Plesetsk () is an urban locality (a work settlement) and the

administrative center An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of Plesetsky District,

Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk Oblast ( rus, Архангельская область, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲskəjə ˈobɫəsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic Ocean, Arctic archipelagos of Franz ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, situated about northeast of

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and south of

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...

. Municipally, it is the administrative center of Plesetskoye Urban Settlement, one of eight urban settlements in the district. Population: The vast

Plesetsk Cosmodrome Plesetsk Cosmodrome () is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, near the town of Plesetsk, from which it takes its name. Until 2025 and the commissioning of the Andøya Space, Andøya base in Norway, it was the only operati ...

territory is located nearby and is administered from the town of Mirny which is away from Plesetsk. The territory also includes the

Plestsy Airport Plestsy Airport (), also Pero (), is an airport in Russia located east of Plesetsk. It is a logistical base for the Plesetsk Cosmodrome launch facility. In 2004-2005 it was modernized: radio and illumination equipment at the airfield were replace ...

Etymology

The name is derived from the word "" (''plyos'') which means "river reach". Plestsy is the name for a small lake which Plesetsk adjoins.

History

The area was populated by speakers of

Uralic languages The Uralic languages ( ), sometimes called the Uralian languages ( ), are spoken predominantly in Europe and North Asia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian. Other languages with speakers ab ...

and then colonized by the

Novgorod Republic The Novgorod Republic () was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries in northern Russia, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east. Its capital was the city of Novgorod. The ...

. It belonged at the trading routes connecting central and northern Russia: first, from Moscow to the

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

along the

Onega River The Onega (; ) is a river in Kargopolsky, Plesetsky, and Onezhsky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. The Onega connects Lake Lacha with the Onega Bay in the White Sea southwest of Arkhangelsk, flowing in the northern direction. The disc ...

, and then, after 1765, along the newly built road between Saint-Petersburg and Arkhangelsk, which still exists and passes

Kargopol Kargopol () is a town and the administrative center of Kargopolsky District in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on both sides of the Onega River, several miles north of Lake Lacha, in the southwestern corner of the oblast. Population: ...

and Plesetsk. However, the Plesetsk area until the 1890s was underpopulated since it was located at some distance from the main rivers of the region. From 1796, it belonged to Arkhangelsky Uyezd of

Arkhangelsk Governorate Arkhangelsk Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 until 1929. Its seat was in Arkhangelsk. The governorate was located in the north of the Russ ...

. In 1894–1897, Plesetskaya railway station was built during the construction of the railroad between Vologda and Arkhangelsk. Eventually, the

volost Volost (; ; ) was a traditional administrative subdivision in Kievan Rus', the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and the Russian Empire. History The '' Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary'' (1890–1907) states that the origins of the concept is unc ...

center was moved from the ''selo'' of Navolok to Plesetskaya. During the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

in 1918, battles were fought between the Red Army and the British troops in and around Plesetsk. On July 15, 1929, the uyezds were abolished, the governorates merged into

Northern Krai Northern Krai () was an administrative-territorial unit (''krai'') of the Russian SFSR from 1929 to 1936. Its seat was in the city of Arkhangelsk. The krai was located in the north of European Russia, and its territory is currently divided betwe ...

, and Plesetsky District was established among others. It became a part of Arkhangelsk Okrug of Northern Krai. In 1930, the okrug was abolished, and the district became subordinate to the central administration of Northern Krai. In 1936, the

krai A krai or kray (; , , ''kraya'') is one of the types of federal subjects of modern Russia, and was a type of geographical administrative division in the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR. Etymologically, the word is related to the verb "" ...

itself was transformed into Northern Oblast. In 1937, Northern Oblast was split into

and

Vologda Oblast Vologda Oblast (, ; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is Vologda. The oblast has a population of 1,202,444 (Russian Census (2010), 2010 Census). The largest city is Cherepovets, t ...

, and Plesetsk remains the center of Plesetsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast.

Divisions

Plesetsk is divided into: *Tsentralny *Stary Plesetsk *Yuzhny Mirny *Severny Mirny *Kosmodrom

Sport

It has a youth

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two team sport, teams wearing Ice skates#Bandy skates, ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The playin ...

team called Yunost Pl.

Economy

Transportation

Plesetsk is located on the road connecting Kargopol with one of the principal highways in Russia, M8 between Moscow and Arkhangelsk (the highways meet in the village of

Brin-Navolok Brín-Navolok () is a town in northern Russia, located in the Arkhangelsk region. It is the namesake of the Brin-Navolok municipality, as well as its administrative and geographical centre. Geography Brin-Navolok is situated on the west bank o ...

). This is the historic trading route which connected

with Arkhangelsk before the railroad was built, and long stretches of this road are still unpaved. The stretch between Kargopol and Plesetsk was paved in 2011. Plesetsk (Plesetskaya railway station) is located on the Northern Railway connecting

and

(built in the south–north direction). From Plesetsk, a railway line to the west, connecting to Severoonezhsk, Undozero and Yangory is one of the biggest railways in Russia which does not belong to the

Russian Railways Russian Railways or RZD () is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both managing infrastructure and operating freight and passenger train services and has a near-monopoly on long-distance train travel in Russia. ...

. The owner of the railway is the State Department of Corrections. Plans to extend this line to Medvezhyegorsk have not been realized. Plesetsk also serves as a

transport hub A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between mode of transport, transport modes. Public transport hubs include train station, railway stations, metro station, rapid transit stations, bus ...

Plesetsk cosmodrome Plesetsk Cosmodrome () is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, near the town of Plesetsk, from which it takes its name. Until 2025 and the commissioning of the Andøya Space, Andøya base in Norway, it was the only operati ...

, located in the nearby town of Mirny. Plesetskaya railway station is a terminus to cosmodrome's railway system.

Health and utilities

The district hospital is located in Plesetsk.

References

Notes

Sources

External links

* {{Authority control Urban-type settlements in Arkhangelsk Oblast Populated places in Plesetsky District Populated places established in 1894