Gorodets (Городе́ц) is a town in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Volga River, north-west of Nizhny Novgorod. In the past, the town was also sometimes referred to as Gorodets-Radilov (Городе́ц-Ради́лов), or simply Radilov. It is the administrative center of Gorodetsky District. Population: 34,000 (1970).
History
Gorodets 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. It was a starting point for numerous campaigns of the princes of Vladimir and Suzdal against Volga Bulgaria. In 1216, George II of Vladimir was dethroned by his brother and exiled here. In 1239, the town was burnt 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 Andrew III 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 neighbouring 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 describes Gorodets as a major center of trade in grain and wooden kitchenware.
In 1922, Gorodets becomes a town again, as well the administrative center of Gorodetsky uyezd (later, Gorodetsky District). 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.
Landmarks
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. The oldest surviving structure is a rather plain church (1707–1712), built over the site of an earler church where the town's best known ruler, Andrew III, was interred in 1304.
Economy and transport
Besides sharing the Nizhny Novgorod Hydroelectric Station with Zavolzhye, Gorodets has a shipbuilding industry. Traditional local crafts — woodworking, embroidery, gingerbread 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.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.
External links
- History and monuments of Gorodets Radilov
- Frescoes in the Church of Intercession of Out Lady, Gorodets
- Volzhsky Perekrestok A Gorodets literary and historical Internet site.
- Gorodetskaya Rospis: Decorated wooden goods from Gorodets
Footnotes
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Monday June 23, 2008 at 23:01:51 PDT (GMT -0700)
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