Luga, town

Subject / Topography/Cities
LUGA, town, adm. center of Luga District. Located 142 km (139 by railway) south of St. Petersburg on the Luga River, after which it was given its name. Population: 40,400. The town is a junction of motor and railroad routes to St. Petersburg, Novgorod, Pskov, and localities of Luga District. The environs of L. are rich in arch. Monuments, from Neolithic to medieval. The predecessor of L. is considered to be “Lusskoye, a minor village” first mentioned in the late 16th c. The town of Luga was established by the order of Catherine II on Aug. 3, 1777; in 1802 it became the center of an uyezd of the same name of St. Petersburg Gubernia. In 1857, L. was connected with a railroad to St. Petersburg, which resulted in intense development of the town and its environs. In 1927-30 it was an area town / district center of Leningrad Oblast. From Aug. 23, 1941 till Feb. 12, 1944 L. was occupied by the German Nazis. In 1977, the town was decorated with the Order of the patriotic War, Class I. Luga as a town has been developing from the outset to the plan issued in the late 18th century. The most intense construction was going on in the 2nd half of the 20th c. Today’s L. consists of three parts: center, the quarters over the river and the quarters west of the railroad. The town has retained architectural monuments of the late 18th c.: adm. buildings, Transfiguration church, and St. Catherine the Martyr’s Cathedral. In the soviet period, monuments to V. I. Lenin and S. M. Kirov were installed, and memorials dedicated to the battles at the Luga Frontier in 1941 were erected. L. has the Cyril and Methodius Peasant University, town culture center, House of Creativity of the Young, children’s school of arts, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov children’s school of music, School of Arts, district library and children’s library, local lore museum, exhibition hall, Smena movie center,, and Luga-Film studio. Several newspapers are published, in particular “Luzhskaya Pravda” and “Pravoslavnaya Luga”; “Luga Speaking” radio station and KTV-Luga TV studio operate. Several festivals are held: of amateur talents, bard song, "Theatrical Spring", “Play My Accordion”, “Young Voices”, “The Youth Dances”, “Rimsky-Korsakov in Luga Land”, “Wartime Music”, as well as competitions: “Terpsichore’s Feast” and “Silver Pencil.”
Ref.:

S. B. Yegorov Yegorov, Sergey Borisovich
Catherine II, Empress
Leningrad Oblast, the/Luga District
Topographical landmarks/Luga River, the
Neighbouring Territories/Novgorod City
Neighbouring Territories/Pskov City
Historical Toponyms/Saint Petersburg Gubernia, the
Зерцалов В., Баскаченко И. Луга. Л.: Лениздат, 1964.
Даринский А.В. Ленинградская область. Л., 1975., 268-270
Зерцалов В.И. Луга: Путеводитель Л., 1972., 268-270
Культура Ленинградской области на рубеже тысячелетий. СПб., 2003, 74-75
ЛУГА - городской информационный сайт. URL: http://www.luga.ru, 74-75
Официальный сайт администрации Лужского муниципального района. URL: http://www.adm.luga.ru, 74-75
Luga - Film, a film studio
Luga Central District Library, the
Luga children art school
Luga children atrs school
Luga children musical school named after N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov
Luga exhibition hall
Luga House of Culture
Luga House of Youth Creativity
Luga Town Children Library, the
Luga Town Library, the
Luga Town Museum of the Local History, the
"Music of the Military Years", festival -competition
Neolithic monuments, The
"Play the Concertina", festival
"Rimsky-Korsakov in the Luga Land", festival
S.M. Kirov, monuments to
"Silver Pencil ", a competition
"Smena" ("Shift"), cinema (Luga Town)
The Cathedral of St. Catherine, Great Martyr (Luga Town)
The Church of the Transfiguration of Christ
"The holiday of Terpsichore", a competition
"The Theatre spring", an oblast festival
"The Youth Are Dancing", festival
V.I. Lenin, monument to; (Luga Town)
"Young Voices", festival