Ust-Labinsk () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

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 ...

Ust-Labinsky District Ust-Labinsky District () is an administrative district (raion), one of the thirty-eight in Krasnodar Krai, Russia.Reference Information #34.01-707/13-03 As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Ust-Labinsky Municipal District.Law #727-KZ ...

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and is administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the t ...

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 ...

Geography

The town is situated in the central part of

, at the confluence of the

Kuban Kuban ( Russian and Ukrainian: Кубань; ) is a historical and geographical region in the North Caucasus region of southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, the Volga Delta and separated fr ...

and Laba rivers, 62 km to the east of

Krasnodar Krasnodar, formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern Russia, with a population of 1,154,885 residents, and up to 1.263 millio ...

Population

Population: 39,456 (2020),

History

History of Ust-Labinsk dates back to 1778, when fort Aleksandrovskiy was founded at the confluence of Kuban and Laba rivers. The construction was finished in 1793, under the direction of general

Ivan Gudovich Count Ivan Vasilyevich Gudovich (, tr. ; 1741–1820) was a Russian noble and military leader of Ukrainian descent. His exploits included the capture of Khadjibey (1789) and the conquest of maritime Dagestan (1807). Ivan's father was an inf ...

. In 1794 ''

stanitsa A stanitsa or stanitza ( ; ), also spelled stanycia ( ) or stanica ( ), was a historical administrative unit of a Cossack host, a type of Cossack polity that existed in the Russian Empire. Etymology The Russian word is the diminutive of the word ...

'' Ust-Labinskaya was established by the resettled

Don Cossacks Don Cossacks (, ) or Donians (, ), are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don River (Russia), Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (, ), which was either an independent or an autonomous democratic rep ...

.Azarenkova et al., p. 270. On May 28, 1958, it was granted town status and renamed. Two

Heroes of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both t ...

( Alexander Geraskin and Ivan Ivaschenko) were born in Ust-Labinsk, as well as soviet engineer

Nikolay Popov Nikolay Sergeyevich Popov (; 14 December 1931 – 4 February 2008) was a Soviet engineer who went on to be the main designer of the Soviet main battle tank, the T-80. Early life and career Popov was born in Ust-Labinsk of the North Caucasus Kra ...

(the chief designer of the T-80 tank), and football player Anton Vlasov. The 'Pioneer Hero'

Abram Pinkenson Abram Vladimirovich "Musya" Pinkenson (5 December 1930 – November 1942) was a Soviet Union, Soviet Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization, pioneer and schoolboy who was shot by the Nazi Germany, German occupying forces in 1942. Biography ...

was shot by the Nazis in the town in 1942. Russian billionaire

Oleg Deripaska Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska (; born 2 January 1968) is a Russian oligarch and billionaire. Deripaska began his career as a metals trader after the breakup of the Soviet Union. He used accumulated funds from trading to acquire stakes in the Sa ...

grew up in the town.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Ust-Labinsk serves as the

.Reference Information #34.01-707/13-03 As an administrative division, it is, together with two rural localities, incorporated within Ust-Labinsky District as the

Town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

of Ust-Labinsk. As a municipal division, the territory of Ust-Labinsk is incorporated within Ust-Labinsky Municipal District as Ust-Labinskoye Urban Settlement.Law #727-KZ The two rural localities are incorporated separately: the settlement of Dvubratsky is incorporated as Dvubratskoye Rural Settlement, while the ''

khutor A khutor ( ; rus, хутор, p=ˈxutər) or khutir (, ) is a type of rural locality in some countries of Eastern Europe; in the past the term mostly referred to a single- homestead settlement.Oktyabrsky is a part of

Zheleznoye Rural Settlement Zalizne (, ), formerly Artemove (; ), is a city in Bakhmut Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is part of the Toretsk urban hromada. Population: 6,725 (2001). On 19 May 2016, Artemove was renamed to Zalizne, conforming to the law prohibiting nam ...

, both of Ust-Labinsky Municipal District.

Aleksandrovskaya Fortress festival

Since 2021, Ust-Labinsk annually hosts the world's largest ethnic

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

festival Aleksandrovskaya Fortress, bringing together ethnic cossacks from around the globe. The festival showcases traditional local culture through a variety of events, including musical concerts, cultural customs, food fairs, theatrical performances, and lectures on Cossack history. The festival is organised by the Volnoe Delo Foundation, whose founder

, ethnic Cossack, was born in Ust-Labinsk. In 2022, one of the Festival's headliners was said to be the Russian-born Tajik singer

Manizha Manizha Dalerovna Sangin (; ; ; born 8 July 1991), known mononymously as Manizha, is a Russian-Tajik singer and songwriter, as well as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Beginning her career in 2003 a ...

, who represented Russia in the 2021

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

First Lobachevsky University Lyceum

In 2022, Ust-Labinsk saw the opening of one of its key new landmarks – the First Lobachevsky University Lyceum. The Lyceum is a boarding school for talented youths who want to study sciences. The Lyceum is designed for 475 students of the 7-11 grades. The Lyceum education is free of charge, based on a scholarship system. The curriculum of the First University Lyceum is based on the principles of International Baccalaureate and at the same time replicates the academic educational system of leading universities. Most of Lyceum’s teachers and heads of departments are lecturers from leading universities and specifically the

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

. The Lyceum is named after a famous Russian mathematician Nikolay Lobachevsky to reflect the school's focus on sciences. The Lyceum was built by the Volnoe Delo Foundation. The Lyceum is often nicknamed the '

Hogwarts Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry () is a fictional boarding school of magic for young wizards. It is the primary setting for the first six novels in the '' Harry Potter'' series by J. K. Rowling, and also serves as a major setti ...

Architecture

Courtyard of the First Lobachevsky University Lyceum

According to Lyceum's architect, the building was inspired by the works of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

architect

Filippo Brunelleschi Filippo di ser Brunellesco di Lippo Lapi (1377 – 15 April 1446), commonly known as Filippo Brunelleschi ( ; ) and also nicknamed Pippo by Leon Battista Alberti, was an Italian architect, designer, goldsmith and sculptor. He is considered to ...

. The Lyceum is built in accordance with the classical architectural traditions that saw their rebirth in Renaissance

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It echoes some of the key features of Brunelleschi’s ''

Ospedale degli Innocenti The (; 'Hospital of the Innocents'), also known in old Tuscan dialect as the , is a historic building in Florence, Italy. It was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, who received the commission in 1419 from the Arte della Seta. It was originally a ...

'' located in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. According to the architect, the arch entrance into the cloister bears a passing resemblance to Brunelleschi’s design of the ''

Pazzi Chapel The Pazzi Chapel () is a chapel located in the "first cloister" on the southern flank of the Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence, Italy. Commonly credited to Filippo Brunelleschi, it is considered to be one of the masterpieces of Renaissance ...

'' while the Lyceum’s main entrance is a magnificent classic three-storey high Corinthian portico. The Lyceum's building has become one of Europe’s largest new-built structures in the

Classical style Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De architectura'' (c. 10 AD) by the Roman architect Vitruvius. Va ...

References

Notes

Sources

* * *

External links

Official website of Ust-Labinsk

Wiki of Ust-Labinsk
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Krasnodar Krai Populated places established in 1794 1794 establishments in the Russian Empire