Nizhny Novgorod

Originally the name was just Novgorod ("Newtown"), but to distinguish it from the other, older and well-known Novgorod (Veliky Novgorod) to the west, the city was commonly called "Novgorod of the Lower lands," or "Lower Newtown." This land was named "lower" (nizhniy (нижний)), even though it is actually higher in altitude than Veliky Novgorod, because it is situated downstream of other Russian cities such as Moscow, Vladimir and Murom.

The city traces its origin from a small Russian wooden hillfort that was founded by Grand Duke Yuri II in 1221 at the confluence of two of the most important rivers in his principality, the Volga and Oka rivers. It marked the eastern extreme of East Slavic settlement until the end of the medieval period, with Russian expansion eastward delayed until the capture of Kazan in 1552. Its independent existence of the medieval fort was threatened by the continuous Mordvin attacks against it; the major attempt made by forces under Purgaz in April 1229 was repulsed, but after the death of Yuri II on March 4, 1238 at the Battle of the Sit River, the Mongols occupied the fortress. Later a major stronghold for border protection, Nizhny Novgorod fortress took advantage of a natural moat formed by the two rivers.

Along with Moscow and Tver, Nizhny Novgorod was among several newly founded towns that escaped Mongol devastation on account of their insignificance, but grew into great centers in Russian political life during the period of the Tatar Yoke. With the agreement of the Mongol Khan, Nizhny Novgorod was incorporated into the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality in 1264. After 86 years its importance further increased when the seat of the powerful Suzdal Principality was moved there from Gorodets in 1350. Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich (1323–1383) sought to make his capital a rival worthy of Moscow; he built a stone citadel and several churches and was a patron of historians. The earliest extant manuscript of the Russian Primary Chronicle, the Laurentian Codex, was written for him by the local monk Laurentius in 1377.

Kuzma Minin appeals to the people of Nizhny Novgorod to raise a volunteer army against the Poles (painting by Konstantin Makovsky, 1896).

After the city's incorporation into the Grand Duchy of Moscow in 1392, the local princes took the name Shuysky and settled in Moscow, where they were prominent at the court and briefly ascended the throne in the person of Vasily IV. After being burnt by the powerful Crimean Tatar chief Edigu in 1408, Nizhny Novgorod was restored and regarded by the Muscovites primarily as a great stronghold in their wars against the Tatars of Kazan. The enormous red-brick Kremlin, one of the strongest and earliest preserved citadels in Russia, was built in 1508–1511 under the supervision of Pietro Francesco. The fortress was strong enough to withstand Tatar sieges in 1520 and 1536.

In 1612, the so-called "national militia", gathered by a local merchant, Kuzma Minin, and commanded by Knyaz Dmitry Pozharsky expelled the Polish troops from Moscow, thus putting an end to the "Time of Troubles" and establishing the rule of the Romanov dynasty. The main square in front of the Kremlin is named after Minin and Pozharsky, although it is locally known simply as Minin Square. Minin's remains are buried in the citadel. (In commemoration of these events, on October 21, 2005, an exact copy of the Red Square statue of Minin and Pozharsky was placed in front of St John the Baptist Church, which is believed to be the place from where the call to the people had been proclaimed.)

In the course of the following century, the city prospered commercially and was chosen by the Stroganovs (the wealthiest merchant family of Russia) as a base for their operations. A particular style of architecture and icon painting, known as the Stroganov style, developed there at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries.

The historical coat of arms of Nizhny Novgorod in 1781 was a red deer with black horns and hooves on a white field. The modern coat of arms from 2006 is the same, with a ribbon of order of Lenin and gold crown from above.

Main building of the Great Russian Fair, 19th-century postcard

In 1817, the Makaryev Fair, one of the liveliest in the world, was transferred to Nizhny Novgorod and started to attract millions of visitors annually. By the mid-19th century, the city was firmly established as the trade capital of the Russian Empire. The world's first radio receiver by engineer Alexander Popov and the world's first hyperboloid tower and lattice shell-coverings by engineer Vladimir Shukhov were demonstrated at the All-Russia industrial and art exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod in 1896. According to official Imperial Russian statistics, the population of Nizhny Novgorod as of 14 January 1913 was 97,000.

The largest industrial enterprise was the Sormovo Iron Works which was connected by the company's own railway to Moskovsky railway station in the Lower City of Nizhny Novgorod. The Kazansky railway station was in the Upper city. Other industries gradually developed, and by the start of the 20th century, the city was also a first-rank industrial hub. Henry Ford helped build a large truck and tractor plant (GAZ) in the late 1920s, sending engineers and mechanics, including future labour leader Walter Reuther.

Victory Day on the Minin and Pozharsky Square, 9 May 1945

There were no permanent bridges over the Volga or Oka before the October Revolution in 1917. Temporary bridges were built during the trade fair. The first bridge over the Volga was started by the Moscow–Kazan Railway Company in 1914, but only finished in the Soviet Era when the railway to Kotelnich was opened for service in 1927.

The Marxist activist and Tsarist dissident Maxim Gorky was born in Nizhny Novgorod in 1868 as Alexey Maximovich Peshkov. In his novels he described the dismal life of the city proletariat. When he returned to the Soviet Union in 1932 on the invitation of Joseph Stalin, the city was renamed Gorky. The city bore Gorky's name until 1990. His childhood home is preserved as a museum, known as the Kashirin House, after Alexey's grandfather who owned the place.

During World War II, from 1941 to 1943, Gorky was subjected to air raids and bombardments by Germany. The Germans tried to destroy the city industry because it was the main supplier of military equipment to the front. These attacks became the most powerful in the entire World War II in the rear of the Soviet Union.

During much of the Soviet era, the city was closed to foreigners to safeguard the security of Soviet military research and production facilities, even though it was a popular stopping point for Soviet tourists traveling up and down the Volga in tourist boats. Unusually for a Soviet city of that size, even street maps were not available for sale until the mid-1970s. In 1970, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the city was awarded the Order of Lenin. Mátyás Rákosi, the former Stalinist General Secretary of Hungary's communist party, died in exile there in 1971. November 20, 1985, in the city was launched the first section of the metro. The physicist and Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov was exiled there during 1980–1986 to limit his contacts with foreigners. An end to the "closed" status of the city accompanied the reinstatement of the city's original name in 1990.[18]

The 800th anniversary of Nizhny Novgorod was celebrated on August 21, 2021. It celebrated the history and the great people who came from the city. The climax of the celebration was the city's 800th Anniversary Gala Show. Natalia Vodianova gave a speech and Vladimir Putin was in attendance.[19] The Central Bank of Russia issued commemorative coins to honor the 800th anniversary.[20]

• 
  Minin and Pozharsky Square
• 
  Church of the Nativity
• 
  The Spit (confluence of Oka and Volga Rivers)
• 
  Lower-Volga River embankment
• 
  Kanavino Bridge

The area operates in what is referred to in international standards as Moscow Standard Time (MSK), which is 3 hours ahead of UTC, or UTC+3. Daylight saving time is no longer observed.

In 1834 the first weather station was opened in Nizhny Novgorod. A century later it transformed into Gorky Hydrometeorological service, then since 1978 it is known as the Higher Volga hydrometeorology and natural habitat control department.

The climate in the region is continental, specifically humid continental (Dfb), and it is similar to the climate in Moscow, although colder in winter, which lasts from late November until late March with a permanent snow cover. Average temperatures range from +19 °C (66 °F) in July to −9 °C (16 °F) in January. Average annual temperature is +4.8 °C (40.6 °F), wind speed 2.8 m/s, air humidity 76%. Being far enough away from the Baltic Sea for maritime effects to lower, Nizhny Novgorod has similar winters to Bothnian Bay climates near the Arctic Circle, but instead has very warm summers for its latitude.

Nizhny receives on average 1 775 hours of sunshine a year. The maximum duration of daylight is in June (17 hours 44 minutes), and the minimum in December (6 hours 52 minutes). Overcast is often reported in winter: 75 to 80% of the time the sky is covered in clouds, while it's only 49 to 56% in April through to August. In autumn and winter, the overcast is usually in the mornings, then the sky clears in the afternoon. In spring and summer, on the contrary, it is clear in the mornings, while towards midday clouds cluster ('cumulus cloud'), and disappear towards the evening.

In spring temperatures set above zero around April 5 and stay until the end of October. On average precipitation comes at 653 mm per year, mostly in July and least of all in March. Generally, 180 days out of 365 enjoy some form of precipitation. Snow first comes in October but the blanket of snow insulates the ground at November-end and melts mid-April. As a rule, the air temperature in winter ranges from −10 °C (14 °F) to −20 °C (−4 °F). A storm rarely takes place in winter here (a few dates to mention are 27 November 1940, 30 November 1951, 14 February 1960, and 3 December 1962). In spring there's less precipitation than in other seasons. Spring flies by as snow melts in the second half of March and is normally gone by the end of April. Summer comes at the beginning of June, when the temperature sets around +15. Maximum heat can be observed towards the third decade of July. Average temperatures range from +15 °C (59 °F) to +20 °C (68 °F). A maximum temperature of +38.2 °C (100.8 °F) was recorded during the 2010 Northern Hemisphere summer heat waves. Summer rain is short but intense, with strong wind. In September temperature starts to drop and gets below +10 °C (50 °F) in the mid-20s of the month. It rains often and heavily in autumn, and the sky is overcast.

IT-Park

Nizhny Novgorod is one of the centers of the IT industry in Russia. It ranks among the leading Russian cities in terms of the quantity of software R&D providers. Intel has a big software research and development center with more than 500 engineers in the city, as well as a major data center. In Nizhny Novgorod, there are also a number of offshore outsourcing software developers, including Bell Integrator, Itseez, Tecom, Luximax Systems Ltd., MERA, RealEast Networks, Auriga, SoftDrom, and Teleca, and many other smaller companies specializing in the delivery of services to telecommunication vendors.

There are 25 scientific R&D institutions focusing on telecommunications, radio technology, theoretical and applied physics, and 33 higher educational institutions, among them are Nizhny Novgorod State University, Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University, Privolzhsky Research Medical University, as well as Nizhny Novgorod Institute of Information Technologies, that focuses on information technologies, software development, system administration, telecommunications, cellular networks, Internet technologies, and IT management.

Nizhny Novgorod has also been chosen as one of four sites for building an IT-oriented technology park – a special zone that has an established infrastructure and enjoys a favorable tax and customs policy.

Engineering is the leading industry of Nizhny Novgorod's economy with transportation – the auto industry, shipbuilding, diesel engines, aircraft manufacture, and machine tools – predominating; the auto industry being the leading sector (50%).

Some of the largest plants include:

• JSC "Gorky Automobile Plant" – personal cars, trucks, armored personnel carriers, and other autos
• JSC "Krasnoye Sormovo" – river and sea ships, submarines
• JSC "Sokol" – airplanes, jets
• PJSC "Nizhny Novgorod Machine-building Plant" – armament, artillery, howitzers, anti-tank guns, oil and gas fittings
• JSC "Hydromash"- hydraulic actuators, landing gear
• JSC "Nitel" – TV sets
• JSC "RUMO" – diesel generators
• JSC "Krasny yakor" – anchor chains
• OKBM Afrikantov – nuclear reactors

Public transportation within the city is provided by a trams, marshrutkas (routed taxis), buses, and trolleybuses. Electric and diesel commuter trains run to suburbs in several directions.

Nizhny Novgorod Metro underground rapid transit system was opened in 1985; it now has two lines with 15 stations, connecting with railway terminal, and carrying 102,000 passengers daily.[26]

Nizhny Novgorod City Rail is a network of railway transport (S-Train) in the city. Together with the metro it forms a system of high-speed rail transport of the city. It has two lines: Sormovskaya and Priokskaya. It was founded on June 24, 2013, on the basis of the Gorky Railway, as an addition to the metro.

Emperor's Pavilion on Moskovsky railway terminal.

The Gorky Railway, a Russian Railways department which operates some 5,700 km (3,500 mi) of rail lines throughout the Middle Volga region and 1,200 km (750 mi) in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, is headquartered in Nizhny Novgorod. Since 1862, there has been a railway connection between Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow.[27] Overnight trains provide access to Nizhny Novgorod from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Yaroslavl and others. А fast train transports passengers between Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow in less than four hours. One can continue from Nizhny Novgorod eastward along the Trans-Siberian Railway, with direct trains to major cities in the Urals and Siberia, as well as to Beijing, Pyongyang, and Ulan-Bator.

The first high-speed rail Sapsan train to Moscow (Kursky Rail Terminal) and Saint Petersburg (Moskovsky Rail Terminal) was launched on July 30, 2010.[28] The route has been run using Strizh trains since 2015.

Suburban commuter trains (elektrichka) connect Nizhny Novgorod with Vladimir, Dzerzhinsk, Murom, Kirov, Arzamas, Zavolzhye, Balakhna, and others.

River terminal

Nizhny Novgorod is an important center of Volga cargo and passenger shipping. During summer, cruise vessels operate between Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Astrakhan. In 2006 a small number of Meteor-class hydrofoils resumed operations on the Volga river. In August 2019, river navigation within the region was resumed. The hydrofoil Valdai began to sail along the routes Nizhny Novgorod – Gorodets and Nizhny Novgorod – Makaryevo.

The city is served by the Russian highway M-7 (Moscow – Nizhny Novgorod – Kazan – Ufa), and is a hub of the regional highway network. Also through the city passes the federal highway P158 (Nizhny Novgorod – Saransk – Penza – Saratov).

The system of Nizhny Novgorod's bus terminals underwent significant changes in 2015, as the old main intercity bus terminal in Lyadov Square (just south of downtown) closed, and a new bus terminal opened in Scherbinki, a few miles to the south.[29][30] Presently, the city's main bus terminals are the following:

• Kanavino Bus Station, near the Moscow Railway Station. Mostly serves directions west and northwest (e.g. toward Moscow)
• Scherbinki Bus Station, a few miles south of downtown. Mostly serves directions east and south.

Out of the three bus terminals, only the Kanavino station is near a subway line; the other two are connected with the rest of the city by city buses.

Nizhny Novgorod-Bor Cableway

In 2012, the cableway connecting Nizhny Novgorod and Bor was launched.[31] The length of the cableway is 3.5 km (2.2 mi). It has the largest unsupported span in Europe above the water surface, which is 861 metres (2,825 feet). The main purpose is to provide an alternative type of passenger transportation in addition to river taxis, electric trains and buses. The cable car has also become a popular tourist attraction, thanks to panoramic views from the cabins. Not far from Nizhegorodskaya station there are the Nizhny Novgorod Cathedral Mosque and Pechersky Ascension Monastery.100 metres (330 feet) from the Borskaya station is located the park of historical reconstruction of Pax Romana, which represents a collective image of a site of the Roman borderland at the turn of the 1st-2nd centuries AD, with a military camp and a small town that developed from the Marktant village at the camp. July 31, 2014 on the cable car there was an incident. The lightning struck a metal support near the booth in which people were. At this time there was a heavy thunderstorm and the cable car was stopped. However, people were already in the cabins.[32]

Strigino International Airport.

Nizhny Novgorod is served by Strigino International Airport,[33] which has direct flights to major Russian cities, Europe and the Middle East. The air base Sormovo was an important military airlift facility, and Pravdinsk air base was an interceptor aircraft base during the Cold War. S7 Airlines and UTair Aviation fly to Moscow's Domodedovo and Vnukovo Airports daily.

It is unknown when the first aerodrome in Nizhny Novgorod was built, but its location was 0.5 km (0 mi) north from where the "Moscow" movie theater stands today. This aerodrome was named Nizhny Novgorod Airport. In 2011 HC Airports of Regions won their bid on the investment project into Nizhny Novgorod International Airport. In 2012, certain renovations were made in order to more efficiently exploit the existing facility whilst the new one is being built.

In June 2014, the construction of a new terminal started. It is supposed to be opened by December 2015 and be able to handle around 300 passengers per hour. The second terminal will be built after the 2018 FIFA World Cup, hosted by Nizhny Novgorod among others, and the aforementioned railway station is planned to be constructed during that time as well. The new terminal was opened on December 29, 2015, as the first flight, from Moscow, was directed there. The airport authority plans to redirect all the domestic flights to the new terminal by February 2016 and all the international flights by April 2016.

The Main Fair Building

The center of the fair was the main building in the spirit of classicism and the side administrative buildings that formed the central square. To protect from floods, a 3.5 m (11 ft) high dam was built. On November 4, 2017, a new multimedia exhibition called "Russia is My History" was opened in the Main Fair Building. The main focus of the exhibition is the history of Nizhny Novgorod, starting from Finnic peoples. On the territory of the complex there are departments in which they tell about the foundation of the city, the struggle for independence in the Time of Troubles and the bombing of the city during the World War II. On the first day of work, the entrance to the exhibition was free, because of which a long line lined up in front of the Main Fair Building.

The State art gallery

The art gallery in Nizhny Novgorod is a large and important art gallery and museums of human history and culture.

Nizhny Novgorod has a great and extraordinary art gallery with more than 12,000 exhibits, an enormous collection of works by Russian artists such as Viktor Vasnetsov, Karl Briullov, Ivan Shishkin, Ivan Kramskoi, Ilya Yefimovich Repin, Isaak Iljitsch Lewitan, Vasily Surikov, Ivan Aivazovsky, there are also greater collections of works by Boris Kustodiev and Nicholas Roerich, not only Russian art is part of the exhibition it include also a vast accumulation of Western European art like works by David Teniers the Younger, Bernardo Bellotto, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Pieter de Grebber, Giuseppe Maria Crespi, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, and lot more.

Finally what makes this gallery extremely important is the amazing collection Russian avant-garde with works by Kazimir Malevich, Wassily Kandinsky, Natalia Goncharova, Mikhail Larionov and so on. There is also a collection of East Asian art.

Pechersky Ascension Monastery

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (New Fair Cathedral)

Other notable landmarks are the two great medieval abbeys. The Pechersky Ascension Monastery features the austere five-domed cathedral (1632) and two rare churches surmounted by tent roofs, dating from the 1640s. The Annunciation monastery, likewise surrounded by strong walls, has another five-domed cathedral (1649) and the Assumption church (1678). The only private house preserved from that epoch formerly belonged to the merchant Pushnikov.

There can be little doubt that the most original and delightful churches in the city were built by the Stroganovs in the nascent Baroque style. Of these, the Virgin's Nativity Church[34] (1719) graces one of the central streets, whereas the Church of Our Lady of Smolensk[35] (1694–97) survives in the former village of Gordeyevka (now, part of the city's Kanavinsky District), where the Stroganov palace once stood.

Other notable churches include:

• the Transfiguration Cathedral,[36] also known as the Old Fair Cathedral, a huge domed edifice built at the site of the great fair to an Empire style design by Agustín de Betancourt and Auguste de Montferrand in 1822;
• the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral,[37] designed in the Russian Revival style and constructed between 1856 and 1880 at the Spit of Nizhny Novgorod (the confluence of the Oka and the Volga). It is the third-tallest Cathedral in Russia;
• the Church of the Nativity. One of the most beautiful churches in the city. Was built 1696–1719 on the means of the merchant Grigory Stroganov. It is one of the best examples of Stroganov style. Church located at the Rozhdestvenskaya Street
• the recently reconstructed Church of the Nativity of John the Precursor[38] (1676–83), standing just below the Kremlin walls; it was used during the Soviet period as an apartment house;
• the parish churches of the Holy Wives[39] (1649) and of Saint Elijah[40] (1656);
• the Assumption Church on St Elijah's Hill[41] (1672), with five green-tiled domes arranged unorthodoxly on the lofty cross-shaped barrel roof;
• the shrine of the Old Believers at the Bugrovskoe cemetery,[42] erected in the 1910s to a critically acclaimed design by Vladimir Pokrovsky;
• the wooden chapel of the Intercession[43] (1660), transported to Nizhny Novgorod from a rural area.

The centrally located Nizhny Novgorod Synagogue was built in 1881–1883; disused during the Soviet era, it was renovated and reopened circa 1991.

The Chkalov Staircase connects Minin and Pozharsky Square, the Upper Volga, and the Lower Volga embankments. It was built by the architects Alexander Yakovlev, Lev Rudnev, and Vladimir Munts. The staircase itself was constructed in the late 1940s by German prisoners of war forced to labor around Gorky. It is the longest staircase in Russia. The staircase starts from the monument to Chkalov, near St. George's Tower of the Kremlin. It is built in the form of a figure of eight and consists of 560 steps if you count it on both sides. The number of steps from the bottom to the top is 442 on the right. In the intersections of the side slopes there are two observation platforms. At the bottom of the stairs is a monument to the boat "Hero", which is located at the Lower Volga embankment.

Standing on a spit of the Volga and Oka Rivers in the city center is the international-class Nizhny Novgorod Stadium. This arena hosted six games of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. After the World Cup, the stadium serves as a multipurpose sports complex.

A singular monument of industrial architecture is a 128 m (420 ft) open-work hyperboloid tower built on the bank of the Oka near Dzerzhinsk as part of a powerline river crossing by the eminent engineer and scientist Vladimir Shukhov in 1929.

View as seen to Rozhdestvenskaya st., Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, Church of St John the Baptist and the Spit

The Nizhny Novgorod Stadium hosted the 2018 FIFA World Cup games

Russia hosted the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and six matches were played at the new Nizhny Novgorod Stadium. The stadium is built beside the confluence of the Volga and Oka rivers and has a capacity of 44,899 people.[46] The stadium hosted six matches of the FIFA World Cup:

• June 18, 2018 15:00 Sweden – South Korea, Group F
• June 21, 2018 21:00 Argentina – Croatia, Group D
• June 24, 2018 15:00 England – Panama, Group G
• June 27, 2018 21:00 Switzerland – Costa Rica, Group E
• July 1, 2018 21:00 Croatia – Denmark Round of 16
• July 6, 17:00, Uruguay – France Quarter-finals

During the World Cup, the Minin and Pozharsky Square hosted the FIFA Fan Fest. The venue was open on game days from 13.00 till 00.00. The Fan Fest venue included a hospitality area, a folk art craft shop, and food outlets (20 stationary and 7 mobile outlets). The games were broadcast on a big screen.

In the city, there are some popular urban newspapers. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda, Stolitsa Nizhny and Nizhegorodsky rabochiy are Russian-language media headquartered in Nizhny Novgorod. Nizhegorodskaya pravda is the oldest newspaper of the city.

View of TV-Tower

Communications House, Central Post Office and Headquarters of Rostelecom

One of the first TV channels in the city was NNTV. It was created during the Soviet period, on the basis of the Gorky television. Also, there is the TV channel Volga. The earlier existing most popular TV channel, Seti-NN, stopped broadcasting in December 2015.

Nizhny Novgorod television networks:

Nizhny Novgorod radio stations: