On the main square of the city – Theater Square – there is a stele with the goddess of victory Nika, which was erected in honor of the liberation of Rostov-on-Don from the fascist invaders, the building of the Drama Theater and a whole ensemble of fountains, where local residents like to relax and stroll. The embankment of the river Don is also a great place for walking. Numerous alleys and descents to the river were arranged along it; most of the restaurants and discos are located here. You can take a walk in the central city park named after Gorky, and along Pushkinskaya street, where a bust of the great Russian poet and writer is installed. Rostov-on-Don is home to the Botanical Garden of Rostov State University, one of the largest in Russia, its area is 160.5 hectares. The botanical garden was opened in 1928. Over 6,500 species of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants grow here. In the greenhouse of the Botanical Garden there is an interesting collection of tropical and subtropical plants from different parts of the Earth, in addition, in the garden there is a virgin steppe area, which serves as a standard of natural vegetation, and the State Natural Monument “Source” named after Seraphim of Sarov, which is considered an Orthodox shrine.
Another fascinating place in Rostov-on-Don, where adults and children like to spend time, is the Rostov Zoo. There are 390 species of animals, including 147 species of mammals, 131 species of birds, 31 species of reptiles, 3 species of amphibians, 75 species of fish and 3 species of invertebrates. The zoo has the most complete collection of great apes in Russia. The zoo has a variety of rides and cafes.
Be sure to visit the Rostov Regional Museum of Local Lore – one of the largest museums in southern Russia. Its collections include more than 200 thousand exhibits. In the hall “Treasures of the Don Kurgans” 2000 objects made of gold and silver from the 4th century BC are exhibited. – 8th century AD – these are weapons, horse harness, wine bowls, jewelry and much more. Also, the Rostov Regional Museum of Local Lore has collections of Russian silver, folk costumes, glassware, metal and porcelain, old photographs and documents, a memorial collection of such famous people as Sholokhov, Grekov, Saryan, Shaginyan and Nalbandyan.
According to Country Converters, Rostov Regional Museum of Fine Arts is located in a mansion on Pushkinskaya street. More than 6,000 exhibits are presented here in 8 exhibition halls. The permanent exposition of the museum tells about ancient Russian art, Russian art of the 18th-20th centuries and foreign art of Western European masters of the Italian, Dutch, Flemish, French and German schools and masters of the East. A branch of the Rostov Regional Museum of Fine Arts, the Children’s Art Gallery, operates in Rostov-on-Don. Its funds contain more than 2,500 works of painting, graphics and decorative and applied arts. The Children’s Picture Gallery supports and develops the creative possibilities of young and professional artists. The surroundings of Rostov-on-Don are no less interesting than the city itself.
Aksay is located 18 km northeast of Rostov-on-Don on the right bank of the Don River. In the 17-18 centuries, a Cossack village stood on the site of the modern city, which served as a guard post that controlled the approaches to the center of the Don Host Region – Cherkassk. Today in Aksai, next to the new city buildings, old streets adjoin, where typical Cossack kurens have been preserved. It is these streets that are interesting for tourists, here you can plunge into the past and get acquainted with the way of Cossack life. The main attraction of the city is the Aksai Military History Museum, telling about the history of the Don region. The museum’s funds include more than 35,000 items, including objects of paleontology, archeology, ethnography, art and weapons. Aksai Military History Museum consists of three complexes. On the outskirts of Aksai is the Mukhina Balka nature reserve. Its area is 43.5 hectares, many herbs, shrubs and trees, brought to the Don at the end of the 19th century from various countries of the world, have been preserved here, many of which are listed in the Red Book. In “Mukhina Balka” a recreation area was equipped – a favorite place for walking for residents of the city and its guests. Since 1998, the Military-Historical Complex named after N. D. Gulaev has been operating on the territory of the reserve (one of the complexes of the Aksai Military History Museum). Here, in the open air, you can see expositions of domestic military equipment and weapons of all wars of the 20th century in which Russia participated – from the Russo-Japanese war to the Chechen companies, as well as the underground command post of the North Caucasus Military District, created in the 1960s for leadership of military operations in the event of a third world war. The underground command post is a two-tiered bunker with an extensive system of corridors, many rooms and large halls.
Another complex of the Aksai Military History Museum is located in the village of Berdanosovka, located not far from Aksai – this is the Customs Outpost. In the years 1720-1740, there was a royal outpost, then a customs outpost, and in 1763 an earthen fortress with a customs service was built, which was part of the fortress of Dmitry Rostov. Today, the museum complex exhibits cold and firearms, household items of customs officers, maps and handwritten documents. The third complex of the Aksai Military History Museum – the Postal Station – is located in the historical center of the city. This complex recreates the appearance of a typical postal station of the 19th century. Such famous Russian figures as A.S. Griboyedov, M.Yu. Lermontov, A.S. Pushkin, Baron A. Rosen, N.N. Raevsky, L.N. Tolstoy and P.I. Chaikovsky. The museum complex consists of a postmaster’s house, a hotel building, carriage house, well and gazebos for relaxation. The exposition of the museum keeps a collection of horse-drawn vehicles and authentic things of the 19th century, which belonged to the inhabitants of the village of Aksaiskaya. Near the Postal Station in 1897, a temple was built in honor of the Mother of God Hodegetria, and in 1985, the Crossing Monument was opened, erected in memory of the evacuation of local residents in 1942 from the village of Aksayskaya occupied by the Nazis.
