Welcome to "Gorodets"

Gorodets — according to the chronicles, the oldest city in the Nizhny Novgorod Region; the Gorodetsky District.

History

Gorodets is among the most ancient Russian cities. It was founded in 1152 by Prince Yury Dolgoruky. The town was built as a military base and fortress on the steep, precipitous left bank of the Volga River, approximately 50 kilometers upstream from the Oka's confluence with it. Like most ancient Russian towns, Gorodets consisted of two parts: the detinets (kremlin) and the artisans' posad (settlement), each protected by two lines of fortifications. In February 1238, during the Mongol-Tatar invasion, Gorodets was burned to the ground and its inhabitants were almost entirely wiped out by the Mongol-Tatar conquerors. After this, the political significance of Gorodets began to decline during the 13th and 14th centuries. As Nizhny Novgorod grew, its military importance diminished as well.

In 1408, Gorodets was burned to the ground by the Tatar khan Edigey, who was marching on Moscow from Kazan. The destruction was so complete that Gorodets was unable to recover and lay in ruin for nearly 150 years. In time, a selo (a larger village) named Gorodets grew up on that site, giving rise to the modern city.

Before the October Revolution, the selo of Gorodets was a major trading center — a merchant village with 10 churches, one cathedral, the Fyodorovsky Monastery (the wealthiest "landowner" on Gorodets soil), 12 prayer houses, and 29 taverns. The Gorodets merchants — grain traders — owned their own steamships and barges, on which they brought vast quantities of grain from the lower Volga and Kama rivers to Gorodets.

The working population, due to the shortage of farmland, engaged in a wide variety of cottage industries and seasonal trades. Gorodets was a significant center of wooden shipbuilding and woodworking crafts. Also well developed were pottery and goldwork embroidery, spinning, weaving, the making of painted wooden and clay toys, embroidery, and lacemaking. Gingerbread molds were carved here with great skill, and these were used to stamp the famous Gorodets gingerbread. A special place among the crafts of the Gorodets land was occupied — and still is — by decorative wood carving and ornamental painting, which have become a true folk art. By the end of the 19th century, Gorodets was still classified as a selo and was part of Balakhna Uyezd. It was a populous settlement: according to the 1897 census, 6,330 people lived there.

From 1922, Gorodets became a district-level city of Nizhny Novgorod Governorate. During the years of socialist construction, the ancient town was transformed into an inter-district industrial center with numerous enterprises. Industry is represented by a ship-repair and mechanical plant specializing in the manufacture of marine machinery and spare parts for the repair of ship engines, with small-batch production and ship repair; and by the Gorodets Shipyard, founded as far back as 1918, which — in addition to barges, floating landing stages, and guard vessels — began producing reinforced-concrete pontoons and floating fish-processing bases.

Sights of Gorodets

  • City of Masters — the center of folk crafts in Gorodets
  • Samovar Museum — the museum's exhibition is housed in the 19th-century Grishaev estate and comprises 409 samovars.
  • Gorodets Local History Museum — the museum holds a vast collection of material on the history of folk crafts of the Gorodets land: blind house carving, painted spinning-wheel bases, goldwork embroidery, and gingerbread molds. The museum is also enriched by works of contemporary masters of decorative and applied arts (Gorodets painting and wood carving, embroidery, and the clay Zhbannikovo whistle toy). The collection of archaeological finds from excavations of medieval Gorodets is of particular interest, containing not only objects typical of a medieval town but also unique discoveries.
  • Children's Museum on Kupecheskaya — the exhibition consists of all manner of toys.
  • House of Countess Panina — the art department of the local history museum.
  • Architecture of Gorodets — entire city blocks with merchant stone mansions and wooden houses adorned with carved ornament have been preserved. Among the most beautiful streets are Naberezhnaya Revolyutsii, Kupecheskaya, and Rubleva.
  • Holy Spring "Nikola-Klyuch" — located 28 km to the northeast of Gorodets near the village of Beloglazovo (on the road to Kovernino). According to tradition, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker appeared at this spot. A log chapel with a bathing pool has been built at the spring.
  • Gorodets Rampart — an earthen rampart raised in the 13th century has been preserved, stretching 2,100 meters in length and standing between 5 and 7.5 meters high.
  • Church of the Archangel Michael — a church with a tent-roofed bell tower dating from 1707–1712, the oldest surviving church in Gorodets.


Websites about Gorodets

Travel reviews of Gorodets

Readers' opinions

Why is "Gorodets painting" not mentioned (does it even survive)?

"I like Gorodets — a great deal has been done to make the city look beautiful, dignified, and attractive. But when I see phrases like this in an article, it makes me cringe; the authors give readers reason to think poorly of both them and the city. I quote: "Industry is represented by... the Gorodets Shipyard, founded as far back as 1918, which — in addition to barges, floating landing stages, and guard vessels — began producing reinforced-concrete pontoons and floating fish-processing bases." Yes, the Shipyard exists, but all of that belongs to its Soviet past — nowadays it has produced ab-so-lute-ly nothing for a long time. It exists only on paper, because the owners from the 1990s left a mountain of debt and the enterprise itself cannot be declared bankrupt — it's classified as a defense facility... It would honestly be better to say nothing at all! By the same logic, why is there no mention of "Gorodets painting" (does it even survive?), of the drawn-thread embroidery company "Tatyana," and so on? These are enterprises unique in their own right! One gets the impression that the article was written by someone who is not from Gorodets, or who left a long time ago......"

See also