Saratov was (and is) an administrative, industrial and educational centre on the Volga north of the better known Volgograd (Stalingrad). It was also an important Volga port and railway city that played a significant role in sending troops and ammunition south during the epic struggle in Stalingrad during the Second World War. Its population reached a height of around 900,000 in 1989 which has declined to around 840,000 in the post Soviet period.
There are a number of notable things here. As many Soviet cities and regions had there is a huge Pioneer Palace which was an educational and recreational complex for Soviet youth. There is a monument and museum dedicated to Russian radical political philosopher and activist Nikolay Chernyshevsky -- who wrote the famous novel What Is to Be Done? whose title was used later by Lenin -- who was born in Saratov in 1812. We find a museum named for Alexander Radishchev, an 18th century social critic who was exiled to Siberia under Catherine the Great. Notable as well is the Crystal Ice Palace which was home of the Kristall Saratov hockey team after 1969. As a former bookstore owner I would be remiss not to mention the photo of the large and colorful central book store.
The postcard packet was in Russian and was aimed at a domestic audience as Saratov was a closed city. We have translated all the descriptions into English.
Monument to V.I. Lenin
Passenger Ship Moorings on the Volga
Monument to the Fighters of the Revolution of 1917
Kirov Square and the State Circus
Opera and Ballet Theatre
State Conservatory
Nikolay Chernyshevsky Monument
University Scientific Library
Drama Theatre
Alexander Radishchev Museum
Central Book House
Nikolay Chernyshevsky House Museum
Central Department Store
Crystal Ice Palace
Palace of the Pioneers
October Gorge Sanatorium
See also: On Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands - A Photographic Trip to the Soviet Far East, 1973
See also: Blagoveshchensk on the Amur River, USSR 1977 -- A Soviet Postcard Folder
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