of the Singer plant (1911merchant Tolkushev opened the Khudozhestvenny cinema, built the first electric station (1914), put into operation a water supply system and built a water tower system by engineer and architect V. G. Shukhov (1917). In 1900, the Construction Department of the Moscow Provincial Government developed and approved the "Plan of Podolsk with the pasture lands belonging to it...", which increased the area of the city by about 3 times due to the expansion of the city limits in the southern, south-eastern and south-western directions.
The years of revolution and the establishment of Soviet power Despite significant successes in economic life, the situation in the socio-political sphere of city life in the late 1910s was difficult, as it was everywhere in the country. The reorientation of the economy towards the production of military products, increased working hours, food supply disruptions and other factors led to increased workers' discontent. Bolshevik propaganda began in the city through health insurance funds, drama clubs, and cooperatives. On the night of February 28, 1917, the first news of the overthrow of the monarchy appeared in Podolsk, and the next day rallies were held (about 7 thousand people) in support of the workers of Petrograd and Moscow. At the same time, an organ of the Provisional Government was formed in Podolsk — the district committee of public organizations headed by Tikhomirov. At the same time, there was a gradual strengthening of the Bolshevik position and an increase in their supporters. On March 3, a meeting was held on the establishment of the district committee of the RSDLP. In mid-March, the second party meeting was held in Podolsk, according to the decisions of which the Podolsk District Committee of the RSDLP was formed. On the night of October 25, Podolsk Bolshevik Ewald, who was a delegate to the Second
All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, telegraphed the beginning of the socialist revolution. On October 25, a meeting of the Podolsk Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies was held, at which it was announced the overthrow of the Provisional Bourgeois Government and the transfer of all power to the Soviets. The revolutionary committee of Podolsk was immediately elected, which developed a plan to seize power in the city, which was carried out without resistance on the same day. On May 2, 1919, the Podolsk Steam Locomotive Repair Plant (the future Ordzhonikidze Plant) was opened in Podolsk, which was deployed on the territory of cable and copper rolling plants. But after the end of the war and the beginning of industrial growth in the mid-1920s, Podolsk began to grow rapidly again: in 1926, the population amounted to 19.8 thousand people (this even led to overpopulation of the city due to dilapidated housing and increased unemployment). During these years, the industrial potential of the city was restored, many enterprises were re—launched, the production of textile equipment was established, and in 1923, the construction of residential buildings resumed. During the first five-year plans, further industrial growth was noted in the city. In 1931, the Podolsk Steam Locomotive Repair Plant was transformed into an electrical Cracking Plant (the first Soviet cracking apparatus for the oil industry was manufactured in record time). The capacity of the machine-building plant and the volume of production of sewing machines were increased, which were now completely assembled from domestic parts; in 1932, the largest foundry in Europe was introduced at the plant, and from July 1934 to 1939, it produced PMZ-A-750 motorcycles designed by P. V. Mozharov. The first batch was accepted by the People's Commissar of Heavy Industry
Sergo Ordzhonikidze. Just before the war, the PMZ undertook to master the production of an exact replica of the Wanderer, a German motorcycle. And they even managed to produce a small batch of such machines, called Strela, before the plant was transferred to the production of defense products. In 1935, the Podolsk Battery Plant was opened in the city, which became the first in the USSR in terms of production of starter batteries since its foundation. Other large enterprises were built (a bakery, a fruit water factory, a meat processing plant, a foundry and a rolling mill, and others). The development of industry led to an increase in the city's population: in 1926, 19.7 thousand people lived in Podolsk, then in 1939 — 72 thousand. Due to the shortage of land, on April 30, 1930, by the decision of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the villages of Vypolzovo, Dobratino, Ivanovskoye, Shepchinki and the village of the cement plant were included in the city limits, and in 1936 — Belyaevo, Salkovo, Fetishevo and forests of local importance. On June 11, 1936, the village of Kutuzovo and the work settlement of the former Kutuzovo farm, as well as the Kutuzovskaya Dacha forest of local importance, were annexed to Podolsk. At the same time, the Northern and Southern settlements of the plant were built up. Ordzhonikidze. In the mid-1930s, Mosoblproekt developed a plan for Bolshoy Podolsk, which provided for the division of the city into residential and industrial zones. During these years, new residential areas were built, housing and communal services were modernized. Special attention was paid to the transport component. In 1932, instead of a wooden bridge over the Pakhra, a concrete one was built, and on July 30, 1939, regular movement of Podolsk—Moscow electric trains began. A number of social facilities were also opened: the House of Culture named after Lepse (1930), the children's park of culture and recreation (1938), the educational and consulting center of the All-Union Correspondence Polytechnic Institute for employees of the city's enterprises (1935) was organized. On October 12, 1941, by order of the State Defense Committee, the city was included in the main defensive line of the Moscow defense zone. Although Podolsk was not bombed much in general, several German air raids were carried out, which tried to hit two targets: the bridge over the Pakhra River and the bank building on Strelka (now Lenin Square). As a result of the first raid on October 16, one of the bombs fell on the city military commissariat, as well as houses No. 14 and 27 on Fedorova Street, on October 20, a bomb destroyed house No. 15 on February Street. On October 27, 1941, a military pilot, deputy squadron commander of the 177th Fighter Aviation Regiment stationed at the airfield in Dubrovitsy, Hero of the Soviet Union, who shot down 6 aircraft and was one of the first to use a night ram, Viktor Vasilyevich Talalikhin, was killed in an air battle near Podolsk. On September 11, 1943, the Central Women's Sniper Training School was transferred to Podolsk from the Amerovo summer camp, which operated for 27 months. In addition, 30 hospitals were deployed in the city and Podolsk district. In total, during the years of the Great Patriotic War, 40 thousand people were sent to the front by the Podolsk and Krasnopakhorsky military enlistment offices. After the end of the war, the city's enterprises were transferred to the production of peaceful products, which initially caused a sharp reduction in production (by 3 times in 1946 compared to the war period), despite the introduction of new enterprises — the Luch and GIREDMET experimental plants, the Gidropress Design Bureau plant. But already in 1948, industrial indicators exceeded the pre-war level. The mechanization of production was carried out, a movement for the rejection of subsidies unfolded, and a new impetus was given to the Stakhanov movement. The rapid development of industry in Podolsk made it possible to more than double the city budget in the first post-war five-year plan. In turn, the growth of capital investments in the urban economy contributed to the restoration and further development of urban infrastructure. Already in 1948, Podolsk took first place in the
RSFSR cities improvement competition. In 1949-1950, the construction of the Pakhra dam was completed. The volume of construction also increased: new residential areas have appeared in Kutuzovo, Gulevo, on Krasnaya Gorka, in the southwestern part of Podolsk. In the 1950s, the industrial development of Podolsk continued. A number of new plants were launched: construction machinery, building materials, and chemical and metallurgical (1954), and a round enamel pipe plant (1956). In the early 1950s, the general plan of the city was revised and clarified. According to him, the construction of residential buildings was mainly concentrated in the southwestern part of Podolsk, and in the eastern part it was prohibited. On June 10–11, 1957, mass riots took place in the city, caused by the murder of a detained driver by police officers. Despite the fact that the authorities qualified the performances as hooligan actions of a group of drunk citizens, about 3 thousand people participated in them. In 1959, 129 thousand people already lived in the city. Over the following years, industrial enterprises in Podolsk achieved significant success, which had a positive impact on the development of the city as a whole and the quality of life of its population. In the 1960s, Podolsk was awarded the commemorative banner of the MK CPSU, the Moscow City Council, the Moscow City Council and the MK Komsomol, and on January 18, 1971, for the successes achieved by the city's workers in industrial production, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. In 1962, the executive Committee of the Moscow City Council approved a new general plan for Podolsk: it provided for development based on progressive urban planning techniques, the construction of large neighborhoods with a population of 6-10 thousand people. The Novo-Syrovo work settlement was also included in the city. In 1979, the population of Podolsk was 201.7 thousand people, thus, it became the first among the cities of the Moscow region to cross the 200-thousandth milestone. In the period from 1996 to 1999, a number of important social facilities were opened in Podolsk: the Youth Palace (1996), the only blood gravity and pediatric gastroenterology departments in the Moscow region (1997), an ambulance station (1999), a Veterans' Home (1999), a blood transfusion station, and a drug treatment center. The center. In the period from 2006 to 2011, numerous landscaping measures were carried out in Podolsk: in 2006, the Generations Square was organized near Lenin Square, in which the city clock was installed; in 2008, the monument to Catherine II, who granted Podolsk the status of a city, was unveiled in the renovated Catherine Square. In addition, the House of Culture was renovated."October" with the reconstruction of the adjacent square, where a light and music fountain was installed; On the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory, on May 6, 2010, the renovated Glory Square (formerly the 50th Anniversary of October Square) was opened with a new composition "Home Front Workers" and a monument to internationalist soldiers. An important event in the life of the city was the opening on October 3, 2009, on City Day, of the overpass located on the 45th km of the Moscow-Serpukhov railway section / 11th km of the highway "Approach to Podolsk", in the area of the Kutuzovskaya platform. Due to the construction of an overpass over 500 m long (the total length of the motorway is 1200 m), the low—capacity railway crossing that existed here was eliminated. In 2006, together with the State Unitary Enterprise MO NIiPI Urban Planning, the development of a new General Plan for Podolsk began, which has not been revised since 1975. Due to the active construction in the city and the expansion of the city district in early 2010 at the expense of the territories where the military district of the
Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is located, the specialists faced the task of a comprehensive assessment of the existing buildings and the development of proposals for the integrated development of Podolsk, which would make the city comfortable to live in and at the same time create conditions for development of industrial potential. In October 2011, the General Plan was approved by the Government of the Moscow Region. On March 13, 2011, regular elections for the Head of the city district were held in Podolsk, which were won by the former head of the city, N. I. Pestov, with 84.84% of the vote. in the ranking of the best cities in Russia according to the magazine "Secret of the Firm" (
Kommersant publishing house). In early 2015, a working group was formed on the issue of merging the city districts of Podolsk,
Klimovsk and Podolsk municipal district into a single Podolsk city district. The commission includes representatives of all three transformed municipalities. A sociological survey conducted from April 11 to April 14 showed that by the time the public hearings on the merger began, more than 50% of the general population supported this initiative (although, for example, residents of the village of Lviv were rather negative). On June 1, 2015, the enlarged Podolsk city district was formed, including, in addition to Podolsk, 75 more settlements. At the same time, the territory of the city of Podolsk was also adjusted later: on July 3, 2015, the urban-type settlement of Lviv became part of Podolsk. On July 13, 2015, the city of regional subordination Klimovsk was abolished, becoming part of Podolsk. On February 9, the mayor of the city, Nikolai Igorevich Pestov, decided to resign at his own request. On March 9, 2022, at a meeting of the city Council of Deputies, Dmitry Vyacheslavovich Zharikov, who had previously been acting head, was elected head. On September 11, 2023, by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, the city was awarded the honorary title of "City of Labor Valor". == Flag and coat of arms of the city ==