ABSTRACT
A Russian city at the crossroads of two continents — this is a theme which is common to all works that have been written by Russian authors about Orenburg. It is a notion which is highly questionable, warranted perhaps only with regard to the period in which the city was founded. Orenburg and its environment have been subjected to radical changes throughout more than one and a half centuries of its existence. Yet it is stubbornly remembered as a Russian city on the boundary between Europe and Asia.
