Nijni-Novgorod
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
nij'ne-nov-go'rod, a famous city of eastern Russia. It is situated at the junction of the Oka and the Volga. It is the capital of the province of the same name. Nijni means lower. It is an adjective used by way of distinction from the province and city of Novgorod, near St. Petersburg. The city fronts the Volga, just below the mouth of the Oka. A central eminence, surrounded by an extensive wall with eleven towers, is known as the Kremlin or ancient citadel. Within the inclosure are situated the cathedrals, the governor's residence, the arsenal, barracks, and other public buildings. The river frontage is occupied by numerous buildings, timber wharves, etc. The city is noted for an annual fair, removed hither from the ancient city of Makarieff in 1816. It is held on a flat, sandy tongue of land, between the Oka and the Volga. It is reached from the city proper by a fine bridge of boats. The fair grounds contain over three thousand stone booths built in regular rows. They are surrounded by a canal connected with the Oka. The regular population of the city is about 95,000. There are about 300,000 people in attendance during fair time. Traders are present from China, India, Persia, Afghanistan, Arabia, Turkey, and the confines of Russia. Enormous quantities of cotton, woolen, linen, and silk goods change hands. Iron wares, pottery, salt, corn, fish, wine-all sorts of manufactured goods-are offered for sale. Chests of tea from China are opened and tested. Precious metals, iron and iron ware, come from the Ural Mountains . The grain from the Oka valley changes hands at this fair. The main fair, called the Peter-Paul fair, is held from August 5th to September 15th. At this season the river is thronged with thousands of boats. The wharves are piled up for ten miles with bundles of merchandise. The whole city goes wild with excitement. Amusements of all sorts are at their highest. Subordinate fairs are held here. One for trade in timber and woodenware is held in winter on the ice of the Oka. Another is held in July for the trade in horses. See Leipsic
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Aiton's wrote this in 1910 the city had about 95,000 residents and its identity was the great Volga fair, where traders from China and Persia filled three thousand stone booths. The Soviet government shut the fair down around 1930, and from 1932 to 1990 the city was renamed Gorky after the writer Maxim Gorky, who was born there; as a centre of car and military production (the GAZ works opened in 1932) it was closed to foreigners for decades, and Andrei Sakharov was held there in internal exile from 1980 to 1986. The old name Nizhny Novgorod was restored in 1990, the fairgrounds now house an exhibition and congress centre, and the city of roughly 1.2 million is one of Russia's largest. The Kremlin with its towers still stands above the meeting of the Oka and the Volga, though the bridge of boats has long since given way to permanent bridges.
Written for this edition, 2026.