Ulyanovsk

Ulyanovsk,[a] known until 1924 as Simbirsk,[b] is a city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River 705 kilometers (438 mi) east of Moscow. Ulyanovsk has been the only Russian UNESCO City of Literature since 2015. The city was the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin (born Ulyanov), for whom it was renamed after his death in 1924; and of Alexander Kerensky, the leader of the Russian Provisional Government which Lenin overthrew during the October Revolution of 1917. It is also famous for its writers such as Ivan Goncharov, Nikolay Yazykov and Nikolay Karamzin, and for painters such as Arkady Plastov and Nikas Safronov.[11] Simbirsk was founded in 1648 by the boyar Bogdan Khitrovo.[12] The fort of "Simbirsk" (alternatively "Sinbirsk") was strategically placed on a hill on the Western bank of the Volga River. The fort was meant to protect the eastern frontier of the Tsardom of Russia from the nomadic tribes and to establish a permanent royal presence in the area.