Balakhna (russian: Балахна́) is a
town and the
administrative center of
Balakhninsky District in
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast,
Russia, located on the right bank of the
Volga River, north of
Nizhny Novgorod, the administrative center of the
oblast. Population: 33,500 (1968).
It was previously known as ''Sol-na-Gorodtse''.
Overview
It was founded in 1474 as Sol-na-Gorodtse (). After the
Khan of Kazan razed it to the ground in 1536, a wooden fort was constructed to protect the settlement against further Tatar incursions. For the following three centuries, Balakhna prospered as a center of
saltworks and
grain trade
The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other ...
. By the
Time of Troubles, it was the twelfth largest city in Russia.
Adam Olearius
Adam Olearius (born Adam Ölschläger or Oehlschlaeger, 24 September 159922 February 1671) was a German scholar, mathematician, geographer and librarian. He became secretary to the ambassador sent by Frederick III, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, to ...
visited and described the town in 1636. That year several shipwrights from
Holstein built the first Russian ships here, thus establishing Balakhna as a foremost center of national river shipbuilding. The people of Balakhna were also reputed for their skills in knitting and making colored tiles, which were used for decoration of the Savior Church (1668) and other local temples. Balakhna is one of the few Russian cities shown on the
1689 Amsterdam World Map (labeled ''Balaghna'').
The northwestern part of Balakhna is known as
Pravdinsk. It used to be a separate
urban-type settlement before it was merged into Balakhna in 1993. The settlement was named after the Moscow
Pravda newspaper, which at some point may have been the largest consumer of
newsprint
Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has an ...
produced at the local
paper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...
.
Administrative and municipal status
Within the
framework of administrative divisions, Balakhna serves as the
administrative center of
Balakhninsky District.
[Order #3-od] As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Balakhninsky District as the
town of district significance of Balakhna.
As a
municipal division, the town of district significance of Balakhna is incorporated within Balakhninsky Municipal District as Balakhna Urban Settlement.
[Law #107-Z]
Religion and culture
The oldest structure in the city (and in the whole region) is the
tentlike church of St. Nicholas (1552). Of all the tentlike churches built in brick, this is the nearest approach to their wooden prototypes. Another church, dating from the 17th century, houses a municipal museum. The Nativity church (1675) represents an archaic monumental type of monastery cathedral. Nearby is a statue of
Kuzma Minin, who was born in Balakhna.
Sport
It has a youth
bandy
Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...
team called FOK Olimpiyski
https://vk.com/fok_olimp]
References
Notes
Sources
*
*
External links
Official website of BalakhnaDirectory of organizations in Balakhna
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
Balakhninsky Uyezd
Populated places on the Volga
Populated places established in the 1470s
1474 establishments in Europe
15th-century establishments in Russia
