Ти́хвин қаласы: тарихы мен өнеркәсібі

Town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia

Tikhvin (Ти́хвин; Veps: Tihvin) is a town and the administrative center of Tikhvinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on both banks of the Tikhvinka River in the east of the oblast, east of St. Petersburg. Tikhvin is also an industrial and cultural center of the district, as well as its transportation hub. Population:

It was previously known as Predtechensky pogost, According to another version, it is derived from Finnish tihkua — "trickle out".

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Tikhvin serves as the administrative center of Tikhvinsky District. As an administrative division, it is, together with nineteen rural localities, incorporated within Tikhvinsky District as Tikhvinskoye Settlement Municipal Formation.

In Soviet times, the largest employer in Tikhvin was a heavy machine factory, known as Transmash up to 2001, where tractors and defense equipment were manufactured. In its heyday, 20,000 people were employed there. The plant was very negatively affected by the dissolution of the Soviet Union and post Soviet economic problems. Tractor production ceased in 2003 and by 2005, its workforce was reduced to about a thousand. The plant was acquired in 2001 by the ICT Group and restructured, a ferroalloy plant (acquired by Mechel in 2008), and rail wagon building plant were constructed in the first decade of the 21st century. Other industrial enterprises in the town include the manufacturing of furniture for IKEA, a construction company, a wood chemical plant (producing rosin, resin, turpentine, and other such wood based chemicals), a meat packing plant, a dairy plant, a bread factory, and other light enterprises.

A railway connecting St. Petersburg and Vologda passes Tikhvin. A secondary railway branches out south, connecting Tikhvin with Budogoshch. The A114 Highway, connecting Vologda with Cherepovets and St. Petersburg, passes Tikhvin as well. There are also local roads. The whole course of the Tikhvinka River is a part of the Tikhvinskaya water system, one of the waterways constructed in the early 19th century to connect the basins of the Volga and the Neva Rivers. The waterway runs from the Syas upstream the Tikhvinka. Lake Yelgino is connected by the Tikhvin Canal, with the upper course of the Volchina River. The waterway then follows downstream the Gorun River, the Chagodoshcha River, and the Mologa River. Currently, it is not used for any commercial navigation. Most of the locks built on the Tikhvinka decayed and are not in use.

Today, Tikhvin is divided into two parts: the "old town", which preserves the look of a small provincial town, and the "new town", consisting of apartment blocks built after World War II in the typical Soviet style. The majority of the population lives in the "new town". The houses and buildings of the "old town" are mostly wooden; in the center square, which until the 20th century was the commercial heart of the town, stands a restored cathedral, Savior of the Transfiguration, which is the main church in the town. In addition to the cathedral, a number of notable buildings are preserved around the square, including the hotel "St. Petersburg" (now Sberbank) and the "Guest Court", which was closed for many years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but has been completely restored and now functions as a shopping center. An additional point of interest is the historical part of the town with old wooden buildings and planning characteristic of the 18th century. The ruins of wooden sluices from the 19th century has been preserved as well; these are the remains of the Tikhvinskaya water system.

The famous Russian composer, Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov, was born in Tikhvin. His house has been converted into a museum.

"Tikhvin Lel": begun in 1991, a yearly children's artistic competition and festival of traditional dance associations. In 2000 more than 80 associations from different cities of Russia and countries of the CIS participated, with more than 1000 participants. There are three categories of competition: classical dance, folk dance, and variety dance. Many associations attend the festival several years in a row. Since 1998, players of folk instruments have been able to take part in the competition as soloists, duets, ensembles and orchestras. In 2000, 76 contestants participated in this portion of the festival. "September in Tikhvin": an open festival of wind and jazz music that began in 2000 and is organized in part by the Rimsky Korsakov School of Arts. The festival's aims are to encourage connections between musicians of different countries, train young people with the best examples of world jazz, and raise the level of musical education in art and music schools. Famous jazz musicians and jazz associations from Russia and abroad have participated in the festival throughout the years; participants from other countries have included those from Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and Great Britain. One of the initiators of the festival was the Tikhvin jazz quartet (created in 1994), which has repeatedly represented Tikhvin in festivals in France, Germany, and Finland.

The main architectural and historical sight of town is the Monastery of the Dormition, founded in 1560. The monastery is famed for the Theotokos of Tikhvin icon. According to legend, it appeared on the shore of the Tikhvinka River on June 26 (July 9), 1383; later at this place the monastery and town would be built.