A primarily industrialcity, Tula was a fortress at the border of thePrincipality of Ryazan. The city was seized byIvan Bolotnikov in 1606 during theTime of Troubles and withstood a four-month siege by the Tsar's army. Historically, Tula has been a major centre for the manufacture ofarmaments. TheDemidov family built the first armament factory in Russia in the city, in what would become theTula Arms Plant, which still operates to this day.
Tula is home to theKlokovo air base,Tula State University, theTula Kremlin, Tula State Museum of Weapons, and Kazanskaya Embankment. Tula has a historical association with thesamovar, a metal container used to heat and boil water; the city was a major center of Russian samovar production.Yasnaya Polyana, the former home of the writerLeo Tolstoy, is located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) southwest of Tula. Additionally, Tula is known for itsimprinted gingerbread (pryanik),[13] which has been made in Tula since the 17th century.
In theMiddle Ages, Tula was a minor fortress at the border of thePrincipality of Ryazan. As soon as it passed to theGrand Duchy of Moscow, a brick citadel, orkremlin, was constructed in 1514–1521.[18] It was a key fortress of theGreat Abatis Belt and successfully resisted a siege by theTatars in 1552. In 1607,Ivan Bolotnikov and his supporters seized the citadel and withstood a four-months siege by theTsar's army. In the 18th century, some parts of the kremlin walls were demolished. Despite its archaic appearance, the five-domed Assumption Cathedral in the kremlin was built as late as 1764.[citation needed]
In 1712, Tula was visited byPeter the Great, who commissioned theDemidov blacksmiths to build the firstarmament factory in Russia. Several decades later, Tula was turned by the Demidovs into the greatest ironworking center of Eastern Europe. The oldest museum in the city, showcasing the history of weapons, was inaugurated by the Demidovs in 1724, andNicholas-Zaretsky Church in the city houses their family vault. The first factory to producesamovars industrially was also established there in the course of the 18th century. After the Demidovs moved the center of their manufacture to theUrals, Tula continued as a center ofheavy industry, particularly in the manufacture ofmatériel.[citation needed]
In the 1890s, Ivan Savelyev, a medical orderly, became the founder ofsocial democracy in Tula and set up a workers'study circle.[19]
DuringWorld War II, the city was important in the production ofarmaments. Tula became the target of a German offensive to break Soviet resistance in the Moscow area between 24 October and 5 December 1941. According toErik Durschmied inThe Weather Factor: How Nature has Changed History, one German general reached the southwestern outskirts of Tula on 29–30 October 1941.[20]
For more than four centuries Tula has been known as a center of crafts and metalworking. Tula is a developed industrial center. Importance in the industrial structure of Tula are metallurgy, machinery and metal with a high share of themilitary-industrial complex and food manufacturing.[citation needed]
Yasnaya Polyana: a confectionery factory established in 1973 under the holding ofUnited Confectioners (Russian: Холдинг «Объединенные кондитеры») that produces 340 different candies including "Yasnaya Polyana"[22]
A musical instrument, theTula accordion, is named after the city, which is a center of manufacture for such instruments sold throughout Russia and the world. Tula is also renowned for traditional Russianpryanik, cookies made with honey and spices (seeTula pryanik). In the West, Tula is perhaps best known as the center of arms manufacturing, mainly byTT pistol, as well assamovar production: the Russian equivalent of "coals to Newcastle" is "You don't take a samovar to Tula". (The saying is falsely ascribed to the writer and playwright Anton Chekhov, whose made a satirical portrait of one of his characters saying "Taking your wife to Paris is the same as taking your own samovar to Tula".)
All Orthodox organizations in Tula and the Tula Oblast are under theDiocese of Tula and Yefremov. The oldest churches in Tula include the Saints' Cathedral (built from 1776-1800), the Annunciation Church (1692), and the Assumption Cathedral of the Tula Kremlin (1762-1764). The Shcheglovsky Monastery of Holy Mother of God is also located within the city, built in the mid-19th century and consecrated in 1860.[25]Old Believers' community services are performed in the church of St. John Chrysostom.
The only Roman Catholic church in Tula is the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. Since the 1990s, several Protestantdenominations have grown, the largest of which is aBaptist church with a prayer house in Tula. Representatives of other Protestant churches in Tula areSeventh-day Adventists,Presbyterians (Church of the Holy Trinity, The Glorious Jesus the Lord, the Good News),Pentecostals (Tula Christian Center, Church of the New Testament) and other evangelical churches (Word of Life, the Vine Gypsy Church).[citation needed]
The city also has asynagogue and the Jewish Community House.
^Е. М. Поспелов. "Географические названия мира". Москва: Русские словари, 1998, pg. 423: "The earliest etymologies derived the place name from Russian dialectaltulá 'hidden, unreachable place'... The pre-Russian origin of the name of the river and town is no longer doubted [Maiorova 1985].... Since the name of the river Upa is certainly Baltic..., its tributary *Tula [the presumed earlier form of Tulitsa] may also be of Baltic origin, which is supported by a series of parallels in Lithuanian toponymy: the river Tule, the Tulis swamp, the Tulyte field, the meadow Tulejos, the valley Tulija, etc. [Vanagas, 1981]; the meaning of these toponyms is not entirely clear...."
Тульская областная Дума. Закон №954-ЗТО от 27 декабря 2007 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Тульской области», в ред. Закона №2131-ЗТО от 11 июня 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в Закон Тульской области "Об административно-территориальном устройстве Тульской области" и Закон Тульской области "Об установлении границ административно-территориальных единиц – районов в городе Туле"». Вступил в силу по истечении десяти дней после дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Вестник Тульской областной Думы", №11–12(142–143), часть 4, ноябрь–декабрь 2007 г.. (Tula Oblast Duma. Law #954-ZTO of December 27, 2007On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Tula Oblast, as amended by the Law #2131-ZTO of June 11, 2014On Amending the Law of Tula Oblast "On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Tula Oblast" and the Law of Tula Oblast "On Establishing the Borders of the Administrative-Territorial Units–the Districts in the City of Tula". Effective as of the day which is ten days after the official publication date.).
Тульская областная Дума. Закон №553-ЗТО от 11 марта 2005 г. «О переименовании "муниципального образования город Тула Тульской области", установлении границы муниципального образования город Тула и наделении его статусом городского округа», в ред. Закона №2133-ЗТО от 11 июня 2014 г. «Об объединении муниципальных образований, расположенных на территории Ленинского района Тульской области, с муниципальным образованием город Тула, о внесении изменений в Закон Тульской области "О переименовании "муниципального образования город Тула Тульской области", установлении границы муниципального образования город Тула и наделении его статусом городского округа" и признании утратившими силу отдельных законодательных актов (положений законодательных актов) Тульской области». Вступил в силу через десять дней после официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Тульские известия", №66–69, 22 марта 2005 г. (Tula Oblast Duma. Law #553-ZTO of March 11, 2005On Renaming "Municipal Formation of the City of Tula of Tula Oblast", Establishing the Border of the Municipal Formation of the City of Tula, and on Granting It Urban Okrug Status, as amended by the Law #2133-ZTO of June 11, 2014On the Merger of the Municipal Formations on the Territory of Leninsky District of Tula Oblast with the Municipal Formation of the City of Tula, on Amending the Law of Tula Oblast "On Renaming "Municipal Formation of the City of Tula of Tula Oblast", Establishing the Border of the Municipal Formation of the City of Tula, and on Granting It Urban Okrug Status", and on Abrogating Various Legislative Acts (Clauses of Legislative Acts) of Tula Oblast. Effective as of the day ten days after the official publication.).
![Up: Tula Kremlin, Museum of Weapons [ru], Assembly of the Nobility [ru]. Center: Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary [ru]. Down: Cathedral of the Dormition at Uspensky Convent [ru], Monument to gingerbread on Lenin Square, Administrative and production building for gingerbread trade](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aTula_collage_2.jpg)
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