Varnavino is an urban-type settlement in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, the administrative center of Varnavinskiy District. The settlement is located 165 km north of Nizhny Novgorod, on the bank of the Vetluga River.
History
Varnavino is one of the earliest Russian settlements in the Middle Vetluga Region. Its history began in 1417, when the venerable Barnabas — a former Christian priest from the city of Veliky Ustyug — settled on Krasnaya Gora (Red Hill) by the Vetluga River. The venerable Barnabas spent 28 years in this remote land, inhabited by the Mari people, embodying the ideal of a holy and perfect hermit.
From 1464, the history of Varnavino proper begins with the Trinity-Varnavin Hermitage. After the death of the holy ascetic, many monks and peasant farmers came to settle at the place of his deeds. On Krasnaya Gora the monks built two churches: one dedicated to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker and another in honor of the Holy Trinity. This was the foundation of the Trinity-Varnavin Male Monastery.
In 1764, the monastic period in the history of the Varnavin land came to an end. Having fallen into the category of the country's lesser monasteries, it was closed by decree of Catherine II, and the adjoining sloboda (settlement) became the village of Varnavina Pustyn. In 1778, the monastic sloboda was transformed into the town of Varnavin, a district town of Kostroma Governorate. At that time the town had 11 households and 50 residents. By the mid-19th century Varnavin already counted 786 inhabitants, the majority of whom were engaged in grain farming.
Only a few were involved in shipbuilding and the manufacture of wooden goods, which were then sent to the Volga wharves. Trade was well developed in the town: markets were held every Wednesday. Three fairs were held annually — the Christmas, Trinity, and Mikhaylov fairs — at which goods worth tens of thousands of rubles were traded.
After the abolition of serfdom, Varnavinskiy District began to develop actively. Comparatively large enterprises appeared: a wood-pulp cardboard factory, a glassworks, and a sawmill. Prosperous peasants owned mills, oil presses, and other businesses.
In the early 20th century the district town of Varnavin, with a population of 1,500, had the full complement of district and municipal authorities. Between 1902 and 1904 the district zemstvo (local council) built schools, hospitals, and medical aid posts, and opened a boys' school and a girls' gymnasium.
On 25 January 1918 Soviet Power was established in Varnavinskiy District, and from 1922 the district became part of Nizhny Novgorod Region. Since then it was dissolved three times and incorporated into Krasnobakovskiy District. In 1965 Varnavinskiy District became an independent administrative unit of Gorky Region.
Some Facts about Varnavino
The day of the holy ascetic's death — 24 June, when the venerable Barnabas of Vetluga is commemorated by the Orthodox Church — is still celebrated in Varnavino as the Settlement Day: the Varnavino Godina (annual festival) is one of the most important events in the life of the district.
Varnavino has preserved to this day the architectural character of a former district merchant town, where old and new coexist in harmony. In spring and summer the settlement's streets are awash with greenery.
A distinctive appearance is lent to Varnavinskiy District by the picturesque banks of the Vetluga River — a left tributary of the Volga. Numerous legends and folk tales have drawn many writers and poets to the Vetluga. It was on Varnavin soil that Nikolay Rubtsov heard a beautiful legend and created his forest fairy tale "The Brigand Lyalya."
The Vetluga River is one of the most beautiful rivers in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. It has long attracted tourists, fishing enthusiasts, and outdoor recreation lovers. Every year the regional amateur fishing festival "Vetluga Dawns" is held on the territory of Varnavinskiy District; water tourism routes along the Vetluga have been developed, and clean river beaches await visitors.
The district has no large industrial enterprises or other major sources of environmental pollution. In 2005 Varnavinskiy District was recognized as the winner of the All-Russian competition "Ecologically Clean District (Territory)."
The district is pleased to offer its guests jewelry from Varko LLC (Varnavino carved bone), as well as metal, clay, and wicker goods from the craftspeople of the Lapshangsky House of Crafts.
Varnavino is the administrative and cultural center of the Association of Districts of the Vetluga River Basin "Povetluzhye," which unites 22 districts across five constituent entities of the Russian Federation: Nizhny Novgorod, Kostroma, Kirov, and Vologda Regions, and the Republic of Mari El. The Chairman of the Association is S. A. Smirnov, head of the local government of Varnavinskiy District.
Heroes of the Settlement
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Today, Dasha Purgina, a sixth-grade pupil at Varnavino Secondary School, received the medal "For Valor in a Fire" from Igor Zolin, deputy head of the Main Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations for Nizhny Novgorod Region, at a ceremonial assembly marking 1 September.
At the end of March this year, Dasha saved her younger brother and sister from a fire. The blaze broke out in a residential building on Svoboda Street in the settlement of Varnavino. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, one of the apartments was home to a family with three children. However, when firefighters arrived on the scene, no children were found inside. As it turned out, they had been led out of the apartment by eleven-year-old Dasha. The girl later recounted that her parents were not at home when the fire started, and the children had been watching television. Suddenly a crackling sound rang out — the neighboring apartment was on fire, and the way to the exit was cut off by flames. Dasha then removed the insulation from the window frame, climbed out through the window, then retrieved her seven-month-old sister Sonya and helped her nine-year-old brother Pasha to escape. The children ran to their aunt, who lives in the same settlement.Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 1 September 2009
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