status in 1702. In 1708, Oryol was included as a part of Kiev Governorate; in 1719, Oryol Province was created within Kiev Governorate. The Province was transferred to the newly created Belgorod Governorate in 1727. On March 11 (February 28 old style), 1778 Oryol Vice-Royalty was created from parts of Voronezh and Belgorod Governorates. In 1779, the city was almost entirely rebuilt based on a new plan; and the Oryol River was renamed Orlik (lit: "little eagle").
After the October Revolution of 1917, the city was in Bolshevik hands, except for a brief period between October 13 and October 20, 1919, when it was controlled by Anton Denikin'sWhite Army.
Oryol was once again moved between different oblasts in the 1920s and 1930s, finally becoming the administrative center of its own Oryol Oblast on September 27, 1937.
The Oryol Prison was a notable place of incarceration for political prisoners and war prisoners of the Second World War. Christian Rakovsky, Maria Spiridonova, Olga Kameneva and 160 other prominent political prisoners were shot on September 11, 1941 on Joseph Stalin's orders in the Medvedev forest outside Oryol.
During World War II, Oryol was occupied by the Wehrmacht on October 3, 1941, and liberated on August 5, 1943, after the Battle of Kursk. The city was almost completely destroyed
