Slantsi District

Subject / Topography/Administrative - territorial division
SLANTSY DISTRICT, a part of Leningrad Oblast. Population: 2,200 sq. km. Population: 47,900. S. D. comprises Slantsy Town (adm. center) and 155 rural localities. It borders Kingisepp, Volosovo, and Luga Districts of Leningrad Oblast, Gdov District of Pskov Oblast, and Estonia (along the Narova River.) It has an access to Lake Chudskoye. Established in 1941 (in 1963-65 was a part of Kingisepp District.) S. D. is crossed by the St. Petersburg-Gdov railway line (built in1940.) Highways connect the district to St. Petersburg, Pskov, Luga, Gdov, Novgorod, and Ivangorod. S. D. is located on a lowland plain in the interfluve of the Narova River and the Luga River. The Plyussa River flows across the district. The district is rich in mineral resources: Russia’s only combustible shale deposit is there, limestone, peat, and sapropels are produced; forest harvesting is developing. The industrial enterprises are located in Slantsi town. The main agricultural enterprises are Osminskoye JSC (Ovsische village, beef and dairy farming), and JSC Rodina (Vyskatka village, potato growing.) Slav sepulchral mound burials of the 11th – 14th cc. have been found in S. D. In the Olga Cross tract (currently unpopulated place on the bank of the Narova south of Stepanovschina village) there was a stone cross, which according to the legend was erected by Princess Olga of Kiev in the 10th century. Later, the cross was fixed into a wall of the Church of St. Nicholas (destroyed in 1944.) Up to the early 16th century, the area of the current S. D. was divided between the lands of Pskov (Gdov Uyezd) and Veliky Novgorod (Somersky Pogost of Shelonskaya Pyatina.) During the Time of Trouble these lands were occupied by the Swedes; under the terms of the Stolbovo Treaty of 1617 these land were a part of Russia. In the late 18th – early 20th cc., the current S. D. area belonged to Yamburg and Gdov Uyezds of St. Petersburg Gubernia. In the 18th and 19th cc., nobility’s estates were built, of which most known are Koshelevichi, Sizhno, and Malafyevka. During WW2, the district was occupied by the Natsy enemy, Slantsi settlement and all industrial facilities completely destroyed, however the mines were restored as soon as by 1949. The remoteness from large cities has been favorable for better (compared to neighboring districts) intactness of folk traditions and folklore. Since 1999, the “Plyussa Wreath” folk creativity festival has been held, featuring singing crews and handicraft tradition keepers from Leningrad Oblast and Gdov District of Pskov Oblast. The district has the Slantsy central district library, and Novoselye Russian folk creativity house (Novoselye village.) The “Znamya Truda” district newspaper is published. Orthodox parishes are active in Slantsi, the villages of B. Polya, Zaruchye, Kozya Gora (Porechye Intercession Monastery), Lozhgolovo (church of St. George the Victorious), and Sizhno, Staropolye settlement (the Church of the Nativity of Christ ). The Church of Archangel Michael in Sizhno village (17th c.) may be considered the oldest existing building. Another monument of sacred architecture is the church of the Nativity of the Virgin in Penino village. In 1990, Archangel Michael’s Church in Zazhupanye village was returned to the community (there is no service due to the emergency status of the building.) The church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God has been active in B. Polya village since 1990, and in 2005, the church of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky at the special school for problem teenagers was opened (belonging to the Church of St.Seraphim of Sarov in Slantsy.) With support of the Leningrad Oblast Committee for sports, touring, and youth policy and the district administration, a touring development program is being developed, and “Touring Resources of Slantsi District” seminars are being arranged. Chistyakov, Anton Yuryevich
Olga, Princess
Leningrad Oblast, the/Slantsi District/Bolshiye Polya Village
Leningrad Oblast, the/Slantsi District/Bolshiye Polya Village
Topographical landmarks/Chudskoye Lake
Neighbouring Territories/Pskov Oblast, the/Gdov Town
Historical Toponyms/Saint Petersburg Gubernia, the/Gdov Uyezd
Leningrad Oblast, the/Ivangorod Town
Leningrad Oblast, the/Kingisepp District
Leningrad Oblast, the/Slantsi District/Koz'ya Gora Village
Leningrad Oblast, the/Slantsi District/Lozhgolovo Village
Topographical landmarks/Luga River, the
Leningrad Oblast, the/Luga District/Luga Town
Topographical landmarks/Narva River, the
Neighbouring Territories/Novgorod City
Leningrad Oblast, the/Slantsi District/Novoselye Village
Topographical landmarks/Olgin Krest,
Leningrad Oblast, the/Slantsi District/Ovisishche, Village
Leningrad Oblast, the/Slantsi District/Penino Village
Topographical landmarks/Plyussa River, the
Neighbouring Territories/Pskov City
Leningrad Oblast, the/Slantsi District/Sizhno Village
Leningrad Oblast, the/Slantsi District/Slantsi Town
Historical Toponyms/Somersky Pogost of Shelonskaya Pyatina
Leningrad Oblast, the/Slantsi District/Staropolye Village
Leningrad Oblast, the/Slantsi District/Stepanovshchina Village
Leningrad Oblast, the/Slantsi District/Vyskatka Village
Historical Toponyms/Saint Petersburg Gubernia, the/Yamburg Uyezd
Leningrad Oblast, the/Slantsi District/Zaruchye Village
Leningrad Oblast, the/Slantsi District/Zazhupanye Village
Народные песни Ленинградской области: Старинная свадьба Сланцевского района Ленинградской области / Сост. А.Мехнецов, Е.Мельник. Л., 1985
Муниципальное образование «Сланцевский район». URL: http://www.slanmo.ru/
Сланцевский историко-краеведческий музей. URL: http://townslantsy.narod.ru/museum.html
Koshelevichi, a country estate
Malafyevka, a country estate
Sizhno, a country estate
Slantsi Central Town Library, the
The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God (Penino Village, Slantsy District)
The Church of Sainted Hierach Nicholas the Wonderworker ( the terrain area of the Cross of Olga, Slantsy District)
The Church of St. George the Victorius, Great Martyr (Lozhgolovo Village, Slantsy District)
The Church of Archangel Mikhael (Sizhno Village, Slantsy District)
The Church of Archangel Mikhael (Zazhupanye Village, Slantsy District)
The Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov (Slantsy Town)
The Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (Bolshiye Polya Village, Slantsy District)
The Church of the Nativity of Christ (Staropolye Village, Slantsy District)
The Porechsky Convent of the Intercession of the Mother of God
"Wreath of Plussa", an oblast folk art festival