Equestrian Militia (police) on Minin Street

Historic Center, Historic District, "Old Nizhny" – the main tourist attraction in Nizhny Novgorod, corresponds to the concept of “old town” as used in many historic cities around the world. Tour guides use the more neutral term “historic district” to distinguish it from “Forerunner of Nizhny Novgorod" - according to Urban Legends, a small settlement Founding of Nizhny Novgorod, which was demolished at the founding of Nizhny Novgorod.

Today, the area has been officially designated as the Historic Center of Nizhny Novgorod Upper Town covering an area of approximately 255 hectares, bounded by Kremlin, Verkhne-Volzhskaya Embankment and Nizhne-Volzhskaya Embankment, Slope, areas Lyadov Square, Freedom Square and Sennaya Square.

This is where the residences are concentrated Mayor, Governor and Members of Parliament, live in the most compact conditions Authority and Peoples of Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod residents.

It is located at the northeastern edge of Gorod.

This area should not be confused with the wealthy district of Historic Buildings near Arrow and for Oka River - former territory Nizhny Novgorod Yarmarka and Canavino.

The most important streets in the Historic Center:

The Historic Center is characterized by a mixed-use development consisting of standardized buildings concrete fortresses, with sewer pipes hanging down the facade, and half-rotten wooden huts.

Background

It is believed that Yuri Vsevolodovich founded Nizhny Novgorod on the hills known as Dyatlov Hills...nevertheless, they remain uninhabited to this day.

In 1221, the entire city of Nizhny Novgorod (Nov Grad Nizhny) was contained within the walls of a wooden fortress, which by the 16th century had been replaced by a stone fortress— Kremlin. At present, only a small portion of the local Rukovodstvo can be accommodated in the Kremlin.

Over the course of several centuries, the fortified residence of the prince and the ecclesiastical hierarchy became surrounded by suburbs—settlements that supplied Authority provisions and fodder, as well as additional fortifications to protect these outposts from attacks by the Troglodytes—a city defensive rampart, the remains of which can be seen in the area of present-day Nizhegorodskaya State Conservatory.

Gradually, the city's expansion was halted by the transit prison (now Freedom Square), the "German" cemetery (Kulibina Park), a special market for purchasing hay from local landowners – "Sennaya Square", the town checkpoint before the road to Arzamas (Lyadov Square).

By the 19th century, on a wooded hill at the confluence Oka River and the Volga (especially Volga River(along which there was active trade in textiles and spices between the Arab East and the Russian Empire), the majority of the province’s government offices, merchants’ mansions, business offices, workshops, and aristocratic salons were concentrated. Metallurgical operations were relocated to the Kunavino and Sormovo settlements, while major commercial centers were moved to Nizhny Novgorod Yarmarka.


Current Status

During the Soviet era, there were rumors among city residents that the authorities were “under-delivering” to please the workers Intellectualism" a neighborhood near the Kremlin.

And indeed, if you drive from Minin Square in Zarechka...where the main factories are located and most of the population that has been relocated from rural areas now lives—that is exactly where you will find yourself Lenin Monument, stylized as a carefree, successful worker. The triangular figure of a hero in a fluttering, fashionable coat—"Schwarzenegger in his old age," as they’ve nicknamed him here—points toward the Auto Plant with a sweeping gesture. The future lies over there. And all the old streets and little houses—that’s the past. Look and be envious: our working class has spacious streets, tall buildings, and better-stocked stores.

However, this focus by urban planners on the needs of the proletariat during the late Soviet period—the 1970s and 1980s—was largely a consequence of the economic situation in the USSR rather than romantic theories. In City of Gorky The plan to commission new housing was constantly “on the back burner,” and it was risky for those in charge to deal with the relocation of residents from the wooden housing stock, which had begun to reach a state of dilapidation evident to all during those very years. It was easier to design a new prefabricated housing development on a clean, flat, table-like vacant lot than to renovate anything in the old Gorod. On the one hand, it was cheaper; on the other hand, the total square footage delivered would be greater.

Alternative Historic Centers

In the Gorod’s distinct neighborhoods, spread out over considerable distances and characterized by a unique worldview and way of life shaped by the industries that dominate each area— Avtozavodsky District and Sormovo District — “autonomous centers” have emerged, and under their influence, local residents often ignore the existence of regional cultural facilities, satisfying their cultural needs exclusively within their own district.

Historically, three such local centers have emerged in Nizhny Novgorod: “City" (the name of the neighborhood around Kremlin) and Pokrovka, Sormovo Center and Auto Plant House of Culture (DK). Residents of the intermediate areas, depending on their abilities and interests, tend to gravitate toward one of them during the holidays. A certain overlap occurs only in the area of Revolution Square and the adjacent city train station, known as Moscow Railway Station". This is where you'll find the best location in Gorod for your business, that specialize in meeting the basic needs of the masses.

Famous movies filmed in the Historic Center of Nizhnego Novgoroda (in City of Gorky)

  • The War Drama "Ekaterina Voronina"
  • The final film in the "Resident" trilogy, "The End of Operation 'Resident'" (shown at the "Melodiya" store near Five Corners Square (as a place to get high)

Interesting Facts

  • There are foxes in the Historic Center of Nizhnego Novgoroda.

See also

Links