The Severstal steelworks is the reason Cherepovets exists in its current form. Built in the early 1950s as part of the Soviet postwar reconstruction drive, the plant grew to become one of the largest steel producers in Russia, employing a significant fraction of the city's population and shaping its entire character. The complex is vast — its chimneys and cooling towers form the skyline to the west of the city centre, and on still days the smell of the plant drifts across town. There is nothing subtle about it.
Industrial tourism here is possible, though it requires planning. The company occasionally arranges group tours for organised parties — it is worth contacting Severstal's PR department well in advance if you are serious about visiting the plant floor. Even without a formal tour, the approach roads and the view from the western residential districts give a vivid sense of the scale of Soviet-era heavy industry. This is the kind of place that makes you understand why Cherepovets has the character it does: not a city that grew up around a market or a cathedral, but one that was built to make steel.