Ivanovo overview
Ivanovo is located in the central part of European Russia, administrative center of Ivanovo oblast. The city is also known as “the city of brides”, “the land of printed cotton”, “Russian Manchester”, “Red Manchester”. Ivanovo is called the Russian textile industry capital for hundreds of years.
Ivanovo has the population of about 409,000 (2012), land area - 105 sq. km.
The phone code is +7 4932, postal codes - 153000-153052.
Ivanovo facts
There is an airport in the city - Ivanovo Yuzhny (Southern) Airport. There is also Ivanovo Severny (Northern) airport - one of the largest Russian military air base.
It is included in the “Golden Ring of Russia” cities list. Main industries of Ivanovo are machine building, textile, sewing and food.
Ivanovo history
Ivanovo was founded by merging of two settlements in 1871. First one was Ivanovo village (flax-processing center), second one - Voznesensky Posad (industrial center). The new town received name Ivanovo-Voznesensk.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the town was competing with Lodz town (that time also the part of the Russian Empire) for the title of the European main textile production center.
Being the city with numerous factories Ivanovo was the place of high revolutionary activity and in May 1905 probably the first Soviet in history was created there (Ivanovo Soviet).
In 1918, the city received the status of guberniya (region) administrative center. In 1932, the city received its current name - Ivanovo. Today the idea of returning city its original name “Ivanovo-Voznesensk” is becoming more and more popular.
Ivanovo views
Ivanovo city street
Author: Aleksey Backlushin
Ivanovo scenery
Author: Aleksey Backlushin
Ivanovo view
Author: Leonid Zaitsev
Ivanovo places of interest
Ivanovo is famous first of all by the monuments of constructivism epoch (the 30s of the 20th century): the-ship-house, the-horseshoe-house and the like. There are a lot of historical and revolutionary monuments in the city which make it rather specific.
The historical center of Ivanovo is interesting by its former merchants’ houses of the 19th and the early 20th centuries. The industrial architecture of the 19th century is rather interesting (several textile plants of that period remained almost unchanged).
Among the other places of interest worth mentioning is Shudrovskaya palatka constructed in the 17th century and St.-Vedensky convent, the main part of which was built in the early 20th century.
Ivanovo, unlike its neighbors (Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Kostroma), developed first of all as an industrial center, that’s why there are a lot of plants on the territory of the city. At present trade and service industries are rapidly developed. There are also opportunities for tourism development.
The city was traditionally considered the center of the Russian textile industry. The first textile plants came into being in the 17th century. Nowadays the number of textile plants considerably reduced, but there are a lot of sewing plants. Food industry is being developed. There are a lot of various trade and entertainment centers in the city.
Cultural and entertainment events of Ivanovo:
- Andrey Tarkovsky International Film Festival “Zerkalo” (Mirror) - the festival which takes place since 2007 at every end of May;
- The annual Russian Fashion Festival “Plyos on the Volga. Flax Palette” (takes place in the town of Plyos);
- The annual patriotic holiday “An Open Air” usually celebrated in August at the airport “Severny” (Northern);
- Ivanovo City Day - the annual celebration of the date when Ivanovo received the status of the city, at present it takes place on the last Saturday of May; the central streets of the city are decorated by this day; fairs, concerts and competitions are held and fireworks finish the holiday.