Ivanovo, Central Federal District, Russia

🇷🇺 Ivanovo (Иваново) is a city in Russia. It is the administrative centre and largest city of Ivanovo Oblast, located 254 km (158 mi) north-east of Moscow and approximately 100 km (62 mi) from Yaroslavl, Vladimir and Kostroma. Ivanovo is the 49th largest city in Russia. Until 1932, it was previously known as Ivanovo-Voznesensk. The youngest city of the Golden Ring of Russia.

The city lies on the Uvod River, in the centre of the eponymous oblast. Ivanovo gained city status in 1871, and emerged as a major centre for textile production and receiving a name of the "Russian Manchester". The city is served by Ivanovo Yuzhny Airport.

Geography The Uvod River, a tributary of the Klyazma, flows from north to south, dividing the city into two halves. There are also two rivers in Ivanovo: the Talka and the Kharinka.

History The city is first mentioned in 1561, when it was given to the Cherkassky princely family by Ivan IV, after the latter's marriage to Maria Cherkasskaya. However, the relevant document has since been lost.

The modern city was created by merging the old flax-processing village Ivanovo with the industrial Voznesensky Posad in 1871. Yakov Garelin—a patron of arts, historian, manufacturer, and public figure—is considered to be the founder of the city and its second head. Under his leadership, the city began to develop, industrialise, and grow.

Until 1932, the official name of the city was Ivanovo-Voznesensk. Because of its textile manufacturing industry, Ivanovo earned the sobriquet of the "Russian Manchester" during the 19th century.

By the early 20th century, Ivanovo was competing with Łódź (also a part of the Russian Empire at that time) for the title of the primary textile production centre of Europe. As the workers' living conditions were appalling, the strikes were frequent. One of these strikes (May 14-July 22, 1905) led to the first Russian revolution. According to the Soviet historiography, the Ivanovo Soviet (created on May 28, 1905) was one of the first soviets in history. However, this statement is contested.

In 1937, the city opened the Interdom - a school for children of foreign Communists, including high learning.

In Ivanov, the legendary air squadron (then - known as a Regiment) "Normandie-Niemen" began operations. By agreement between the Soviet government and the "Free French" government-in-exile in late 1942, a group of French pilots was sent to the Soviet Union. Construction of a new airport began on the northern outskirts of the city. The pilots were provided with decent housing, and 14 Yak-1 fighter aircraft. During 1943, the French fought alongside the Soviet Air Forces. Ivanov/Ivanovo was bombed in the World War II and fought over, briefly in the Russian Civil War.

After the war, along with the continued textile industry in Ivanovo engineering and other industries developed. In the 1960s, the city became the centre of the Upper-Economic Council. The 1980s saw the accelerated pace of housing construction.

On June 9, 1984, Ivanovo was struck by an F4 tornado which killed at least 69 people and injured more than 130 others. Some estimates indicate up to 95 deaths. The tornado damaged, destroyed or leveled more than 1,180 homes and became one of the worst to strike Russia. This was part of the 1984 Soviet Union tornado outbreak which produced at least 11 tornadoes, with two of those being F4. In addition, the severe thunderstorms also produced hail up to 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) in weight, among the heaviest hailstones confirmed worldwide.

Since the beginning of the 21st century there has been declining production in Ivanovo. In the first decade of the century, a large number of enterprises were closed. The weaving factories BIM, BAT melange Plant and other smaller companies in the textile industry ceased to exist.

Geography: Administrative status Ivanovo is the administrative centre of the oblast and, within the framework of administrative divisions, it also serves as the administrative centre of Ivanovsky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the City of Ivanovo—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the City of Ivanovo is incorporated as Ivanovo Urban Okrug.

Economy Ivanovo gained a reputation as the textile capital of Russia during the nineteenth century. The development of the textile industry involved the importation of textile machinery from England often accompanied by supervisory staff particularly from Lancashire. Most textile workers are women, so it has also been known as the "city of brides". Probably the most famous of the city's female natives was the postmodern French writer Nathalie Sarraute. Also, there is a branch plant of AviraKids, a Russian holding company that occupies 37,5% of the Russian gaming equipment production industry.

Transport Public transport is represented by trolleybuses, buses and taxis. The trolleybus system was opened on November 5, 1962. The first line ran from the Bagayeva area (now Victory Square) to the GZIP plant. The tram was operated from November 6, 1934 until June 1, 2008. According to Ivanov, the former Mayor Alexander Fomin: "Over the past 20 years, the number of vehicles in the city has increased by more than 10 times, while traffic is 5–7 times higher than that for which they were designed.

The system of urban bus services in Ivanovo-Voznesensk began on November 8, 1926. The bus park was originally located on the street Paris Commune. In the early 1960s, a new bus depot was built on Prospekt Tekstilchshiki. In the Soviet period, the operation of buses and coaches exercised Ivanovskoye passenger motor company (MTE) #1, and taxi station (Ivanovo MTE-2). Ivanovo MTE-1 closed in December 2007.

It is home to Ivanovo Severny, which is one of the largest military airlift bases in Russia. Civilian air services are provided at the Ivanovo Yuzhny Airport. Since 1896, there is a railway connection between Ivanovo and Moscow.

Education Ivanovo has several educational institutions: Ivanovo State University, Ivanovo State University of Chemistry and Technology, Ivanovo Medical Academy, Ivanovo Architectural Academy, and Ivanovo State Power University (ISPU).

Attractions There are several objects of cultural heritage in Ivanovo. The period from 1914 to 1934 became the “golden age” of architecture in Ivanovo. The centre of the city boasts buildings of the period of constructionism built there in the 1920s – early 1930s. For historical reasons, Ivanovo-Voznesensk became the site of unique construction experiments carried out by both architects from Moscow and St. Petersburg, and local architects. Among them are the buildings, like the Ship-building (1930), architect D. F. Friedman; the Horseshoe-building (1934), architect A. I. Panov; the Regional Bank building (1927), architect V. A. Vesnin; the Palace of Arts (1939), architect A. V. Vlasov; House of the Collective (1931), architect I. A. Golosov; the Ivanovo railway station (1934); Oblsovnarhoz-houses (1935), N. I. Kadnikov; and others. First Workers' Settlement is rare landmark of the art of city planning from the 20s is of exceptional interest as one of earliest examples of mass, low rise standardized construction that reflects ideas of the city-garden.

Many monuments are devoted to the revolutionary past of the city, such as the "Red Talka" memorial or numerous monuments to revolutionaries. The historical centre of the city is notable mainly for the former houses of famous Ivanovites: the mansion houses of E. I. Gratchev (1774), I. N. Polushin (1904; here the Soviet government was first declared), K. D. Burkov, the Kuvayevs, the Gandurins, the Burylins, etc. The industrial architecture, like the remaining textile manufactures of the 19th century, is also of interest.

Other notable sights include Schudrovskaya Palatka (17th century), the first brick civil building in Ivanovo, the Svyato-Vvedensky Monastery (architect P. Begen), the wooden Uspenskaya church (17th century), the mansion of A. Duringer (1910), and others.