Описание (английский)
Lebedyan is a town and the administrative center of Lebedyansky District in Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, located on the upper Don River, 62 kilometers (39 mi) northwest of Lipetsk, the administrative center of the oblast.
It was founded in 1613 largely to guard the holdings of I. N. Romanov, the Tsar's uncle, and served as a border outpost protecting South Russia from the Crimean Tatars' incursions.
The Trinity Monastery was established in 1621 and several churches were
built by the end of the century; they are all now reduced to ruins.
Chartered in 1779, Lebedyan developed in the 19th century as a center of horse racing
and horse breeding. The locals claim that the first racetrack in Russia
was opened here in 1826. The Agricultural Society of Lebedyan, founded
in 1847, was influential in preparing the emancipation reform of 1861.
Lebedyan has two cathedrals, both dedicated to the icon of the Theotokos of Kazan.
The old and neglected cathedral goes back to the 18th century, while
the larger cathedral on the market square was designed in the Empire style and consecrated in 1839.