Penza was founded in the mid-17th century as a Russian fortpost against the Tatars to the south. Today it is the administrative centre of the Penza Region and a rather large, but rather nondescript city, albeit green and pleasant in places. It has several interesting monuments and museums, including one to Vsevolod Meyerhold - a leading Russian theatre director and actor, who was born in Penza. However the cultural figure most associated with Penza is the 19th century poet Mikhail Lermontov whose ancestral estate of Tarkhany is located in Lermontovo, Penza Region and can be visited on a trip from Penza.