Zlatoust

Zlatoust is a city in the Russian Federation, the district center of the Chelyabinsk region, located in the Southern Urals, on the Ai River (Kama basin), 160 km west of Chelyabinsk. The population is 195.6 thousand people (2001). Chrysostom was founded in 1754, when the Tula industrialist I. P. Mosolov laid iron, iron foundry and copper smelting plants at the confluence of the Ai and Tesma rivers. The plant and the village are named after the Byzantine church figure, preacher of Christianity John Chrysostom. According to local historians, the image of John Chrysostom was a family icon of the Mosolov family. In 1815, an arms factory was built here, which produced bladed weapons; the first masters of the plant were gunsmiths from the German city of Solingen. In Chrysostom worked metallurgist P. P. Anosov, under whose leadership was recreated the technology of production of bullate steel. A monument to the Russian founder of the doctrine of steel is installed on the central square of Chrysostom. In 1857, a steel factory was opened in the city, where the first steel cannons in Russia were cast. Since the beginning of the 19th century, Chrysostom has been the center of artistic engraving on metal. This craft originally originated as an auxiliary production for decorating sabers, kortics, swords; now gold and silver notch decorate gift weapons, make decorative panels on steel plates.
Modern Chrysostom is the center of metallurgy. Here for the first time in Russia, the production of ball bearing, stainless and heat-resistant steel was mastered. The city has developed mechanical engineering, including the production of forging and pressing equipment and tools ("Zlatoust Machine Plant"). Chrysostom is located in an intermountain valley and stretches from west to east for more than 17 km. All flat areas of the valley are occupied by industrial enterprises. The city has preserved an ensemble of factory buildings of the first half of the 19th century, including the buildings of the Armory Factory (architects I. I. Sviyazev, F. A. Telezhnikov), Arsenal (architect A. I. Postnikov). Since 1988, the Arsenal building has housed the Metallurgical Plant Museum. In Chrysostom, the house of the mountain chief was preserved, in which P. P. Anosov lived, now the building is occupied by the local history museum. Founded in 1825, the local history museum (then it was called the museum of the mountain district) acquaints visitors with the collections of Zlatoust engravings and bullat blades, tells about the history of the development of the Zlatoust mountain district.
In the vicinity of Chrysostom, the Big Taganai mountain range passes and the territory of the Taganai natural park begins. The unique natural monument of Great Taganai is the peak of the Responsive Crest (1155 m), so named for its ability to reflect seven- and eight-fold echoes. The crest stands out in the mountain system as the back of a giant petrified dragon, with rocks up to 150 meters high. Responsive Crest is a deposit of aventurine - a decorative ornamental stone. Another natural monument is the Akhmatov Mineral Mine, in which 30 different minerals are found. The native of Chrysostom is the Olympic champion in skating L. P. Skoblikova.

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