Balakhna

In the III – II millennium BC, tribes of the Balakhna Neolithic culture lived in the territory of the present Nizhny Novgorod region, which was named after the most typical site excavated near Balakhna. In the vicinity of Balakhna, such sites were found near the villages of Big Kozino and Small Kozino . Balakhna residents settled in small villages of 25-30 adults, and the villages were located in compact groups. Balakhnins were hunters and fishers. Judging by the tools found, they knew how to grind, polish, hammer and saw stone, make clay dishes. They knew weaving from plant fibers. In the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, they learned how to smel metal, knew hoe farming, were engaged in animal husbandry ^[4] .

From the 9th century, the influence of Russia began to spread between the Volga and Oka rivers. In the second half of the XII century Gorodets appeared, who became the center of the Principality of Gorodets. At the beginning of the XIII century, Nizhny Novgorod , the future center of the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal Grand Duchy, was founded. It can be assumed that by the time of the accession of Nizhny Novgorod possessions to the Moscow state (mid-15th century), the Volga coast between Gorodets and Nizhny Novgorod was sufficiently developed, although it was periodically ruined by the Kazan Khanate.

In 1401-1402, the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Dmitrievich in exchange for Volok transferred part of the former Gorodetsky specific principality to Serpukhov Prince Vladimir Andreyevich . In the spiritual of that time, left by children of Vladimir Andreevich to children, it is mentioned: “My children, Prince Semyon , Prince Yaroslav, know the Salt on Gorodets from the one, and divide themselves into floors, describe Fedorov’s baskets, and no one else enters the Gorodets barns without the command of my children” . ^[5] Based on these facts, modern historians conclude that already at that time there was salt mining near Gorodets, identifying Sol-on-Gorodets with Balakhna ^[6] .

However, the name Balakhna is found in documents only in 1536. This year is officially considered the year of its foundation ^[3] . The city is already mentioned quite rich and crowded when it suffered from the troops of the Kazan Khan Safa-Girey . Soon after, the first wooden fortress was built to protect against Tatar raids.

In the Middle Ages, the city ​​was a significant center of the salt industry, the administrative center of the Balakhna district .

Under Ivan the Terrible, the city, among others, was appointed by the tsar to his oprichnina .

During the Time of Troubles, the Balakhna voivode supported False Dmitry II and, together with the Arzamas governor, tried to take Nizhny Novgorod, which remained loyal to Tsar Vasily Shuisky . In response, on December 2, 1608, the Nizhny Novgorod army stormed Balakhna, forcing residents to kiss the Shuisky cross. In 1610, Balakhna suffered from the Cossacks, many temples were destroyed. Balakhna is the alleged homeland of Kuzma Minin , the organizer of the Nizhny Novgorod militia of 1611-1612. On the way from Nizhny Novgorod to Yaroslavl, the militia passed through Balakhna, collecting funds from the residents for organizing the militia. Nevertheless, in the 17th century, Balakhna remained the center of salt production. In the 17th century, the Balakhna merchants Sokolovs owned salt industries both in Balakhna and in the Solikamsk district ^[7] .

In 1714, Balakhna became part of the Nizhny Novgorod province on the rights of the county town of Balakhna district .

In the XVIII - XIX centuries, the city ​​was an important center of shipbuilding .

In 1925, the Nizhny Novgorod State District Power Plant , operating on peat , was commissioned; in 1928, the first products were produced by a pulp and paper mill and a cardboard factory.

On February 1, 1932, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee decided to include the village of Kubintsevo in the Balakhna district in the city limits of Balakhna ^[8] .

Modernity

In 1993, the working village of Pravdinsk became part of Balakhna.

Until 1998, the city contained the stations of Balakhna-Sortirovochnaya and Balakhna-Passenger stations of the Balakhna -Shuya narrow gauge railway network .

_{Note In 1993, the working village of Pravdinsk became part of Balakhna.}

As of January 1, 2019, the city was in 330th place out of 1,115 ^[21] cities of the Russian Federation in terms of population ^[22] .

The main enterprises of the city:

• PKF Luidor LLC is an official partner of Mercedes-Benz Rus and Volkswagen Group Rus for the production of small buses and special equipment based on Mercedes Benz Sprinter and Volkswagen Crafter cars.

The production and commercial company "Luidor" is a partner of the Gorky Automobile Plant. In cooperation with GAZ specialists, PKF “Luidor” produces a wide range of special vehicles and small-class buses, expanding the range of GAZ equipment. Recently, the company has reduced staff.

• Pulp and paper mill Volga ; Currently, the company is in a difficult economic situation.
• OJSC Polygraphkarton - production of printing cardboard; - the company is in decline.
• Biaksplen LLC polypropylene film factory (built in 2005 on the basis of the former reinforced concrete products factory);
• NiGRES (Gorky State District Power Plant); - works less than 30%
• glass container factory CJSC Balakhninskoe glass;
• Uzola CJSC - production of switchboard and fire equipment; - is in decline.
• NPO Pravdinsky Radio Plant JSC (former PZRA Pravdinsky Radio Relay Equipment Plant).

The volume of shipped goods of our own production, work and services performed on our own in manufacturing industries in 2010 amounted to 3.41 billion rubles. Currently, the district is in a difficult economic condition.

The following print and electronic publications exist in the city:

• City portal Balakhna.ru balakhna.ru
• Newspaper Working Balakhna
• The newspaper "Factory Herald" (PRZ)
• Volga Time - newspaper of Volga Pulp and Paper Mill.

In Balakhna there is a television company New Television of Balakhna (news releases were broadcast weekly on the regional television channel NNTV and the local television channel TeleMir (its work ceased in 2018, its functions were transferred to the editorial office of Work Balakhna), as well as the Children's Home Television Studio Moscow " ^[23] , where young youth are covering the events of their hometown. In Balakhna there was previously a radio station Radio Balakhny, broadcasting on 69.68 VHF in conjunction with Radio Russia (since 2008 its work has stopped).

The main Internet providers in the city are: Rostelecom- Volga, OJSC VimpelCom , Telemir

•  

  Sretensky church
  Pokrovsky Monastery - founded in the first half of the XVI century, 17, Revolution Ave.
  • church of st. Mons (XX century);
  • Nicholas Tent Church - built in 1552 by order of Ivan the Terrible in honor of the capture of Kazan, the oldest surviving religious building in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
• Spasskaya (Nikitskaya) church (1668), st. Tupolev, 3.
• Church of the Nativity , per. Lenin, 9 - built in 1674 on a wooden site. It was part of the Christmas convent, which was abolished in 1764.
• Resurrection Church (end of the 18th century), st. Demian of the Poor, 26.
• Znamenskaya (2nd half of the 18th century) and Krestovozdvizhenskaya (1st half of the 18th century) churches, ul. Dzerzhinsky, 9.

• Trinity Church (1784), st. Ryazanova (cemetery).
• Sretensky church. Built in 1807, on the site of an ancient church, built according to the will of Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. One of the five churches of the Nizhny Novgorod region that did not close during the Soviet years ^[24] .
• Office building (end of the 18th century), ul. Engels, 1a.
• City estate (end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century), st. Dzerzhinsky, 41.
• House of N. Ya. Latukhin (XVIII - early XIX century), st. Dzerzhinsky, 17.
• Residential buildings (I half. XIX century.), St. Karl Marx, 6a, 22.
• Charyshnikov Mansion (I half of the XIX - beginning of the XX centuries), st. Pulp and Paper Mill, 15a.
• Serebryannikov House (mid-19th century), st. Engels, 15a.
• The estate of A. A. Khudyakov (II half. XIX century.), St. Karl Marx, 30.
• Sandor control box , bypass.
• Mansion (end of the 19th century), st. Karl Marx, 4a.
• Apartment building (kindergarten NIGRES) (1907), st. Dzerzhinsky, 33.
• School in the village of NIGRES (1920s), st. Sverdlova, 24a.
• Residential buildings of the cardboard factory (1929), st. Pulp and Paper Mill, 1a, 2a.
• Ensemble of the Central Square: pulp and paper mill building, firehouse building, school building (1930s)

•   Pinsk ( Belarus )

• List of Orthodox churches in the city of Balakhny
• List of cultural monuments of Balakhna in Wikigid

• Balakhna // Cities of Russia: Encyclopedia. - M .: Big Russian Encyclopedia , 1994 .-- 559 p. - 50,000 copies. - ISBN 5-85270-026-6 . . - S. 33-35.
• Balakhna, city // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb., 1890-1907.

• City portal of Balakhna. RU
• Administration of the Balakhninsky municipal district of the Nizhny Novgorod region
• Department of social protection of the population of Balakhninsky district
• Information about the city: geography, map, population, economy, attractions, hotels
• Balakhninsky district