ВятГГУ :: From the History of Kirov

From the History of Kirov

The history of our city is well studied. But still ,local historians have been investigating some disputable questions concerning: 1) the date of the city's foundation, 2) its original name, 3) the place of its foundation.

The generally accepted date of the city's foundation is 1374. It is the date mentioned in Old Russian Chronicles by Pymen the priest. According to this datum, the city is more than 600 years old, and the first settlers were people of Novgorod. They sailed to the high bank of the Vyatka river in ushkuye, special boats made of wood. Historical documents say there were 40 boats with 1200 people of Novgorod. They set up a fort, which gave birth to a settlement and then a town.

But some regional ethnographers consider the city to be far older. They say the first settlement appeared in the 12-century, i.e. 200 years earlier. They say the first settlers came to Vyatka 8 centuries ago, and they were the Udmurts. It is proved by numerous words, phrases and geographical names of the Udmurt origin still used in our speech nowadays. When in the 14th century warriors of Novgorod came, they drove away the aborigines.

The historians also argue about the place of the city's foundation. In the Chronicles we can read about Kikimorskaya Mountain as the place of the first settlement. It is the place where Vodoprovodnaya street and the city TV tower are located now. But some historians are inclined to the opinion that the city sprang up a little lower downstream on the high bank of the river. The Obelisk with Eternal Fire is situated there now.

The 3d point discussed and argued by scientists is the original name of the city. Many of them consider «Vyatka» to be the first name. There are several legends as far as the name «Vyatka» is concerned. One of them says it comes from the name of some ancient Udmurt tribe. Another says the word was brought by people of Novgorod to denote the river they sailed into when they came to conquer this land. It meant «greater water». «a greater river». Hence the name of the settlement they founded. Other historians affirm that it was Khlynov from the word «Khlyn» meaning «an independent man, a thief, a robber». It may refer to people of Novgorod because they robbed and conquered new lands, or it may refer to people of later years when they didn't want to join Moscow. But still the officially accepted first name of the city is Vyatka. So these problems are still being investigated and discussed.

In the 15th century the population of the city was 2 - 2,5 thousand people. Vyatka land was an independent state or republic with its vetche - a popular assembly. The city faced the necessity of building a fortress to defend it from enemies. In ancient Russia such fortifications were called a kremlin. The first kremlin in the shape of an irregular pentagon with 8 towers was built in 1455 -1456. The wooden walls were 850 m long and surrounded by a deep moat. So the city became an inaccessible fortress.

In 1457 the town was renamed Khlynov.

The 15th century was a period of struggle against Moscow principality. Moscow princes wanted to unite the lands and to subordinate them to Moscow. They made several attempts (1457,1459,1485) to conquer the city which put up a desperate fight against Moscow. In 1489 the 15-thousand army of Moscow sieged the city. After a 2-day siege the population surrendered it without resistance. So it was annexed and subordinated to Moscow, to Prince Ivan ITT, and the republic ceased its existence. But at the same time the land got a stimulus for development. At the beginning of the 16th century the city became one of the biggest cities in the North -East of Russia.

In 1580 the first monastery was founded by Trifon. It became the center of ecclesiastical life.

In the 16th century the city grew. The inhabitants of it began to build houses outside the kremlin walls to live, to take up handicrafts and to trade. At the end of the 16th century there were more than 400 houses around the Kremlin. The streets were lined radially, i.e. they ran from the kremlin like sunrays.

The 17th century was a period of trade and manufacture development. The first kremlin dilapidated and the second kremlin was built in 1661 -1679. It was a double wall 20m high, surrounded by a moat 4 - 5m deep and 1 km long. The 8 towers were 40m high. The highest of them was Spasskaya Tower which was built on the site, where Spasskaya street crosses Bolshevikov street nowdays. Practically there are no remains of the original kremlin. As for the second one it was destroyed by fire in 1752. Some embankments of it have preserved.

In old times the city was frequently enveloped by fires. They were great calamities for inhabitants because houses were wooden and were burnt down to ashes. That's why they began to build houses of stone.

Then first stone constructions were mostly churches and bell-towers, later civil constructions appeared. Some of them have preserved. E.g. the House of Father Superior in the monastery of St. Trifon has retained its original look without considerable changes. Prykaznaya Izba is a wonderful architectural monument of the 17th century.

The 18th century was remarkable for several administrative reforms.

The reform of 1708-1710 devided the territory of Russia into provinces. Vyatka land wasn't made a separate province, in 1719 all its districts were joined to the province of Siberia and in 1727 - to Kazan province. Only in 1780 Vyatka gerency was founded. Khlynov was renamed -Vyatka.

In 1796 Vyatka gerency was turned into Vaytka province (in old Russia it was called gubernia). The first governor was appointed.

In 1784 Empress Catherine II signed the order how cities should be planned and built. She wanted all Russian cities to be built on a similar model. Streets should run strictly from East to West and from North to South. It changed the face of the city greatly. The radial planning of the city was destroyed in due course of time. 18 new streets ran from the Vyatka river to the West and were crossed by new streets running perpendicularly from North to South.

In the 19th century Vaytka was a provincial trading center with a large market place, stalls and churches. The 19th century brought changes into the life of the town.

Industry and trade were developing gradually. The number of enterprises grew. The first telegraph and telephone were laid on, the first railroad was built. In 1861 the local steamship line was opened my merchant Bulychev. In 1862 the first Public Bank was founded. In spite of the economic expansion Vyatka was still a far provincial town, a good place for exile. Tsar Nicholas I sent many politically unreliable public men into exile to Vyatka (namely A.I. Hertsen, M.Y. Saltykov-Shchedrin, A.L. Vitberg and others).

The convicts did much for the cultural development of the town. The first public library was founded in Vyatka in 1836. It was done on Hertsen's initiative. In 1811 the first museum was opened in Vyatka. The first newspapers appeared.

At the same time performing and fine arts began to develop. The first amateur theatre clubs began to act. In 1877 a regular operating theatre was opened. Its building was designed by architect Nefedyev.

Several beautiful architectural ensembles were erected in that century (e.g. the Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky designed by architect Vitberg and the park ensemble of Alexander's Garden which was named after tsar Alexander II).

So, at the beginning of the 20th century Vyatka became an important industrial and cultural center in the North-East of European Russia.

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