Veliky Ustyug

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Coordinates: 60°46′N 46°18′E / 60.767, 46.3

Veliky Ustyug (Russian: Вели́кий У́стюг) is a town in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Sukhona and Yug Rivers. Population: 33,419 (2002 Census);[1] 36,202 (1989 Census);[2] 36,000 (1970). It is served by Velikiy Ustyug Airport.

Origin of the town's name: the first recorded settlement here, the monastic settlement at Gleden (Гледен), was created near the point where the Yug River flows into the Sukhona River. Downstream from this confluence the two rivers form a single waterway known as the Northern Dvina. By the late fifteenth century the community had acquired the title Great - Veliky (Великий).

The town of Veliky Ustyug was first mentioned in a chronicle in 1207. It was a part of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality. Located at the junction of important trade routes, the city turned into a significant commercial and industrial centre in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Veliky Ustyug lost its key role as a river port with the diminishing importance of the Sukhona river route for trade between China and western Europe. This was particularly exacerbated by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. The city is known for its remarkable handicrafts, such as silver filigree, birch bark fretwork, decorative copper binding, and niello.

Veliky Ustyug is also the birthplace of Semyon Dezhnev, Yerofey Khabarov, and Vladimir Atlasov.

In 1998 Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov proposed to officially locate the residence of Ded Moroz in Veliky Ustyug (instead of traditional Laplandia [3]. There was established a public (ОАО) company "Ded Moroz" to promote Veliky Ustyug as the official residence of Ded Moroz[3]. In the forest on Sukhona River, 16 km from Veliky Ustyug there is a resort promoted as the Votchina (Russian: Вотчина, Estate), of Ded Moroz[3] [4]. There is a special post office here devoted to answering children mail to Ded Moroz that already answered more than 1.2 million letters[4]. There are plans to build an amusement park "12 Months in the Votchina of Ded Moroz" and a museum "Home of Ded Moroz"[3][4]

It is also the basis for the fictional city of Veliky Gusliar written about by Kir Bulychev.

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[edit] Views of Veliky Ustyug

View to cathedral complex in Veliky Ustyug from village Dymkovo (photo 2001).

Spaso-Preobrazhensky cathedral on Krasnaya street in Veliky Ustyug (photo 2001).

View to Sukhona River from bell tower of Uspensky cathedral in Veliky Ustyug (photo 2001).

Portal of church of Dmitry Solunsky in village Dymkovo near Veliky Ustyug (photo 2001).

City river port of Veliky Ustyug (photo 2001).

Embankment in Veliky Ustyug (photo 1913).

Embankment in Veliky Ustyug (photo beginning of twentieth century).

Sunset on Sukhona River near Veliky Ustyug (photo 2001).

Northern Dvina starts as the confluence of Yug River (on left) and Sukhona River (on top) near Velikiy Ustyug (photo 2001).

[edit] References

  1. ^ Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). 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) (Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved on 2007-12-13.
  2. ^ 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.) (Russian). Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года (All-Union Population Census of 1989). Demoscope Weekly (website of the Institute of Demographics of the State University—Higher School of Economics (1989). Retrieved on 2007-12-13.
  3. ^ a b c d Veliky Ustyug page on the site "Small Towns of Russia" (Russian)
  4. ^ a b c [http://www.christmasdivision.ru/stati/velikij-ustjug-rodina-deda-moroza Veliky Ustyg is the bithplace of Ded Moroz>(Russian)

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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