Serov is the mining town in the Sverdlovsk region, and the administrative center of the Serovsky District.

It is located on the eastern foothills of the Ural Mountains, on the left bank of the Kakva River which is approximately 388 km north of Ekaterinburg.

Serov is the major center of ferrous metallurgy, which makes 80% of its economy.

The two largest companies are “A.K. Serov Metallurgical Plant” and “Serov Ferro-Alloys Plant”, which together produce approximately 5% of the world's ferrochromium. The town is the center of a mining area, with lignite, iron, bauxite, and gold mines.

The state district electric power station plays an important role in the local energy supply.

The town is often called “The North Ural gates” because the main transport routes are crossing here: railway lines, motor-, air- and waterways.

Archeological evidence suggests that the Serov area was populated as early as 1000 BCE by the Mansi people or their ancestors.

In the early days of the Russian colonization of Siberia there were only a few minor villages in the area. The situation changed in 1893, when the chief manager of the Bogoslovsk Mining District, Alexander Auerbach, proposed the construction of a cast iron and rail plant on the Kakva River near the railroad.

The town was named Nadezhdinsk after Nadezhda Polovtsova, the owner of Bogoslovsk Mining District. The first steel and rails in Nadezhdinsk were produced in 1896. The town was the major supplier of rails for the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The famous chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, who visited Nadezhdinsk, was pleasantly surprised by the progressive technology used at the plant.

The first school in Nadezhdinsk opened in December 1895, and the first power plant in 1907.

At the beginning of the World War I Nadezhdinsk industry was reshaped to meet the demands of the military. The Klein Brothers machine-building factory was relocated to Nadezhdinsk from Riga in 1917. The increasing demand for workforce was met by hiring workers from China and Korea and using prisoners of war (POWs). There were 1,266 Chinese and Koreans, and 3,329 POWs in Nadezhdinsk in 1917.

On October 27th, 1917, two days after the Russian (October) Revolution, the political power in the town was non-confrontationally transferred to the Bolsheviks. On December 18th, 1917, Bogoslovsk Mining District, including the Nadezhdinsk plants, was nationalized.

In October 1918, the White army of the Provisional Government of Siberia, which opposed the Soviets in the Civil War, occupied Nadezhdinsk. On July 19th, 1919 the town was taken back. It was devastated after the Civil War. None of the factories were working and many engineers left the area.

The Soviet government put a lot of efforts to restore the town life and economy. By the end of 1925, the Nadezhdinsk plant was running at its full capacity. In the 1930s, the ferrous metal production in Nadezhdinsk was expanded and diversified.

In 1926, Nadezhdinsk was granted town status. Before that it was an industrial community. In 1934, the town was renamed Kabakovsk, after one of the leaders of the Bolshevik Party in Sverdlovsk region Kabakov. But in 1939 the town was renamed again as Serov, after the air pilot Serov, who was a former Nadezhdinsk Plant worker and a Spanish Civil War hero.

Serov was the major center of steel production during the World War II.

Numerous organizations were evacuated to Serov from the Soviet territories occupied by Germans - for example, the Leninsky Komsomol Theater from St. Petersburg.

After the War the demand for steel increased even more due to the reconstruction. Serov became the major electrified railroad center. Later, a new power plant was built. In 1958 Serov produced first ferrosilicon. In 1970s a timber factory and a gas pipeline were built.

During Gorbachev’s presidency the town economy got to a low level. The situation stabilized only in the 2000s, when the whole situation in economical and social spheres improved.

In November 2004 Serov hosted the Russian Bodybuilding and Fitness Championship.

Serov has the State Drama Theatre named after Russian writer Anton Chekhov and a museum of local lore. Among other tourist attractions is the famous Temple-of-Transfiguration that was opened in 2006.

The town is very proud of their famous citizens – boxer Kostya Tszyu, Olympic Games champion Olesya Lafina and politician Gennady Seleznev.

How to get to Serov?

Buses № 8860/894 and № 810 from the North Bus Terminal