II, German forces occupied Rostov-on-Don (for seven days from November 21, 1941 after attacks by the German first panzer army in the battle of Rostov and for seven months from July 24, 1942 to February 14, 1943). The town was of strategic importance as a railway junction and a river port accessing the Caucasus, a region rich in oil and minerals. It took ten years to restore the city from the ruins.
October Revolution
In the Soviet years, the Bolsheviks demolished two of Rostov-on-Don's principal landmarks, St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (1908) and St. George Cathedral (1783�1807)
