Gorodets
Encyclopedia
Gorodetsky District
Gorodetsky District is an administrative district , one of the 47 in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia....
of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Nizhny Novgorod. Population: The oblast is crossed by the Volga River. Apart from Nizhny Novgorod's metropolitan area, the biggest city is Arzamas...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, located on the left bank of the Volga River
Volga River
The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...
, 53 kilometres (32.9 mi) northwest of Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
. Population: 34,000 (1970).
In the past, the town was also sometimes referred to as Gorodets-Radilov , or simply Radilov.
History
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
) as a large fortress on the Volga River
Volga River
The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...
, the first Russian fortress in today's Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Nizhny Novgorod. Population: The oblast is crossed by the Volga River. Apart from Nizhny Novgorod's metropolitan area, the biggest city is Arzamas...
. It was a starting point for numerous campaigns of the princes of Vladimir and Suzdal
Vladimir-Suzdal
The Vladimir-Suzdal Principality or Vladimir-Suzdal Rus’ was one of the major principalities which succeeded Kievan Rus' in the late 12th century and lasted until the late 14th century. For a long time the Principality was a vassal of the Mongolian Golden Horde...
against Volga Bulgaria
Volga Bulgaria
Volga Bulgaria, or Volga–Kama Bolghar, is a historic Bulgar state that existed between the seventh and thirteenth centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama rivers in what is now Russia.-Origin:...
. In 1216, George II of Vladimir
Yuri II
Yuri II , also known as George II of Vladimir or Georgy II Vsevolodovich , was the fourth Grand Prince of Vladimir who presided over Vladimir-Suzdal at the time of the Mongol invasion of Russia.He was the third and best-loved son of Vsevolod III and Maria Shvarnovna.He first...
was dethroned by his brother and exiled here. In 1239, the town was burnt to the ground by Batu Khan
Batu Khan
Batu Khan was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Ulus of Jochi , the sub-khanate of the Mongol Empire. Batu was a son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. His ulus was the chief state of the Golden Horde , which ruled Rus and the Caucasus for around 250 years, after also destroying the armies...
's army. Folk tradition identifies Gorodets with Little Kitezh
Kitezh
Kitezh was a mythical city on the shores of the Svetloyar lake in the Voskresensky District of the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast in central Russia. It appears for the first time in "Kitezh Chronicle", an anonymous book from the late 18th century, believed to have originated among the Old believers.-The...
, a legendary town destroyed by the Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
.
In 1263, Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Nevsky was the Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Vladimir during some of the most trying times in the city's history. Commonly regarded as the key figure of medieval Rus, Alexander was the grandson of Vsevolod the Big Nest and rose to legendary status on account of his military...
died in Gorodets on his way back to Novgorod from the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
. His son Andrew III
Andrey of Gorodets
Andrey III Alexandrovich was a Russian prince, son of Alexander Nevsky, who received from his father the town of Gorodets on the Volga. In 1276, he added Kostroma to his possessions and joined the struggle for Grand Duchy of Vladimir-Suzdal.In 1281 Andrey, joining the Mongol army, expelled his...
made the town his chief residence. A famous medieval icon-painter, Prokhor
Prokhor
Prokhor from Gorodets was a medieval Russian icon-painter, thought to have been the teacher of Andrei Rublev....
, was born there. In the mid-14th century, the town was overshadowed by the neighbouring Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
but continued as the third largest town of Nizhny Novgorod Principality until 1408, when Edigu
Edigu
Edigu was a Mongol emir of the White Horde who founded the new political entity, which came to be known as the Nogai Horde....
razed it to the ground.
Balakhna
Balakhna is a town and the administrative center of Balakhninsky District of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Volga River, north of Nizhny Novgorod. Population: 33,500 .-Overview:...
). By the 19th century, Gorodets was revived as a prosperous village settled by Old Believer merchants and reputed for its decorative handicraft
Handicraft
Handicraft, more precisely expressed as artisanic handicraft, sometimes also called artisanry, is a type of work where useful and decorative devices are made completely by hand or by using only simple tools. It is a traditional main sector of craft. Usually the term is applied to traditional means...
s, such as wood carving
Wood carving
Wood carving is a form of working wood by means of a cutting tool in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation of a wooden object...
and painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
.
In 1875, the Nizhny Novgorod writer A. S. Gatsisky describes
Gorodets as a major center of trade in grain
GRAIN
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...
and wooden kitchenware
Kitchenware
Kitchenware include utensils, appliances, dishes, cookware, and so on for use in the kitchen.-See also:*Cookware and bakeware*Dishware*Drinkware*List of eating utensils*List of food preparation utensils*List of Japanese cooking utensils...
.
In 1922, Gorodets becomes a town again, as well the administrative center of Gorodetsky Uyezd (later, Gorodetsky District). Between 1948 and 1959, the dam of Gorky Hydroelectric Station (now Nizhny Novgorod Hydroelectric Station
Nizhny Novgorod Hydroelectric Station
The Nizhny Novgorod Hydroelectric Station or Nizhny Novgorod GES is a hydroelectric station on the Volga river. Located near Zavolzhye, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, it belongs to the Volga-Kama Cascade of dams.-Technical data:...
) was built a few kilometers upstream from Gorodets, and along with the station a new industrial town, Zavolzhye
Zavolzhye
Zavolzhye may refer to:*Transvolga, a territory to the east of the Volga River in Russia*Zavolzhye , name of several inhabited localities in Russia...
, was built on the right side of the Volga.
Landmarks
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
, associated with the famous icon of the same name
Theotokos of St. Theodore
Fyodorovskaya Theotokos , also known as Our Lady of St. Theodore and the Black Virgin Mary of Russia is the patron icon of the Romanov family and one of the most venerated icons in the Upper Volga region...
—were destroyed by the Communists. The oldest surviving structure is a rather plain church (1707–1712), built over the site of an earlier church where the town's best known ruler, Andrew III, was interred in 1304.
There are several museums in the town, including: the Gingerbread
Gingerbread
Gingerbread is a term used to describe a variety of sweet food products, which can range from a soft, moist loaf cake to something close to a ginger biscuit. What they have in common are the predominant flavors of ginger and a tendency to use honey or molasses rather than just sugar...
Museum and the Samovar
Samovar
A samovar is a heated metal container traditionally used to heat and boil water in and around Russia, as well as in other Central, South-Eastern, Eastern European countries,Kashmir and in the Middle-East...
Museum; the latter housing a large collection of tea kettles.
Economy and transport
Besides sharing the Nizhny Novgorod Hydroelectric StationNizhny Novgorod Hydroelectric Station
The Nizhny Novgorod Hydroelectric Station or Nizhny Novgorod GES is a hydroelectric station on the Volga river. Located near Zavolzhye, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, it belongs to the Volga-Kama Cascade of dams.-Technical data:...
with Zavolzhye, Gorodets has a shipbuilding industry. Traditional local crafts — woodworking, embroidery, honey bread baking — are still pursued in Gorodets, but in a more industrial way, at several local factories, whose products are available at souvenir shops all over the country.
The electric railroad branch from Nizhny Novgorod ends in Zavolzhye; but there is a road connection over the hydro dam
Nizhny Novgorod Hydroelectric Station
The Nizhny Novgorod Hydroelectric Station or Nizhny Novgorod GES is a hydroelectric station on the Volga river. Located near Zavolzhye, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, it belongs to the Volga-Kama Cascade of dams.-Technical data:...
, which provides the only fixed crossing across the Volga between Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
and Kineshma
Kineshma
Kineshma is the second largest town in Ivanovo Oblast, Russia, which sprawls for along the Volga River. Population: -History:Kineshma was first noticed as a posad in 1429. In 1504, Ivan III gave it to Prince Feodor Belsky, who escaped to Moscow from Lithuania and married Ivan's niece...
.