The small Russian city of Arzamas is located in the Nizhny Novgorod region, 112 km south of Nizhny Novgorod. This is a municipality that is endowed with the status of an urban district.
Arzamas has long been famous for trade in cattle, bread, onions and the famous Arzamas geese. In addition, leather was made in the city and various products were made from them. The famous Arzamas yuft was exported to France, Germany, England. The city developed rapidly.
He reached a special heyday in the 19th century, so this time is often called the Golden Age of Arzamas. By the 19th century, 36 churches were built in the city, most of which were destroyed during the years of Soviet rule. Now the city authorities are trying to restore what is still amenable to restoration. At one time, there were rumors that the city was going to be included in the Golden Ring of Russia, but this did not happen. Despite this, tourists come here daily who want to see the main attractions of Arzamas. Buses with guests usually arrive at Cathedral Square, where the Resurrection Cathedral rises - the symbol of Arzamas. From this place we will begin our acquaintance with the city.
Arzamas landmarks: a brief description
The Resurrection Cathedral in the city was erected in honor of the great victory over the French in 1812. The construction of this magnificent structure took five and a half million bricks, 1000 cubic meters of rubble stone went to the foundation, 165 tons of iron were used. The building was designed by Mikhail Corinthsky - a student of the famous architect A.N. Voronikhin. The Resurrection Cathedral is, undoubtedly, the main decoration of the city. It is built on a high hill, harmoniously completing the composition of the central city square.
The sights of Arzamas, which, of course, include the Resurrection Cathedral, amaze tourists with their originality. If you look at the temple from afar, you can see that its domes rise above all the temple buildings of the city. The cathedral is built in the shape of a Greek cross. Its width and length are 64 meters, and its height is 47 meters. The pediments of the temple are decorated with large murals on biblical subjects. During the years of Soviet rule, the cathedral was planned to be blown up, a protest by local residents did not allow this to be done. The temple was just closed. In mid-1948, services were resumed there. In 2009, Patriarch Kirill visited the cathedral.
Cathedral Square
Cathedral Square of the city is a cultural and historical center. Here are the famous attractions of Arzamas of the Nizhny Novgorod region. In addition to the cathedral, which we spoke about, in the square there is a church of the Icon of the Mother of God.
A monument to V.I. Lenin in a cozy park. There are always a lot of people in the square - the townspeople come here to visit temples, go shopping or just relax in the park.
Monastery of St. Nicholas
Many of Arzamas sights are places of worship. This is St. Nicholas Monastery (female), located in the city center. It was founded by Ivan the Terrible in 1580. Since then, the monastery lasted until 1924. Then she shared the fate of all such institutions - the new authorities closed the monastery.
In 1994, the monastery was transferred to the Orthodox Church. Today 40 inhabitants live here, two temples work: in honor of the icon of the Mother of God and in honor of the Holy Epiphany. There is a rather large library at the monastery. The nuns of the monastery take care of the pupils of the labor colony of the city.
Epiphany Church
The sights of Arzamas, the photos of which you see in this article, are sometimes closely connected by a single story. An example of this is the Epiphany Church, which is located on the territory of the Nikolaev Monastery. There are several versions about the beginning of the construction of this temple, but the most reliable one says that the church was built in 1811. The authors of the project were local architects.
Since the construction, the building has been rebuilt five times, and each reconstruction added new architectural features to it. Many sights of the city of Arzamas admire the courage of architectural solutions. For example, the Epiphany Church has a two-story layout. On the first floor there are cells in which sick nuns live, and a hospital church, and on the second - the Church of the Epiphany. The church fits perfectly into the overall composition of Cathedral Square.
Museum of the Russian Patriarchate
This is an amazing project of the Nizhny Novgorod Metropolis of the Orthodox Church and the Historical and Architectural Museum of Nizhny Novgorod. This is a unique exposition (the only one in the world), which is completely devoted to the life of Russian patriarchs. The museum began work in August 2013. The exhibits of the collection demonstrate the history of the patriarchate, including the Soviet era, when the life of the church was full of persecution. Most of the museum is devoted to the life of His Holiness Patriarch Sergius, who was a native of Arzamas.
Memorial to the victims of June 4, 1988
Many tourists visiting the city of Arzamas, Nizhny Novgorod region, the sights associated with the 1988 tragedy, are very impressive. On this terrible day at 9 hours 32 minutes, three cars with technical explosives exploded at the city's railway station. Their total weight was 121 tons. The explosion was so strong that a funnel formed with a diameter of 53 meters and a depth of 26 meters. The blast wave destroyed buildings within a radius of two kilometers. The tragedy killed 91 people and injured 1,500 people.
At this point (9.32), the hands of the clock froze at the memorial. Here, under the dome of the chapel is a bell that rings in memory of the victims of the disaster. Bishop Elijah consecrated the memorial.
House-Museum of A. Gaidar
Now let us introduce you some of the cultural sights of Arzamas. Here is the only house-museum of A. Gaidar in our country. It was opened in 1967. The Literary and Memorial Museum consists of three departments: the Memorial, the Literary and the Museum of A.M. Gorky.
In the center of the city is the literary museum of the writer. It is located in the building where the Golikov family lived (surname of the writer). This two-story mansion was built at the end of the 19th century and belonged to the nobleman P.P. Scherbakov. In the late 80s of the XIX century, he passed into the ownership of A.I. Babaykina, in one of the wings lived the family of the future writer. Here the childhood and youth of Gaidar passed. In the museum’s exposition, you can see genuine things that once belonged to the Golikov family: dishes, furniture, and personal belongings of parents.
In addition, in the museum you can get acquainted with manuscripts, photographs, documents. On the stands it is easy to trace the growth of an ordinary boy and his transformation into a real writer, journalist. In 1966, a monument to Arkady Gaidar was erected on the central avenue of the Arzamas Culture and Leisure Park: the work of sculptor Yu. Struchkov and architect V. Zeldman.
Balahonykhinsky cave
The natural attractions of Arzamas in our article are presented by the Balakhonykhinsky Cave. Its area is about 54 hectares. It is located in the east of the old plaster quarry near a steep wall. The cave has a narrow entrance, rather resembling a gap, the length of which is 2.5 meters. The cave arch is a hemisphere cracked into separate blocks. It crowns the main hall and is reflected in perfectly clear water flowing along the bottom of the cave.
The temperature here does not rise above +3 degrees. In this cave, which is natural for karst formations, stalactites, stalagmites, stalactites, columns and curtains covered with bluish ice appeared. From the central hall upwards diverge. All of them are connected by long underground galleries. The total length of the cave is 48 kilometers, the highest height is 3 meters. In the long corridor you can distinguish ledges, their height is more than 50 centimeters.
At the entrance to the cave in the summer, the ice veins thaw, forming small stalactites on the vault. The Balakhonykhinsky cave is still little studied, therefore it causes great interest of specialists.
The Eiffel Tower
It is unlikely that any of the tourists studying the sights of Arzamas expects to see the Eiffel Tower here. This superbly executed, very accurate reduced copy of the famous design is located in the eastern part of the city, near the commercial technical school. It was built in 2012 by students under the leadership of Sergey Brodin, who conceived this project.
An amazing replica built on a 1:40 scale. The height of the structure is eight meters. The famous creation of the Eiffel is transmitted in the smallest details, which here, as in the original, are 18036 units. Agree, such sights of Arzamas may surprise even a sophisticated tourist.
Monument to soldiers of the internationalists
I must say that the residents of the city are very protective and maintain the sights of Arzamas in excellent condition, regardless of their age, historical and cultural value. With special trepidation, they belong to the Monument to soldiers-internationalists - their fellow countrymen who gave their lives in Afghanistan and Chechnya. This monument, located on Kalinin Street, always has fresh flowers.