CHAPTER XXIII.
NIJNI-NOVGOROD.[10]
This may now be pronounced the great mercantile fair of the world. It probably bears a greater resemblance (but on a larger scale) to that of Sturbridge in its best days, than any other of past or present times. It is almost the last remaining type (in Europe) of the mediæval form of commerce. The origin and early history of this fair are somewhat obscure. Authentic records attest that mercantile gatherings were held at Nijni so early as 1366; and tradition points to a still earlier origin. Before Kasan was conquered by Ivan the Terrible in 1552, Russian merchants were prohibited from attending fairs in that province. A considerable fair then held was the precursor of the present.
The Russians held a fair at another place on the Volga. In 1641 the monks of the monastery of St. Macarius, by virtue of their charter, founded a fair at Makariev, seventy-one miles below Nijni. Of this fair I have already given some account. “The monks of the monastery (says Michell) very cleverly made Nijni a place of religious as well as commercial resort, and levied taxes on the trade which they fostered.” Up to 1751 the tolls had still been collected by these monks; but in that year the fair became the property of the State. In 1824 it definitely fixed at Nijni-Novgorod. It was probably removed here temporarily in 1816, when the town of Makariev was destroyed by fire.
The situation of the town opposite the confluence of the Volga (having a course of 2,320 miles) and Oka (with 900 miles of navigation) rivers, is pre-eminently suitable for the purpose of commerce, of which these rivers indeed, prior to the introduction of railways, constituted the great arteries. The town of Lower Novgorod was founded as early as 1222, and was in 1237 occupied by the Tartars. When it was taken from them, they declared perpetual warfare against it, and sacked it more than once. By means of the two large rivers named—which extend, with their contributory streams and canal communication with the Baltic, over a considerable portion of northern, eastern and southern Russia—an easy communication is maintained with the richest agricultural and manufacturing provinces. The Kamma, a tributary of the Volga, also affords water communication with the remote provinces of Ural and parts of Siberia. The productions of China are carried during the month of September over the Baikal Lake, and in spring reach the Volga along with the Siberian caravans. The productions of Astrakhan, Persia and Bokhara ascend that river, while those of Petersburg, Germany, England, and France descend it: so that the merchandise of the east and the west meet as in a common centre here. And this line of commerce dates back into far distant ages, promoted and shared in by those trading monks who took so leading a part in founding the great Hanseatic League.
It is an interesting historical fact that the first vessel of war ever built in Russia was launched at Nijni by a company of merchants from Holstein, who obtained permission in the seventeenth century to open a trade with Persia and India by way of the Caspian sea. The vessel was called the Friedrich. The travels of Olearius were in connection with this undertaking, of which there is a great history, to be recounted on some other occasion.
The town has many fine modern buildings. In the ordinary way, the best view to be had of it and the surrounding country is from the “Otkos” or terrace built by order of the Emperor Nicholas.[11] It is said to be one of the best views in Europe. As far as the eye can reach extends the vast alluvial plain, rich with culture, and occasionally dotted with forests; whilst the Volga, flowing down from Tver, looks like a broad blue ribbon stretched over the country from one extremity of the horizon to the other. Much of the plain below is inundated in spring by the overflowing of the river, leaving a fertile deposit which considerably enhances the value of the land. The stationary population of the town does not exceed 30,000 or 40,000, but during the fair the inhabitants swell up to considerably over 200,000; and this quite irrespective of prodigious numbers of casual visitors. The ancient Kremlin, with its low arched gates, whitewashed towers, and crenellated walls, is one of the sights of the place. The thick green foliage of the gardens and the gay residences of the inhabitants all blend into a very picturesque whole.
Site of the Fair.—We must next take a glance at the site of the fair, which is outside the town, and can hardly be seen from the gates. Turn then from the Volga, or Asiatic direction, and there, across the Oka (here about a quarter of a mile broad), is a low, almost inundated flat, of triangular shape, between the two rivers. This was regarded as the most convenient site. Great difficulties were presented by the swampy nature of the soil. Deep sewers vaulted over were constructed through the morass; these being connected by canals with the rivers. The buildings for the bazaars were raised on piles, and the whole boggy surface of the plain was covered to the depth of some feet with gravel and clean sand. Through this the ordinary surface water and the inundated flow percolates, and leaves clean passages or roads. In the midst of the plain is the great bazaar—an immense rectangular market-place—divided by lanes or passages, intersecting at right angles into sixty-four square groups of warehouses, or blocks of stone-built buildings, two storeys high, with projecting verandahs, so as to shelter goods and passengers from the sun or rain; containing, besides some public offices in the centre, 2,522 large stores for merchandise, to each of which is a small chamber for the merchant.