The city of Kirovograd (Kirovohrad) is situated on the river Ingul. In 1754 here was started building of the St. Elizabeth fortress, which was aimed to resist to Turks and Tatars invasions. In 1775 the fortress became a town and got a name Elizavetgrad (The city of Elizabeth).
Since 1764 Elizavetgrad became the center of the Elizabeth province. Since 1797 it became a district town of the Novorossiysk province, since 1802 of the Mykolaiv province, since 1803 of the Kherson province.
During XVI- XIX centuries Elizavetgrad was growing as a trade and industrial town. In 1924 its name was changed to Zinovyivsk (after a famous communist leader Zinovyev), in 1934 to Kirove (another communist). In 1939 the town became the regional center and got the contemporary name – Kirovograd (literary, the city of Kirov). Nowadays, there some disputes arising from time to time about giving the name Elizavetgrad back to the city.

Local tourist and historical sites:
The Pokrovska Church, 1850-1875. The church is a good example of the eclectic style in architecture. The interiors preserved fragments of painting of the second part of XIX century.

The Greek Church (The Church of the Blessed Volodimirska Virgin), 1812, Karl Marx Street. This stone church was built on the place of an old wooden one. Here were saved old wall decorations, revived in 1905; besides there are also a stone bell tower and a house of father superior (1812).

The St. Elizabeth Fortress, 1754; 21, Ushakov Street. There were preserved remains of the fortress earth embankment and military settlements:  a drugstore, administrative building, hospital, dwelling house, kitchen and barracks.

The Cavalry Military School, 1848; 9,11,13 Ordzonikidze Street.

A dwelling house of 1800; 61, Volodarska Street.

Museums:
The Museum of Literature: 16, Tobilevich Street. Phone  (0522) 235191.
Open hours: 10:00-17:00

Museum of Music Culture named after Karol Shimanovsky: 65, Dzerzhinska Street.Phone (0522) 246251.
Open hours: 8:00-17:00, days off - Saturday, Sunday.Oficially, the museum was opened in 1991, on the base of the existed from 1985 museum of K.Shimanovsky at the Kirovograd music college. During a short period time the teachers of the college and representatives of the Polish culture managed to collect almost 5000 of interesting exhibits. Karol Shimanovsky (born in 1882, in Timoshivka, a family property situated near the modern Kirovograd – died in 1937, Switzerland) was a prominent musician and composer, a founder of the social union "Young Poland in Music". During 1930-1932 he was a chancellor of the Warsaw Academy of Music. Shimanovsky played concerts in Lvov, Kyiv, Paris, London, and Krakow.

The O.Osmerkin Art Museum  : 89, Lenin Street. Phone (0522) 224695.
Open hours: 9:00-17:00, days off - Sunday. The artistic heritage of O.Osmerkin it is about 700 works of painting, graphic and theatre sets which are kept at the Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow), Fine Art Museum of A.S. Pushkin (Moscow), Russian Museum (St. Petersburg), Kyiv Museum of Russian Art and other museums and private collections of many countries. The exhibits of the Kirovograd museum are the works of artist, his private things, and several dozens of paintings and graphic works of other Russian artists who were the students of Osmerkin.

Museum of local history: 10, Lenin Street. Phone (0522)244273.

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