History of Salekhard
Salekhard in the 16th-19th centuries
For the first time, a Russian outpost arose in this area during the military campaign of Prince S. Kurbsky in 1500. But soon it was abandoned. Salekhard was founded by the Siberian Cossacks under the name of Obdorsky fort in 1595. The fortress was named after the name of this area (the Ob River and the Komi word “dor” meaning “river bank”). Thus, Obdora means “the Ob River bank”.
Obdorsky fort became the northernmost one in Siberia. The height of the walls reached 3.5 m, the height of the towers - up to 7.5 m. The fort was besieged by the Ob Khanty more than once. In 1635, it was named Obdorskaya outpost, the first permanent residents appeared in it. Advantageous geographical location and unique natural resources made Obdorsk the center of the Trans-Ural trade.
In 1799, the garrison of the fortress was disbanded, the cannons were taken to Tobolsk. In 1807, the dilapidated wooden fortifications were demolished. Obdorsk became a village. In 1845, it was visited by the Hungarian traveler ethnographer Antal Reguly. From 1898 to 1899, the Hungarian researcher of the Khanty people Jozsef Papay lived and worked here.
In 1897, in Obdorsk, there were 30 houses and about 500 permanent residents, who were mainly engaged in hunting, fishing and trade. Obdorskaya fair was held annually from December 15 to January 25. It attracted thousands of sellers and buyers. Merchants brought here flour and bread, metal products and jewelry, cloth, wine and tobacco, and took away furs, walrus tusks, fish, and feathers. In the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries, Obdorsk was a place of political exile.
More historical facts…
Salekhard in the 20th century and beyond
In 1920, the population of Obdorsk was about 1 thousand people. On November 3, 1923, the village of Obdorsk became the center of the Obdorsk district of Ural Oblast. On December 10, 1930, it was turned into the center of the Yamal (Nenets) National Okrug. On June 20, 1933, Obdorsk was transformed from a village into the district settlement of Salekhard (from the Nenets Sale-Khard meaning “settlement on a cape”). On November 27, 1938, Salekhard received the status of a town with a population of about 10,500 people; significant part of them were exiles.
In 1949, the construction of the Labytnangi-Salekhard-Igarka transpolar railway “Construction #501” began, on which the bulk of the workers were prisoners and the military. This large-scale construction made a great contribution to the development of Salekhard. In 1953, after Stalin’s death, it was stopped and the unfinished railway became known as “The Dead Railway”. As a result of the construction, Salekhard received more than 500 new buildings and structures.
In the summer of 1951, the first expeditions of geologists of the USSR Academy of Sciences left Salekhard. The result of their work was the discovery of the largest oil and natural gas province in the north of Siberia.
In the 1960s-1980s, in connection with the intensive development of Yamal, oil and natural gas production enterprises appeared in Salekhard. Among the enterprises that were not related to the fuel and energy complex, there were factories for the production of fish canning products, construction parts, timbers, fur. In 1989, the population of Salekhard was 32,334 people.
In 1990, Salekhard was included in the List of Historic Cities of Russia. In 1998, the coat of arms of Salekhard was approved depicting a black fox with scarlet eyes and a tongue. The historical coat of arms of Obdoria was taken as a basis.
Salekhard is one of the few cities in Russia that, after some depopulation that occurred after the collapse of the USSR, began to grow rapidly again in the 21st century. This is due to the growth of oil and natural gas production in the region.
In 2006, on a historical site at the confluence of the Poluy and Ob rivers, a unique architectural complex Obdorsky ostrog (fort) was opened reproducing the appearance of the 17th century outpost of Russia in Siberia.
On August 2, 2018, in Salekhard, during the work on the improvement of the city garden, an ancient burial with objects of cult rituals was discovered. The approximate age of the object is about 4.5 thousand years.
Salekhard views
Winter in Salekhard
Author: Nikita Panin
Salekhard is a colorful city
Author: Bjorn Gabrielsen
Salekhard architecture
Author: Egor Golomidov
Salekhard - Features
Salekhard is located on the border of the subarctic and temperate climatic zones. The average temperature in January is minus 23.2 degrees Celsius, in July - plus 14.8 degrees Celsius. The number of days with snow cover and persistent frosts is up to 200 per year. Salekhard has one of the northernmost beaches in the world, which is not officially registered, but is simply a resting place for townspeople on hot (by their standards) summer days.
On all sides Salekhard is surrounded by endless tundra and forest-tundra. The polar day in the city, when the upper edge of the sun does not descend below the horizon, is observed for one month, from June 7 to July 7. There is no polar night. The City Day of Salekhard is celebrated on the second Sunday in September.
Salekhard is connected by a ferry crossing (in summer) and an ice crossing (in winter) across the Ob River with the town of Labytnangi, where the nearest railway station is located. The city also has a river port (passenger traffic with Khanty-Mansiysk, Omsk and villages on the banks of the Ob Bay) and an airport.
The airport offers regular flights to Moscow, Tyumen, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Noyabrsk, Nadym, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Ufa, Novy Urengoy. The distance to Moscow is about 2,430 km.
Here you can taste dishes of northern cuisine, the main ingredients of which are reindeer meat and fish. The famous stroganina is made from fish. Reindeer meat is served with unusual sauces of cranberries, lingonberries, cloudberries, blueberries, etc.
In March, Salekhard celebrates the Day of the Reindeer Herder - the main holiday of the indigenous peoples of the North. Competitions in national sports are held here. Also, for residents and guests of the city, a festive concert, tasting of northern cuisine dishes, performances by folk and creative groups, a colorful fair of national souvenirs are held. During the holiday, you can visit the chum - the traditional dwelling of the indigenous peoples of the North, ride a reindeer sleigh. The main celebrations take place on the last Saturday of the month.
The main souvenirs of Yamal craftsmen are carved figurines made of bone, wood, beads, deer fur, reindeer skin slippers, and national belts made of woolen threads.
Today’s Salekhard is a combination of characteristic features of the oldest Polar town and the modern northern center of Russia. The historical and cultural heritage is presented by the monuments of archeology and architecture. The oldest buildings in Salekhard date back to the end of the 19th century.
Main Attractions of Salekhard
Monumental composition “The 66th parallel” - a symbol of the geographical uniqueness of Salekhard consisting of two pyramidal structures 20 and 22 meters high separated by a semicircle. The stele was installed on the imaginary line of the Arctic Circle (66 degrees 33 minutes north latitude) in 2003. The stele shows that the Arctic Circle divides the territory of the region into two parts: the Subpolar part and the Polar part. The stele looks especially picturesque at night when the backlight is turned on. Brodneva Street.
Monumental sculpture “Mammoth” - one of the symbols of Salekhard and Yamal installed at the entrance to the city near the Ob River crossing. The sculpture is 10 meters high. Considering the fact that it stands on a small hill, you can see it from afar.
Historical and architectural complex “Obdorsky Ostrog” or “The Town of Masters” - a historical and cultural complex repeating the appearance of an old fort and located in the historical part of Salekhard. More than 400 years ago, the first Obdorsk fortification was built on this very place. Something like a museum of Siberian Cossacks has been created in different buildings of this complex. Inside you can see a monument to the Cossacks - conquerors of Siberia, watchtowers, a Cossack house, a wooden church with a bell tower. Respubliki Street, 69/1.
Yamalo-Nenets Regional Exhibition Complex named after I.S. Shemanovsky - one of the oldest museums in Siberia founded in 1906. This museum has household items, paintings, weapons, and other ethnocultural belongings of the indigenous peoples of the north, as well as paleontological remains, rare photographs, and a botanical collection. Chubynina Street, 38.
Cable-stayed bridge “Fakel” (“Torch”) across the Shaytanka River - a road bridge opened in 2004. This bridge got its name due to its unusual design, which resembles a flaming gas torch. There is a restaurant at the top of the bridge, as well as an observation deck with an excellent view of Salekhard.
Polar Aviation Museum. Today, this open-air museum has such aircraft as Li-2, An-2, Yak-40, An-26, Tu-134 and Mi-1, Mi-4, Mi-6, Mi-8 helicopters. The museum is located on the way to the airport of Salekhard (Aviatsionnaya Street).
Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (1886-1893) - the oldest church in Yamal, an object of cultural heritage of the peoples of Russia. Sverdlova Street, 6.
Town Manor - one of the rare surviving monuments of wooden architecture in the north of Russia consisting of a residential building, a barn, and a gate. It is an example of a typical urban manor house of the late 19th century. Inside you can see original exhibits of the second half of the 19th century. Lambinykh Street, 1.
Memorial to the builders of “Construction #501”. This memorial is dedicated to the workers (mostly prisoners), who died during the construction of the Chum - Labytnangi - Salekhard - Igarka polar railway. It was abandoned immediately after Stalin’s death and received the nickname “The Dead Railway”. Today, the steam locomotive of the 1940s (Em 711-26) stands on the site where this railway once passed.
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