Severodvinsk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 64°34′″N, 39°49′″E

Severodvinsk (Russian: Северодви́нск) is a city in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It is located in the delta of the Northern Dvina, 35 km west of Arkhangelsk. It has population of 201,551 (2002 Census).

[edit] History

View of the Karelian Monastery of St. Nicholas in the early 20th century.

The settlement on the site of modern Severodvinsk was first mentioned in 1419, when the Swedes sailed into the bay and burnt down the Nikolo-Korelsky Monastery that stood on the shore. This monastery is believed to have been founded by St. Euphemius, an Orthodox missionary in the Karelian lands. The abbey stood in ruins until 1471, when two sons of Marfa Boretskaya were killed by a vicious storm and their bodies were recovered on the beach near the monastery twelve days later. At the urging of Boretskaya, the monastery was restored and her sons were buried there.

On 24 August 1553, a ship of Richard Chancellor reached the salt-mining settlement of Nenoksa, which is still famous for its traditional wooden architecture. The British sailors proceeded to the Nikolo-Korelsky Monastery, where they were surprised to find a community of "sailors in soutanes" and a pier large enough to accommodate several ships. The main church of this extraordinary establishment was dedicated to Saint Nicholas, the holy patron of sailors; hence, the whole White Sea became known in the 16th-century English maps as "St. Nicholas Bay".

The Nikolo-Karelsky Monastery flourished after the establishment of the Muscovy Company, as the bulk of their trade passed through the local harbour. In August 1618, the harbour was visited by John Tradescant the elder, who conducted a survey of an island situated opposite the monastery. This island became known in the British tradition as Rose Island, because it was there that Tradescant found an exceedingly rare plant which he labelled "Rosa Moscovita" and brought back to London.

Entrance to the Karelian Monastery of St. Nicholas (1691), now in the Kolomenskoe Museum of Moscow.

The extant buildings of the monastery were constructed at the close of the Muscovite period. The five-domed cathedral of St. Nicholas was built in 1670-74, preceded by the Assumption church (1664-67), to which it is joined by a gallery. Several decades later, the walls and towers were built of timber; the best preserved of these towers was transported by the Soviets to Kolomenskoe, Moscow, where it may be seen to this day.

[edit] Modern city

The modern city of Severodvinsk was developed in the Soviet period. It received the town status in 1938. In 1938–1957 it was named Molotovsk (Мо́лотовск), after Vyacheslav Molotov.

During the World War II it was the place where a significant part of the materials delivered to Russia by the Arctic Convoys to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk were actually unloaded. For example, Empire Elgar, a Heavy Lift Ship that arrived in Arkhangelsk on Convoy PQ16, spent eight weeks unloading some of the ships from the famous convoy PQ17.

There is the main Russian naval base for nuclear submarines, and also major submarine construction (64.5817 N, 39.8307 E) and repairing facilities. The 17th-century buildings of the Nikolo-Korelsky monastery were adapted and are still used for shipbuilding purposes (see here).

[edit] Online references

• History of the Nikolo-Korelsky Monastery (Russian)

	Cities and towns in Arkhangelsk Oblast
	Administrative center: Arkhangelsk Kargopol | Koryazhma | Kotlas | Mezen | Mirny | Naryan-Mar | Novodvinsk | Nyandoma | Onega | Severodvinsk | Shenkursk | Solvychegodsk | Velsk