Nizhny Novgorod in My Life

I was born in Nizhny Novgorod and I am proud of it. When I was small I didn't understand that I lived in a very old, famous, glorious city with reach history. Later, when I began to walk by the streets of our beautiful city and to visit our museums I understood that I was lucky to live here. Nizhny Novgorod plays an enormous role in my life. The fact is that I am Nizhny Novgorod born and bred. My father, and all his forefathers were born and lived in Nizhny Novgorod. For example, his grandmother with her family lived in Pokrovskaya street in a small old house, which was destroyed not long ago. So, some years ago I realized, that I wanted to know more about my native city. I began to read different books about it and to watch old photos made by Dmitriev and Karelin. Now I want to tell about my native city, the point of pride of our townspeople.

Almost eight centuries stands Nizhny Novgorod at the confluence point of the Oka and the Volga rivers. The city was founded in 1221 by the Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich, great graudson of Vladimir Monomakh. The ancestor founded and erected Nizhny Novgorod in such a way that it attracted good people by its beauty being at the same time an unapproachable fortress for the enemies. From the very beginning the city became famous for its warriors' valor and determination with which they defended the frontiers of Russia and also for its active trade and handicrafts. In the 14th century it became the capital of great Nizhny Novgorod Principality. The enemies besieged the city more than once, leaving it in ruins, but each time Nizhny restored to life.

In 1612 responding to the call of Kuzma Minin, starosta of the zenestvo, Nizhny Novgorod residents started organizing people's volunteer corps to liberate Moscow, captured by Polish-Lithuanian gentry. Other towns joined them. The head of then corps was the Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. Moscow was liberated and the tzar Mikhail Fyodorovitch, the first representative of the Romanov dynasty ascended the throne. It is since that time that Nizhny Novgorod became a symbol of patriotism and national unity. The tomb of Nizhny Novgorod hero Minin was placed in Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral and an Obelisk was put there.

My native city is famous for its architectural monuments. They are mostly situated in old Nizhny Novgorod, in historically formed center of the city. Apart from the well-known Kremlin, built in the 16th century, there are also some dwelling houses, which are still intact. There are an extremely beautiful Archangel Cathedral, Petchersky and Blagoveschhenye cloisters (the 17th century). The Rozhdestvenskaya (Stroganov) Church is a unique monument of Russian architecture, it was erected in 1719. Buildings, representing different architectural styles such as baroque, neo-classicism, pseudo-Russian and constructivism are adjacent to each other in the streets of old Nizhny. The mansion of Rukavishnikovs on the Otkos, the Drama theatre and the bank in Bolshaya Pokrovka street are of extreme interest.

But Nizhny Novgorod is not only an old historical center, but a "literary crossroads" of Russia. A famous Russian writer Maxim Gorky was born here. He lived and worked here till 1904. A house of his grandfather Kashirin is a museum now. Little Alexey lived there for some years. Our city was named after M.Gorky in 1932 and till 1990 it was called Gorky. A literary critic N.Dobrolyubov and a writer-ethnographer P.Melnikov-Prtchersky were born here. Vladimir Dahl, the author of the "Defining Dictionary of the Live Great Russian Language" and a democratic writer V.Korolenko were living here for a long time. Our city was visited by T.Shevchenko, N.Karamzin, L.Tolstoy, A.Tchekhov.

The other point our pride is our Nizhegorodskaya Fair. The Fair situated at the confluence point of the Oka and Volga rivers was a cross-roads for the riches of Siberia, China, Middle Asia, the Caucasus and the goods of Western Europe. The engineer Antonio Betankur was responsible for planning and erecting the main buildings of the Fair ensemble. Montferrand, the architect of the St.Isaac's Cathedral in St.Peterburg was one of the brightest personalities among the first builders of the Fair, he prepared the design of the Spassky Cathedral for the Fair. Since the late 1890 the world grain prices were established in Nizhny Novgorod Fair. It became famous all over the world. Tea trade was the "Key point" of the Fair and the Chinese rows were its folk adornment. A Shipov was the first chairman of Nizhny Novgorod Fair and Exchange Committee. In 1896 there was All-Russian trade-industrial and artistic exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod. There were seventy state and one hundred and twenty private pavilions at the Exhibition. There were 9700 exhibits and about a million visitors. Exhibits of the 1896 All-Russian Exhibition testified to the fact that economically developing Russia possessed a great potential. However, the outside world with the "iron curtain" did not need the Fair. Nowadays, thanks to the efforts of the city authorities the Fair is again acquiring its role of the international trading center. Last centuries some merchant names were famous in Russia and most of them were Nizhny Novgorod merchants. It is understandable, because the oldest trade way of Russia - the Volga goes through our city. Keen-willed, efficient, enterprising people from the lower classes made their way in the world becoming merchants. The most famous and rich Nizhny Novgorod merchant was Nikolay Bugrov. He considered diligence to be the main trait of a person: those who could not-were sacked. Because of the Fair Nizhny Novgorod became a merchant capital, which created its own type of businessmen. Rapid growth of trade turnover contributed to navigation development. N.Bugrov thought much about poor people. He opened a doss house for unfortunate people and paupers. During one year of 1890 about 370 thousand people found there a night shelter and a piece of bread. The other Nizhny Novgorod merchant M.Rukavishnikov and his family were famous for charity too. M.Bashkirov, an outstanding representative of Nizhny Novgorod miller dynasty, together with his sons and workers ran his business skillfully, planning it for long terms. Warehouses were crammed with goods. Trade provided employment for thousands of Nizhny Novgorod residents. The enormous scientific and industrial potential of Nizhny Novgorod attracts businessmen from different regions. Now there are headquarters of international organizations in our city. Different companies spring to life every now and then. Nizhny Novgorod residents have good traditions in this respect; here in Nizhny Novgorod Russian merchants and manufacturers demonstrated vividly their strength, wide scope and enterprise to the whole world.

The memories of many glorious sons of Russia are impressed in the streets of old Nizhny. The city on the Volga gave birth to N.Lobatchevsky, a genius mathematician, I.Kulibin, a famous mechanic of the 18th century, P.Nesterov, a pilot who was the first to perform the "dead loop", P.Strepetova, an actress, A.Karelin and M.Dmitriyev, the well-known photographers, who preserved the image of the city of the late 1800 and early 1900. F.Shalyapin began his carrier on Nizhny Novgorod scene. The names of many famous people are connected with the name of Nizhny Novgorod.

So, as you know our native city is a glorious, famous, old and beautiful city with rich history. A person who was born in Nizhny Novgorod or who lives here cannot but to be proud of his native city. I hope, that the most part of my life will be connected with it. Now I study at one of the best Nizhny Novgorod schools - linguistic gymnasium. May be I'll enter one of Nizhny Novgorod universities. By the way, our city is one of educational and scientific centers of Russia. We have many universities and academies with good scientific traditions. I like my native city very much and want to live, study and work here.