Penza was founded as a Russian frontier fortress-city, and to this day, remnants of the Lomovskaya sentry line built in 1640 have been preserved at the western edge of the city, and remains of earth ramparts dating from the mid-16th century are preserved in the city center. Until 1663, Penza was a wooden stockade with only a small settlement. In May 1663, the architect Yuri Kontransky arrived in Penza on the Tsar's orders to direct the construction of a fortress city, as part of a wider fortress building program to protect Russia from attacks by Crimean Tatars. The initial construction consisted of a wooden Kremlin, a village, and quarters for the nobility, small tradesmen, and merchants. The Muscovite government placed the Ukrainian Cossacks here, who constructed a fortress and called it "Cherkassy Ostroh", from which the regional city of Penza has developed, thanks to the arrival of new settlers, particularly Russians. The Ukrainian roots of the city and its first settlers are now remembered in the names of Cherkasskaya street, along with the "Cherkassy" historical district. In 1774, the insurgent army led by Yemelyan Pugachev occupied Penza after the citizens of the city welcomed the rebellious Cossacks. The first stone houses started to appear after 1801, and by 1809 Penza's population had grown to more than 13,000 people. In 1918, Vladimir Lenin sent a telegram to communists in the Penza area, complaining about the "insurrection of five kulak districts". He urged the public hanging of 100 "landlords, richmen, bloodsuckers", grain seizure, and hostage taking. This telegram has been used in several historical works on the period and on Lenin. During the Russian Civil War, the Czechoslovak Legions launched an anti-Bolshevik uprising in Penza. During the Soviet period, the city developed as a regional industrial center. The Ural mainframe was made here between 1959 and 1964. of the Penza and Sura Rivers
Currently, the city of Penza is seen as a regional center for higher education. It has six universities, 13 colleges and 77 public schools. Besides this, Penza is home to three theatres, four museums, and three art galleries including The Museum of One Painting named after G. V. Myasnikov. Facilities of higher education include:
Penza branch of the Russian State University of Innovative Technologies and Entrepreneurship
Climate
Penza has a humid continental climate with long, cold winters and warm summers. A heat wave in the months of June, July, and August 2010, raised temperatures from previous norms often by in Penza. Some of the higher fluctuations in temperatures were recorded with seven straight days of temperatures and higher compared to the previous year where the higher temperatures for the same period were, on average, lower.
