Soldatskaya Sloboda is a historic district in Upper Part, which took shape in the 18th–19th centuries near Sennaya Square, at the beginning of the Kazan Trakt. It served as one of the main areas of compact settlement for Tatars.
Origin and Settlement
The sloboda arose as a settlement of retired soldiers — Tatars who had completed their conscript service. As early as the reign of Peter I, the service Tatars as a social estate had been abolished and converted into state peasants subject to the military draft on the same footing as other subjects. Veterans who had served for decades and lost their ties to their home regions frequently remained in large cities. In Nizhny Novgorod they settled on the outskirts — where the Kazan Trakt began, the traditional road used by Volga Region coming into the city.[1]
An additional impetus to the sloboda's development was provided by the relocation in 1828 of the hay market Blagoveshchenskaya Square (now Minin and Pozharsky Square) to this outskirt. The hay trade and carting became important sources of income for the local Tatars, and the Tatar population of the district grew steadily.[1] The location near Sennaya Square was also linked to the growth of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair: Tatars were traditionally renowned for their skill with horses and readily took up the carting trade.[2]
Toponymy and Development
As the sloboda expanded, Novosoldatskaya Street took shape within it, while the original part came to be known as the Old Soldiers' Settlement (Starosoldatskaya sloboda). The brothers Fattykh and Miftyakh Badamshin — one of the wealthiest Tatar families in the district — lived at Soldatskaya Embankment, 9; the family owned land, a two-story house, and a horse-breeding yard, and was engaged in freight haulage.[2]
By 1897, according to the All-Russian Census, the number of Nizhny Novgorod Tatars stood at 122 — even as the majority of the region's Tatars continued to live in Nizhny Novgorod Province and numbered more than 40,000.[1]
Religious Life and the Construction of the Mosque
During the fair season, Nizhny Novgorod's Muslims could perform religious observances at the Fair Mosque, located in the lower part of the city. However, by the early 20th century its building had fallen into serious disrepair, and the mosque itself operated only seasonally. The growth of the Muslim community in the Starosoldatskaya sloboda, combined with the remoteness of the Fair Mosque, gave impetus to the idea of building a permanent place of worship in the Upper Town.[1]
In 1908 the Muslim community of the Starosoldatskaya sloboda formed a committee to construct a Mohammedan mosque, with Miftyakh Badamshin as an active member. That same year, Dombrovsky P. A. received the commission for the design. In August 1909 Badamshin submitted a petition to the Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Administration, and in 1910 permission was granted. On 20 March 1915, Cathedral Mosque (the Hilltop Mosque) was opened — it became the city's second mosque after the Fair Mosque.[1][2] During the Soviet era the building was used as a kindergarten and an ambulance station; the mosque resumed operations in 1991 and functions as the spiritual center of Nizhny Novgorod Region.[2]
Sources
- bigenc.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Cathedral Mosque — Great Russian Encyclopedia
- tatar-congress.org — The Nizhny Novgorod Cathedral Mosque — 103 Years since Its Opening — World Congress…