Rovnoye

Rovnoye lies in the lower Volga steppe, where dry grassland and ravines reach the river. From the 1760s the Russian government invited German-speaking settlers to this country, and colonies such as Seelmann, founded in 1767 and also known as Kreuznach, were laid out on the steppe. The river gave the colonists fish, water and transport, while the grassland was used for grain and pasture.