About Tolyatti
Tolyatti (formerly (until 1964) Stavropol), is a city in Samara oblast (province), western Russia, on the Volga River. Founded as a fortress in 1738 and known as Stavropol, it was given city status in 1780 and again in 1946. Overshadowed by Samara, it remained unimportant until the beginning in 1950 of the huge V.I. Lenin barrage (dam) and hydroelectric station, immediately below Stavropol at Zhigulyovsk.
In 1964 the city was renamed Tolyatti, after the Italian Communist party leader Palmiro Togliatti.
