Vologda (, ) is a city and the administrative center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the river Vologda within the watershed of the Northern Dvina. Population:

The city serves as a major transport hub of the Northwest of Russia. The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation has classified Vologda as a historic city, one of 41 in Russia and one of only three in Vologda Oblast. The Russian Cultinfo website wrote that there were 224 monuments of historical, artistic and cultural importance in Vologda.

History

Foundation

The official founding year of Vologda is 1147, based on the 17th century "Tale of Miracles of Gerasimus of Vologda" and Ivan Slobodsky's 1716 "Chronicler", which tells the story of the arrival of the monk Gerasimus who founded the Trinity Monastery near the Vologda river. This date, which would make Vologda about the same age as Moscow, was introduced by the historian Aleksey Zasetsky in 1780.

However, historians and archaeologists have expressed doubts on the official founding year, Instead, they believe that the city was founded in the 13th century with Vologda being mentioned in a 1264 agreement between the Novgorod Republic and the Grand Prince of Vladimir as an outlying possession of the Novgorod Republic.

The nucleus of Vologda in the 13th century was not located in the area which is now the city center, but rather the area known now as "Lazy ground" (), close to the Resurrection church. This area was the center of Vologda up to 1565. Until that year, no stone constructions existed in Vologda; all of the city fortifications, bridges, houses, churches, and industrial enterprises were made of wood.

Since the 15th century, Vologda was a political exile destination and was even known as "Siberia close to the capital". In the 19th–20th centuries, such persons as Joseph Stalin, Vyacheslav Molotov (later the Minister of Foreign Affairs), Nikolai Berdyaev (the famous Russian philosopher), Boris Savinkov (later known as a successful terrorist), Mariya Ulyanova, and Alexander Bogdanov were sent to Vologda. Anatoly Lunacharsky chose to go there to join Bogdanov, and to marry Anna Alexandrovna Malinovskaya, Bogdanov's sister.

Soviet period

thumb|left|Traditional wooden architecture

Soviet power was established in Vologda in December 1917, and up to the summer of 1918 co-existed with the zemstvo and municipal administration. In February 1918, Vologda became the "diplomatic capital of Russia" for several months. Embassies located in Saint Petersburg were threatened by the German army, so Western powers, led by American Ambassador David R. Francis, relocated them to Vologda. However, pressured by the Bolsheviks, on July 24, 1918, the diplomats were compelled to leave Vologda and repatriate via Arkhangelsk.

During the Russian Civil War, Vologda was the location of the headquarters of the 6th Red Army. The army opposed the White Army under command of Evgeny Miller and the military forces of Entente in northern Russia.

In 1924 the government ordered to close the Vsegradsky cathedral, that used to be one of the biggest and most revered in the city. In 1929, the Vologda Governorate was abolished and included into the structure of a new formation, Northern Krai, which also included former Arkhangelsk and Northern Dvina Governorates, as well as the Komi-Zyryan Autonomous Oblast. The administrative center of Northern Krai was located in Arkhangelsk. In December 1936, Northern Krai was abolished and divided into the Komi ASSR and Northern Oblast, with the administrative center still located in Arkhangelsk. On September 23, 1937, Northern Oblast was divided into Arkhangelsk Oblast and Vologda Oblast by the decision of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union. According to the same decision, districts of former Cherepovets Okrug of Leningrad Oblast were attached to Vologda Oblast. These districts currently make for the western part of Vologda Oblast. Thereby the current borders of Vologda Oblast were determined.

In the 1930s, a flax factory, a coach-repair factory, and a sawmill, "Northern Communard," were constructed.

During World War II, martial law was declared in Vologda, and its industrial enterprises shifted to military production. In the fall of 1941, Finnish troops crossed the borders of Vologda Oblast, and Vologda thus became a front city. The inhabitants were mobilized to dig trenches. In the city, bomb-proof shelters and elementary shelters were under construction, systems of air defense which protected the railway junction and the military-industrial enterprises were developed. As a result, though attempts of bombardments were numerous, no bombs fell on the city. To commemorate these events, a monument to the air defense forces was later erected on Zosimovskaya Street in Vologda. The monument has the shape of an anti-aircraft gun. In addition, Vologda was a railway hub used to supply the army and to evacuate equipment. It also served as a large hospital center. Residents of Vologda donated blood, money, and jewellery. The tank detachment "Vologda Collective Farmer" was funded by these donations. To commemorate these events the monument to the tank T-34 was built on Mira Street.

Between 1961 and 1985, Anatoly Drygin was the first secretary of the CPSU Vologda Oblast Committee and the head of the oblast. During this period, notable changes in many aspects of economy both of the city and of the oblast occurred. In particular, a bearing plant, a mechanical plant, and an optical-mechanical factory were built in Vologda. A polytechnical university was opened. A large-scale poultry farm was established. A major construction initiative was carried out, and, in particular, the first buildings higher than five floors were constructed. The city expanded, with new residential areas built; in particular, Byvalovo, GPZ, the fifth and the sixth Microdistricts. In 1976, the Vologda trolleybus system opened.

Post-Soviet period

220px|thumb|Church of Intercession in Kozlyona

In November 1991, the city administration was formed and the reform of local governments began. In October 1993, the Soviets of People's Deputies of all levels were abolished. After the dissolution of the Vologda Soviet, the City Duma was established. The first Duma elections took place on March 20, 1994. This first Duma only had six seats, but in 1995, after the next elections, it was expanded to thirty deputies.

On July 25, 1996, the City Duma adopted the main city document: the Charter of Vologda. On October 6, 1996, the first mayoral elections in the history of Vologda took place. Alexey Yakunichev was elected and became the head of the city. His term ended in 2008.

In 2003, the construction of a ring road started. Before that, the М8 highway connecting Moscow and Arkhangelsk ran through the city center, causing congestion. Since the completion, the ring road connects the highways А114 (Vologda – Novaya Ladoga), Р5 (Vologda – Medvezhyegorsk), and М8 (Moscow – Arkhangelsk). On August 25, 2005, the City Duma approved the new Charter of Vologda. Even though the deputies introduced more than four hundred amendments and the document increased more than twice in volume as compared with the Charter of 1996, the changes were relatively minor. On October 12, 2008, Yevgeny Shulepov was elected to be the City Head.

Geography

Climate

Vologda's climate is a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb) under the Köppen classification and temperate continental with mildly warm summer and cold winter (Dclo) under the Trewartha classification. Winter is long and cold but not severe and lasts for five months. Spring and autumn are cool, summer is mild, the coldest months are January and February, the warmest month is July. Rain is most frequent in the summer and autumn.

  • Mean annual temperature:
  • Mean annual speed of wind: 3.0 m/s
  • Mean annual humidity of air: 80%

Demographics

The population of the city and the oblast consists mainly of ethnic Russians. A considerable part of the city population are government officials and civil servants of different levels – according to various estimates, their number reaches fifty thousand people. The reason is that Vologda is not only a big city but also the administrative center of Vologda Oblast. Around 43 million hectares of farmland is unused, hence government has announced giving away free land. Vologda will lend 468,000 hectares of land for agriculture and raising livestock purpose.

Politics

The key subjects of power in the city are:

  • The Vologda City Duma is a representative body. It comprises 30 deputies elected based on universal, equal, and direct suffrage in 30 single-mandate constituencies. The term of office of the City Council is five years. The Vologda City Duma is controlled and accountable to all elected officials (including the head of the city of Vologda), the city administration, and the Chamber of Control and Accounts. The activities of the city duma are managed by its chairman and presidium (consisting of the chairman, deputy chairmen, heads of factions and standing committees, and a representative of the head of the city of Vologda). The only faction in the Vologda City Duma is the United Russia faction (26 people).
  • The Mayor of Vologda is the highest official in the city, authorized to manage the city economy, budget, distribution of funds, and management of the city administration. On 24 November 2017, Sergei Voropanov (United Russia) was appointed acting mayor of Vologda, being the first deputy head of the city. On 26 November 2019, he was appointed to the post of mayor.
  • The head of the city of Vologda is a city official authorized for external municipal relations, accountable to the federal authorities. Appointed by deputies of the city duma and the governor for five years. Reports to the Vologda City Duma at least once a year. Since 26 September 2016, Yuri Sapozhnikov has been appointed mayor of Vologda.
  • The Vologda city administration is an executive and administrative body. It consists of 7 departments (directly carry out management), 5 departments and 2 departments (provide the work of the administration). The head of administration is the head of the city of Vologda. Deputy heads of the city are heads of departments.
  • The Chamber of Control and Accounts of the city of Vologda is a control body. It is formed by the Vologda City Duma and reports to it. Controls the execution of the budget and the disposal of property owned by the city, conducts budgetary examinations of municipal legal acts, and audits the effectiveness of the use of budgetary funds.

Administrative and municipal status

Vologda is the administrative center of the oblast and, within the framework of administrative divisions, it also serves as the administrative center of Vologodsky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is, together with one rural locality, incorporated separately as the city of oblast significance of Vologda (one of the four in Vologda Oblast)—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.

Culture and art

Vologda is one of the best preserved big cities of Russia combining traditional wooden architecture and stone monuments. In Vologda, 193 monuments of architecture and history are designated as cultural monuments of federal significance. The most known of them are

  • Vologda Kremlin (Bishop's courtyard)
  • Saint Sophia cathedral
  • Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery
  • ensemble of the Vladimir churches
  • Konstantin and Elena church, St. John the Baptist Church in Roshcheniye with its frescoes
  • Dmitry Prilutsky church
  • Church of the Intercession on Kozlyona
  • architectural ensembles of the Stone bridge and of the Revolyutsii Square

Of 116 historical cities of Russia only 16 have monuments of wooden architecture. Vologda is among them.

Trademarks

thumb|1957 stamp illustrating Vologda lace.

Vologda's trademark products include Vologda lace, butter, and flax.

Museums

In Vologda, there are ten museums, four showrooms of the Vologda Regional Art Gallery, and the gallery "Red bridge". The largest cultural center of the Russian North is the Vologda State Museum Reserve. Its structure now includes the following museums,

  • Vologda Kremlin (Bishop's courtyard)
  • Peter the Great's house museum (Peter's house) – the first museum of Vologda (opened in 1885)
  • Expocenter "Vologda at a boundary of centuries"
  • Museum "World of the forgotten things"
  • K. N. Batyushkov's apartment museum
  • Museum "Literature. Art. 20th century"
  • Alexander Mozhaysky's house museum
  • Museum "Vologda exile"
  • Museum of Architecture and Ethnography (Semyonkovo)

Additionally, Vologda is home to a unique Russian private museum of political history—the Museum of Diplomatic Corps which highlights the short stay of diplomatic corps in Vologda in 1918.

Theaters

  • Drama theater
  • Theater for children and youth
  • Puppet theater "Teremok"
  • Chamber theater
  • Philharmonic society of Valery Gavrilin
  • Children's musical theater

Annual festivals

The following annual theater festivals are held in Vologda:

  • "Voices of History" (the beginning of July, every year)
  • Valery Gavrilin international music festival (every year, from October until December)
  • "Summer in the Kremlin" (every even year, from June until July)
  • The annual open international festival of multimedia art "Multimatograf"

Exhibitions

Among annual exhibitions which take place in Vologda are the following:

  • "Russian Flax"
  • "Russian Wood"
  • "Gates of the North"
  • "Your Home"

Literature

Many notable Russian writers and poets were born or worked in Vologda. The best known of them were Konstantin Batyushkov, Varlam Shalamov, Nikolay Rubtsov, and Vasily Belov and Vladimir Gilarovsky. Contemporary literature of Vologda is represented by a number of authors which include Nata Suchkova, Maria Markova, Galina Schekina, and Anton Chorny.

Institutions of higher education

  • Vologda State Technical University
  • Vologda State Pedagogical University
  • N.V. Vereschagin Vologda State Dairy Academy
  • Vologda Institute of Law and Economy of the Federal Penal Service
  • Vologda Institute of Business
  • Branches:
  • Vologda branch of the Moscow State Law Academy
  • Vologda branch of the Northwestern Academy of Public Service
  • Vologda branch of the Saint Petersburg State University of Engineering and Economics
  • Vologda branch of the International Academy of Business and New Technologies

Transportation

Vologda is a major transportation hub, located at the intersection of highways, railways, and waterways.

The public transport network is well developed in the city: There are both bus and trolleybus lines. The city has four big automobile bridges: two automobile bridges across the Vologda and two bridges across railways. There is one pedestrian bridge (the Red bridge) in the city center.

Railway

Vologda is the largest sorting and transit spot of the Northern Railway. It includes the stations Vologda-1, Vologda-2, Rybkino, and Losta. The stretch between Vologda-2 and Losta is the most active one in the railroad network of the Russian Federation, with more than 120–150 pairs of trains running through it daily. Suburban trains and long-distance trains originate from the railway station of Vologda-1. The Rybkino railway station, a railway station for freight trains, is near Vologda.

Air

The Vologda Airport is situated 10 km from the city centre along the Arkhangelsk highway. Yak-40 aircraft carry out regular passenger flights to Moscow, Ukhta, Velikiy Ustyug, Kichmengsky Gorodok, and Vytegra. Helicopters Mi-2 and Mi-8 are used by the Vologda aviation company. They are used for the emergency aircraft and for the oil pipeline service.

Highways

The following highways go through Vologda:

  • Federal highway М8 (Moscow–Yaroslavl–Vologda–Arkhangelsk–Severodvinsk). The entrance to Vologda from the Moscow side (south) is Okruzhnoe shosse and Koneva street, from the Arkhangelsk side (north) to Chernyshevskaya street.
  • Road А-114 (Vologda–Cherepovets–Novaya Ladoga). The entrance to Vologda is Leningradskoe shosse and Okruzhnoe shosse.
  • Line Р-5 (Vologda–Kirillov–Vytegra–Pudozh–Medvezhyegorsk). The entrance to Vologda is Alexander Klubov street.
  • Roads of local importance lead to
  • Mozhaiskoye and Norobovo,
  • Fetinino (through Semyonkovo)
  • Gryazovets and Rostilovo (old Moscow highway).

The new ring road with modern exits connecting roads A-114, Р-5 and М-8 (the Arkhangelsk destination) is under construction around Vologda. The Arkhangelsk direction is still not connected by the ring road.

Urban public transport

The municipal transportation of Vologda is carried out by bus and trolleybus routes, and also by lines of fixed-route taxis. Regular bus service started in Vologda in 1929, the trolleybus service was open in 1976. As of November 2009, in Vologda there were five trolleybus routes, nineteen municipal bus routes, and about forty marshrutkas (routed taxis). The main transport companies are the open society "VologdaElectroTrans" (trolleybuses), PATP-1 and PATP-32 (municipal bus routes).

<gallery widths="200" heights="160">>

File:LiAZ-5256.46 in Vologda.jpg|Bus LiAZ-5256

File:Pavlovo Bus «Aurora» 70.jpg|PAZ-4230 "Aurora"

File:Mercedes-Benz bus 5.jpg|Mercedes-Benz O345

File:Ikarus 280.33 in Vologda - 2009.jpg|Ikarus 280

File:Vologda MAZ-206.jpg|MAZ-206

File:VMZ «Olimp» bus 3.jpg|VMZ "Olimp"

File:Шкода на Левичева.JPG|Trolleybus Skoda-VMZ-14Tr

File:ВМЗ6215.JPG|Trolleybus VMZ-6215

File:Graf&Stift GSGE 150M18.jpg|Trolleybus Gräf & Stift 150M18

File:ВМЗ-5298.30АХ.JPG|Trolleybus VMZ-5298

File:ВМЗ-375.JPG|VMZ-375

</gallery>

Industry

Currently, there are more than ten thousand enterprises of various patterns of ownership in Vologda. The most notable ones are:

  • Closed joint-stock company "Vologda Bearing Factory" – produces bearings of various types
  • Open joint stock company "Vagron" – alcohol production
  • Open joint stock company "Vologda Machine-Building Plant" – produces various processing equipment for agriculture
  • Open joint stock company "Vologda Optical and Mechanical Plant" – produces optical devices
  • State-owned enterprise "Vologda Railway-Carriage Repair Works", branch of the Open Society of the Russian Railway – produces various trains, makes repair and reconstruction of old carriages
  • Open joint stock company "Byvalovsky machinery plant" – the leading enterprise of the Northwest of Russia that produces cranes
  • Open joint stock company "ElectroTechMash" – produces electric household and technological products
  • Limited liability company "Central operating company" – building, designing, management of dwellings, management of the commercial real estate
  • Open joint stock company "Trans-alpha" (former "Vologda mechanical factory") – produces trolleybuses and buses
  • Opened joint-stock company "Vologda building designs and road machines factory" – produces mobile buildings for household, public, and industrial use
  • Closed joint-stock company "SoyuzLesMontazh" – produces a wide range of equipment for wood processing and equipment for the paper industry

Traditional national crafts are presented by the closed joint-stock company «Snowflake» (lace), limited liability company "Hope" and other enterprises.

Sports

Vologda has large sports venues such as the stadiums "Dynamo", "Locomotive", "Vityaz", the swimming pools "Dynamo" and "Lagoon", the sports and concert complex "Spectrum", fitness centers, regional athletic spots.

Vologda is a home to:

  • the male soccer team "Dynamo"
  • the female basketball team "Chevakata"

Twin towns – sister cities

Vologda is twinned with:

  • Burgas, Bulgaria
  • Grodno, Belarus
  • Kouvola, Finland
  • Sevastopol, Ukraine
  • Yevpatoria, Ukraine

<!--rest - partnership, not twinning-->

Notable people

Arts

  • Konstantin Batyushkov (1787–1855), poet
  • Valery Gavrilin (1939–1999), composer
  • Varlam Shalamov (1907–1982), writer, poet
  • Georgi Vasilyev (1899–1946), film director, screenwriter
  • Apollo Korzeniowski and his son Joseph Conrad, writers, were expelled to Vologda via court-martial order
  • Anya Monzikova (born 1984), model and actress

Sciences

  • Alexander Bykov (born 1962), historian, numismatist
  • Khariton Chebotaryov (1746–1815), historian, rector of the Moscow University
  • Nikolay Devyatkov (1907–2001), engineer and inventor
  • Grigory Landsberg (1890–1957), physicist

Sports

  • Uno Aava (born 1928), Estonian racing driver
  • Yuliya Chekalyova (born 1984), cross-country skier
  • Zhanna Gromova (born 1949), figure skating coach
  • Nikolay Gulyayev (born 1966), speed skater
  • Aleksandr Vladimirovich Kulikov (born 1988), football player
  • Natalia Podolskaya (canoeist) (born 1993), canoeist
  • Artur Rylov (born 1989), football player
  • Tamara Rylova (1931–2021), speed skater
  • Adam Vishnyakov (born 1991), former professional football player
  • Artem Yashkin (born 1975), football player

See also

  • Northern Thebaid

References

Citations

General and cited references

  • Brumfield, William. Vologda Album (Moscow: Tri Kvadrata, 2005) (in English and in Russian)
  • Official website of Vologda;
  • Official website of Vologda;
  • Vologda in photos: photoarchive by William Brumfield
  • Tracing Russia's Past and Present in Vologda
  • Detailed information on Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery
  • Unofficial website of Vologda
  • View from St. Sophia Cathedral bell tower
  • Russian Pillow Lace
  • Historic architecture of Vologda;
  • Russia Beyond the Headlines. Treasures of the Vologda Region;