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| Arkhangelsk (English) Архангельск (Russian) |
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| — Inhabited locality — | |
 View of Arkhangelsk at night |
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 Location of Arkhangelsk Oblast on the map of Russia |
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  Location of Arkhangelsk on the map of Arkhangelsk Oblast
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| Coordinates: 64°32′N 40°32′E / 64.533°N 40.533°ECoordinates: 64°32′N 40°32′E / 64.533°N 40.533°E | |
 Coat of arms |
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| Holiday | Last Sunday of June[citation needed] |
| Administrative status | |
| Country | Russia |
| Federal subject | Arkhangelsk Oblast |
| In administrative jurisdiction of | Arkhangelsk Oblast[citation needed] |
| Administrative center of | Arkhangelsk Oblast, Primorsky District[citation needed] |
| Municipal status | |
| Municipal Status | Urban okrug |
| Mayor[citation needed] | Viktor Pavlenko[citation needed] |
| Representative body | City Council of Deputies[citation needed] |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 294.42 km2 (113.7 sq mi)[citation needed] |
| Population (2002 Census) | 356,051 inhabitants[1] |
| - Rank | 48th |
| - Density | 1,209 /km2 (3,100/sq mi)[2] |
| Time zone | MSK/MSD (UTC+3/+4) |
| Founded | 1584[citation needed] |
| Postal code(s) | 163000 - 163071[citation needed] |
| Dialing code(s) | +7 8182[citation needed] |
| Official website | http://www.arhcity.ru/ |
Arkhangelsk (Russian: Арха́нгельск), or 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 40 kilometers (25 mi) 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 end of a 1,133 km (704 mi) long railroad, connecting it to Moscow via Vologda and Yaroslavl. Population: 356,051 (2002 Census);[3] 415,921 (1989 Census).[4]
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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 1.6 kg (3.53 lb) of silver, mostly coins. Jewelry and pieces of jewelry hail from Russia or neighboring 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 finds, 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 colonization than previously thought.
In the 12th century, the Novgorodians established the Archangel Michael Monastery in the estuary of the Northern Dvina.
The main trade center of the area at that time was Kholmogory, located slightly downstream where the rivers Dvina and Pinega meet. Written sources indicate that Kholmogory existed early in the 12th century, but there is no archeological material to illuminate the early history of the town. It is not known whether this settlement was originally Russian, or if it goes back to pre-Russian times. Centrally in the small town it is today, the so called Gorodok can be found, a large mound of building remains and river sand. However this has not been archeologically excavated.
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.
In 1553, three English ships set out to find the Northeast passage to China in 1553; two disappeared, and one ended up in the White Sea, eventually coming across Arkhangelsk. Ivan the Terrible found out about this, and brokered a trade agreement with the ship's captain. Trade privileges were officially granted to English merchants in 1555, leading to the founding of the Company of Merchant Adventurers, which began sending ships annually into the estuary of the Northern Dvina. 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.
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.
In 1722 Peter I decreed that Arkhangelsk should no longer accept goods more than it was sufficient for the town itself (for the so-called domestic consumption). It was due to the tsar's will to shift all international marine trade to St. Petersburg. This factor contributed a lot to the deterioration of Arkhangelsk that continued up to 1762 when this decree was canceled.
Arkhangelsk declined in the 18th century as the Baltic trade became ever more important. In the early years of the 19th Century, the arrest and prolonged detention by the Russian authorities of John Bellingham, an English export representative based at Arkhangelsk, was the indirect cause of Bellingham later assassinating British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval.
Arkhangelsk's 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 an Allied expedition including Canadian and American soldiers, known as the Polar Bear Expedition.[5]
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 one of the two main destinations (along with Murmansk) 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.
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[6] (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 meters (495 ft) 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 (image).
An unusual example of local "vernacular architecture" was the so-called Sutyagin house (Небоскрёб Сутягина, 'Sutyaguin's skyscraper'). This 13-story, 144-ft tall[7][8] residence of the local entrepreneur Nikolai Petrovich Sutyagin was reported to be the world's, or at least Russia's, tallest wooden house. Constructed by Mr. Sutyagin and his family over 15 years (starting in 1992), without formal plans or a building permit, the structure deteriorated while Mr. Sutyagin spent a few years in prison on racketeering charges. In 2008 it was condemned by the city as a fire hazard, and the courts ordered it to be demolished by February 1, 2009.[7][9]
On December 26, 2008, the tower was pulled down,[10][11] and the remainder of the building was dismantled manually by the early February.[12][13]
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record high °C (°F) | 5.0 (41) |
6.2 (43) |
12.1 (54) |
25.3 (78) |
30.2 (86) |
32.1 (90) |
34.4 (94) |
33.4 (92) |
27.7 (82) |
18.3 (65) |
9.7 (49) |
9.1 (48) |
34.4 (94) |
| Average high °C (°F) | -9.6 (15) |
-8.3 (17) |
-2.9 (27) |
4.1 (39) |
10.8 (51) |
17.6 (64) |
20.9 (70) |
18.3 (65) |
11.5 (53) |
3.9 (39) |
-2.2 (28) |
-6.6 (20) |
4.8 (41) |
| Average low °C (°F) | -16.6 (2) |
-15.6 (4) |
-11.7 (11) |
-4.6 (24) |
1.9 (35) |
7.9 (46) |
11.2 (52) |
9.8 (50) |
5.2 (41) |
-0.6 (31) |
-7.2 (19) |
-13.2 (8) |
-2.7 (27) |
| Record low °C (°F) | -45.2 (-49) |
-41.2 (-42) |
-37.1 (-35) |
-27.3 (-17) |
-13.7 (7) |
-3.9 (25) |
-0.5 (31) |
-4.1 (25) |
-7.5 (19) |
-21.1 (-6) |
-36.5 (-34) |
-43.2 (-46) |
-45.2 (-49) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 33 (1.3) |
27 (1.06) |
26 (1.02) |
31 (1.22) |
42 (1.65) |
54 (2.13) |
61 (2.4) |
68 (2.68) |
60 (2.36) |
61 (2.4) |
53 (2.09) |
44 (1.73) |
560 (22.05) |
| Source: Pogoda.ru.net[14] 8.09.2007 | |||||||||||||
Archangelsk is home the following education institutes:
The cultural life of Archangelsk includes
Bandy is the biggest sport in the city. Vodnik was the best team in the Russian Bandy League for almost a decade. Arkhangelsk hosted the Bandy World Championships in 1999 and 2003.[15]
Arkhangelsk is twinned with:[16]
|
 24-story building in Arkhangelsk |
 Bridge across the Dvina River |
 Assumption Church (1742–44) |
 Naval Cathedral (1760–76) |
 The Archangel Monastery (1685–99) |
 The Trinity Cathedral (1709–65) |
 View of Arkhangelsk Quay in 1826 |
 19th-century view of Arkhangelsk |
 Northern Dvina Quay |
 Arkhangelsk's monument to Peter the Great is represented on the 500-rouble banknote |
 Mark V tank in Arkhangelsk, captured by the RKKA during the British intervention in Russia. |
 A traditional city manor in a preserved district of Arkhangelsk |
 A view on a Russian Navy boat from the embankment of the Northern Dvina river |
Arkhangelsk (pop. 390 000) is a regional center in Northwestern_Russia, located on both banks of Northern Dvina river near it's inlow into the White Sea, about 1100 km to the north from Moscow, and about 1500 km to the north-east from St Petersburg.
The city was founded in 1584 A.D. and became the first Russian port playing the key role in trade with Europe until the foundation of Saint_Petersburg_(Russia). Now it's a provincial city, claimed as the capital of Russian North, and keeping that role, at least in matter of cultural life.
The economy of Arkhangelsk is based on timber trade and paper industry. The city has a large commercial and fishing port.
Situated outside of major tourist flow, Arkhangelsk can be a transit point during a travel to Solovetsky_Islands, but also worth a separate visit. The most comfortable time to see Arkhangelsk is summer. During May, June, and July the sun seems to spend 24/7 in the sky. This is actually not so: Arkhangelsk is 300 km south from Northern Polar Circle, that is why it hasn't polar days or polar nights. But prepare to be awaked by sun looking at you window at 2 AM in summer. The other side of this is 2-3-4 hours of light per day in winter.
Spring is late (snowfalls in May are quite usual), summer is relatively warm (+20-25C), first snow comes in October or November, winters are harsh (-20-30C, windy). November to May Northern Dvina and White Sea are covered with ice, and ship navigation is possible with icebreakers only.
By air:
Getting to Arkhangelsk is most comfortably done by air. There are 1-2 daily flights from Moscow, and 1-2 weekly flights from Saint_Petersburg_(Russia). A one-way flight from Moscow Sheremetyevo-1 airport costs around 3500-4000 roubles (2009) and takes about an hour and forty minutes. There are also direct connections with Murmansk (Russia), Kirkenes (Norway) and Rovaniemi (Finland), but these could have irregular and seasonal basis. Arkhangelsk has two airports: Talagi for interregional flights and Vaskovo (Васьково) for flights within Arkhangelsk region. Talagi airport is about 25 minutes drive from the city centre. The going rate for a taxi to the airport is about 150-200 roubles at the time of writing (2008) although in the opposite direction enterprising cab drivers ask for around 400. There is also a bus connection with the city center costing 15 roubles, but you can wait long and don't enjoy the quality of service.
By train:
A slightly more adventurous traveller will probably opt for the train which from Moscow's Yaroslavsky Vokzal takes about 23 hours (1-2 trains per day). A train journey from St Petersburg is around 27 hours (2 trains per week). Book tickets in advance. The station in Arkhangelsk is situated on the eastern edge of town. Buses and taxis are available and will whisk you to the city centre in a just few minutes.
By car:
1200 km by M8 road from Moscow via Yaroslavl and Vologda, and you are in Arkhangelsk (couple of hundreds km more if you drive from St Petersburg). The road is paved, but it's quality wishes to be much better.
By ship:
Archangelsk is a significant commercial and fishing port acting as well as a gateway to Northern Sea Path (Северный морской путь). But there are no any regular ship connections with Arkhangelsk excluding river commuter ships.
Arkhangelsk is spread for 42 km via Northern Dvina river and has even several islands with no bridge connection included into its metropolitan zone. So, getting around certain districts can be complicated. But all main attractions are located in the center and can be explored by foot.
Public transportation is represented with buses, trolleybuses, and marshrutki (shared minibuses). The price for a ride within the city is 10 roubles (as of 2009). It's difficult to navigate without knowledge of Russian.
River transport is active during the summer season to connect river island vicinities with the city center.
Commuter trains service connects several suburbs with the city, but is interesting mainly for locals keeping their dachas. Each destination usually have one train in the morning and one in the evening. It's possible to get to Severodvinsk by such a train, but the bus service is faster, more frequent, and more preferrable.
Getting around by car or taxi is probably the best way to explore Arkhangelsk. Taxis are inexpensive and could be found near most attractions. Car rental service is represented by local providers only.
All means of transport including taxis reduce their activity significantly after evening rush-hours. This can be especially sensitive in winter, so do not allow yourself to stay half an hour on a -30C frost - order taxi by phone.
City Center:
Arkhangelsk had been founded in 1584, but until 20th century nearly all buildings were wooden. That is why there are not so many examples of old architecture here. Outside of the center buildings become very typical, but the core part of the city has some diversity.
Orientation is easy from Lenin Square, where the only Arkhangelsk's skyscraper is built. This 24-floor administrative building is seen from many parts of the city and can act as a lighthouse for a traveller. Streets called ulitsa (улица) are positioned perpendicularly to the river, those are called prospekt (проспект) are parallel to the river. Area of interest is limited by Dvina's embankment (Naberezhnaya) in the west, Kuznechevsky Bridge in the north, Obvodny Kanal prospekt in the east, and the Sea and River Station (Морской и Речной Вокзал) in the south. Most of attractions e.g. views, buildings, museums, restaurants, theatres etc are located within this shape.
Outside of center:
Shopping infrastructure in Arkhangelsk is being developed, but yet hasn't achieved the level of 400 000 people regional center. Most of goods are brought from Moscow or St. Petersburg, so they cost more expensive than in these cities. There are some local tourist goods to buy:
Budget:
Midrange:
Solovetsky_Islands is a group of islands in the White Sea, about 200 km northwest from Arkhangelsk, famous because of it's national-wide monastery (Solovetsky Monastery). It's massive stone walls together with severe northern nature form stunning views. The site is included into UNESCO World Heritage List. During the Stalin times Solovetsky Monastery was used as a concentration camp and acted as a cornerstone of GULAG empire. Now the monastery role is returned but you still need a permit to visit islands. Expect at least 3-4 days to spend there, and take a lot of anti-mosquito spray with you during summer. There is a direct flight from Arkhangelsk's Vaskovo (Васьково) airport to Solovki (1-2 times a week). During the summer season there is also irregular ship connection. Ask local travel agents for more information.
Pinega (Пинега) is a river in Arkhangelsk region (say 300 km from the city), locally known for beautyful gypsum caves on its banks. Pinega is reachable by bus, extreme lovers can try local train No. 666 (the road to hell as it is), but most probably the best way is to organize the trip via local travel agents.
Siyskiy Monastery is about 200 km to the south from Arkhangelsk, accessible by car. Beautiful site inside taiga.
Severodvinsk, pop. 200 000 is the capital of Russian nuclear submarine production. The city is 35 km away from Arkhangelsk and is easily reachable by car or by bus. If you're not a Russian citizen, you probably need a permit to enter Severodvinsk. It's nothing exceptional in the city's typically Soviet view unless you have a governmental pass to see submarine wharf. White Sea coast is packed into an ugly embankment.
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