Toksovo
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Toksovo (; ) is an urban locality (an
urban-type settlement Urban-type settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the So ...
) in
Vsevolozhsky District Vsevolozhsky District () is an administrativeOblast Law #32-oz and municipalLaw #17-oz district (raion), one of the administrative divisions of Leningrad Oblast, seventeen in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located in the central northwestern par ...
of
Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast (, ; ; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). The oblast has an area of and a population of 2,000,997 (2021 Russian census, 2021 Census); up from 1,716,868 recorded in the 2010 Russian census ...
,
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 ...
, located to the north of St. Petersburg on the
Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (; ; ) is the approximately stretch of land situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva. Its northwestern boundary is a line from the Bay of Vyborg to the we ...
. It is served by two neighboring stations of the Saint Petersburg-Khiytola railroad: Toksovo (constructed in 1917) and Kavgolovo (1929) (which serves a popular ski resort). Population:


History

Toksovo was first mentioned in chronicles in 1500. At the time, it belonged to Vodskaya Pyatina, one of the five
pyatina Pyatina () was a first-level unit of administrative division of Novgorod Land. The name ''pyatina'' originates from the word , which means "five". Novgorod Land was subdivided into five pyatinas. The division was first mentioned in the end of the ...
s Novgorod Lands were subdivided into. In 1583, after the
Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) concerned control of Terra Mariana, Old Livonia (in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia). The Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of the Denmark–Norway, Dano-Norwegian Realm, the Kingdom ...
, it became Swedish. In 1708, in the
Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...
, it was conquered by Russia. In the same year, it was included into
Saint Petersburg Governorate Saint Petersburg Governorate was a province (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Saint Petersburg. The governorate was composed of of area and 2,112,033 inhabitants. It was bordered by Governorate of Estonia, Estonian and G ...
, and later on became a part of
Shlisselburgsky Uyezd Shlisselburgsky Uyezd (''Шлиссельбургский уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Saint Petersburg Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the northeastern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was ...
. In 1914, the governorate was renamed Petrograd Governorate. In the 19th century, the region became a ski resort and a
dacha A dacha (Belarusian, Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of former Soviet Union, post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ...
place, known as the "Finnish Switzerland" or "Saint Petersburg Switzerland." After the
October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
,
North Ingria The Republic of Kirjasalo (), commonly known as the Republic of North Ingria () was a short-lived unrecognized state from 9 July 1919 to 5/6 December 1920.Most Finnish-language sources state 5 December 1920 as the date when the republic was diss ...
, including Toksovo, seceded from Bolshevist Russia, but was reincorporated with the Treaty of Tartu at the end of 1920. On February 14, 1923 Shlisselburgsky Uyezd was merged into Petrogradsky Uyezd. In January, 1924 the uyezd and the governorate were renamed Leningradsky/Leningrad. On August 1, 1927, the uyezds were abolished and Kuyvozovsky District, with the administrative center in the village of Kuyvozy, was established. The district was inhabited by
Ingrian Finns Ingrian Finns (, ; ) are the Finnish people, Finnish population of Ingria (now the central part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia), descending from Lutheranism, Lutheran Finnish immigrants introduced into the area in the 17th century, when Finland ...
, with Finnish being the official language (since 1931). On October 30, 1930, the district center was transferred to Toksovo, which at the time being had a status of suburban settlement. On March 20, 1936 Kuyvozovsky District was renamed Toksovsky. On February 22, 1939 Toksovsky District was abolished and merged into Pargolovsky District. On April 3, 1954 Pargolovsky District was abolished, and Toksovo was transferred to Vsevolozhsky District. On May 13, 1963 Toksovo was granted urban-type settlement status. In 1937, a large ski ramp was built in Toksovo, and in the late 1950s another one, which at the time was the largest ski jump of Europe and the fourth largest of the world. Today the largest hill is out of order, but smaller ones are operating and have plastic mattings. In 1937–1939, during the
Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...
, the Rzhevsky artillery range, a large area to the southeast of Toksovo, was the main
NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
place of execution near Leningrad. In 1942, during the
Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad was a Siege, military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the city of Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 1941 t ...
all Finns and Izhorians were deported from the townlet and the region. During the Siege of Leningrad an important
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
station was operated near the townlet. In 1953, after
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
's death, Finns and Izhorians were allowed to return. In 1974, a
European bison The European bison (: bison) (''Bison bonasus'') or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bi ...
farm was started here. In 2000, ''Toksovan Sanomat'', a Finnish Language newspaper, began publication. In 2002, at Koirankangas near Toksovo the
Memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...
society found a secret grave with remains of 30,000 people executed by the NKVD, among whom are most probably the philosopher
Pavel Florensky Pavel Alexandrovich Florensky (also P. A. Florenskiĭ, Florenskii, Florenskij; ; ; – December 8, 1937) was a Russian Orthodox theologian, priest, philosopher, mathematician, physicist, electrical engineer, inventor, polymath, neomartyr and f ...
and other prominent people. In 2003, a stage of the FIS Cross-country skiing World Cup was held in the townlet. Currently it is a ski and tourist resort and a dacha place, famous for its forests and lakes.


Economy


Transportation

Toksovo is located on the railroad connecting Saint Petersburg with
Sortavala Sortavala (; Finnish language, Finnish and ; ), previously known as Serdobol () until 1918, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga near the Finland, Finni ...
via Priozersk. The two railway stations in the settlement, Toksovo railway station and Kavgolovo railway platform, are connected by suburban service with the
Finland Station St Petersburg–Finlyandsky (), also known as Finland Station () , is a railway station in St. Petersburg, Russia, handling transport to westerly destinations including Helsinki and Vyborg. The station is most famous for having been the lo ...
. Toksovo is essentially a suburb of Saint Petersburg, and is included in the dense suburban road network.


Tourism

The north part of Toksovo (unofficially called Kavgolovo like the nearby railway platform) is a center of a recreational area, which includes sports facilities like ski jumps and ski slopes, and attracts holiday visitors from Saint Petersburg. National and international competitions are held on a regular basis.


Culture and recreation

Toksovo contains seven objects classified as cultural and historical heritage of local significance. Six of them commemorate events of the World War II, in particular, the
Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad was a Siege, military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the city of Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 1941 t ...
, and the seventh one is the summer house where in 1927
Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (; – 23 February 1945) was a Russian writer whose works span across many genres, but mainly belonged to science fiction and historical fiction. Despite having opposed the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, he was abl ...
, a Russian author, stayed.


References


Notes


Sources

* * * {{Use mdy dates, date=August 2012 Urban-type settlements in Leningrad Oblast Vsevolozhsky District Shlisselburgsky Uyezd Ski areas and resorts in Russia Karelian Isthmus Ingria Tourist attractions in the Soviet Union