Cheboksary (population, territory, etc)

Cheboksary is the capital of the Chuvash Republic. It has its territory and population and it is home to bodies of republican and local governments. It has its own coat of arms, flag and anthem.

Cheboksary is the political and business centre of the Chuvash Republic. It is the republic’s seat of power and home to many economic and financial institutions, commercial and specialized banks, etc. Many small businesses are registered in Cheboksary, mainly in the sphere of furniture manufacturing, food production, information and other services.

Cheboksary’s existing transport system generates the main freight and passenger traffic routes in the capital of the Chuvash Republic and in the whole republic.

Cheboksary is the economic centre of the republic, the main supplier of goods and services, scientific and innovative solutions, and advanced technologies. Such sectors as fuel and energy, industry, transport, trade, communications, tourism, and education are considered promising for investment.

Cheboksary is also a cultural and scientific centre of the republic. There are universities and colleges, secondary and technical schools, research institutes and the Academy of Sciences, museums, libraries, theatres, cinemas and so on. The city leads a varied cultural life. In 2003 Cheboksary was declared the Cultural Capital of the Volga Region. A lot of exhibitions, festivals, concerts and other events were held within the framework of the IV Marathon of cultural events. The branch of ENGECON in Cheboksary participated in it with its Week of France.

Citizens are fond of sports. There are three modern stadiums, about 20 swimming-pools and more than 100 modern sports gyms, tennis courts at their disposal. There are also perfectly equipped ski camps. In different years Cheboksary was the host to All-Russia competitions and championships in judo, art of self-defence, cross-country skiing, boxing, bow shooting, wrestling, etc. Cheboksary also hosted the V European Cup in race walking in May 2003 and the XXIII World Cup in May 2008.

Cheboksary is situated in the centre of the European part of Russia on the Volga River. The area of the city is 83.3 square km (about 93 square km with Zavolzhye). About 440,080 people live on this territory.

Cheboksary is divided into three districts: the Moscow district, the Lenin district and the Kalinin district.

The city has an ancient history. It was first mentioned in Russian chronicles in 1469 and this date is considered to be the foundation year of Cheboksary. However, the first settlement on the site of Cheboksary appeared in the 13^th – 14th centuries.

Nowadays Cheboksary is a unique city with rich history, beautiful views and original museums and monuments. Many visitors consider our city the most fascinating and green and one of the best in all aspects of modern life.

The cheboksary fortress, the holy trinity monastary

After joining up the Russian State (1551), new fortresses were built on the new boarders of Russia: in Tsivilsk, Yadrin, Alatyr, and the first one - in Cheboksary.

When the Chuvash lands joined Russia, the Kremlin was built there in 1552. The choice of the place for a fortress Ivan the Fourth entrusted to the archbishop of Kazan and Sviyazhsk, Guriy. In 1555 he came to the new place, where the God permitted to be the town of Cheboksary. The archbishop made a public prayer and sprinkled the place of future walls and the first Orthodox Cathedral with holy water. He also consecrated the future town with the icon of the Virgin of Vladimir. After that public prayer on July 26 the building of the Kremlin started.

The Kremlin took a large territory: its western wall went around the Presentation Cathedral; the ditch with water was digged out on the territory from the Volga to the Cheboksarka River, where the bay is located today. The height of the walls was about 5meters. The common length of the walls was equal to 504 sazhens, or more than 1kilometre. The walls were double, and the area between them, equal to 4meters, was filled up with earth and stones. According to the description of 1613, there were guns on the gates and towers. There was a legend that near the Secret Corner Tower the underground way to the Volga was burrowed through. Now the investigation jail is located in that place. In 1625 458 people lived in the fortress, among them 43 boyards, 4 interpreters, 1 clock-master, 45 foreigners and other people.

10 years later the foundation of the fortress, the Holy Trinity Monastery was founded by the order of Ivan the Terrible. So, in 1565-1566 the walls of the monastery became the continuation of the fortress. That is why the monastery originally had both religious and protecting meaning.

At first, the building of the monastery was made of wood, and only at the end of the 17^th century of stone. In 1600 there was built a stone Holy Trinity Church. Now it is called the Holy Trinity Cathedral. In 1800 two more churches appeared on the territory of the monastery: the Church of the Virgin of Tolgsk and Saint Fyodor Stratilat’s Church. The ensemble of the monastery developed in the course of the 17^th – 20^th centuries.

In 1924 the monastery was closed. Its conscious destruction began. Four years later from the bricks of its northern wall the Peasant’s House Hotel was constructed. Nowadays in this building there is a spiritual school which opened in 1995. The building was constructed in the style of constructivism under the project of the architect Aleksandrov. The monastery was supposed to be completely destroyed, but these plans were not implemented. Nowadays it occupies rather a big territory on the bank of the Volga River. It is one of the oldest constructions in the city.

In the two-storied stone building with a superstructure there are brotherly cells. The building was constructed in the 19^th century, but the superstructure appeared absolutely recently, in 2000. At the northern gate there is a restored Nicholas the Miracle-Worker’s Chapel. It was constructed in the 18^th century.