Elista Airport is an international airport of federal importance in the city of Elista, the capital of the Republic of Kalmykia.
City `s history
In 1845, the Russian Emperor Nicholas I issued a decree on afforestation of the Kalmyk steppe. The first landings were made by the forest department in 1853 in the south of Ergeni and in the Elista gully. To increase the area of forest plantations, labor was needed, so the forest department petitioned the Ministry of State Property to organize the settlement of the Elista Forest Plantation. Kumo-Manichesky scientific expedition under the guidance of scientist Kostenkov outlined in 1859-1861 years 15 places for the formation of settlements along the Crimean tract between the station Krestovskaya and Astrakhan, including in the Elista gully.
Before the formation of the first settlement, Kalmyks camped in the Elista girder, wandering around Manych. Kalmyks called this place Elstoy (Kalmy sandy) for the fact that the entire left-hand northern slope of the girder was friable sands. This name was fixed and for the village that arose here. The founder of Elista is the former Russian serf farmer Stepan Prokopievich Kiikov, who, on the advice of Kolya Bolya in the spring of 1862, built the first dugout in the Elista-Sale beam. By the autumn of 1865 there were 15 households in the village. This year is considered the year of the founding of the city. Elista's largest fame was brought by the largest cattle fairs in the Kalmyk steppe.
Administratively, the village belonged to the Krestovskaya volost of the Chernoyarsky district of the Astrakhan province. Later it became the center of the Elista volost. In 1907, Elista became the center of the Manych region of the Kalmyk steppe of the Astrakhan province. The ulus building, a boarding school, and a hospital were built. In 1912, a telegraph line was sent from the village of Remontnoy.
In February 1918, Soviet power was established. November 4, 1920 issued a decree on the establishment of the Autonomous Region of the Kalmyk people. Temporarily the regional authorities and administrations were located in Astrakhan.
Elista on the postage stamp of 1961. The stamp depicts the modern cultural center "Rodina"
In 1925, the 5th Congress of Soviets of Kalmykia decided to move the center of the region to Elista. April 29, 1926, the All-Russia Central Executive Committee approves the decision of the congress and instructs the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR to render necessary assistance to the Kalmyk regional executive committee in the construction of a new city. It began in 1927, when the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR adopted a resolution transferring the center of the Kalmyk Autonomous Region from Astrakhan to Elista. Funds were allocated for the construction of administrative, cultural, residential buildings and residential buildings. May 27, 1928 in connection with the move here all regional institutions held a grand opening of the plenum of the regional executive committee. On March 10, 1930, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee decided to convert the village of Elista Kalmyk Autonomous Region into a city, combining it with the city under construction of the same name.
August 12, 1942 during the Great Patriotic War the city was occupied by German fascist troops. During the occupation, the Soviet underground was active, in the neighborhood there were two partisan detachments. At this time, in the suburbs, in the Gashun gully, the occupation authorities shot civilians and partisans. September 9, 1942 was shot by 600 Jews who lived in the city. On December 31, 1942, Elista was liberated by the Red Army. Retreating German troops almost completely burned the city.
On December 28, 1943, the Kalmyk people along with other peoples of the Caucasus were forcibly deported to Siberia, North Kazakhstan and the Far East. In the period from 1944 to 1957, the Kalmyk ASSR was abolished. On May 25, 1944, by decree No. 129 of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Elista was renamed Stepnoy and became the center of the Stepnovsky district, which first entered the Astrakhan region, and from 1952 - to the Stavropol Territory. After the liquidation of the Kalmyk autonomy and the deportation of the Kalmyks, the city practically did not recover, being in ruins. As a result, the remaining residents huddled, mainly on the outskirts of the city, in the so-called village. For 13 years, the House of Soviets (now the main building of KSU) was demolished. Within the city there functioned the collective farm. Stalin, a mill and a small dairy plant .
The active restoration of the capital began only in 1957 after the debunking of the cult of Stalin, the rehabilitation of the Kalmyks and the decision to restore the Kalmyk statehood. On November 6, 1969, a railway station was opened and a railway branch to the station Divnoe was put into operation, factories of reinforced concrete structures, large-panel housing construction and sand-lime bricks, and a claydite plant began operating.
In 1970-1980 housing construction continued, new cultural and educational institutions were opened. In these years, the roads Elista - Astrakhan and Elista - Volgograd receive asphalt.
In 1990-2000, the construction of monuments and buildings begins, which reflect the cultural tradition of the Kalmyk people. The city becomes one of the Buddhist centers of Russia.
