Znamenka (Starooskolsky urban district)

The village of Znamenka was founded by the princes Peter Alekseevich Golitsyn and Alexander Danilovich Menshikov in 1717. The first settlers of Znamenka, according to local legend, were immigrants from the Suzdal district of the Vladimir province , called here by the owner of the village, Prince Menshikov from different places in Russia, mainly from the provinces near Moscow. Znamenka (Znamenskoye) received its name after the opening of the first wooden church in honor of the Icon of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the first half of the 18th century. The introduction of the patronal feast, the Sign, which the villagers celebrate on December 10, is connected with the same event. The main occupation of the peasants of Znamenka until the abolition of serfdom was work in the field and in the economy of the princes Menshikovs. There is another name in the documents - “Prince's settlement” - that was the name of the village until 1848. ^[2]

In the 60s of the XIX century, a zemstvo school was opened. In 1885, in Znamenka, at the church gatehouse, a parish school for 60–70 places was opened, where they mainly taught the Law of God. Only children from wealthy and middle-class farms studied at the school.

The first temple in Znamenka was wooden, in honor of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin of Novgorod. In 1790, a wooden church was demolished and set up in a new place, and a small brick chapel was erected in the old place. In 1881, a new stone church with a bell tower and a larger one was consecrated and opened in Znamenka. It was built at the expense of Prince Menshikov, his administrator Khomyakov and parishioners. In 1895, the temple was undergoing internal repairs ^[3] .

In the summer of 1918, a small state farm called Awakening was organized on the former estate of the landowner Baybus. In 1924, the Komsomol cell was created. September 8, 1925 the state farm "Awakening" was reorganized into the commune "Red Dawn". In December 1927, the Fifteenth Congress of the CPSU (B.) Decided to strengthen the deployment of collectivization of agriculture . The first collective farm “Ilyich's Way” was formed in the center of the village in the spring of 1929.

In 1934, a village club was opened with a library, which became the center of cultural requests and events for all residents. The first radio points and a telephone appeared . In 1935, Znamenskaya junior high school was housed in a spacious new school building.

During the Great Patriotic War, the village was occupied . It began on July 3, 1942. January 19, 1943 Znamenka was released.

In 1953, on the basis of the seven-year plan, the Znamenskaya secondary school opened, where the evening department worked. Since January 6, 1954, Znamenka entered the newly formed Belgorod region . In 1965, a pharmacy was opened in Znamenka. In February 1970, a new House of Culture with 450 seats was opened, built at the expense of the collective farm.

In memory of the dead soldiers in 1972, a memorial monument was erected in the center of the village, in a small park near the House of Culture. Against the background of the tall figure of the victorious soldier, the names of the banners who died during the Great Patriotic War are carved on marble slabs.

In 1979, a high school was opened in the village of Znamenka with spacious and bright classrooms, equipped with special equipment and visual aids. In 1983, a livestock house was built with a medical dispensary. In 1984, an asphalt road was laid from Shatalovka to Znamenka. A bus service to the city was opened. In 1989, a paved road was laid connecting Znamenka with Novonikolayevka. On September 30, at the expense of collective farm funds, a local history museum was opened. Since this year, it has become a tradition to celebrate a village holiday on December 10th.

In connection with the reforms in the agricultural complex, the Karl Marx collective farm was reorganized into the Znamensky agricultural cooperative . In 1993, after the reorganization of the district executive committees, the Znamensky Village Council was renamed the Znamensky Village Administration. In 1995, gasification began in the villages of the Znamensky rural administration.

Since 1992, restoration work has been carried out in the Znamensky Church; at present, Divine Services are resumed. An architectural monument of the 19th century ^[4] .

•   Ivanov, Nikolai Dmitrievich - ( October 14, 1920 - September 30, 1995 ) - major of the Soviet Army , participant in the Great Patriotic War , Hero of the Soviet Union ( 1944 ).
• Nasedkin, Filipp Ivanovich - (August 14 (27), 1909 - June 3, 1990 ) - Russian Soviet writer .