Zvenigorod

Zvenigorod (English)
Звенигород (Russian)
-  Town[1]  -

The Moskva River in Zvenigorod

Location of Moscow Oblast in Russia
Zvenigorod
Location of Zvenigorod in Moscow Oblast
Coordinates: 55°44′N 36°51′E / 55.733°N 36.850°E / 55.733; 36.850Coordinates: 55°44′N 36°51′E / 55.733°N 36.850°E / 55.733; 36.850
Administrative status (as of January 2013)
Country Russia
Federal subject Moscow Oblast[1]
Administratively subordinated to Zvenigorod Town Under Oblast Jurisdiction[1]
Administrative center of Zvenigorod Town Under Oblast Jurisdiction[1]
Municipal status (as of February 2010)
Urban okrug Zvenigorod Urban Okrug[2]
Administrative center of Zvenigorod Urban Okrug[2]
Statistics
Area 48.1 km2 (18.6 sq mi)
Population (2010 Census) 16,395 inhabitants[3]
Density 341/km2 (880/sq mi)[4]
Time zone MSK (UTC+03:00)[5]
First mentioned 1338
Town status since 1784
Dialing code(s) +7 49869
Zvenigorod on Wikimedia Commons
Uspensky Cathedral, 1399

Zvenigorod (Russian: Звени́город) is an old town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population: 16,395 (2010 Census);[3] 12,155 (2002 Census);[6] 15,805 (1989 Census).[7]

History

The community has existed since the 12th century, although its first written mention is dated 1338. The town's name is based either on a personal name (cf. Zvenislav, Zvenimir) or on a hydronym (cf. the Zvinech, Zvinyaka, Zveniga Rivers); the derivation from "town of ringing (bells)" is a folk etymology.[8]

Zvenigorod rose to prominence in the late 14th century after it was bequeathed by Dmitry Donskoy to his second son Yuri, who founded his residence on the steep bank of the Moskva River. The local kremlin, called Gorodok, contains the only fully preserved example of 14th-century Muscovite architecture, the Assumption Cathedral (1399) (Cathedral of the Dormition of the Holy Virgin Mary; in Russian: Успенский собор на Городке). The cathedral's interior features frescoes by Andrei Rublev.

Rozhdestvensky Cathedral in the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, 1405

Zvenigorod is primarily remembered for internecine wars waged by Yuri's sons for control of Moscow during the reign of their cousin Vasily II (1425–1462). After their party was defeated, the town was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

Zvenigorod was granted town rights in 1784. By the late 19th century, the town gained popularity among the intelligentsia as a fashionable banlieue of Moscow. Many extravagant dachas were built in the neighbourhood. Some of these house museums of Sergey Taneyev, Anton Chekhov, and Isaac Levitan.

Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery

Within the Savva-Storozhevsky Monastery

In 1398, Prince Yury asked St. Savva, one of the first disciples of Sergius of Radonezh, to go to Zvenigorod and to establish a monastery on the Storozhi Holm (Watching Hill). St. Savva of Storozhi was interred in the white stone cathedral of the Virgin's Nativity in 1407. This diminutive, roughly hewn church still stands, although its present-day exquisite look is the result of recent restoration. The frescoes in the altar date back to the 1420s, but the rest of interior was painted in 1656. A magnificent iconostasis in five tiers and the Stroganov-school heaven gates were installed in 1652.

In 1650, the monastery was chosen by Tsar Alexis as his suburban residence. In five years, they constructed a white-stone royal palace and a festive chamber for tsaritsa. The cloister was encircled with stone walls and towers, patterned after those of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. Particularly noteworthy is a large belfry, erected in four bays in 1650 and crowned with three tents and a clocktower. A church over the holy gates was consecrated to the Holy Trinity in 1652.

After the death of Feodor III, who spent most of his time there, the monastery declined. In May 1918, when the Bolsheviks tried to seize the relics of St. Savva, several persons were shot dead. In 1985, the cloister was assigned to the Danilov Monastery in Moscow. St. Savva's relics were returned to the monastery in 1998.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as Zvenigorod Town Under Oblast Jurisdiction—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.[1] As a municipal division, Zvenigorod Town Under Oblast Jurisdiction is incorporated as Zvenigorod Urban Okrug.[2]

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Zvenigorod is twinned with:

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Law #11/2013-OZ
  2. 1 2 3 Law #36/2005-OZ
  3. 1 2 Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). "Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1" [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  4. ↑ The value of density was calculated automatically by dividing the 2010 Census population by the area specified in the infobox. Please note that this value may not be accurate as the area specified in the infobox does not necessarily correspond to the area of the entity proper or is reported for the same year as the population.
  5. ↑ Правительство Российской Федерации. Федеральный закон №107-ФЗ от 3 июня 2011 г. «Об исчислении времени», в ред. Федерального закона №271-ФЗ от 03 июля 2016 г. «О внесении изменений в Федеральный закон "Об исчислении времени"». Вступил в силу по истечении шестидесяти дней после дня официального опубликования (6 августа 2011 г.). Опубликован: "Российская газета", №120, 6 июня 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Federal Law #107-FZ of June 31, 2011 On Calculating Time, as amended by the Federal Law #271-FZ of July 03, 2016 On Amending Federal Law "On Calculating Time". Effective as of after sixty days following the day of the official publication.).
  6. ↑ Russian Federal State Statistics Service (May 21, 2004). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек" [Population of Russia, Its Federal Districts, Federal Subjects, Districts, Urban Localities, Rural Localities—Administrative Centers, and Rural Localities with Population of Over 3,000] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года [All-Russia Population Census of 2002] (in Russian). Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  7. ↑ Demoscope Weekly (1989). "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров" [All Union Population Census of 1989: Present Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Oblasts and Okrugs, Krais, Oblasts, Districts, Urban Settlements, and Villages Serving as District Administrative Centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года [All-Union Population Census of 1989] (in Russian). Институт демографии Национального исследовательского университета: Высшая школа экономики [Institute of Demography at the National Research University: Higher School of Economics]. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  8. ↑ Е. М. Поспелов. Географические названия мира (Москва: Русские словари, 1998), p. 160.

Sources

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