Makaryev Fair

Nizhny Novgorod Fair (old name — Makaryev Fair) (Russian: Нижегородская ярмарка) was a fair in Nizhny Novgorod held annually every July near Makaryev Monastery on the left bank of the Volga River from the mid-16th century to 1816. Following a massive fire in 1816, it was moved to Nizhny Novgorod, but for some decades thereafter it still was commonly referred to as Makaryev Fair. It attracted many foreign merchants from India, Iran, and Central Asia.

According to Durland, a journalist who visited the fair in 1905, the fair dates from "before the discovery of America." The fair was established by Muscovite princes to compete with, and draw commerce away from, a fair held since 1257, at Kazan, the Tartar capital. At the time Durland visited the fair, it consisted of 60 buildings, 2,500 bazaars and 8,000 exhibits, with goods for sale, along with a broad range of performances for the public.

This fair was a commerce centre to sell up to half the total production of export goods in Russia. The fair ceased in 1929. A society named Nizhegorodskaya yarmarka (Russian: Нижегородская ярмарка, Nizhny Novgorod fair) was created in 1991 with its headquarters in the former main fair building. However, today it is not actually a fair, but an exhibition center.

The center of the fair was the main building in the spirit of classicism and the side administrative buildings that formed the central square. To protect from floods, a 3.5 m high dam was built.

By the end of the 1880s, the Main Fair Building was very outdated and it was decided to completely rebuild it. The following year the construction of a new building was completed according to the project of the architects K. Treiman, A. von Gauguin and A. Trumbitsky. The building was built in the style of ancient Russian architecture of the XVII century. The building served as an administrative center. During the fair, it housed the governor's apartment, fair office, committee, branch of the state bank and others. On the first floor there was a beautiful passage in which there was a retail trade.

Also called Old-fair Cathedral. Temple in the style of late classicism. Until September 12, 2009 was the cathedral of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese. The height of the temple is 40 meters.

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