Топик мой родной город

My hometown Yelez

I live in a small provincial town of Yelez. My hometown is very old. It was founded in 1146 to protect the southern border of our country from raids of nomadic tribes. At that time Yelez was a small wooden fortress. It was often destroyed and burnt to ashes. But Russian people always restored it.

The emblem of Yelez is a deer standing under the fir-tree, because in ancient times the town was surrounded by thick forests full of wild animals.

The citizens of Yelez have always loved their hometown and tried to make it beautiful. Before the revolution there were more than 30 churches in Yelez. But unfortunately most of them were destroyed in Soviet times.

Nevertheless, nowadays Yelez still keeps its ancient beauty. In the center you can see a lot of splendid old buildings. To my mind, the most beautiful one is our town museum. Here tourists can find a lot of interesting information about the history of Yelez, its nature, industries, crafts and outstanding people who lived and worked there.

The main tourist attraction of Yelez is our magnificent Voznesensky Cathedral designed by Konstantin Ton, a famous Russian architect. This fact gives our town the right to be called a city. The Cathedral is the highest building in Yelez. It stands on the steep bank of the river Sosna and can be seen from everywhere.

Yelez is known all over the world for its lace-making. Yelez has a lot of secondary schools, vocational schools and colleges. Many young people study at the Bunin University. In Yelez you can see several parks, clubs, restaurants and cafes where people like to have a rest. Many sports competitions and town festivals are held in our stadium.

Among the outstanding people who lived and worked in my hometown the most prominent person is, of course, Ivan Bunin, a famous Russian writer and Nobel prizewinner. You can visit his museum in the center of the town and see his photos and personal belongings.

The other remarkable Yelez citizens are Sergej Bulgakov, a religious philosopher, Mikhail Prishvin, a writer, Nicolay Zhukov, an artist, tikhon Khrennikov, a modern composer, and some others.