For about thousand years the city of Kursk stands on a high bank of the Tuskary River, at the confluence with the Kur River that gave the name to the city. Founded in the 9th century, for several centuries the town served as a defense fortress that was to defend Russia against steppe nomads. Kursk was destroyed by the Tatars in 1240.

Regardless years of the Tatar York and all hardships and sorrows that the city was to suffer during these centuries of terror, Kursk survived the York and in 1508 it was annexed by Moscow. Kursk emerged as a southern frontier fort in the late 16th century. In the 18th and 19th centuries it became a grain-trade and industrial center and an important railway junction.

During the WWII Kursk was occupied by the Nazi troops. For over 450 days and nights the city fought against the occupants. Starvation, devastation, executions marked these horrible days. In 1943 the city was finally liberated by the Soviet Army.