The City of Dyatkovo is a beautiful “country feeling” smaller city set in a lovely countryside accessed by long country highways, wide open wheat fields, dramatic clusters of birch trees, and endless miles of pine forest. The city itself has a long and colorful history, founded in the 17^th century when some glass and crystal business people moved to this area from Trupchevsk, a hundred or so miles south, due to the preferable sand in the making of their product. The leaders of this business needed some expertise in the crystal making business, so they recruited craftsmen non-Russian foreigners from Europe, a common practice in those days. However, the local Russian citizens often had a difficult time pronouncing the foreign names of the new workers, so they called them by a common Russian friendly name… Dyatka… or uncle. The name stuck and the name of the city came to be known at “Dyatkovo” .

Today, Dyatkovo is a “county seat” town for its region that is a 40 minute drive from the city of Bryansk, and is the most influential city in the northern section of the Oblast (state) of Bryansk. The population is around 30,000 people. It is close enough to the city of Bryansk that it is influenced heavily by the city. There are regular buses and regional trains that commute people back and forth to the larger city. But Dyatkovo itself has industry that keeps it alive and active. The two most significant industries are the Dyatkovo crystal glass factory and the now famous Dyatkovo furniture factory. Both companies have substantial employment of thousands. The crystal factory has shrunk some in recent years, but it still famous for its crystal that they supply the Kremlin and many national state affairs. There are many advertising photos of former President Vladimir Putin and other national leaders hosting state events using the beautiful cut glass crystal from Dyatkovo. This factory, museum and store is a favorite stop for many tourist and visitors to the region. In the recent days the Dyatkovo furniture factory has been the fastest growing business. You can see Dyatkovo furniture stores all over Russia including many in the city of Moscow. It is a thriving business that has helped keep Dyatkovo a thriving city and good place to live.

Even though it has some national prominence because of these businesses, Dyatkovo has kept its sort of cozy smaller town feel. It has a charming center street running north and south, with the main square and a statue of Lenin (as in almost every Russian city) surrounded by the city and regional government offices and courthouse. There are several schools in different parts of the city, plenty of stores everywhere, and some growing and developing modern malls taking over and growing.