Veliky Ustyug

Veliky Ustyug ( _ru. Вели́кий У́стюг) is a town in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Sukhona and Yug Rivers. Population: ru-census2002|33419|; su-census1989|36,202|; 36,000 (1970). It is served by Velikiy Ustyug Airport.

Origin of the town's name: the first recorded settlement here, the monastic settlement at "Gleden" ( _ru. Гледен), was created near the point where the Yug River flows into the Sukhona River. Downstream from this confluence the two rivers form a single waterway known as the Northern Dvina. By the late fifteenth century the community had acquired the title "Great" - "Veliky" ( _ru. Великий).

The town of Veliky Ustyug was first mentioned in a chronicle in 1207. It was a part of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality. Located at the junction of important trade routes, the city turned into a significant commercial and industrial centre in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Veliky Ustyug lost its key role as a river port with the diminishing importance of the Sukhona river route for trade between China and western Europe. This was particularly exacerbated by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. The city is known for its remarkable handicrafts, such as silver filigree, birch bark fretwork, decorative copper binding, and niello.

Veliky Ustyug is also the birthplace of Semyon Dezhnev, Yerofey Khabarov, and Vladimir Atlasov.

In 1998 Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov proposed to officially locate the residence of Ded Moroz in Veliky Ustyug (instead of traditional Laplandia [http://www.towns.ru/towns/ustug.html "Veliky Ustyug" page] on the site "Small Towns of Russia" ru icon] . There was established a public (ОАО) company "Ded Moroz" to promote Veliky Ustyug as the official residence of Ded Moroz.In the forest on Sukhona River, 16 km from Veliky Ustyug there is a resort promoted as the Votchina ( _ru. Вотчина, Estate), of Ded Moroz [http://www.christmasdivision.ru/stati/velikij-ustjug-rodina-deda-moroza "Veliky Ustyg is the bithplace of Ded Moroz>ru icon] . There is a special post office here devoted to answering children mail to Ded Moroz that already answered more than 1.2 million letters. There are plans to build an amusement park "12 Months in the Votchina of Ded Moroz" and a museum "Home of Ded Moroz"

It is also the basis for the fictional city of Veliky Gusliar written about by Kir Bulychev.

Views of Veliky Ustyug

References

Further reading

*Brumfield, W (Undated) Veliky Ustyug: A view through the lens of an American scholar-photographer. Full text available at [http://www.pomorsu.ru/Brumfield/velikii_ustiug.htm www.pomorsu.ru/Brumfield/velikii_ustiug.htm]
*Gardner, N (2005) Article in hidden europe magazine, 5 (Nov 2005), pp.22-26. Full text available (html and pdf versions) at [http://www.hiddeneurope.co.uk/carticle_info.php?articles_id=135 hidden europe website]

External links

* [http://www.v-ustug.ru City webportal]
* [http://www.ustjug.museum.ru/eng Museum compelex of Veliky Ustyug]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=arkhangelsk,+russia&t=k&hl=en/&ll=60.767544,46.307716&spn=0.10831,0.431213 Satellite picture by Google Maps]
* [http://www.virtualtravel.ru/user/3778/index.phtml?wid=3263&tips=12 Veliky Ustyug in old and modern photos]
* [http://www.santatelevision.com/world/en0242/en0242.html Video: Father Frost in Veliky Ustyug in Russia]