View source for Gorodets, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast

{{Short description|Town in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia}}
{{Other places|Gorodets (disambiguation){{!}}Gorodets}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2012}}

{{Infobox Russian inhabited locality
|en_name=Gorodets
|ru_name=Городец
|image_skyline=Master town in Gorodets - panoramio.jpg
|image_caption=Crafts Quarter
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|adm_district_jur=[[Gorodetsky District]]
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|adm_selsoviet_jur=Gorodets
|adm_selsoviet_type=[[Town of district significance]]
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'''Gorodets''' ({{langx|ru|Городе́ц}}) is a [[types of inhabited localities in Russia|town]] and the [[administrative center]] of [[Gorodetsky District]] in [[Nizhny Novgorod Oblast]], [[Russia]], located on the left bank of the [[Volga River]], {{convert|53|km|sp=us}} northwest of [[Nizhny Novgorod]], the administrative center of the [[oblast]]. Population: {{ru-census2010|30,658|;}} {{ru-census2002|32,442|;}} {{su-census1989|34,210|;}} 34,000 (1970).

==History==
The town was founded in 1152 by Prince [[Yury Dolgoruky]] (also the founder of [[Moscow]]) as a large fortress on the [[Volga River]], the first Russian fortress in today's [[Nizhny Novgorod Oblast]].{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} It was a starting point for numerous campaigns of the princes of [[Vladimir-Suzdal|Vladimir and Suzdal]] against [[Volga Bulgaria]]. In 1216, [[Yuri II of Vladimir|Yury&nbsp;II of Vladimir]] was dethroned by his brother and exiled here. In 1239, the town was burned to the ground by [[Batu Khan]]'s army. Folk tradition identifies Gorodets with Little [[Kitezh]], a legendary town destroyed by the [[Mongols]].

In 1263, [[Alexander Nevsky]] died in Gorodets on his way back to [[Veliky Novgorod|Novgorod]] from the [[Golden Horde]]. His son, [[Andrey of Gorodets|Andrey]], made the town his chief residence. A famous medieval icon-painter, [[Prokhor of Gorodets|Prokhor]], was born there. In the mid-14th century, the town was overshadowed by the neighboring [[Nizhny Novgorod]] but continued as the third largest town of the [[Principality of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal]] until 1408, when [[Edigu]] razed it to the ground.

For two following centuries the town was known as ''Gorodets Pustoy'' (i. e., "Gorodets the Empty"). Some chronicles state that its entire population moved slightly downstream and resettled at Salt-on-Gorodets (today's [[Balakhna]]). By the 19th century, Gorodets was revived as a prosperous village settled by [[Old Believers|Old Believer]] merchants and reputed for its decorative [[handicraft]]s, such as [[wood carving]] and [[painting]]. In 1875, the Nizhny Novgorod writer A.&nbsp;S.&nbsp;Gatsisky described Gorodets as a major center of trade in [[grain]] and wooden [[kitchenware]].<ref>[http://www.nounb.sci-nnov.ru/fulltext/acg/pdf/nizhegorod.pdf ''A Guide to Nizhny Novgorod and Nizhny Novgorod Fair''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205234936/http://www.nounb.sci-nnov.ru/fulltext/acg/pdf/nizhegorod.pdf |date=February 5, 2012 }} [[Alexander Gatsisky]], 1875. {{in lang|ru}}</ref>

In 1922, Gorodets becomes a town again, as well the administrative center of [[Gorodetsky Uyezd]] (later, Gorodetsky District).{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} Between 1948 and 1959, the dam of Gorky Hydroelectric Station (now [[Nizhny Novgorod Hydroelectric Station]]) was built a few kilometers upstream from Gorodets, and along with the station a new industrial town, [[Zavolzhye, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast|Zavolzhye]], was built on the right side of the Volga{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}.

In the past, the town was also sometimes referred to as '''Gorodets-Radilov''' ({{lang|ru|Городе́ц-Ради́лов}}), or simply '''Radilov'''.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}

==Administrative and municipal status==
Within the [[subdivisions of Russia#Administrative divisions|framework of administrative divisions]], Gorodets serves as the [[administrative centre]] of [[Gorodetsky District]].<ref name="NizhnyNovgorodO_admlist">Order #3-od</ref> As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Gorodetsky District as the '''[[town of district significance]] of Gorodets'''.<ref name="NizhnyNovgorodO_admlist" /> As a [[subdivisions of Russia#Municipal divisions|municipal division]], the town of district significance of Gorodets is incorporated within Gorodetsky Municipal District as '''Gorodets Urban Settlement'''.<ref name="NizhnyNovgorodOGorodetskyD_mun">Law #114-Z</ref>

==Architecture and culture==
The chief historic monuments of Gorodets—the Trinity Cathedral (1644), St.&nbsp;Nicholas Church (1672), and Feodorovsky [[Monastery]], associated with the [[Theotokos Fyodorovskaya|famous icon of the same name]]—were destroyed by the Communists.{{Citation needed|date=October 2016}} The oldest surviving structure is a rather plain church (1707–1712), built over the site of an earlier church where the town's best known ruler, [[Andrey of Gorodets]], was interred in 1304.{{Citation needed|date=October 2016}}

There are several museums in the town, including the [[Gingerbread]] Museum and the [[Samovar]] Museum, the latter housing a large collection of tea kettles.{{Citation needed|date=October 2016}}

==Economy==
Besides sharing the [[Nizhny Novgorod Hydroelectric Station]] with [[Zavolzhye, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast|Zavolzhye]], Gorodets has a shipbuilding industry. Traditional local crafts—woodworking, embroidery, honey bread baking—are still pursued in Gorodets, but in a more industrial way, at several local factories, whose products are available at souvenir shops all over the country.

===Transportation===
The electric railroad branch from Nizhny Novgorod ends in Zavolzhye; but there is a road connection over the [[Nizhny Novgorod Hydroelectric Station|hydro dam]], which provides the only fixed crossing across the [[Volga River|Volga]] between [[Nizhny Novgorod]] and [[Kineshma]].

==References==

===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
*{{RussiaAdmMunRef|niz|adm|list}}
*{{RussiaAdmMunRef|niz|mun|list|gorodetsky}}

==External links==
*[https://gorodets-adm.ru/ Official website of Gorodets] {{in lang|ru}}
*[https://gorodets.jsprav.ru/ Gorodets Business Directory ] {{in lang|ru}}
*{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Nizhny Novgorod Oblast}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cities and towns in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast]]
[[Category:Gorodetsky District]]
[[Category:Balakhninsky Uyezd]]
[[Category:Populated places on the Volga]]
[[Category:1152 establishments in Europe]]
[[Category:12th-century establishments in Russia]]
[[Category:Rus' towns]]