The city where the first circus in the Russian Empire.

So here we have the Russian ruble, nominal - 3. The year of issue of this coin is 2013, Mint: Moscow, Russia. Total circulation – 5.000. The coin is dedicated to the 350th anniversary of the city of Penza.

Penza region, western Russia, occupying the western flank of the Volga Upland, which falls gently to the Oka–Don Plain in the extreme west. The oblast lies in the zone of forest-steppe. About one-fifth of its surface is in pine or oak forest, mostly in the Sura Basin. The city was founded in 1663 as a major fortress. After 1684 it formed the western end of the Syzran defensive line. It was frequently attacked by the Crimean Tatars, suffering especially in their last assault of 1717.

With the settlement of the surrounding lands, Penza became an important agricultural centre. Grain was sent to Moscow, first by the Sura River and after the 1870s by rail. The processing of farm products is still a significant economic factor but has been surpassed in importance by industries producing machinery, diesel engines, compressors, calculating machines, and bicycles.

There are also watchmaking, papermaking, and timber-working industries. The city’s tree-lined streets have spread from the hill, on which the fortress originally stood, onto the level Sura floodplain.