Krasnodar

Krasnodar is the capital of Krasnodar Krai in southern Russia, with a popolulation in 2018 of just under 900,000. Its main industries are based on agriculture and food.

Understand
In the 18th century Russia expanded south under Catherine the Great, driving out Ottoman Turkey from control of the areas north of the Black Sea. The city that grew up here was called Yekaterinodar, Catherine's Gift, and became a diverse, entrepreneurial, attractive settlement. It was fought over in the Russian civil war, and since the Bolsheviks won, they got to rename it "Krasnodar", gift of the Reds. In 1942 / 43 it was occupied by the Nazis, with much destruction and death. However many of the old town buildings have been restored, though no-one could mistake the city's landmark hyperboloid tower for tsarist architecture.

By plane


From the airport, trolleybus 7 (1 hour) and minibuses 53 and 15 (40 minutes) operate service to main train station. Buses 1 and 1A operate service to the city centre. A taxi from the airport to the city centre should cost RUB500.

By train
Several trains per day operate between Krasnodar and the Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk (RUB650, 3 hours), Rostov-on-Don (RUB600, 3-4 hours), and Volgograd (RUB900, 14-16 hours).

By bus
Buses operate approximately every 3 hours between Krasnodar and the Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk (RUB350, 3.5 hours). Buses operate hourly to the Russian resort town of Anapa (RUB350, 3.5 hours). There are 6 buses per day to/from Rostov-on-Don (RUB400, 4-6 hours). There is also a daily bus to Sochi (6 hours).

By public transportation
Krasnodar has a dense network of trams, trolleybuses, city buses, taxis, the boat across the Kuban river and marshrutkas. Public transport fees are generally approximately RUB30.

See
Krasnaya (Red) Street is the main street of the city. Part of the street is closed to vehicles during evenings, when it becomes the center of nightlife.

Theater Square has largest splash fountain in Europe.

Monuments

 * Monument to Catherine the Great
 * Sculpture of Walking Dogs - Mira 35 - Built in 2007, it was inspired by a famous Russian poet that commented on the number of dogs in Krasnodar.
 * Monument to Shurik and Lida
 * Monument of Cossacks writing a letter to the Turkish Sultan
 * Monument to Kuban Cossacks
 * Monument Avrora
 * Monument A.S. Pushkin
 * Obelisk In Honor Of The 200th Anniversary Of The Kuban Cossack Army
 * I.E. Repin Monument
 * Monument A.V. Suvorov

Religious Buildings

 * St. Catherine's Cathedral
 * Alexander Nevskiy Cathedral
 * St. George's Church
 * St. Elijah Church
 * Holy Trinity Cathedral
 * Chapel of Alexander Nevskiy
 * Church of St. Nicholas
 * Church of the Holy Libor
 * St. Kazan Church

Do

 * Climb the steel lattice hyperboloid tower built by Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov in 1928. The tower likely wouldn't pass a safety inspection in most first world countries, but it is the best place to get a view of the city. The tower is near the circus.
 * Watch football at Krasnodar Stadium. The home team is FC Krasnodar who play in the Russian Premier League, the top tier of Russian football. It was opened in 2016 with a capacity of 34,000. It's on the northeast edge of the city, 4 km from Krasnodar-1 main railway station (further out than the old "Kuban" Stadium). Take a bus to Vostochno-Kruglikovshaya Street.

Parks

 * Rozhdestvenskiy Park of Culture and Leisure
 * The Solnechny Ostrov (Sunny Island) Park
 * Safari Park - Includes a zoo, but the animals are treated poorly
 * Chistyakovskiy Grove Park
 * Botanical Garden of Professor I. S. Kosenko
 * City Botanical Garden
 * Park of the 30th anniversary of the Victory
 * City Park of Culture and Leisure
 * Marshal Zhukov's Park
 * Training Botanical Garden
 * Park Druzhby
 * Lynx Zoo

Theatres
Most are on Krasnaya Street
 * Children’s Puppet Theatre
 * Philharmonic Hall
 * Operetta Theatre
 * Operetta Theatre

Entertainment complexes
Around 20 entertainment complexes are open 24 hours/day. These complexes usually include bowling alleys, shopping centers, video arcades, casinos, and restaurants.

Water amusement parks

 * Equator
 * Aqualand

Eat
Krasnodar has many restaurants, pubs, eateries, sushi bars, hookah bars, pizzerias, coffee/tea houses and fast food places. The predominant Krasnodar cuisine is a mix of south Russian, Georgian, Armenian and Greek flavors with emphasis on fresh local grown produce minimally spiced and mostly flavored by parsley, dill and cilantro.

Fast Food
There are several American fast food restaurants including Subway (5/2 Zipovskaya St, 149 Krasnaya St, 39 Krainyaya St, 38 Mira St), McDonald's (100 Dzerzhinsky St), and KFC (104 Uralskaya St)

Drink
Many popular bars are clustered off the southern end of Krasnaya (Red) Street.



Consulates

 * 🇮🇹 Italy

Go next

 * Novorossiysk - Black Sea port city
 * Rostov-on-Don
 * Volgograd
 * Anapa
 * Sochi