Slantsy (russian: Сла́нцы "

Oil shale Oil shale is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general composition of oil shales constitut ...

s") is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

and the

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

Slantsevsky District Slantsevsky District (russian: Сла́нцевский райо́н) is an administrativeOblast Law #32-oz and municipalLaw #47-oz district (raion), one of the seventeen in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located in the southwest of the oblast an ...

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast ( rus, Ленинградская область, Leningradskaya oblast’, lʲɪnʲɪnˈgratskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, , ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It was established on 1 August 1927, although it was not until 1 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, located on the

Plyussa River The Plyussa (russian: Плюсса) is a river in Plyussky and Gdovsky Districts of Pskov Oblast and in Slantsevsky District of Leningrad Oblast in Russia. It is a right tributary of the Narva. It is long, and the area of its basin . The urban ...

, west of St. Petersburg. Population: .

History

The creation of the settlement was proposed in 1930 by

Sergey Kirov Sergei Mironovich Kirov (né Kostrikov; 27 March 1886 – 1 December 1934) was a Soviet politician and Bolshevik revolutionary whose assassination led to the first Great Purge. Kirov was an early revolutionary in the Russian Empire and memb ...

, when a large

oil shale Oil shale is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general composition of oil shales constitut ...

deposit was discovered in the region. The construction began in 1932. The main street was named after Kirov. On December 20, 1934, rural localities of Nikolskoye and Gavrilovskoye, then a part of Polsky Selsoviet of

Gdovsky District Gdovsky District (russian: Гдо́вский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #833-oz and municipalLaw #420-oz district (raion), one of the twenty-four in Pskov Oblast, Russia. It is located in the northwest of the oblast and borders with ...

of Leningrad Oblast, were merged to form the

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

of Slantsy. On March 11, 1941, Slantsevsky District was split from Gdovsky District and Slantsy became the district administrative center. Between August 1941 and February 1944, Slantsy was occupied by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

troops. On April 5, 1949, Slantsy was granted town status. On January 1, 1963, Slantsevsky District was abolished and split between Kingiseppsky and Luzhsky Districts. On November 3, 1965, it was re-established.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Slantsy serves as the

.Oblast Law #32-oz As an administrative division, it is, together with eight rural localities, incorporated within Slantsevsky District as Slantsevskoye Settlement Municipal Formation. As a municipal division, Slantsevskoye Settlement Municipal Formation is incorporated within Slantsevsky Municipal District as Slantsevskoye Urban Settlement.Law #47-oz

Economy

Industry

The town's name is the Russian word for

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especiall ...

. The town was largely sustained by

mining by Leningradslanets mining company, as depicted on its

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

, and

shale oil Shale oil is an unconventional oil produced from oil shale rock fragments by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution. These processes convert the organic matter within the rock ( kerogen) into synthetic oil and gas. The resulting ...

production by Zavod Slantsy. The mines are now largely closed due to decrease in local demand and disagreements over contracts with nearby

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

. This has resulted in large-scale local unemployment. Furthermore, the disused mines present a serious ecological threat to water supplies in the region. Additionally, there are construction industry (including

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel (aggregate) together. Cement mixe ...

plants), chemical industry, and food industry enterprises.

Transportation

A railway connects Slantsy with

Gdov Gdov (russian: Гдов) is a town and the administrative center of Gdovsky District in Pskov Oblast, Russia, located on the river Gdovka, just from its outflow into Lake Peipus. Population: History It was first mentioned in the beginning of ...

in the south and with Veymarn in the north. Originally, the railway connected

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...

with Veymarn. It was destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and the stretch between Gdov and Pskov was never rebuilt. Slantsy is connected by roads with Pskov via Gdov and with

Kingisepp Kingisepp (russian: Ки́нгисепп or ), formerly Yamburg (), Yam (), and Yama (; Votic: ), is an ancient town and the administrative center of Kingiseppsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located along the Luga River southwest of ...

. There are also local roads, with bus traffic originating from Slantsy.

Culture and recreation

Slantsy contains four objects classified as cultural and historical heritage of local significance. Three of those commemorate events related to

, while the fourth one is the building of the first shale mine open in Slantsy. The Slantsy Museum of History and Culture, focusing on the history of Slantsy, is the only state museum in Slantsevsky District.

Notable people

Larisa Peleshenko Larisa Alexandrovna Peleshenko (russian: Лариса Александровна Пелешенко, née Agapova on 29 February 1964) is a retired Russian shot putter best known for winning the Olympic silver medal in 2000. In her early career ...

(born 1964), shot putter *

Aleksey Dmitrik Aleksey Vladimirovich Dmitrik (Russian: Алексей Владимирович Дмитрик; born 12 April 1984) is a Russian high jumper. He won the silver medal at the 2009 European Indoor Championships. He was born in Slantsy, Leningrad ...

(born 1984), high jumper

References

Notes

Sources

* * {{Authority control Cities and towns in Leningrad Oblast Cities and towns built in the Soviet Union Populated places established in 1934 Gdovsky Uyezd