Nizhny Novgorod – The City I Live In

I do like to travel, for pleasure, on business or studies, but I always look forward to coming back home, to Nizhny Novgorod. Due to the specifics of my work I often go to Moscow, where the head office of my company is situated. The best return train (you can choose among three evening and several day trains) leaves the capital at 22.08 p.m. and arrives in Niznhny Novgorod (or simply Nizhny as its residents say) at about 6 a.m. And every time the train stops and the passengers get off, a welcoming song performed by a man more than fifty years ago starts on the railroad terminal radio. It is a song of a man who has returned to his native place, the city on two rivers, the city he loves – Nizhny Novgorod.

This city, which was known as Gorky from 1932 to 1990, has gone back to its pre-revolutionary name. It was a closed city for the past 45 years; it was also known to Westerners as the city to which Andrey Sakharov was exiled. It is to some extend a typical Russian provincial town. With population of 1.5 million people and total area more than 200 square kilometers.

It surely has the Kremlin – people had to protect themselves from belligerent nomads (the Kremlin endured five sieges in its medieval history but was never subdued). The first wooden fortress was built here in 1221 (the official foundation date). The walls that people see today date as far back as 1500 - 1511. During the XVI century the Kremlin endured 4 sieges. Originally the Kremlin wall was about 1,5 miles long, just some 200 yards less than that of the Moscow Kremlin. Eleven of the original thirteen towers have survived. But if you ask any of common residents to name at least 3 towers – none will be a success. Why? Memorials and museums are for tourists, let them go deep into historical detail.

The convenient location of the Nizhny Novgorod (the name being analyzed in parts would mean “lower new town”) on the confluence of two great rivers (the Volga and the Oka) predetermined its main tasks: protection against invasions (the Kremlin being the fortress) and development of trade. Second task became especially obvious in 1817, when the celebrated trade fair in Makaryev was transfered to Nizhny. At that time Nizhny Novgorod became a city of international importance. The merchants from Russia and many European and Asian countries gathered in our city in order to trade and to engage in profitable enterprises. The fair influenced the reconstruction of the city, in which a large complex of fair buildings appeared.

Today it is mainly the place where Russian and international forums and exhibitions are held. In between them the pavilions are rented by furniture, automobile and clothes stores. I loved this place when I was a child – a large store for children was situated in the main building and at the end of August my mother would take me there to buy new school uniform, girl stuff like hair-pin, knick-knackery etc. And you could find there various types of toys – from dolls to kids mosaic, badminton and sledge – which in USSR with its everlasting shortage of goods was a nice exception. Today you can choose among cheap and expensive clothes and toys and other goods, but none of them are as precious as those from childhood.

Any resident of the city knows that people of Nizhni Novgorod played a significant role in the fate and history of Russia when they headed the patriotic movement in "The Times of Troubles" (1603-1613). Kuzma Minin and Dmitri Pozharski, citizens of Nizhni Novgorod, and their people's army crushed the Polish invaders and saved Russia. In memory of that event the Archangel Cathedral and granite obelisk were built in the Kremlin. The memorial to Kuzma Minin is placed in the main square of the city (guess its name? right, Minin Square). The square is really beautiful: it opens to the Volga river by a long wide staircase in the eight-figure form. Beginning from May, you can see three-, four-, and five-decker ships sailing up and down the river, numerous boats and hydrofoils. To the right the Kremlin is situated and to the left a renovated, spacious embankment several hundred meters long starts. Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street, casually named Pokrovka, connects Minin Square with Gorky Square and crosses the historical center. Bolshaia Polrovskaya is the major pedestrian street, a favorite place for strolling and shopping. It takes approximately half an hour to cover the distance from the Kremlin to Gorky Square, if you do not stop for shopping. Today, the street is remarkable for its architecture. Most buildings date back to the nineteenth or the very beginning of the twentieth century. Minin Square is a square of universities: the Pedagogical University, the Medical Academy, in two bus stops the Linguistic University and the Polytechnic University; there are also the State University (local MGU, so to say), the University of Naval Architecture, Commercial Institute and Architectural University; some branches of Moscow Universities and dozens of colleges and technical secondary schools.

I work for the company that provides farmers with equipment like tractors, combides, seeders, etc and we surely have warranty and service department; you won’t find a single guy among them without higher education, half of them do post-graduate studies. Looks like Nizhny is a city of educated people. Heh, try this thesis on a holiday like May 9 or City Day in the down part of the city (you’d better not). It’s like in any city of the world: there are districts that are wealthier and more prestigious than the others. Nizhny is no exception: there are districts on the hill, the upper (“upland”) part, and the lower, industrial part (the same size flat costs up the hill half the price more than over the river). The industrial period began in the city in the second half of the ninteenth century: the Sormovo plant, founded in 1849, played a leading role in shipbuilding and machine manufacture. More than 10,000 people worked there producing riverboats and railroad cars. In 1862 Nizhny was connected with Moscow by railroad, and in 1898 the Sormovo plant produced its first locomotive. In the 1930-s the largest automobile plant in USSR started functioning in the industrial part of Nizhny Novgorod.

Today lower part is considered as more dangerous and less desired to live in part of the city. If a girl “all-so-high-and-mighty” doesn’t like the image or behaviour of a guy, she would most certainly stamp him as “avtozavod” (one of lower districts). It is not correct to treat all residents of lower part alike, but I personally prefer to live up the hill. A matter of convenience (the centre always offers more than periphery) and custom. Nizhny (third largest Russian city some time ago) is not as wealthy as Moscow and not as picturesque as Saint-Petersburg. It is not as clean as Samara and not as unique as Kaliningrad. But it is very hospitable and homely, my family and friends live here, that is why I always wait for the welcoming song on the railway station with smile and comfort.