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Nizhny Novgorod is a historic city in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, at the meeting of the Volga and Oka rivers, famous for its red-brick Kremlin, the Chkalov Staircase, the Strelka and its cable car over the Volga. It lies about 400 kilometres east of Moscow and is the administrative centre of the Volga Federal District.
Founded in 1221, the city became one of Russia's great trading centres, and its 19th-century fair drew merchants from across the empire. It was called Gorky from 1932 to 1990 and was closed to foreigners in the Soviet era, which is why the exiled Andrei Sakharov was sent here.
Today visitors walk the Kremlin walls, stroll Bolshaya Pokrovskaya and Rozhdestvenskaya streets and watch the sunset over the rivers from the high embankments. Churches, monasteries and merchant mansions fill the old town, and summer river cruises leave from the port below.
The Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin is the red-brick fortress built in the early 16th century on the high bank above the Volga and Oka. About two kilometres of walls and towers enclose the Archangel Michael Cathedral, parks and museums. Walk the wall-top route for river views.
The Chkalov Staircase in Nizhny Novgorod is a monumental figure-of-eight stairway of more than 500 steps, built in the 1940s from the Kremlin down to the Volga embankment. A statue of the pilot Valery Chkalov stands at the top. The views of the river are best at sunset.
The Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car, opened in 2012, carries small cabins about 3.6 kilometres across the Volga from the city to the town of Bor. The ride swings high above the river and the forested far bank. It is a commuter link as well as one of the city's best viewpoints.
The Nizhny Novgorod Fair was one of the great trade fairs of the Russian Empire, held on the low bank by the Oka from 1817. Its ornate Main Fair House from 1890 still stands, now used as an exhibition centre. The surrounding streets keep many merchant buildings.
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Nizhny Novgorod rises near the Strelka where the Oka joins the Volga. Consecrated in 1881 for the merchants of the great fair, it has five tall tent-roofed spires that are visible from far across the rivers. It is an active Orthodox cathedral.
The Stroganov Church, properly the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, is a richly decorated baroque church on Rozhdestvenskaya Street in Nizhny Novgorod. It was built around 1700 for the Stroganov merchant family, and its walls are covered in carved white-stone ornament.
Pechersky Ascension Monastery in Nizhny Novgorod is an Orthodox monastery on the Volga bank, founded in the 14th century and rebuilt after a landslide in 1597. Its 17th-century cathedral, churches and bell tower sit among trees above the river. It is a quiet walk from the centre.
Annunciation Monastery in Nizhny Novgorod is one of the city's oldest monasteries, standing on the hillside above the Oka near the Strelka. Its white 17th-century cathedral and churches with green domes are seen from far along the river. It remains an active monastery, and visitors are welcome.
Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street is the main pedestrian street of Nizhny Novgorod, running from Minin Square by the Kremlin towards Gorky Square. It is lined with 19th-century buildings such as the old State Bank, cafes, theatres and bronze street sculptures. It is liveliest on summer evenings.
Rozhdestvenskaya Street in Nizhny Novgorod is the old merchants' street below the Kremlin, near the river port. Grand banks, trading houses and the Stroganov Church line the street, many restored in recent years, and it is now full of cafes and bars. It is very lively at night.
The Upper Volga Embankment in Nizhny Novgorod is a long promenade on the high bank of the Volga, east of the Kremlin. Mansions such as the Rukavishnikov Estate line one side, and on the other the river opens out to wide views of the far bank. It is a favourite place for an evening stroll.
The Strelka in Nizhny Novgorod is the spit of land where the Oka flows into the Volga, one of the city's most famous views. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and the stadium built for the 2018 World Cup stand nearby, and riverside paths run along the water. Look out from the Kremlin to see it.
The Rukavishnikov Estate is a lavish mansion of a wealthy merchant family on the Upper Volga Embankment in Nizhny Novgorod, completed in the 1870s. Its sculpted facade and richly decorated halls now house a museum of the city's history and decorative arts. Guided tours show the grand interiors.
The Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum is one of the main art museums of the Volga region, with its Russian collection in the former Governor's House inside the Kremlin. Its halls show icons and Russian paintings from the 18th to 20th centuries. Allow at least two hours for a visit.
Kashirin House in Nizhny Novgorod is the small wooden house of the grandfather of the writer Maxim Gorky, who lived here as a boy. It is now a museum furnished as in his novel My Childhood, with simple period rooms and a small yard. It lies on a slope below the old town.
The Sakharov Museum in Nizhny Novgorod is the apartment where the physicist and Nobel Peace laureate Andrei Sakharov lived in internal exile from 1980 to 1986, when the city was closed to foreigners. The rooms are kept as they were, with exhibits about his life and work.
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