Ussuriysk is the second-largest city (after Vladivostok) of the Primorsky Krai.

It is located in the southeastern part of the Razdolno-Hankayskaya Lowland, at the confluence of the rivers Razdolnaya, Rakovka, Komarovka, 112 km to the north of Vladivostok. It is a railway station.

50 km to the southeast of Ussuriysk there is the Ussuriysk Reserve (founded in 1932) with the Ussuriysk Taiga Museum. Next to the Reserve there is an astronomical station, which is the most eastern one in Russia.

The city with the territory of 3626 sq.km has the population of 165 072 people (as of 2013).

History of Ussuriysk

It was founded by immigrants from the Astrakhan and Voronezh provinces in 1866 as the Nikolsky Village. It was named after the church consecrated in honour of Nicholas the Wonderworker. In 1868 it was burned by the Honghuzi and then restored. It was the district village of the Southern Ussuriysk District of the Primorsky Krai. In population census of 1897 it was recorded as Nikolsk-Ussuriysky.

In 1898 the town of Nikolsk was constructed at the merge of the settlements Nikolsky and Ketritsevo (which appeared as a station settlement). In 1926 it was renamed into Nikolsk-Ussuriysky. The definition Ussuriysky was added to differentiate it from the town of Nikolsk in the Vologda Region. This definition is associated with the Ussuri River (the right inflow of Amur) which is about 150 km away from it. The name was given after the informal name of the area near this river - the Ussuri Territory.

In 1935-57 the town was named Voroshilov after the Soviet party leader and military figure K.E.Voroshilov (1881-1969). In 1957 it was renamed into Ussuriysk.

Architecture and Sights

Ussuriysk located on a plain has regular planning with straight verdant streets. There is the Green Island park on the bank of River Razdolnaya.

The town harbors a medieval monument - a stone turtle sculpture as a symbol of longevity. Such sculptures were traditionally set up on graves of people from the imperial family of the Chzhurdzhensky State in the 12th century.