Tula

(to͞o`lä), ancient city in the present state of Hidalgo, central Mexico. It was one of the chief urban centers of the ToltecToltec
, ancient civilization of Mexico. The name in Nahuatl means "master builders." The Toltec formed a warrior aristocracy that gained ascendancy in the Valley of Mexico c.A.D. 900 after the fall of Teotihuacán.
..... Click the link for more information. . The city is believed to be Tollán, the legendary Toltec capital mentioned in a number of postconquest sources, including Bernardino de Sahagún's Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva Espana (tr. General History of the Things of New Spain) as well as in documents in indigenous hieroglyphics known as códices. Archaeological investigations in the ceremonial precinct have revealed impressive architectural remains including pyramidal structures and ball courts. One of the former was surmounted by a temple to the Toltec hero-god QuetzalcoatlQuetzalcoatl
[Nahuatl,=feathered serpent], ancient deity and legendary ruler of the Toltec in Mexico. The name is also that of a Toltec ruler, who is credited with the discovery of corn, the arts, science, and the calendar.
..... Click the link for more information. and had unusual sculptured columns in the form of warriors. These columns have been restored. Besides continuing restoration within the ceremonial precinct, archaeologists in recent work have explored outlying residential areas. Architectural and stylistic correspondences between Tula and several Mayan centers on the N Yucatán peninsula, primarily at the site of Chichén ItzáChichén Itzá
, city of the ancient Maya, central Yucatán, Mexico. It was founded around two large cenotes, or natural wells. According to one system of dating, it was founded c.
..... Click the link for more information. , indicate that Toltec influence pervaded the area. This influence is believed to stem from splinter groups of Toltec who migrated into the Mayan region and established hegemony in the early Postclassic period (A.D. 900–1500).

Bibliography

See studies in the Handbook of Middle American Indians, ed. by R. Wauchope (13 vol., 1964–73); M. P. Weaver, The Aztecs, Maya, and Their Predecessors (1972); R. A. Diehl, Tula (1983).

Tula

(to͞o`lə), city (1991 pop. 545,000), capital of Tula region, N central European Russia, on the Upa River, a tributary of the Oka. It is an important rail and highway hub and a manufacturing city of the Moscow industrial region. Russia's oldest metallurgical center, it also produces heavy and light machine tools. Lignite is mined nearby and is used to support a chemical industry. First mentioned in 1146, Tula was included in the Ryazan principality. In the 16th cent., the city became a key fortress of the grand duchy of Moscow. Peter I built Russia's first arms factory at Tula in 1712, based on the discovery nearby of iron and coal deposits. Tula subsequently became a center of the Russian ironworking industry. Serving as the southern anchor of the Moscow defense line during World War II, the city withstood heavy German assaults. The 16th-century kremlin, with turreted walls, has been preserved. Yasnaya Polyana, the home and burial place of Leo Tolstoy, is nearby.

Tula

a city and administrative center of Tula Oblast, RSFSR. Located on the Upa River (a tributary of the Oka), 193 km south of Moscow. Transportation junction at the intersection of the Moscow-Donbas, Viaz’ma-Syzran’, and Tula-Kozel’sk railroad lines and the Moscow-Simferopol’ highway. Population, 500,000 (1975; 115,000 in 1897,155,000 in 1926,285,000 in 1939, 351,000 in 1959, and 462,000 in 1970). The city is divided into five administrative raions.

Tula has been known since 1146. It was part of the Riazan Principality and became part of the Russian state in 1503. In the 16th and 17th centuries it was an important fortified outpost on the southern outskirts of the Russian state and the center of an abatis line. It withstood a siege by the troops of the Crimean khan Devlet-Girei I in 1552. In 1607, peasant bondmen and Cossack rebels led by 1.1. Bolotnikov held the Tula Kremlin. Tula’s armorers became well known in the late 16th century, and in the 17th century the city became a center of the iron industry, which used local iron ores. In 1712, in accordance with a ukase issued by Peter I, a state arms factory was established in Tula. The city became the center of Tula Province in 1796.

In the 19th century the manufacture of armaments, metalworking, the manufacture of samovars and accordions, and metal handicraft industries developed in Tula. The number of workers grew from 6,000 in 1890 to 18,000 in 1913 and 45,000 in 1917. A Social Democratic group was formed in 1898, and in 1901, a committee of the RSDLP. In January 1905, 10,000 workers went on strike.

Soviet power was established in Tula on Dec. 7 (20), 1917. During the Civil War (1918–20), Tula was the arms base of the Red Army. From 1929 to 1937 the city was part of Moscow Oblast, and in 1937 it became the administrative center of Tula Oblast. From October to December 1941, units of the Soviet Army and the people of Tula heroically defended the city from fascist German troops (see). On Dec. 3,1966, Tula was awarded the Order of Lenin for the courage and determination of its defenders during the heroic defense of the city and for its success in the development of the national economy. On Dec. 7, 1976, by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR, it was given the honorary title of Hero City.

Tula is a large industrial center of the Soviet Union. The main branches of industry are ferrous metallurgy, machine building, and metalworking. Ferrous metallurgy is represented by the Tu-lachermet Scientific Industrial Association and the Kosaia Gora Metallurgical Plant. The most important machine-building and metalworking enterprises are plants for the production of agricultural combines, mining and transportation machines, and arms; the Shtamp plant, which produces motor scooters and samovars; the Priboi plant; and an instrument-making plant. Tula also has a chemical industry (mainly industrial rubber products) and diverse enterprises of light industry and the food industry, including factories for the production of stockings and knitwear, furniture, and cotton batting; a sugar refinery; a brewery; a distillery; and a meat- and poultry-packing plant. Accordions are made in the city.

The central part of Tula, which is the oldest part of the city, lies on the left bank of the Upa River, on terraces and the uplands bordering them; in the south and southeast the city is dissected by deep ravines. Three industrial districts—Northwest, Northeast (formerly Chulkovo), and Novaia Tula—have developed on the right bank of the Upa. The Northwest district was long the home of the city’s armorers.

Tula is the center of a conurbation that includes the urban-type settlements of Kosaia Gora, Mendeleevskii, Skuratovskii, and Gorelki and other populated localities in the suburban zone.

Tula has a historically developed semicircular radial layout, which follows the principles of “regularity” in accordance with a 1779 plan. Its center is the rectangular kremlin (walls and towers, 1514–21; the Uspenskii Cathedral, 1762–64; and bell tower, 1772–76; architect M. M. Prave). The kremlin is situated at the end of Tula’s main street, Lenin Prospect, on which a number of squares are located. Within the city are the Blagoveshchenie Church (1692, in the Naryshkin style) and the Church of Nikola Zaretskii (1730–34, reconstructed in the 1770’s), Voznesenie Church (1755–87), and the Vsekhsviatskaia Church (1776–1800’s; architect K. S. Sokol’nikov), in the baroque style. Other landmarks include the Liventsov house (1760’s) and the Luginin house (second half of the 18th century; now a school). In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, many edifices in the classical style were built in Tula, including the Assembly of the Nobility (now the House of Officers; 1830’s to 1840’s; architect V. F. Fedo-seev), the Batashov house (early 19th century), and houses built according to “master” designs.

In the Soviet period, large new residential districts have been developed, a large municipal park has been created, and a number of public buildings have been constructed. The city has monuments to V. I. Lenin (bronze and granite, 1926; sculptor Kharla-mov), the defenders of Tula in the Great Patriotic War (cast iron, 1968; sculptor B. I. Diuzhev, architects G. E. Saevich and N. N. Milovidov), and L. N. Tolstoy (bronze and granite, 1973; sculptor V. I. Buiakin, architect A. N. Kolchin).

Among Tula’s educational institutions are polytechnic and pedagogical institutes, technicums for machine building, electrical engineering, municipal construction, and agricultural science, two mechanical-engineering technicums, medical, music, and cultural-educational schools, and two pedagogical schools. The city has three theaters (an oblast drama theater, founded 1777; an oblast puppet theater; and a young people’s theater), a circus, and a philharmonic society. Tula’s three museums are oblast museums of local lore and art, and the Arms Museum (founded 1724). The city has a bicycle track.

Tula is the birthplace of the pedagogue K. D. Ushinskii, the writers G. I. Uspenskii and V. V. Veresaev, and the arms designer V. A. Degtiarev.

The museum-estate of L. N. Tolstoy, Iasnaia Poliana, is located 12 km from Tula.

REFERENCES

Kiparisova, A. A. Tula. Moscow, 1948.
Ashurkov, V. N. Gorod masterov. Tula, 1958.
Mel’shiian, V. V. Tula. Tula, 1968.
Bitva za Tulu: Sbornik dokumentov i materialov, 4th ed. Tula, 1969.
Tula: Pamiatniki istorii i kul’tury. Putevoditel’, 2nd ed. Tula, 1973.
Malygin, A. N. Rabochaia Tula srazhaetsia: Zapiski byvshego sekretaria raikoma partii. Moscow, 1974.
Tula sotsialisticheskaia: Fotoal’bom. [Tula] 1967.

Tula

an industrial city in W central Russia. Pop.: 460 000 (2005 est.)

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