CSI Travels to Nizhnii Novgorod


Nizhnii Novgorod is the name of the third largest region in Russia behind Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as the name of the largest city in tht region. Formerly known as Gorky during the Soviet era, the city was closed due to its high military and nuclear facilities. Nizhnii Novgorod is the home of both the GAZ automobile factory and the MIG jet plant. It also houses nuclear research facilities, and rumored to have a plant capable of assembling nuclear missles. It is known in the West as the city where the dissident, Andrei Sakharov was exiled for decades. Today, his apartment remains

A view across the Oka at night.
a museum in the city dedicated to human rights. More recently Nizhnii Novgorod has become known for its great economic success under the leadership of the governor Boris Nemtsov. The purpose of CCSI's trip to this city was to gather information on the large nonprofit sector that has developed there. But I also managed some siteseeing between meetings.

The city of Nizhnii Novgorod sits on the banks of the confluence of two large rivers-- the Oka and the Volga. The Volga runs from east to west on the north side of the city. And the Oka divides the city into two banks as it flows into the Volga. The photo to the right was taken across the Oka river, looking upon west bank, where the city center is located . On the far right, the white lights of the Annunciation monastery and on the left, the Kanavinskii bridge leading to the city center.


The Alexander Nevsky Church


The Stroganov Church

Nizhnii Novgorod seems to have an inordinate amount of churches and cathedrals tucked around every corner. The Alexander Nevsky church (left) can't be missed. It stands on the left bank of the Oka near the Kanavinskii bridge but because of its size and location--overlooking both the Oka and the Volga, it can be seen from many areas of the city including the Kremlin.

The Stroganov Church of the Nativity (right) is located on Mayakovskii Street near the Boat Station square. It is an example of "Moscow Naryshkin Baroque that was carved by some of the country's best craftsmen who were subsequently blinded by Grigory Stroganov who commissioned the building the church.


Minin Square with the Kremlin on the left

The Volga and the Kremlin

The city's Kremlin overlooks the Volga river from atop a steep hill. The Kremlin was built in the 16th century and has 11 towers making up the perimeter. None of the original buildings remain inside, except a small cathedral that is open only during winter months. The best views of the Volga and the surrounding areas are available in side the Kremlin walls. There is a small display of military tanks and cannons, the city museum, and the adminstrative buildings, which make the Kremlin interior a nice walk. The southern wall of the Kremlin also make up the northern perimeter of Minin Square, the center of Nizhnii Novgorod's historic district.
Minin square is named after one of Nizhnii Novgorod's historic citizen, a 17th Century mayor who helped raise the army that drove the Poles from Moscow and brought an end to the Time of Troubles. A statue of Minin stands in the center of the square in Nizhnii Novgorod. A statue to Minin also stands in Moscow's Red Square in front of St. Basil's cathedral.

The State Bank on Ulitsa Bolshaya Pokrovskaya

The State Bank at dusk
The state bank one of the most spectacular buldings in the city. It is located on Ulitsa Pokrovskaya, a short walk from Minin Square and takes up almost an entire block. It is closed to the public, but it is said that the ceiling is decorated with breathtaking icons. The art-noveau style building was built in 1913 to commemorate the 300 years of the Romanov dynasty -- only three years before the Romanov family was replace by communism.


The Yarmarka, or city's Trade/Fair building

Nizhnii Novgorod's Yarmarka was built in 1890 in the same style as the famous GUM Department store on Red Square in Moscow. During the Soviet era, it was used as a children's shop, but it is now used for its original purpose -- a trade fair.
The Yarmarka has become a symbol for the great economic success of the Nizhnii Novgorod region. There are street level shops on the back side of the building, but majority of space in the building is reserved for use as a convention center for business fairs that are held a few times a month to attract both domestic and foreign business investment to the region.

Thank you for visiting the CSI Cyber-tour of Russia. Links are available below for those who would like to return to the homepage, return to the beginning of the tour, or learn more about the organization. But before you go, we have a puzzler for those who can read Russian, I have a little puzzler.

This site is the travelogue of the Civil Society International's October 1997 trip to Russia.
Return to the beginning of the tour, or return to the CSI Home Page to learn more about our work.

Civil Society International is a nonprofit organization based in Seattle, Washington. We support the development of civil society by fostering relationships between the nonprofit sector in the West and and the grassroots and nonprofit organizations in the former Soviet Union. We do this by publishing information in books, pamphlets and on our Web site. This Web site is part of our effort to provide easily accessible information to the public and to raise awareness of the the important of a civil society outside the realms of business and government to support democracy and provide a safety net that the government can no longer provide.

To learn more about CSI visit our Home page. There is more information about our activities through the "About CSI" link. Also, be sure to visit our list of Russian nonprofit organizations currently operating in the Nizhnii Novgorod area which is available under the "NIS Organizations" link from the home page, or meet the Nizhnii Novgorod organizations interviewed on this trip.

CSI Web site: http://www.friends-partners.org/~ccsi/