History of Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod was founded by Prince Yuri II of Vladimir in 1221. Citizens organized an army to liberate Moscow from the Poles in 1611, led by Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. During the Russian Empire, in 1817 Nizhny Novgorod became the country's main trading city. In 1896, the city hosted the largest All-Russia exhibition. In the Soviet era, Nizhny Novgorod was renamed Gorky, in honor of the writer Maxim Gorky. Then it was the industrial center of the Soviet Union. During the World War II, the city sent to the front a huge amount of military equipment and ammunition. Therefore, German aviation bombed the city for 3 years. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the city was renamed back to Nizhny Novgorod. In Russia, the city became a political center and the capital of the Volga Federal District. Now the city is developing tourism.

In the Oka estuary formed a comfortable place to gather Murom and Suzdal armies for war against Volga Bulgaria. In 1220 Prince Yuri II of Vladimir conquered Bulgaria. The following year he decided to establish an important place for Russia and founded a city in the mouth of the Oka.

The name of the city - Nizhny Novgorod, that is, the "lower new city" - led historians to think about the existence of an older city. The hypothesis of the "Old Town" was supported by historians. There were versions of the origin of the city from the Bulgars, Mordovian-Erzyas (Erzya language: "Obran osh") or Russians ("Suzdal old city"). Archaeological data does not support any of the hypotheses. Since there are no earlier buildings on the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin or in the vicinity of the city.

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Wikipedia