Ndtyjky

Gorodets Городец
Town[1]
Crafts Quarter
Coat of arms
Location of Gorodets
Gorodets Location of Gorodets Show map of Russia Gorodets Gorodets (Nizhny Novgorod Oblast) Show map of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
Coordinates: 56°39′N 43°29′E / 56.650°N 43.483°E / 56.650; 43.483Coordinates: 56°39′N 43°29′E / 56.650°N 43.483°E / 56.650; 43.483
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Nizhny Novgorod Oblast[1]
Administrative district	Gorodetsky District[1]
Town of district significance	Gorodets[1]
Founded	1152
Town status since	1922
Elevation	90 m (300 ft)
Population (2010 Census)[2]
• Total	30,658
• Estimate  (2018)[3]	30,188 (-1.5%)
Administrative status
• Capital of	Gorodetsky District[1], town of district significance of Gorodets[1]
Municipal status
• Municipal district	Gorodetsky Municipal District[4]
• Urban settlement	Gorodets Urban Settlement[4]
• Capital of	Gorodetsky Municipal District[4], Gorodets Urban Settlement[4]
Time zone	UTC+3 (MSK [5])
Postal code(s)[6]	606500–606505, 606508, 606509
OKTMO ID	22628101001

Gorodets (Russian: Городе́ц) is a town and the administrative center of Gorodetsky District in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Volga River, 53 kilometers (33 mi) northwest of Nizhny Novgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 30,658 (2010 Census);^[2]32,442 (2002 Census);^[7]34,210 (1989 Census);^[8] 34,000 (1970).

History

The town was founded in 1152 by Prince Yury Dolgoruky (also the founder of Moscow) as a large fortress on the Volga River, the first Russian fortress in today's Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.^{[citation needed]} It was a starting point for numerous campaigns of the princes of Vladimir and Suzdal against Volga Bulgaria. In 1216, Yury II of Vladimir was dethroned by his brother and exiled here. In 1239, the town was burned to the ground by Batu Khan's army. Folk tradition identifies Gorodets with Little Kitezh, a legendary town destroyed by the Mongols.

In 1263, Alexander Nevsky died in Gorodets on his way back to Novgorod from the Golden Horde. His son, Andrey, made the town his chief residence. A famous medieval icon-painter, Prokhor, was born there. In the mid-14th century, the town was overshadowed by the neighboring Nizhny Novgorod but continued as the third largest town of Nizhny Novgorod Principality until 1408, when Edigu razed it to the ground.

For two following centuries the town was known as Gorodets Pustoy (i. e., "Gorodets the Empty"). Some chronicles state that its entire population moved slightly downstream and resettled at Salt-on-Gorodets (today's Balakhna). By the 19th century, Gorodets was revived as a prosperous village settled by Old Believer merchants and reputed for its decorative handicrafts, such as wood carving and painting. In 1875, the Nizhny Novgorod writer A. S. Gatsisky described Gorodets as a major center of trade in grain and wooden kitchenware.^[9]

In 1922, Gorodets becomes a town again, as well the administrative center of Gorodetsky Uyezd (later, Gorodetsky District).^{[citation needed]} Between 1948 and 1959, the dam of Gorky Hydroelectric Station (now Nizhny Novgorod Hydroelectric Station) was built a few kilometers upstream from Gorodets, and along with the station a new industrial town, Zavolzhye, was built on the right side of the Volga.

In the past, the town was also sometimes referred to as Gorodets-Radilov (Городе́ц-Ради́лов), or simply Radilov.^{[citation needed]}

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Gorodets serves as the administrative centre of Gorodetsky District.^[1] As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Gorodetsky District as the town of district significance of Gorodets.^[1] As a municipal division, the town of district significance of Gorodets is incorporated within Gorodetsky Municipal District as Gorodets Urban Settlement.^[4]

Architecture and culture

The chief historic monuments of Gorodets—the Trinity Cathedral (1644), St. Nicholas Church (1672), and Feodorovsky Monastery, associated with the famous icon of the same name—were destroyed by the Communists^{[citation needed]}. The oldest surviving structure is a rather plain church (1707–1712), built over the site of an earlier church where the town's best known ruler, Andrey of Gorodets, was interred in 1304^{[citation needed]}.

There are several museums in the town, including the Gingerbread Museum and the Samovar Museum, the latter housing a large collection of tea kettles^{[citation needed]}.

Economy

Besides sharing the Nizhny Novgorod Hydroelectric Station with Zavolzhye, Gorodets has a shipbuilding industry. Traditional local crafts—woodworking, embroidery, honey bread baking—are still pursued in Gorodets, but in a more industrial way, at several local factories, whose products are available at souvenir shops all over the country.

Transportation

The electric railroad branch from Nizhny Novgorod ends in Zavolzhye; but there is a road connection over the hydro dam, which provides the only fixed crossing across the Volga between Nizhny Novgorod and Kineshma.

References

Notes

Sources

• 
  Государственно-правовой департамент Нижегородской области. Приказ №3-од от 27 января 2016 г. «Об утверждении реестра административно-территориальных образований, городских и сельских населённых пунктов Нижегородской области». Опубликован: "Нижегородская правда", №27(26048) (начало) и №30 (26051) (окончание), 19 и 26 марта 2016 г. (State Legal Department of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. Order #3-od of January 27, 2016 On the Adoption of the Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Formations, Urban and Rural Localities of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. ).


• 
  Законодательное Собрание Нижегородской области. Закон №114-З от 18 августа 2005 г. «Об утверждении границ, состава территории Городецкого муниципального района, границ и состава территорий муниципальных образований, входящих в состав Городецкого муниципального района», в ред. Закона №16-З от 7 февраля 2011 г. «О внесении изменений в отдельные Законы Нижегородской области». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Нижегородские новости", №165(3337), 3 сентября 2005 г. (Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. Law #114-Z of August 18, 2005 On Establishing the Borders and the Composition of Gorodetsky Municipal District; the Borders and the Composition of the Municipal Formations Within Gorodetsky Municipal District, as amended by the Law #16-Z of February 7, 2011 On Amending Various Laws of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. Effective as of the day of the official publication.).