Although the first settlement in the region was founded byTemroqwa Idar,[8][9] the city of Novocherkassk was founded in 1805 by Lieutenant-generalMatvei Platov, theAtaman of theDon Cossacks, as theadministrative center of theDon Host Oblast. It was established in reaction to the original administrative center, thestanitsa ofCherkassk, being deemed unsuitable as the capital for the Don Cossacks for several reasons. Cherkassk was repeatedly flooded for long periods of time due to its low-lying location on the banks of theDon River, and attempts at constructinglevees to protect the town were found to be too costly and ineffective.[citation needed] Additionally, Cherkassk was prone to destructive fires due to its chaotic layout and wooden buildings, and was located far away from any major roads. Despite the fact that ten of the eleven representatives of the villages that were part of Cherkassk refused to move the capital, Platov still made a presentation toTsar Alexander I asking him to allow the capital of the Don Cossacks to be moved to another location, and was granted permission in adecree from the Tsar on August 23, 1804.
Platov and the engineerFrançois Sainte de Wollant developed Novocherkassk as aplanned city, deciding to build it on a location at the top of a hill known as the "Wolf's Lair" to the north of Cherkassk, near theconfluence of the Tuzlov River and Aksay River. On November 7, 1804, De Wollant and Platov presented to Tsar Alexander a plan for the future of the city and an extensive report, in which the clearly embellished merits of the area chosen for construction were described. The city was designed in the popular traditions of European models of urban development, with spacious areas, wideavenues andboulevards full of greenery. De Wollant, calling the future Novocherkassk "littleParis" on the basis of numeroustown squares, each of which was supposed to feature achurch, and to have streets beginning radially around each square. On December 31, 1804, after reviewing the plan and the report of Platov and De Wollant, Tsar Alexander personally inscribed: "To be according to this. Alexander". The construction of the city was slow, primarily because of the reluctance of most Don Cossacks to leave their homes in Cherkassk, and the new capital being 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the River Don, with which the Cossacks were closely connected throughout its history. To compensate, there were even plans to deepen the Aksay River (adistributary of the Don) where the new city was located to eventually alter the course of the Don through the city. This plan was abandoned due to lack of funds, and for more than three decades the question of the place of the capital of the Don Cossack remained unresolved, while growth of Novocherkassk stagnated.
By 1837, an alternative to transfer the capital to the village of Aksayskoy, which was also on a hill and near the Don, gained popularity. However,Tsar Nicholas I personally inspected Novocherkassk and the village of Aksayskoy that same year, and after returning toSaint Petersburg ordered the Don Cossacks to keep the capital in Cherkassk because of the difficulties and uselessness of the transfer. In the first half of the 19th century, Novocherkassk was built only as an army center, administrative buildings, guest yards,taverns,wine cellars, hotels, andgenerals andnoblemen's houses. In the 1850s,industrialization reached Novocherkassk and industrial enterprises were formed, however only one-thousand of the city's twenty-thousand residents worked in them.
On the eve of theFebruary Revolution, Novocherkassk had a population of about sixty thousand people, about twenty-five thousand of whom were serving Cossacks and their families, three thousand werenoblemen, and about five hundred wereclergymen. Novocherkassk, unlike many Russian cities at the time, had almost no permanentmerchants orpeasants. During theRussian Civil War from 1917 to 1922, Novocherkassk was the center of theDon Armycounter-revolution and came under the command of GeneralAlexey Kaledin. TheRed Army eventually defeated ousted theWhite-aligned Don Army from Novocherkassk on January 7, 1920.
DuringWorld War II, theWehrmacht ofNazi Germany occupied Novocherkassk between July 24, 1942 and February 13, 1943. The city was chosen as the headquarters of the Don Army Group, headed by Erich v. Manstein in November of 42’.
On November 20, 1990,Andrei Chikatilo, one of the Soviet Union's most prolificserial killers, with 56 convicted murders, was arrested in Novocherkassk. On 14 February 1994, he was taken from his death row cell to a soundproofed room in Novocherkassk prison and executed with a single gunshot behind the right ear.[10][11] He was buried in anunmarked grave at the prison cemetery.[12]
On October 5–6, 1991, a meeting of the Grand Circle of theUnion of Cossacks of the Don Military Region took place, where the status of the historical and modern center of the Don Cossacks was established in the city, officially making Novocherkassk the capital of the Don Cossacks. On July 17–18, 1993, a meeting of the United Supreme Circle of Cossack troops of Russia and abroad was held inMoscow, where Novocherkassk was proclaimed the world capital of the Cossacks.
Законодательное Собрание Ростовской области. Закон №340-ЗС от 25 июля 2005 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Ростовской области», в ред. Закона №270-ЗС от 27 ноября 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в областной Закон "Об административно-территориальном устройстве Ростовской области"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Наше время", №187–190, 28 июля 2005 г. (Legislative Assembly of Rostov Oblast. Law #340-ZS of July 28, 2005On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Rostov Oblast, as amended by the Law #270-ZS of November 27, 2014On Amending the Oblast Law "On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Rostov Oblast". Effective as of the official publication date.).
Законодательное Собрание Ростовской области. Закон №237-ЗС от 27 декабря 2004 г. «Об установлении границы и наделении статусом городского округа муниципального образования "Город Новочеркасск"», в ред. Закона №272-ЗС от 27 ноября 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в областные Законы "Об установлении границы и наделении статусом городского округа муниципального образования "Город Новочеркасск" и "Об установлении границ и наделении соответствующим статусом муниципального образования "Октябрьский район" и муниципальных образований в его составе"». Вступил в силу 1 января 2005 г. Опубликован: "Наше время", №339, 29 декабря 2004 г. (Legislative Assembly of Rostov Oblast. Law #237-ZS of December 27, 2004On Establishing the Border and Granting Urban Okrug Status to the Municipal Formation of the "City of Novocherkassk", as amended by the Law #272-ZS of November 27, 2014On Amending the Oblast Laws "On Establishing the Border and Granting Urban Okrug Status to the Municipal Formation of the "City of Novocherkassk" and "On Establishing the Borders and Granting an Appropriate Status to the Municipal Formation of "Oktyabrsky District" and to the Municipal Formations It Comprises". Effective as of January 1, 2005.).
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