Verkhneudinsky fair

Fairs began in Verkhneudinsk in 1780 . The city was located at the intersection of important trade routes from Kyakhta to the European part of Russia and from Irkutsk to Amur and China.

In the 1810s , trade also took place in December near the village of Aninsky (now the Khorinsky district ). The turnover of the fair was insignificant. In the 1820s , merchants of Selenginsk began to open temporary trade in Verkhneudinsk, and then transferred there all their activities.

Since 1786, two fairs were held annually in Verkhneudinsk: January - from January 18 to February 1 and Krestovozdvizhenskaya from September 15 to 28 . In 1817, the city ​​merchants achieved only one fair per year. The beginning of the fair depended on the freezing time of Lake Baikal - transportation of goods on ice was cheaper and faster. In 1868, the start time of the fair was postponed from January 25 to February 10 . But trade often began before the official date - goods on the Amur had to be delivered before the spring thaw.

• Gostinodvorsky ranks 1804 - 1856
•  

  Western facade

•  

  South facade

•  

  East facade

In the mid -1870s , the import of goods increased up to 3 million rubles, of which up to 2 million accounted for fabrics (mainly Russian-made). About 75% of goods are sold on credit. The main turnover falls on the share of Irkutsk merchants. The first place in turnover at the fair is occupied by Butin's trading house - up to a million rubles. The head of the trading house of the Butin brothers was Mikhail Dmitrievich Butin ( 1836 - 1907 ). In the 1870s, the entrepreneur Alexander Fedorovich Vtorov opened the trade in textile goods at the Verkhneudinsky and Nizhny Novgorod fairs.

In the future, the role of the Verkhneudinsky fair declined. Trading operations were carried out in Irkutsk, and Verkhneudinsk was used as a storage place for goods.

In 1878, books began to be sold at the fair.

Table: the number of shops in Verkhneudinsk ^[1]

Table: Turnovers of the Verkhneudinsky fair ^[3] .

After the Civil War, the fair resumed its work on January 31, 1924 ^[4] .

The Verkhneudinsky Fair played a major role in the supply of bread to the Chita Region and the Nerchinsk Territory, since the Verkhneudinsky District was the most developed in Transbaikalia in agricultural terms. Trade turnover increased significantly after the accession of the Amur Region and the development of the gold industry . The fair reached its peak in the 1860s , when the import of goods rose to 1.5 million rubles. Most of the goods were sold for cash, credit operations accounted for only about 30% of the turnover. At the same time, at the Verkhneudinsky fair, the volume of trade in furs began to decline, which they began to send directly to Irkutsk, Irbit , and then to the Nizhny Novgorod fair . In addition, Nerchinsk merchants learned how to independently buy goods in the European part of Russia, steamboats appeared on the Amur River, tea from China begins to be imported along the Amur River.

From the middle of the 18th century until 1850, Nerchinsky lead was transported through Verkhneudinsk to Altai plants. From 1747 to 1850, more than 1.6 million pounds of lead were delivered from the Nerchinsk factories to Altai.

The main products of the Verkhneudinsky fair:

• bread - to the Chita district, Nerchinsk and the gold mines of the Amur Territory;
• meat - to Irkutsk;
• manufactory ;
• a fish;
• salt;
• skins and skins - to Kyakhta;
• tea - to the European part of Russia;
• fur;
• Contracts for the delivery of tea, bread, meat and other goods.

The first wooden building of the Gostiny Dvor was built in 1791 . Bazarnaya Square ( Revolution Square ) has been formed near the guest-house. Merchant houses with benches are being built around the square. The former Bazaar Square still remains the center of Ulan-Ude . Trade also went on Kalinin Square - now the central market building is located on this place.

On June 3, 1803, at a meeting of merchants and wealthy philistines of Verkhneudinsk, it was decided to build stone living rooms. Construction began in 1804 according to the project of the Irkutsk provincial architect Anton Ivanovich Losev (1765-1829). Construction continued with great interruptions, and at the end of 1825 the southern and western parts were built, and only in 1856 an external cornice and roof were made.

In 1834, the philistinism of Verkhneudinsk wanted to build its own shopping arcade. Tradesmen were allowed to complete the northern part of the courtyard. After 30 years, Small shopping arcades were built. About 40% of tenants in the public ranks were Jewish merchants. In 1887, the merchant Joseph Rosenstein became a shareholder of the Great Gostiny Dvor. In 1908, 11 Jews were already renting shops in the Great Gostiny Dvor.

In 1955, on the site of the Small Trade Rows, the construction of a 3-storey department store began. Gostiny Dvor has the status of a monument of history and architecture of federal significance.

In the 1820s, the merchant Mitrofan Kuzmich Kurbatov built malls. Until the 1950s , Kurbatov's shopping arcade was used for trade. Currently, they have a medical facility.

• Shopping arcade of the merchant Kurbatov. 1820s
•  

  Colonnade

•  

  Facade

•  

  North facade

• Fairs of Verkhneudinsky County
• History of Kyakhtinsky trade
• History of shipping on the Yenisei

• Bagashev I.V. “Verkhneudinskaya fair” // “Siberia”, 1876, No. 6, No. 8, No. 9
• Bagashev I.V. “Verkhneudinskaya fair” // “Siberia”, 1877, No. 10.
• Bagashev I.V. “Verkhneudinskaya fair” // “Siberia”, 1878, No. 4.
• Kuytunov (Parshin N.V.) “Verkhneudinsk (From travel notes)” // Irkutsk Provincial Gazette, 1865, No. 52
• Liliya Kalmina “Jews in the Western Transbaikalia: the search for economic niches (second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries)” // Diaspora Magazine, No. 1, 1999
• E. Tang Fair // Baikal, No. 1, January-February 1976, pp. 144-151