Shakhunskiy District borders the Vetluzhskiy, Tonshaevskiy, Tonkinskiy, and Urenskiy Districts of Nizhny Novgorod Region, as well as Kirov and Kostroma Regions.
History of the District
Shakhunskiy District was formed in 1926 from three volosts through the merger of the Khmelevitskaya, Bolsheshirokovskaya, and Chernovskaya volosts. Due to an insufficient supply of housing and administrative facilities in the workers' settlement at Shakhunya station, the village of Khmelevitsy served as the district center until 1930. The emergence and growth of today's administrative center — the town of Shakhunya — is linked to the construction of the Nizhny Novgorod–Kirov railway line.
The small village of Shakhunya took its name from the Shakhunka stream, which flows into the Shara River at its very headwaters. The location of Shakhunya station was determined by its position between two small streams, the Chernaya and the Samarikha, which the railway crossed perpendicularly. The terrain was flat, low-lying, and waterlogged in places. Construction of the railway began in 1913, simultaneously from the direction of Nizhny Novgorod and from Kotelnych.
With the outbreak of World War I, construction of the railway halted and resumed only after the October Revolution in 1918. The railway project was declared a priority construction effort, and progress was most rapid from the Nizhny Novgorod end.
In 1927 a railway station building was constructed; it was rebuilt in 1998.
Between 1938 and 1943 the population of Shakhunya grew by five thousand people, reaching 18,500 by the start of 1943.
On 27 October 1943, by a resolution of the Gorky Regional Executive Committee, the workers' settlement of Shakhunya was elevated to the status of a town.
Points of Interest
Shakhunskiy District should not be thought of as notable only for the present day. A road once passed through its territory from Vetluga through Tonshaevo toward Yaransk. Local traditions connect this road with the Russian army's Kazan campaign of the 16th century. On the Vaya River there is a village called Bolshaya Pristan. According to a legend still circulating among local old-timers, it was here that the forces of Ivan the Terrible crossed the river during the march on Kazan. During the crossing, a small barrel of gold fell from one of the rafts and could not be retrieved.
The turbulent events of the "rebellious" 17th century also left their mark on the Shakhunya lands. Near the village of Verkhovskoye lies Solovetskoye Lake. Its shores were once home to bandits who robbed merchant convoys returning from beyond the Vetluga. Large quantities of plundered goods are said to be buried along the lake's banks. Not far from the settlement of Syava, beyond the village of Pryalka, there is a place known as Senina Ramen. A chieftain named Senya once lived here, hiding stolen treasure in Lake Krugloye. It is said that one lucky soul managed to dig up a cauldron full of gold coins.
Industry
Rail transport is the budget-forming sector of material production in Shakhunskiy District. The majority of Shakhunya's residents work at enterprises such as the carriage depot, the locomotive depot, the track maintenance section, and the signaling and communications section.
The economic base of Shakhunskiy District also rests on industry oriented toward the production of consumer goods, with a wide range of products — from whole-milk products and sausage goods to building materials.
A particular source of pride for Shakhunskiy District is "Tkanyye Uzory" ("Woven Patterns"), Russia's only hand-weaving mill, where ancient textile-making techniques and traditional folk artistic traditions of pattern weaving have been preserved.