Барнаул: Взгляд со стороны

Нам редко удается посмотреть на наш город со стороны. Мы уже привыкли к его широким проспектам и узким улочкам, спешащим машинам и неспешным прохожим. Мы - его часть, маленькие винтики большой машины, мало-помалу оставляющие след в ее истории.

Тем ценнее взгляд человека, прибывшего извне - из другой страны, прожившего в нашем городе несколько месяцев, изучившего его историю и культуру и составившего собственное мнение о его достопримечательностях и особенностях. Мы публикуем эссе Рори Сильвермана, студента Хобарт и Вильям колледжа (США), проходящего обучение в Лингвистическом институте в рамках программы повышения академической мобильности студентов.

В посте использованы фотографии города Павла Филатова

Rory Silverman
Barnaul History and Culture
The Town of Merchants: Success and Decay

Barnaul has gone through several economic phases and there is no doubting that. It started as a mining city in 1739, then shifted to a merchant city in 1893, then to the industrial and administrative center it is today. The mining and merchant periods thrived at their peaks and put Barnaul on the map, making it one of the most recognizable cities in Siberia. However, most good things eventually come to an end, and both of these periods did just that. When the mining period fell apart it went into a completely different direction. I believe you can consider what happened in this situation as a success and decay of mining in Barnaul. On the other hand, I don’t believe you can say the same about the merchant period. At its start, it was very successful, but instead of saying it decayed, I would say it transformed with the changing world. In other words I would consider Barnaul today as a modern equivalent to the “Town of Merchants” of old.

Barnaul has been a privileged city ever since the beginning of its history. The reason the city came about was because of the advantage found in her area. This is a natural advantage that came in the forms of rich copper and silver deposits. The Ural minor Afkinfy Demidov discovered these deposits. Copper was discovered first and was first smelted in 1726 with the construction of the Kolyvano-Voskresensky Works in 1729. Barnaul’s history, however, doesn’t officially start until 1739 with the founding of Demidov’s Barnaul Copper Smelting Works. Barnaul thrived as a mining city and became the only one west of the Urals in 1771. It shaped the culture of the city and much of the architecture we see today. But in 1861, when serfdom was abolished, the works suffered, and in 1893 they shut down for good. Barnaul wisely switched to a merchant /agrarian city and was quite successful in doing so. Some of Barnaul’s specialties included butter, bread, valenki boots, Barnaulka coats, and much more. Barnaul was successful once again and this time the success was here to stay. The world still changing made certain things unprofitable and merchants slowly changed into industries. Today Barnaul can pride herself on the great success of such industries like the Altai Motor Factory, the Barnaul Machine Tool Factory, SibEnergoMash (makes furnaces), and many others. And although merchant is a dying term, Barnaul still holds some of the old merchant charm with its plethora of shops, the still functioning Novy Rynok market, and the preserved “Siberian merchant-era architecture” (Nielsen). To say Barnaul experienced a decay of a “Town of Merchants” would be quite extreme in my opinion, and could instead be considered a transformation.


Looking back at the history of Barnaul, it appears that the city has always been quite successful with taking on obstacles of the changing world around, and overcoming them. Copper became unprofitable in the mid 18th century, so the Barnaul Works were re-equipped to smelt silver. In 1861 serfdom was abolished so they shifted to an agrarian/merchant society. Modern advances in technology are made, and in order to keep up Barnaul has become an industrial center. No matter what the changing world throws at Barnaul, she is able to stay on her feet.  “Rumor has it that Barnaul dwellers used to walk on silver in the days of old, and the city underground still enshrines an unprecedented treasure of antique coins” (“A Silver Nurtured City”). I believe that this rumor holds true even to this day, otherwise it wouldn’t be a city of 700,000 people.


Works Cited

A Silver-Nurtured City // Филатов П.В. Барнаул. Портрет города / В.П. Филатов, Е.С. Филатова. - Барнаул, 2014. - 224 с. - С. 42-46.

Nielsen, Rachel. "Barnaul: A Siberian Oasis of Warmth. “Moscow Times 10 2 2013, n. pag. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. <http://www.themoscowtimes.com/beyond_moscow/barnaul.html>.