Orlyonok (Russian:Орлёнок, Eaglet in English) was one of the main Soviet Young Pioneer camps in the past and is the main Children Center of Russia nowadays. It was established July 12 1960 by the decision of the Council of Ministers of the Russian SFSR (March 27 1959) on the Black Sea coast near the town Tuapse, Krasnodar Krai, Russian SFSR. Orlyonok was the republican Young Pioneer camp, intended for the children of Russian SFSR, who were notable for excellent study, were prize winners at various Student Olympiads, contests, sports competitions or were notable Komsomol or Young Pioneer organization activists.

In 1960 it hosted 520 children, but it grew and by the year 1973 there had vacations 150,000 children and the count per year increased to 17,000. The area of Orlyonok was 3 square kilometers, there were 60 buildings, including the living ones, the Young Pioneer Palace (with the winter swimming pool filled with the sea water and a cinema with 600 seats), a secondary school intended for up to 1,000 pupils, medical building, the Museum of Aircraft and Astronautics, the astronomy observatory, the sports stadium with 4,000 seats, 20 playgrounds, the winter sports hall with 600 seats. There were more than 200 hobby groups of 50 different kinds, mostly in polytechnical, sports and aesthetical area. Orlyonok had its own passenger ship, 45 yachts, many motor boats and rowboats.

In early 1990s, when the Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union has been broken, the popularity of Orlyonok greatly decreased, but began to increase again since early 2000s, as many people in Russia understood, that the phenomenon of Young Pioneer camps was generally a good idea. Between 1960 and 2004 in Orlyonok had vacations 800,000 children, with the present count at 19,500 per year.

See also

• Artek
• Young Pioneer camp
• Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union

External links

• Russian Children Center "Оrlyonok", official homepage