Everything about Arkhangelsk totally explained
Arkhangelsk, formerly called
Archangel in
English, is a
city and the administrative center of
Arkhangelsk Oblast,
Russia. It lies on both banks of the
Northern Dvina river near its exit into the
White Sea in the far north of European
Russia. City districts spread for over along the banks of the river and numerous islands of its
delta. Arkhangelsk was the chief seaport of medieval Russia. It is served by
Talagi Airport and the smaller
Vaskovo Airport. The city is located at the very end of the long railroad, connecting it to
Moscow via
Vologda and
Yaroslavl. Population: 356,051 (
2002 Census); down from 415,921 recorded in the
1989 Census.
History
Early history
The area where Arkhangelsk is situated was known to the
Vikings as
Bjarmaland.
Ohthere from Hålogaland told from his travels circa 800 of an area by a river and the White Sea with many buildings. This was probably the place later known as Arkhangelsk. According to
Snorri Sturluson there was a Viking raid on this area in 1027, led by
Tore Hund.
In 1989, an unusually rich silver treasure was found by the mouth of Dvina, right next to present day Arkhangelsk. It was probably buried in the beginning of the 12th century, and contained articles that may have been up to 200 years old at that time.
Most of the findings are made up by a total of of silver, mostly coins. Jewelry and pieces of jewelry hails from Russia or neighbouring areas. Most coins were German, but there was also a smaller number of Kufan, English, Bohemian, Hungarian, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian coins.
It is hard to place this find historically until further research is completed. There are at least two possible interpretations. It may be a treasure belonging to the society outlined by the Norse source material. Generally such find, whether from Scandinavia, the Baltic area or Russia, are closely tied to well-established agricultural societies with considerable trade activity.
Alternatively, like the Russian scientists who published the find in 1992, one may see it as an evidence of a stronger force of Russian colonisation than previously thought.
Novgorod Russians arrive
In the 12th century, the
Novgorodians established the
Archangel Michael Monastery in the estuary of the
Northern Dvina.
The main trade centre of the area at that time was
Kholmogory, located slightly upstream where the rivers Dvina and Pinega meet. Written sources indicate that Kholmogory existed early in the 12th century, but there's no archeological material to illuminate the early history of the town. It isn't known whether this settlement was originally Russian, or if it goes back to pre-Russian times. Centrally in the small town it's today, the so called Gorodok can be found, a large mound of building remains and river sand. However this hasn't been archeologically excavated.
Norwegian-Russian conflict
Arkhangelsk came to be important in the rivalry between Norwegian and Russian interests in the northern areas. From Novgorod, the Russian interest sphere was extended far north to the
Kola peninsula in the 12th century. However, here Norway enforced taxes and rights to the fur trade. A compromise agreement entered in 1251 was soon broken.
In 1411, Yakov Stepanovitch from Novogorod went to attack Northern Norway. This was the beginning of a series of clashes, and in 1419 Norwegian ships with 500 soldiers entered the White Sea. The "Murmaners", as the Norwegians were called (cf.
Murmansk), plundered many Russian settlements along the coast, among them the Archangel Michael monastery.
Novgorod managed to drive the Norwegians back. However, in 1478 the area was taken over by Ivan III and passed to
Muscovy with the rest of
Novgorod Republic.
Trade with England, Scotland and the Netherlands
In 1555,
Ivan the Terrible granted trade privileges to
English merchants who founded the
Company of Merchant Adventurers and began sending ships annually into the estuary of the Northern Dvina.
The meeting between Ivan and the Englishmen happened by chance; one of three English ships on their way to find the Northeast passage to China in 1553 ended up in the White Sea. The other two ships disappeared.
Dutch merchants also started bringing their ships into the White Sea from the 1560s. Scottish and English merchants dominated in the 16th century, however by the 17th century it was mainly the Dutch that sailed to the White Sea area.
Founding and further development
In 1584, Ivan ordered the founding of
New Kholmogory (which would later be renamed after the nearby Archangel Michael Monastery).
At the time access to the
Baltic Sea was still mostly controlled by Sweden, so while Arkhangelsk was icebound in winter, it remained
Moscow's almost sole link to the sea-trade. Local inhabitants, called
Pomors, were the first to explore trade routes to Northern
Siberia as far as the trans-
Ural city of
Mangazeya and beyond.
In 1693,
Peter I ordered the creation of a state
shipyard in Arkhangelsk. A year later the ships
Svyatoye Prorochestvo (Holy Prophecy),
Apostol Pavel (Apostle Paul) and the yacht
Svyatoy Pyotr (Saint Peter) were sailing in the White Sea. However he also realized that Arkhangelsk would always be limited as a port due to the five months of ice cover, and after a
successful campaign against
Swedish armies in the Baltic area, he founded
Saint Petersburg in 1704.
Arkhangelsk declined in the 18th century as the Baltic trade became ever more important, but its economy revived at the end of the 19th century when a
railroad to
Moscow was completed and
timber became a major export. The city resisted
Bolshevik rule from 1918 to 1920 and was a stronghold of the anti-Bolshevik
White Army supported by the military intervention of
Entente forces along with Canadian and American soldiers, known as the
Polar Bear Expedition.
During both world wars, Arkhangelsk was a major port of entry for
Allied aid. During
World War II the city became known in the West as the destination of the
Arctic Convoys bringing supplies to assist the Russians who were cut off from their normal supply lines.
Today Arkhangelsk remains a major seaport, now open year-round due to improvements in
icebreakers. The city is primarily a timber and
fishing center. On
March 16,
2004, 58 people were killed in an
explosion at an apartment block in the city.
Architecture and Monuments
Mikhail Lomonosov came from a
Pomor village near Kholmogory. A monument to him was installed to a design by
Ivan Martos in 1829. A monument to Peter I was designed by
Mark Antokolsky in 1872 and installed in 1914.
A maritime school, technical university, and a regional museum are located in the city. After its historical churches were destroyed during Stalin's rule, the city's main extant landmarks are the fort-like
Merchant Yards
(1668–84) and the
New Dvina Fortress (1701–05). The Assumption Church on the Dvina embankment (1742–44) was rebuilt in 2004.
A remarkable structure is also Arkhangelsk TV Mast, a 151 metres tall guyed mast for FM-/TV-broadcasting built in 1964. This tubular steel mast has six crossbars equipped with gangways, which run in two levels from the mast structure to the crossbars. On these crossbars there are also several antennas installed
(External Link).
Image:Archangel_riverbank.jpg|Assumption Church (1742–44)
Image:Archangel savior.jpg|Naval Cathedral (1760–76)
Image:Archangel 1927.jpg|The Archangel Monastery (1685–99)
Image:Архангельск 1909.jpg|The Trinity Cathedral (1709–65)
Miscellaneous
The novel
Predator's Gold featured a version of Arkhangelsk called
Arkangel that was a dangerous
Traction City.
The
James Bond movie
GoldenEye begins at a
dam by a chemical facility near Arkhangelsk, although the scenes themselves were actually shot at the
Verzasca Dam in
Switzerland—tall mountains as seen in the background can't be found anywhere near Arkhangelsk.
British author
Robert Harris's novel
Archangel centres on a plot to restore
Communism in
Russia through a son of
Stalin, who is taken to the wilderness and hidden near the town as a young boy by the
KGB. In 2005 it was made into a three-part television drama by the
BBC starring
Daniel Craig.
Canadian filmmaker
Guy Maddin's 1990 surrealist film
Archangel is set in Arkhangelsk, just after the end of World War I (the fight goes on, as the characters are unaware the war has ended).
In March 2007, French jazz trumpeter
Erik Truffaz releases a cd titled "Arkhangelsk".
Eugenie Fraser published her autobiography
The House by the Dvina which is set in Archangel and
Broughty Ferry,
Scotland from 1905 to 1920. It, therefore, includes
World War I, The Revolution, the murder of the
Tsar and the withdrawal of the Allied Intervention from the North.
A common anecdote is that the port of Arkhangelsk is the geographic origin of the
Russian Blue cat breed.
In 2007,
Alex Kravchenko, who was born in Arkhangelsk, became the first Russian citizen to ever win a
World Series of Poker bracelet. He went on to come in 4th place at the WSOP main event to become the all-time leading money winner among Russian players.
Philip Pullman's 2008 novella
Once Upon a Time in the North is set in a fictionalized Arkhangelsk called Novy Odense.
Climate
Sister Cities
Further Information
Get more info on 'Arkhangelsk'.
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