Samara and the World Cup 2018

On the 29th of September 2011, Joseph Blatter, the president of FIFA, announced the city on the Volga River as one of 11 elected cities to host the Mundial 2018.

Six matches are scheduled to be held at Samara Arena Stadium. Apart from the national teams of players, a lot of fans will come to the city. They will have a chance not only to see the famous football players but also enjoy the attractions of Samara.

Game schedule

Samara worships football. That’s the home for the authentic and strong team known as Krylia Sovetov, which has a deep history. The citizens go to the matches and eagerly support their team. Thus, the very fact that Samara will take part in the World Cup is approved whole-heartedly.

Below you can see a game schedule.

Apart from the group stage, playoff games will also be held in Samara. Samara Arena is going to host the last 16 on the 2nd of July at 17:00 (5 p. m.) and the quarterfinal on the 7th of July at 17:00 (5 p. m.).

Samara Arena and its cosmic tunes

It was originally planned that the new stadium will reflect cosmic tunes. There are many enterprises in Samara that contributed to the development of domestic missilery. It was therefore decided to build a two-tier stadium having a spheroid shape. The arena itself has cosmic accents. The stadium was named “Cosmos Arena”. However, for the World Cup it will called Samara Arena.

The stadium meets all the requirements of FIFA:

• it has artificial heating;
• the field has natural grass;
• it has automated irrigation system;
• it has an infrared heating mechanism of the seats.

Samara Arena occupies an area of 37 ha and is situated in Radio center village (the highest point of Samara). It has a capacity of 45,000 spectators.

Aside from the postcard-perfect stadium with ultra-modern content, a new highway to Samara Arena was built as well as the new transport junctions and high-speed tramway. The latter has linked the railway station with the stadium along 18.5 kilometers. New electric power lines were mounted.The navigable park was modernized with four new piers built (one of them is situated not far from the stadium). The Frunze bridge that has linked Samara with Novokuibyshevsk was built in the city. A new terminal of Kurumoch Airport was built. Now Samara Air Terminal has a capacity to take up to 40 million passengers each year. The old terminal was converted into a VIP waiting lounge.

The road to the airport, which is a part of the federal M-5 highway (50 km long) was renovated. In preparation for the Mundial 2018, there were built a new Air Terminal and a heliport pad. Moreover, Gagarin Centre was relocated. The Central Bank of Russia issued commemorative coins of 3 roubles with a symbol of Samara — a monument to the Soyuz launch vehicle. Thus, Samara and, especially its northern part, has completely changed while preparing for the World Cup 2018.

What to see in Samara

Samara is a picturesque city on the Volga River, where it is always a pleasure to walk along the longest embankment in Russia, get some rest sitting in green parks or visit one of the local museums. The architecture of Samara is quite diverse: it has examples of traditional classics embodied in mansions and churches as well as modern and socialist constructivism.

Among the attractions of Samara are the Stalin’s Bunker, the Sacred Heart Church (Catholic Church), the Monument of Glory, Yuri Gagarin Park, the Monument to the Red Army soldier Fyodor Sukhov, soldier Švejk, and Yuri Detochkin, Samara Zoo, Strukovsky Garden, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Kurlina House, the Railway Museum, Zhigulevsk brewing company, Rubezhnoe Cemetery, the Ascension Cathedral, the Church of Our Lady of Kazan, Nikolaevsky Monastery of Samara, the Bishop’s House, Lutheran Church, St. Sophia Church, Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the Country Park, etc.

Obviously, that will be difficult to see all attractions, however, the real tourist gems of Samara are “Cosmic Samara” Museum, Iversky Monastery, Samarskaya Luka National Park. You can enjoy the views on the Volga River from Vertoletka observation deck. Thus, everyone can find here a kind of activity he or she likes.

With its 5 kilometers in length, Samara Embankment is considered to be the longest on the Volga River.

“Cosmic Samara” Museum was opened on the 12th of April in 2001 on Cosmonautics Day. It makes for an architectural ensemble consisting of a rocket monument and thematic exhibition which includes flight vehicles, equipment, space suits, samples of space food. One part of the exhibition is decorated in sci-fi style that allows visitors to immerse themselves in the world of the future.

Children’s Art Gallery Museum is situated in the territory of the merchant’s mansion that was owned by I. A. Te-Clodt. This house is a landmark of the 19th century.

The Elephant House is a building designed in modern style that decorates the scenery. It was built in 1909 on a joint project of an architect V. V. Tepfer and a merchant, an entrepreneur and a self-taught artist Konstantin Golovkin. The mansion is built with the reference to the Vienna Sezession which was quite unusual for provincial city planning in Russia of the 20th century.

Iversky Monastery is an Orthodox women’s abode founded in 1850 and successfully developing up to the events of the Revolution 1917 (by the beginning of the 20th century, about 400 nuns have been leaving there). The monastery had its own hospital, school, and trade shops. Following the closure of the monastery in 1925, this religious complex fell into decay. The monastery saw the revival in 1992 when the remaining churches and buildings were renovated and the sacred service was reintroduced.

The sculpture “Barge Haulers on the Volga” (or Burlaki) was inspired by the famous canvas of Ilya Repin. It was installed on the embankment in 2014 on the 170th Anniversary of the birth of the painter. The sculpture is almost a complete copy of the picture (it is even enframed), however, this time one can examine their dimensional shapes from all sides. The author of this work is a local sculptor N. Kuklev.

Samara Railway Station is a multifunctional complex with waiting rooms, Kuybyshev Railway Museum and the observation deck. This Railway Station is considered to be the highest of all European railway stations.

Rental companies in Samara

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