city of Sarov

Sarov, Arzamas-16, Gorky-130, Kremlev — the principal science city of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. A "closed city" and Federal Nuclear Center.

Sarov was founded on June 16, 1706.

In 1946, following the establishment of the secret facility "KB-11" in the city of Sarov, it was granted the status of a closed administrative-territorial formation. In official documents it was designated Arzamas-16 and Gorky-130.

Arzamas-16 until 1991, then, until 1995 — Kremlev.

The name Sarov was restored by a decree of the Russian Government on August 14, 1995 (Federal Law No. 145-FZ "On the Renaming of the City of Kremlev in Nizhny Novgorod Region to the City of Sarov").

General Information

The total area of the city is 232 sq. km. The city has around 100 streets, twelve of which are named after famous residents. The population is approximately 90,000 people.

Sarov is home to 9 natural monuments: Blizhnyaya and Dalnyaya Pustynki, the Sarov Silver Springs, the Erzya sacred urochishche of Keremet, the flood meadow in the floodplain of the Satis River, the monastery ponds of Protyazhkinsky and Varlamovsky, the monastery's Shelokshansk pond, the monastery urochishche of Filippovka, and the Sysovsky cordon.

Restricted Status

The current status of the city and the special conditions of its existence are defined by the Law of the Russian Federation "On the Closed Administrative-Territorial Formation," adopted on July 14, 1992. This law applies to all closed cities in Russia.

The initiative to draft and adopt this law originated in Sarov.

The Sarov land guards its secrets. Ongoing archaeological excavations are gradually allowing researchers to refine the dates of the first human settlement here. The time has not yet come to open all the pages in the history of the Soviet atomic project, in which the residents of Arzamas-16 played a key role. To this day, the primary task of the staff of the RFNC-VNIIEF located in Sarov is to maintain the reliability of Russia's nuclear arsenal. The city's present-day character, its customs and traditions, were shaped largely by those who came here to build the nuclear shield of our Motherland.

Sarov and Arzamas-16

In the late 1940s, the name Sarov disappeared from the maps of the Soviet Union. On April 9, 1946, a decision was made to locate a facility of special state importance here, where the first Soviet atomic bomb would be created. The site chosen for construction of the secret facility was the location of the famous Sarov Monastery. Over the course of half a century, the name of the facility and the postal address of the settlement changed repeatedly. In the history of the Soviet atomic project, however, it is known as Arzamas-16.

On March 17, 1954, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR resolved to establish a city of regional subordination under the classified name Kremlev.

In 1995, the city was returned its name Sarov — the name under which it entered the history of the Russian state and by which it is known in the Orthodox world. Once again appearing on the map of Russia was a city whose location and name had for almost half a century been a state secret, yet which throughout its entire existence had played a major role in the history of our country.

History

The history of Sarov falls into two entirely distinct periods, which may be loosely called the "monastic" period and the "nuclear" period. In modern times, Sarov is the Russian Federal Nuclear Center — the place where domestic nuclear weapons were created, where Academician Sakharov and dozens of other outstanding scientists lived and worked, a city of science behind barbed wire that until recently bore the code name Arzamas-16 and was absent from every map until the mid-1990s. And even now, with the veil of secrecy lifted, the city remains a closed administrative-territorial formation, inaccessible to the ordinary tourist.

During the years of the nuclear facility's complete closure, almost nothing was said about the other period of Sarov's history — the monastic one. Sarov, as it were, did not exist. And yet this was a monastery of great renown in its time, one that gave Russia one of her most celebrated saints.

As recent archaeological research has shown, Sarov arose on the site of an ancient Mordva settlement that survived until the mid-13th century before being devastated by the Tatars. Somewhat later, the same site was occupied by the Tatar town of Saraklych, or Saraklych, whose ruler was a certain Tatar prince by the name of Bekhan. After Ivan the Terrible took Kazan, Saraklych was sacked and fell into ruin, thereafter becoming known as Stary Gorodishche (the Old Fortified Site).

As early as the late 16th century, individual hermits began settling on the headland at the confluence of the Satis and Sarovka rivers, making their dwellings in hand-dug caves. The names of these earliest ascetics have remained unknown. The monastery was founded by the hieromonk Isaakiy (in the monastic schema — Ioann) in 1705; he built a wooden church for the hermits in honor of the Most Holy Mother of God "the Life-Giving Spring" and introduced the rule of the ancient Eastern ascetics. He soon laid the foundation of a second church, this one of stone, in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God. An underground monastery was constructed, with a labyrinth of caves, cells, and a chapel. Sarovskaya Pustyn was glorified by the names of the great ascetics and elders Nazariy, Dorofey, Illarion, Matfey, Aleksandr, Mark, and, finally, Serafim.

In November 1778, a young man from Kursk, Prokhor Moshnin, came to the Sarov monastery. In 1786 he was tonsured under the name Serafim. Repeating the feat of Simeon the Stylite, Father Serafim prayed standing on a rock for a thousand days and nights.

The healings he performed and the example of his strict ascetic life drew throngs of pilgrims to Sarov. Each of them he greeted with his famous words: "My joy!"

By the time of Serafim of Sarov's death in 1833, a magnificent monastic ensemble had taken shape in Sarov: an 80-meter bell tower, several churches, walls with towers, and numerous outbuildings. The Sarov Monastery was one of the wealthiest in Russia, successfully managing extensive forest lands, fields, and mills. In 1903, when Serafim of Sarov was canonized, the monastery was visited by the last Emperor of Russia, Nicholas II, together with his family. This was the height of the monastery's prosperity, which was soon followed by a swift decline.

In 1927 the monastery was dissolved, and its premises were taken over by a factory. A small settlement grew up around it. Sarov acquired special significance during the Great Patriotic War: a defense plant set up in the monastery buildings produced shells for the Katyusha rocket launcher. The presence of an industrial base, a location away from major transit routes combined with reasonable proximity to large scientific and industrial centers, and railway connections — these factors contributed to Sarov's selection in 1946 as the site for a scientific-production center tasked with creating Soviet nuclear weapons in the shortest possible time. From that moment, for nearly half a century, Sarov — renamed Kremlev — disappeared from maps and was not mentioned in the mass media.

Outstanding physicists and production organizers worked in Sarov, including three-time Heroes of Socialist Labor Yu. B. Khariton, A. A. Dukhov, Ya. B. Zeldovich, K. A. Shchelkin, A. D. Sakharov, I. V. Kurchatov, and Nobel Prize laureate I. E. Tamm. In 1949, the first Soviet atomic bomb — created here under the scientific supervision and chief design of Academician Yu. B. Khariton — was tested; four years later came the world's first hydrogen weapon. In 1954, the settlement of Sarov was granted city status.

At present, the Russian Federal Nuclear Center carries out tasks related to the development, storage, and disposal of nuclear weapons, and the processing of radioactive and other materials. Work is conducted in fundamental and applied physics, as well as in areas of benefit to Russia's national economy.

Sarov Humor

The prize for the best April Fools' joke in the Nizhny Novgorod print mass media was awarded to the newspaper Sarov, which on April 1, 2010 published the following article:

The editorial office of the newspaper Sarov has learned from a competent source that the Central Electoral Commission of Russia, in connection with numerous complaints and a number of circumstances that have come to light which make it impossible to determine the results of the voters' expression of will with any certainty, has declared the local government elections held on March 14, 2010 in the city of Sarov invalid. The head of the Central Electoral Commission, Vladimir Churov, whom our correspondent reached by telephone, declined to explain the decision, stating that the text of the document contains sufficiently complete information. The same source reported that, due to the inability of the Sarov Duma to exercise governmental authority over the territory of the closed administrative-territorial formation (ZATO) of Sarov, direct gubernatorial rule is being introduced in Sarov until the mandates of the newly elected city Duma deputies are recognized. The secretariat of Governor Shantsev officially declined to comment on the situation, but informally confirmed that the signing of documents on temporary gubernatorial rule over the territory of ZATO Sarov could take place as early as Thursday. Enormous changes await Sarov. Behind the reassuring declarations about the uniqueness of the Sarov ZATO, we failed to notice how wave after wave of Kremlin displeasure with the Sarov establishment — which had taken the bit between its teeth — kept building. The petty administrative pleasures of our officialdom are costing the country far too much. The two latest pieces of news are the ninth wave, ready to crash at any moment against Sarov's barbed-wire bastions — and those bastions will not hold. The year 2012 will be catastrophic for Sarov. According to our information, preliminary work on opening the city will begin as early as next year — for now only on paper, with assurances that it is being done just in case. But for those who understand, everything is already perfectly clear. Newspaper "Sarov", 1.04.2010

Musical group ARZAMAS-16 ("Arzamas-16")

ARZAMAS-16 lineup: Alexander "Alex" Repyov — vocals, synthesizers and samplers, arrangement, programming, ideology, concept, and general direction Dmitry Tikhomirov — bass Ruslan Ismailov — guitar Formed: 1997 It is rather difficult to define the musical direction or style in which ARZAMAS-16 plays. Our compositions contain elements of industrial, alternative, punk, pop, and rock music. We simply cannot bring ourselves to label this thermonuclear mixture with a single word. And it is not our business to classify and define — let someone else do that. We will simply create and perform Music. And time and listeners will judge how well we have succeeded. Given the impossibility of pinpointing any single date as the birthday of our group, we propose the following key dates and periods in the lives of the people who would go on to form the creative collective of ARZAMAS-16. One of the first meetings took place in the autumn of 1997 between Sergey Golubev and Alex Repyov at a concert. The former was responsible for drums in the band Gothic Castle, while the latter played in the original lineup of the band Elysium. It was one of the largest concerts organized by Nizhny Novgorod bands. After the concert they met on the staircase of the Sputnik cinema lobby and exchanged words for the first time. Having showered each other with compliments, they parted ways — and two years later they were both playing in Elysium: Alex as a recruit on guitar, and Sergey as drummer. After playing several concerts together, they left Elysium almost simultaneously. The first, consumed by industrial longing, took the advice of Dmitry Kuznetsov (bassist of Elysium) and joined Mekhanicheskiy Apelsin (Mechanical Orange); the second continued playing in Gothic Castle for a while and, after its final breakup, went off to drum in a band called Street Beat. This was the spring of 2000. Some time later, having immersed himself in the affairs of MA, Alex meets Dmitry Tikhomirov — musician, internet activist, man of science, participant in the development and promotion of alternative music in Nizhny Novgorod, who was at the time actively involved in the life of MA in particular. As a result of many conversations between Dmitry and Alex about music, musical creativity, and the meaning of life, Dmitry picks up a bass guitar for the first time, while Alex leaves MA (practically in the middle of mixing the first MA album, which was never released) in order to create a more promising musical collective, which would later be named ARZAMAS-16. After some time spent creating and preparing trial musical material, the first rehearsal took place in late spring 2001 with the following lineup: Alex Repyov — vocals and keyboard sequences, Dmitry Tikhomirov — bass, Sergey Golubev — drums, and Sergey Karpov as a guest guitarist. Having confirmed that the group was capable of playing live, the collective set about finding a permanent guitarist and rehearsal space, while in the process expanding their technical capabilities and accumulating musical material. Only several months later did the group meet their future guitarist — Ruslan Ismailov, a promising and talented eighteen-year-old musician — and finally find their musical expression in music built on the symbiosis of Ruslan's guitar parts and the musical experiments of Alex and Dmitry. The collective then settled on its name — ARZAMAS-16 — and took part in a Russian tribute compilation dedicated to the legendary American collective of Martin Atkins, the band PIGFACE, which was subsequently released on INVISIBLE Rec. USA, the label belonging to M. Atkins. In the autumn of 2001 the group launched a trial balloon in the form of their first demo and the website www.a16.nm.ru (now arzamas-16.nnov.ru). From April 2002 onwards, ARZAMAS-16 found a permanent rehearsal space, enabling the collective to begin performing live. With the assistance of D. Kuznetsov, ARZAMAS-16 took part in a series of concerts by the band Elysium. The biography of ARZAMAS-16 does not end here, nor does the creative activity of the collective. official website

How Sarov Was Never Renamed Pogrebinsk

"…Sarov is your brainchild, and our shared wish is to grow Sarov into the city of POGREBINSK"

Seventy years ago, on July 4, 1938, Yuly Moiseyevich Kaganovich, secretary of the Gorky Regional Committee of the VKP(b), delivered a report at the 6th Regional Party Conference. I will quote an excerpt from his report:

"In our region and in our regional party organization, over a number of years, a Right-Trotskyite, spy-terrorist-saboteur-wrecking underground operated, headed by Pramnek, Pakhomov, Stolyar, Pogrebinsky, Burov, Zashibayev, and others.

…In Diveevsky District a Right-Trotskyite wrecking organization was exposed, headed by the former district committee secretary Steshov and the former chairman of the district executive committee Dudarev. Their activity was directed primarily at provoking discontent and irritation among the masses. Moreover, they went so far as to engage in outright terror against local workers. They organized the murder of one collective farmer — Kudakov — who had attempted to expose them.

…The Diveevo organization was linked to Pogrebinsky and Roslyakov. Luchinin states in his testimony that he attended a meeting at Pogrebinsky's. Those present were: Luchinin, Sukhov, Steshov, and Kaganovich (Pervomaysky District).

I must say that this Kaganovich is merely a namesake. If on my wife's side of the family there are people who have been repressed, on the Kaganovich side no one has been arrested.

And so he states that they were all present there.

Who else was there? Shelukhin. Who is this Shelukhin? A criminal sentenced to death, whom Pogrebinsky elevated to the rank of militia sergeant.

It turns out that Pogrebinsky was engaged in training insurgent-terrorist cadres and organized from criminals a group (some 120 people) for combat work in case it should be needed. He also made use of criminals from the Sarov colony.

And so you see that the "district committee secretaries" Luchinin and the criminal Shelukhin are all acting together under Pogrebinsky's leadership.

All of this, comrades, vividly and convincingly demonstrates how all these counter-revolutionary, spy forces, criminals, and dregs of human society became intertwined into a single ball and represented, as Comrade Stalin says, a reckless, unprincipled gang of wreckers, saboteurs, and spies, acting on the instructions of foreign intelligence services."

As we can see, Pogrebinsky's name is mentioned in the report repeatedly. What is known about him?

Pogrebinsky, Matvey (Motya) Samuilovich (1895–1937) — commissar of the 3rd rank, organizer of OGPU labor communes, author of the book The OGPU Labor Commune (1928). Accompanying Gorky on a trip to the Solovki islands, he selected young people from among the criminals there, who were then transferred to the Bolshevo OGPU commune (see Gorky's essay "Solovki," vol. 20, pp. 211–213). Before his transfer to Gorky in 1932, he had served as head of the NKVD Directorate of Bashkiria. While serving as head of the NKVD Directorate of Gorky Krai, on April 4, 1937, he took his own life in his office. Before his death he wrote a letter to Stalin. "He was too hasty!" said Stalin. "He would have told us much more…" Maxim Gorky, for his part, was fond of Pogrebinsky and jokingly called him "Motya the Militia Man."

Such is the way fate plays with a person: today a city is named after you, tomorrow you are trampled underfoot. True, the city of Pogrebinsk never appeared on any map. And yet there were those who wanted it to… In the Saransk archive there is preserved the following collective address to Pogrebinsky:

"Dear Matvey Samuilovich! It is a great pity that you cannot attend our celebration. However, we know that our growth, our achievements, and every victory we win in daily life and in production are the fruits of your fatherly care for us. Sarov is your brainchild, and our shared wish is to grow Sarov into the city of POGREBINSK.

In wishing to give Sarov your name, we know that in doing so we are taking upon ourselves many obligations. But we are on the right path, and difficulties do not frighten us. We will achieve what we set out to achieve, so that every Sarov resident will be worthy of your name. The right to say this is given to us by our today. Our today is the struggle for qualifications and knowledge. None of us is afraid anymore to raise our hand when a violator of discipline must be punished.

Sarov is your new victory in the cause of re-educating mankind, and we swear to you: we will build it into the city of POGREBINSK. Such is our shared wish.

With greetings: the general assembly of the Labor Colony. September 6, 1936, the settlement of Sarov." <..> (newspaper "Sarov", August 12, 2008, "Motya the Militia Man")

See also

• Tsar Bomba

• Sarov Experimental Submarine

Sarov websites

• The City of Sairov, official city website — Sarov.nnov.ru (archive)

• "Sarov.Net — Portal of the City of Sarov (Arzamas-16)" (archive)

• SarovSvyazInform, city internet provider — Sarov.ru (archive)