Balakhna

For other places with the same name, see Balakhna (inhabited locality).
Balakhna (English)
Балахна (Russian)
-  Town[1]  -

Location of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast in Russia
Balakhna
Location of Balakhna in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
Coordinates: 56°28′N 43°36′E / 56.467°N 43.600°E / 56.467; 43.600Coordinates: 56°28′N 43°36′E / 56.467°N 43.600°E / 56.467; 43.600
Coat of arms
Administrative status (as of February 2014)
Country Russia
Federal subject Nizhny Novgorod Oblast[1]
Administrative district Balakhninsky District[1]
Town of district significance Balakhna[1]
Administrative center of Balakhninsky District,[1] town of district significance of Balakhna[1]
Municipal status (as of February 2013)
Municipal district Balakhninsky Municipal District[2]
Urban settlement Balakhna Urban Settlement[2]
Administrative center of Balakhninsky Municipal District,[2] Balakhna Urban Settlement[2]
Statistics
Population (2010 Census) 51,519 inhabitants[3]
- Rank in 2010 315th
Time zone MSK (UTC+03:00)[4]
Founded 1474
Previous names Sol-na-Gorodtse
Postal code(s)[5] 606400, 606402, 606403, 606407, 606408, 606429
Official website
Balakhna on Wikimedia Commons

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, 32 kilometers (20 mi) north of Nizhny Novgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 51,519 (2010 Census);[3] 57,338 (2002 Census);[6] 32,133 (1989 Census);[7] 33,500 (1968).

Overview

It was founded in 1474 as Sol-na-Gorodtse (Соль-на-Городце). 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. By the Time of Troubles, it was the twelfth largest city in Russia.

Adam Olearius 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 produced at the local paper mill.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Balakhna serves as the administrative center of Balakhninsky District.[1] As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Balakhninsky District as the town of district significance of Balakhna.[1] As a municipal division, the town of district significance of Balakhna is incorporated within Balakhninsky Municipal District as Balakhna Urban Settlement.[2]

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.

Nativity Church

Sport

It has a youth bandy team called FOK Olimpiyskiy.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Order #3-od
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Law #107-Z
  3. 1 2 Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). "Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1" [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  4. ↑ Правительство Российской Федерации. Федеральный закон №107-ФЗ от 3 июня 2011 г. «Об исчислении времени», в ред. Федерального закона №271-ФЗ от 03 июля 2016 г. «О внесении изменений в Федеральный закон "Об исчислении времени"». Вступил в силу по истечении шестидесяти дней после дня официального опубликования (6 августа 2011 г.). Опубликован: "Российская газета", №120, 6 июня 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Federal Law #107-FZ of June 31, 2011 On Calculating Time, as amended by the Federal Law #271-FZ of July 03, 2016 On Amending Federal Law "On Calculating Time". Effective as of after sixty days following the day of the official publication.).
  5. ↑ Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (Russian)
  6. ↑ Russian Federal State Statistics Service (May 21, 2004). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек" [Population of Russia, Its Federal Districts, Federal Subjects, Districts, Urban Localities, Rural Localities—Administrative Centers, and Rural Localities with Population of Over 3,000] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года [All-Russia Population Census of 2002] (in Russian). Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  7. ↑ Demoscope Weekly (1989). "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров" [All Union Population Census of 1989: Present Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Oblasts and Okrugs, Krais, Oblasts, Districts, Urban Settlements, and Villages Serving as District Administrative Centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года [All-Union Population Census of 1989] (in Russian). Институт демографии Национального исследовательского университета: Высшая школа экономики [Institute of Demography at the National Research University: Higher School of Economics]. Retrieved August 9, 2014.

Sources

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