History of Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod was founded by Prince Yuri II of Vladimir in 4 February 1221. Citizens organized an army to liberate Moscow from the Poles in 1611, led by Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. During the Russian Empire, in 1817 Nizhny Novgorod became the country's main trading city. In 1896, the city hosted the largest All-Russia exhibition. In the Soviet era, Nizhny Novgorod was renamed Gorky, in honor of the writer Maxim Gorky. Then it was the industrial center of the Soviet Union. During the World War II, the city sent to the front a huge amount of military equipment and ammunition. Therefore, the German air force bombed the city for 3 years. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the city was renamed back to Nizhny Novgorod. In Russia, the city became a political center and the capital of the Volga Federal District. Now the city is the center of information technology and develops tourism.
Foundation.
In the Oka estuary formed a comfortable place to gather Murom and Suzdal armies for war against Volga Bulgaria. In 1220 Prince Yuri II of Vladimir conquered Bulgaria. The following year he decided to establish an important place for Russia and founded a city in the mouth of the Oka.
The name of the city - Nizhny Novgorod, that is, the "Lower Newtown" - led historians to think about the existence of an older city. The hypothesis of the "Oldtown" was supported by historians. There were versions of the origin of the city from the Bulgars, Mordovian-Erzyas (Erzya language: "Obran osh") or Russians ("Suzdal old city"). Archaeological data does not support any of the hypotheses. Since there are no earlier buildings on the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin or in the vicinity of the city.
The adjective "lower" (Nizhny) appeared in the city's name in later chronicles. There are several assumptions about its appearance:
The foundation of Nizhny Novgorod was the beginning of an active Russian expansion into the Mordovian lands. In 1226, Sviatoslav and Ivan (brothers of Prince Yuri II of Vladimir) successfully conquered several Erzyan villages.
The first wooden fortress occupied an advantageous military-strategic position. It was on Sentry Hill and was well protected. On the one side there was a deep ravine, on the other side there were steep cliffs of the Volga shore. In the first years, two white stone churches were built in the fortress. In 1227 the Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel was built.
Feudal period.
In February 1238, Gorodets and his surroundings were attacked by one of the independently operating detachments scattered throughout the territory of the Vladimir Grand Duchy after the capture of the capital.
For a short period of time, a "veche republic" was established in Nizhny Novgorod in the style of Veliky Novgorod.
In the last third of the 13th century, the Gorodets Principality emerged from the Suzdal Principality. In his subordination was Nizhny Novgorod. Andrey Alexandrovich became the prince. This was the third son of Alexander Nevsky. The Principality did not last long. At the beginning of the 14th century, its cities were subordinated to the Vladimir Grand Prince.
In 1311 there was a war for the throne between Vladimir and Moscow princes. Yury of Moscow conquered Nizhny Novgorod from Mikhail of Vladimir. His brother Boris became the regent. In 1320, after the death of Boris Danilovich, Nizhny Novgorod once again became subordinate to the Vladimir principality for a short period of time. Then Prince of Tver Alexander Mikhailovich supported the uprising against the Horde in Tver. In response, Khan Uzbek called on the Moscow prince Ivan Kalita to ruin the Tver Duchy. After the conquest of the Tver Principality, Khan Uzbek divided the princely possessions. Most of it he gave the Prince of Moscow. Part of the lands, including the former Gorodets Duchy, went to Alexander Vasilyevich. After his death in 1331, the princedom was given to the Moscow prince Ivan Kalita, who ruled it with the help of governors.
The Principality of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal.
In 1341, after the death of Ivan Kalita, Khan Uzbek divided the main territories of North-Eastern Russia. Part of the land, which included Nizhny Novgorod, Gorodets and Unzha, became the property of Suzdal Prince Konstantin. An independent Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal Principality was formed, which occupied a vast territory. In the east, its border ran along the Sura River, in the southeast and south - along the rivers Pyana and Seryozha. The main stronghold in the east was the Kurmysh Fortress, founded in 1372. Along the border stood small fortresses, in which border guards lived. The remains of such fortresses are found along the Piana River in Buturlinsky and Sergachsky districts.
In 1377, the Horde attacked Nizhny Novgorod. In the battle on Pyana River, the Russian army suffered a severe defeat from the Horde prince Arapsha. Dmitry of Suzdal, who remained without troops, fled to Suzdal. The Nizhny Novgorod army fled to the neighboring Gorodets. On August 5, 1377, the Horde army conquered Nizhny Novgorod. The city was burnt. A year later, on July 24, 1378, the city was re-conquered.
After the Battle of Kulikovo, the Horde Khan Tokhtamysh, in 1382 with a large army went to Moscow. When the Tatar army approached Nizhny Novgorod, Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich, wishing to save his land from ruin, sent his sons Vasily and Semyon to him, who went with the army and persuaded Moscow to surrender.
Tsardom of Russia.
In 1392 the Vasily I of Moscow received a jarlig to the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal Principality and conquered Nizhny Novgorod. The final accession of the principality to the possessions of Moscow took place at the end of the 1440s.
In 1408, the city was devastated during the invasion of the emir of the White Horde Edigu. In 1445 he was conquered by the troops of the Kazan khan Ulugh Muhammad.
In the times of Ivan III and Basil III, Nizhny Novgorod is a border post. He has a standing army and is a gathering place for troops in attacks on the Kazan Khanate. At the same time, a stone Kremlin is being built instead of a wooden fortress.
In September 1505, under the walls of the unfinished Kremlin, the attack of the Nogais and the Kazan Tatars under the leadership of the Kazan Khan Muhammad-Amin was repulsed. The attacking army included 40,000 Kazans and 20,000 Nogais. The leader of the Nogai, the brother-in-law of Mohammed-Amin, was killed by the cannonball that was released by Fedor Litvich. After that, there was a massacre between the Nogais and the Tatars and the khan was forced to relieve the siege.
After Vasily III's attack on Kazan in 1523, the city of Vasil was founded, which becomes a border town, instead of Nizhny Novgorod. After the conquest of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible, the role of Nizhny Novgorod becomes insignificant. In 1565, Ivan the Terrible divided the Russian state into oprichnina and zemshchina. Thus the city became zemstvo.
Time of Troubles.
In the Time of Troubles, Nizhny Novgorod, along with the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, continues to support Moscow. Then, almost the whole country and Moscow were in the Polish occupation. In 1611, there were no Poles in Nizhny Novgorod. Citizens elected the zemstvo elder (mayor) Kuzma Minin. He began calls for a liberation struggle among the people of the townspeople. Then he was supported by the city council of Nizhny Novgorod, voivodes, clergy and servicemen. By decision of the city council, a general meeting of Nizhny Novgorod citizens was appointed. They gathered in the Kremlin. Minin appealed to the people with an appeal to stand on the liberation of the Russia from foreign enemies. After that, the people began to make voluntary donations to create the army. In addition, the decree was issued to hand over a part of personal property. Minin was instructed to lead the collection of funds and their distribution among the warriors of the future army.
Then he raised the question of choosing a commander. At the second congress, the citizens decided to ask the head of the people's army of Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. His ancestral estate was in the Nizhny Novgorod district, 60 km from Nizhny Novgorod. The prince approached for the role of commander of the militia. He was a Rurikovich in the twentieth generation.
Pozharsky arrived in Nizhny Novgorod on October 28, 1611 and immediately, together with Minin, began organizing the army. Pozharsky and Minin continued to collect coffers and warriors, to seek help in different cities. After this, authorities were formed, which were not subordinate to the Moscow Seven boyars. However, this state of affairs did not suit the Poles and the seven boyars. Several attempts were made to eliminate the new power, but this did not happen. As the people's army moved towards Moscow, the cities were liberated from the Polish occupation, and the provisional power of Prince Pozharsky was established in them. October 22 (November 4), 1612, the troops of the People's Army liberated Moscow from the Poles. On this occasion, on October 22 (November 4), 1649, a holiday was instituted in Russia in honor of the Our Lady of Kazan. In today's Russia this day is celebrated as the Unity Day, since November 4, 2005.
In the 17th century, under Patriarch Nikon, there was a church split in the Orthodox Church. Because of this, numerous settlements of Old Believers were formed in the vicinity of Nizhny Novgorod. A lot of them were on the Kerzhenets River. To eliminate the split of churches in Nizhny Novgorod in 1672, the diocese is founded. The Archimandrite of Vladimir's Nativity Monastery Filaret became the first metropolitan of Nizhny Novgorod and Alatyr.
Russian Empire.
In 1695, during his Azov campaign, Peter the Great came to Nizhny Novgorod. After the regional reform, Nizhny Novgorod has become a gubernatorial city since 1719. In 1721, the episcopal chair was appointed archimandrite Pitirim, who founded Hellenic-Greek and Slavic-Russian church schools. In 1722 the city again visited Peter the Great, celebrating here the day of its 50th anniversary. Then he went to the Persian campaign.
In 1767 the city was visited by the Empress Catherine the Great. She did not like the city very much. She put it this way:
During her stay in the city she was introduced to the local inventor-mechanic Ivan Kulibin. Subsequently, he was invited to the capital's palace.
After the visit of Empress Catherine II, a new regular city plan was drawn up, providing for a quarterly system. From 1770 to 1913 the Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street was altered. It was built up by stone houses. In 1798 the first city theater was created. Later it became known as the Nicholas Theater in honor of Emperor Nicholas I. It is now called the Drama Theater.
In 1812, there was a war between Russia and France. After the French army attacked Moscow, Moscow landlords arrived in Nizhny Novgorod. There are rumors that after the fire in Moscow the capital will be Nizhny Novgorod. Among the arriving landlords are Nikolay Karamzin, Vasily Pushkin, Konstantin Batyushkov and Sergey Glinka, who organize their literary club here.
In 1817 in the village of Kunavino was moved Makaryev Fair. Previously, it was organized near the walls of the Makaryev Monastery. But, after the fire, it was decided to move it closer to Nizhny Novgorod. The fair gave rise to the rapid economic development of the city and the surrounding villages. The village of Kunavino became a large merchant settlement, later industrial enterprises were built on its territory.
In 1834 the city was visited by Nicholas I, who initiated the external reconstruction of the city. In 1847 a water pipeline appeared in the city and the first fountain was built. In the Kremlin, private buildings were destroyed and administrative buildings were built instead. Also, many new buildings, streets, boulevards and gardens were built.
In 1849, near Nizhny Novgorod, in the village of Sormovo was founded a large industrial enterprise Sormovsky plant. Since 1850, it has produced river steamships, railway cars, locomotives, motor ships, trams. Thanks to the plant, Sormovo turned into a large working village.
From 1862 the construction of the Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod railway was completed, in this line was built Moskovsky railway station. In 1895 it was extended to Sormovo. In 1904 the line of the Moscow-Kazan railway was built up to the Romodanovsky railway station.
All-Russia exhibition.
In 1896, the city hosted the largest All-Russia exhibition. To this event a tram was opened in the city. The exhibition showed the world's first radio receiver of engineer Alexander Popov and the world's first hyperboloid tower of engineer Vladimir Shukhov. At the same exhibition, the first Russian car of the Frese and Yakovlev factories was demonstrated. The engine and transmission were manufactured by the Yakovlev factory, and the hull, chassis and wheels of the Frese factory.
1905 Russian Revolution.
In the spring of 1905, the socio-political situation in the city was out of the control of the authorities. Governor Pavel-Simon Unterberger reported to the police department:
In the first days of November 1905 he was recalled from Nizhny Novgorod. He was replaced by Baron Constantine Frederiks.
In December 1905, an uprising of the workers of the Sormovo plant took place in the districts of Sormovo and Kanavino, organized by local groups of several parties.
In April 1908, one of the strongest floods occurred. There were flooded: Rozhdestvenskaya Street, Kazansky Railway Station, Bugrov Mills and Kurbatov Plant. Also populated settlements-satellites were flooded: Sormovo, Gordevka, Kunavino and Molitovka. Which later became part of the city.
In 1913 a State Bank was built, which was opened by Emperor Nicholas II.
During the World War I, in 1915, the Felzer and Etna plants were evacuated to Nizhny Novgorod. In 1916, the city opened the first People's State University. In 1917, the Warsaw Polytechnic Institute was evacuated. On its basis was formed Nizhny Novgorod Polytechnic Institute.
Soviet era.
Revolutionary Nizhny Novgorod.
After the February Revolution, the situation in the city began to heat up. In September 1917, preparations were made for the elections to the City Duma. In June, it became known that the population of the factory settlements - Molitovka, the Felzer plant and the Novaya Etna plant - was not included in the electoral lists. On June 14, workers went to a demonstration demanding electoral rights. The Duma was forced to make concessions by including these villages in the Kanavinsky constituency.
In the September elections, the victory was won by the representative of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party Vladimir Ganchel.
After the October Revolution, Soviet power in the city was established in the autumn of 1917. In 1919, Kunavino and Sormovo received the status of cities. Instead of the name "Kunavino", "Kanavino" gradually began to be used.
Industrialization.
In 1929, the cities of Sormovo and Kanavino were abolished, and their territory was included in the Greater Nizhny Novgorod. The city began to be divided into districts. In the same year, the administrative division of the country in the governorates was abolished. Nizhny Novgorod Governorate is abolished. Nizhny Novgorod became the center of the Nizhny Novgorod krai (since 1932 - the Gorky krai). October 7, 1932 the city was renamed Gorky, in honor of the 40th anniversary of the literary and public activities of the writer Maxim Gorky. In 1933 the Gorky Krai expands and turns into the Gorky Oblast and Gorky becomes its center.
In the same year, the first stone Oksky bridge appeared in the city, which connected the banks of the Oka. It is now called Kanavinsky. Also, a railway bridge across the Volga was built, along which the railway to Vyatka passed. Then it became possible to get through the Gorky to the Urals and Siberia.
In 1932, the largest industrial enterprise of the Soviet Union, the Gorky Automobile Plant (GAZ), was launched. In 1930-1940-ies the city was even referred to as the "Russian Detroit". At the same time, around the GAZ was built a new Avtozavodsky City District. Now its population is about 300,000 people. Initially, it was conceived as a separate city, but later it was made a district of the city. Also, in 1932 a large river cargo port was established on the Spit of Nizhny Novgorod. It was of high importance not only for the city, but for the entire European part of the country.
World War II.
In the territory of the city and the region, 56 Soviet military units and formations were created. In November 1941, in the city formed 72 units of the people's militia (34,568 people) who participated in the Battle of Moscow. In this territory, in the Eastern Front of World War II, 822,000 people fought for the Soviet Union. Of these, more than 350,000 people did not return from the battlefield. 130 sailors-submariners did not return from sea campaigns. 316 people were awarded for fighting feats of the highest award - the Gold Star of the Hero.
In November 1941, the formation of the Gorky Air Defense District began. The first Nazi air raids took place on the 4th of November and the next night. In 1942, Senior Lieutenant Pyotr Shavurin of the 722nd air defense missile made two successful rams, becoming the only Soviet pilot who had unconditional confirmation of two "battering" victories. In June 1943, the Luftwaffe carried out three large raids on the city, the main goal being the GAZ. 1631 explosive and 33,934 incendiary bombs were dropped on the city. At the GAZ - 1095 explosives and 2493 incendiaries. 50 buildings, more than 9000 conveyors and conveyors, 5900 units of technological equipment, 8000 motors, 28 bridge cranes, 8 shop substations, 14000 sets of electrical equipment and instruments were destroyed and damaged at GAZ. 254 residents of Avtozavodsky urban district and 28 air defense fighters died, 590 inhabitants and 27 fighters were wounded. The plant actually ceased to exist and was rebuilt anew only by mid-1944. In total during the war, Luftwaffe bombers made 43 raids on Gorky, of which 26 raids at night.
During the war in Gorky, an evacuation point and an evacuation base (in the river port) were created to service and distribute the flow of evacuees. In dozens of hospitals, more than 500,000 wounded soldiers were treated.
The city was the center for the Soviet production of weapons. Every second car, every third tank and every fourth artillery unit were manufactured at the city's enterprises.
During the war years, the Soviet Union sent to the front 38,000 tanks, self-propelled artillery systems, armored cars, 43,000 mortars, 16,000 aircraft, 22 submarines, 109,000 motor vehicles, more than 85,000 radio stations, as well as 101,000 artillery pieces and 1,165 Katyushas.
In memory of labor exploits, the Memorial "Gorky to the Front", in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Victory, was opened near the Kremlin walls.
Postwar years.
In 1946 a GAZ-M-20 Pobeda light truck and a GAZ-51 truck left the assembly line of the Gorky Automobile Plant. In 1947 a trolleybus service was opened in the city. In 1949, the construction of the Chkalov Staircase was completed. October 7, 1949 there is a major catastrophe of a passenger river ship Finnish No. 6, carrying out the flight Gorky - Bor. In April 1951 the construction of the Gorkovskaya hydroelectric power station began. The first turbine of the station was launched on November 2, 1955. In 1957, the Krasnoye Sormovo plant produces a high-speed hydrofoil vessel Raketa-1 (chief designer Rostislav Alekseyev). The first amateur television center, located in the club named after Frunze, began work in 1953. The construction of the Gorky state television center was completed in the autumn of 1957.
Closed city.
The defense enterprises located in the city (Krasnoye Sormovo, Sokol plant) attracted the attention of foreign special services. This served as the reason for the closure of the city: on August 4, 1959, the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union issued a resolution "On the closure of the city of Gorky for visits by foreigners".
January 18, 1970 at the Krasnoe Sormovo Plant there was a radiation accident. During the construction of the nuclear submarine K-320 project 670 Scat there was an unauthorized launch of the reactor.
December 2, 1970 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet the city was awarded the Order of Lenin.
In 1985, the city was opened a metro.
Russia.
Perestroika.
In the early 1990s, the status of the "closed city" was lifted, and the city became available for visits by foreigners.
October 22, 1990 by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR Gorky was renamed back to Nizhny Novgorod.
20th and 21st centuries.
At the end of the 20th century, information technology began to develop in the city. Many commercial enterprises operating in the field of mobile communication, Internet and software development were opened. Nizhny Novgorod has become one of the largest and most famous Russian IT centers, maintaining this status for several years. In the territory of Nizhny Novgorod and the region, 8 mobile phone service providers provide services, which is unique for Russia.
One of the main problems in the 2000s was the transportation problem associated with the insufficient capacity of the three bridges connecting the Lower City and the Upper City, where the center of business activity was concentrated. In 2009, the automotive part of the new metro bridge was launched.
The move of business activity from the historical center to Lower City was planned back in the 1980s, in 2008 it was fixed in the general plan, but in 2009 it was sent for revision.
Since September 2011, work is under way to solve the problem of transport hubs in the city center: the approaches to bridges are expanding and improving. Because of the high traffic of the Borsky Bridge in February 2012, a cableway was built. It connects between Nizhny Novgorod and Bor. The daily traffic is about 5000 people. From July 31, 2017, the second automobile Borsky bridge will start operating.
World Cup 2018.
In 2018, Nizhny Novgorod hosted the FIFA World Cup. In this regard, the city was completely restructured. First of all, the Spit was completely changed. A new stadium, an embankment and a park were built here. Near to the stadium was built a new metro station Strelka. The historic city center has also been transformed. All the ancient streets were restored, new museums were opened, and a grand FIFA Fan Fest took place on the main Minin and Pozharsky square. The 2nd line of the City Rail was also launched.


Hans Hagenbeek

Hendrikus Leonardus "Hans" Hagenbeek (11 April 1942 – 2 May 2021) was a Dutch architect.
He is most known for the project of the Nieuwmarkt neighborhood. After demolition for the construction of the Amsterdam Metro through the Nieuwmarkt neighborhood (1970–1975), the neighborhood had to be rebuilt. Other main projects were "Sint-Elisabeth Verpleeg- en Gasthuis" in Amersfoort (1986–1993); projects in (1988–1991), Diependaalselaan and Seinhorst Hilversum (1993), Tuindorp in Baarn (1995–2003), The Hague (Florence Nightingale Park (1991–1994), Wateringseveld (1995–1996) and Voorburg (1999–2005)), Amersfoort (2008–2009), houses in the neighborhood Balije in Leidsche Rijn (2004–2009) and neighborhoods Bovenkerk Oost and Zuid in Amstelveen (2005–2012).
Hagenbeek died in Amsterdam on 2 May 2021, aged 79.


Schiecentrale

The Schiecentrale is a former power plant and national monument in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The building was designed by the Dutch firm Mei and constructed by the Belgian company Besix upon request of PWS.
The building is located in the hip quarter Lloydkwartier in Rotterdam North bank by the river Meuse. This quarter is surrounded by water and hosts high culinary spots, such as restaurant FG Bistro, Hotel Stroom, Berry's Lunchroom.nl, and Verhip Rotterdam.
Description.
The building is formed by two building blocks connected by a deck. There is a higher and a lower block. The higher block, which is 16 levels high, is the most impressive one. The higher block gives the essential feature to the Schiecentrale. The higher block has two long facades: one facade is parallel to the street Lloydstraat to the East and the other facade is parallel to the street Schiehavenkade to the West.
The East side of the main high block shows UFO-like protruding boxes, which are used as storage rooms. The East side is facing the skyline of Rotterdam with a view of major architectural landmarks, such as Erasmusbrug, Euromast tower, Montevideo Tower, Maastoren, World Port Center, Hotel New York, Feyenoord Stadion, Van Brienenoordbrug, amongst others.
The west side of the main high block is made of full glass windows, which can be opened if the wind force is lower than 6. The West side is facing the Port of Rotterdam with a view of Delfshaven, Delft, Schiedam, The Hague, among others.


Melissa Sneekes

Melissa Sneekes, is a beauty pageant contestant who represented the Netherlands in Miss World 2007 in China.


Out Distance

Out Distance was a Czech resistance group during World War II, operating in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (part of occupied Czechoslovakia).
Operations.
At 2AM on 28 March 1942, the group parachuted from a British Halifax plane. Their plan had involved the sabotage of gasworks in Prague, providing radio-sets to other resistance fighters, and navigating bombers to the Škoda Works in Pilsen.
Due to a navigation error, the parachutists did not land where they had planned (they landed instead at Ořechov), and having lost a significant amount of material and being chased by Gestapo, the group members decided to split and operate on their own. One member of the group, Ivan Kolařík, committed suicide on 1 April 1942 in a futile effort to protect members of his family against reprisals after his cover was blown.
First Lieutenant Adolf Opálka, and Karel Čurda went to Prague and joined Operation Anthropoid, a group preparing to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich. The assassination was successful, but Čurda revealed to Gestapo information that led to the finding of the hiding place of the assassins (Prague's Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral) by the Gestapo. Following a fierce battle around the church, Opálka and others were killed in combat or committed suicide rather than be caught.
After the war, Čurda was captured and hanged for treason at Pankrác Prison on 29 April 1947.


Julius Terpstra

Julius Huibert Terpstra (born February 21, 1989) is a Dutch politician, who served as a member of the House of Representatives in the years 2020–21. He is a member of the political party Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). Before being an MP, he served as in the Leiden municipal council and as chair of Christian Democratic Youth Appeal, CDA's youth organization.
Early life and education.
Terpstra was born in Emmeloord, a town in Flevoland, on February 21, 1989. He attended Greijdanus College before studying in England for one year. Subsequently, he studied history at Leiden University between 2009 and 2015, earning a Master of Arts degree. While studying, he was a member of the fraternity Navigators and played soccer at LSVV '70.
In 2009, he joined the Leiden affiliate of Christian Democratic Youth Appeal (CDJA) as treasurer. One year later, he became the leader of CDJA Leiden, a position in which he served for two years. Terpstra was elected chair of the national organization CDJA in May 2013 by its members. His second term began two years later. During his tenure, he advocated for a constitutional requirement for a balanced budget, increasing spending on defense, banning the sale of tobacco in supermarkets, and reinstituting conscription. Furthermore, he opposed an elected instead of an appointed mayor. Terpstra stepped down as chair on January 1, 2017 to focus on his job and his campaign to become a member of the House of Representatives.
Career.
He participated in the 2014 municipal elections, being sixth on CDA's party list in Leiden. Terpstra was not elected, as his party received four seats. In May, he was appointed in the Leiden municipal council. In August 2016, Terpstra took a job at Nautus, an Amersfoort consultancy firm for municipalities. When CDA won three seats in Leiden during the 2018 municipal elections, he was fourth on the party list. He remained a . Shortly after becoming a member of parliament in 2020, he left Nautus and the Leiden municipal council. In the municipal council, he had been on the education and society committee and had focussed on sport policy.
House of Representatives (2020–2021).
Terpstra ran for House member during the 2017 general election. During the campaign, he said that abolishing the student loan system was his priority. He was placed 23rd on the CDA's party list and received 1,477 preferential votes. His party won nineteen seats, resulting in Terpstra not being elected. After Erik Ronnes had vacated his seat to join North Brabant's provincial-executive, Terpstra was sworn in as MP on May 20, 2020. Terpstra became the CDA's spokesperson in the area of housing, spatial planning, and the Environment and Planning Act. In the House, he was a member of the Committee for the Interior.
He has advocated addressing the Dutch housing shortage and reducing difficulties that young people have when trying to buy their first house. In July 2020, Terpstra introduced a motion, that was approved unanimously by the House, calling for the consideration of previous rent payments when applying for a mortgage. He has also unsuccessfully called for the interior minister to force Utrecht to build 25,000–30,000 homes in the polders Rijnenburg and Reijerscop. A motion by Terpstra and Daniel Koerhuis was narrowly passed by the House.
Terpstra was the 20th candidate of the CDA during the 2021 general election. He was not re-elected, as his party won fifteen seats. Terpstra personally received 1,297 votes.
Personal life.
While an MP, Terpstra lived in the South Holland city Leiden with his wife Kirsten Kok. They met while studying and married in July 2018. "Nederlands Dagblad" reported in 2013 that Terpstra was a member of the Reformed Church (Liberated).


Waiter, Scarper!

Waiter, Scarper! () is a 1981 Czechoslovak comedy film directed by Ladislav Smoljak. It is also known in English as 'Run, Waiter, Run!'.
Plot.
At his high school reunion, the mild-mannered Dalibor Vrána learns, to his chagrin, that some of his former classmates own villas and take international vacations. He feels himself to be much less impressive; he manages a bookstore, drives a dilapidated three-wheeled car with a canvas body, and is chronically short on cash, in part because, thanks to a weakness for women, he owes alimony to two ex-wives, and a third wife is worried they can't pay their bills. When a drunk stranger in a restaurant mistakes Vrána for a waiter, he takes it as a verdict on his life. He sees a gold lining in his fate, however, and starts slipping into restaurants, wearing the old tuxedo he wore to his high school reunion, and settling up the bills of diners whose real waiters have left them hanging. Soon he is able to afford a new car, though he has to hide it from the neighbors, lest they get suspicious, and drives to it in his old one. He can even afford to round up his children from their various mothers and take them on a skiing vacation. But soon the police and the press are onto him, not to mention a slew of indignant authentic waiters.
Production.
The idea for the movie came to the scriptwriter Zdeněk Svěrák in the early 1970s, when Svěrák slipped out of the Prague theater Malostranská Beseda, during the intermission of an opening night performance, to eat a quick dinner at U Schnellů, the pub next door. As soon as he entered the pub, he saw a forest of raised hands—impatient diners who wanted to pay and mistook him, because of his dark suit and bowtie, for one of the pub's waiters. Svěrák first offered the script to Jiří Menzel, who passed because he thought the material was too thin for a feature-length film. Svěrák hoped the actor Petr Nárožný would play the Vrána character, but Smoljak worried that Nárožný had become typecast by having played the "infuriated idiot" too many times recently, and cast Josef Abrhám instead. Smoljak revised Svěrák's script extensively, dropping, for example, a scene where Vrána escapes from a seafood restaurant because a fishing net on the ceiling drops on his pursuers, and adding a scene in which Vrána flits from one restaurant booth to another, expertly dodging the restaurant's real waiters. Smoljak insisted on filming that scene, as well as a late one, set in Karlovy Vary's Grandhotel Pupp, in a single take, because, he said, "we wanted the viewer to be able to see for himself every move, to see that coordination, whether it clicks or not. In an edit that can't be seen."


Finnish transport vessel Wilhelm Carpelan

Wilhelm Carpelan is a former "Von Fersen"-class transport boat. Built in 1915 for the Imperial Russian Navy, she was used as a transport boat and later a minesweeper by the Finnish Navy until 1977. After decommissioning, she was sold to private ownership and used as a pleasure boat. In 2013, "Wilhelm Carpelan" was donated to the collections of Forum Marinum, the maritime museum in Turku, Finland.
Description.
As a transport boat, "Wilhelm Carpelan" had a length of , beam of , draft of , and displacement of about 20 tons. Initially equipped with a petrol engine that gave her a speed of about , she was later fitted with a more powerful engine that increased her speed to about .
The vessel, crewed by two non-commissioned officers and two seamen, could carry about 4–5 tons of cargo or 40–50 passengers in the small cabin and open aftdeck. Later her aftship was covered and she was fitted with an enclosed pilothouse. She was armed with one machine gun.
History.
Finnish Navy.
"Wilhelm Carpelan" was one of the four transport boats built by Kone- ja Siltarakennus Oy in Helsinki in 1915 for the Imperial Russian Navy. Initially built under the name "S1 Shrapnell", she was seized by the newly founded Finnish Navy and renamed after Wilhelm Carpelan. The other boats of the class were "Augustin Ehrensvärd", "Axel von Fersen", and "Fabian Wrede". The "Von Fersen"-class transport boats were sometimes referred to as the "Ehrensvärd" class.
"Wilhelm Carpelan" served as a transport vessel in the Finnish coastal artillery in the Helsinki region before the Second World War. After the war, the vessel was converted into a minesweeper operating in the Gulf of Finland. Afterwards, she was again used as a transport vessel in the coastal artillery. Over the years, the vessel was rebuilt a number of times, and when "Wilhelm Carpelan" was decommissioned and sold in 1977, there were barely any of the original steel plates left in her hull.
Piloting captains have praised the seaworthiness of the small vessels, although they have also been called "submarines" due to their shape and their tendency to have waves crashing over their decks. Passengers were also said to appreciate the stability and safe travel of the vessels.
Civilian ownership.
On 11 November 1977, "Wilhelm Carpelan" was sold in Turku to Vilho Suominen, who restored the vessel to its former condition. Since the vessel was sold without an engine, she was fitted with a Valmet 815D diesel engine producing 180 hp.
"Wilhelm Carpelan" changed hands again on 30 April 1982, when she was purchased by animator Antti Peränne from Espoo. The interior of the vessel was then rebuilt and the cabin walls were panelled with palisander acquired from the Swedish steamship "Achilleus" that was being broken up in Hamina. She was also fitted with a hydraulic tilting mast in order to fit under the bridges of Länsiväylä. After rebuilding, she was registered as a pleasure boat and included in the classic ship registry of the Finnish National Board of Antiquities in 1995. Peränne took great care of his historic vessel, for which he received a grant of 7,000 euro from the Finnish National Board of Antiquities in 2011, until his death in 2012.
For several years, "Wilhelm Carpelan" was usually seen anchored in Keilalahti, Espoo, next to the Nokia head office. In the past, the employees of the office had jokingly referred to the vessel as a spy boat of the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson. In an online interview, Stephen Elop, the CEO of Nokia, said that when he enquired about the green vessel moored year-round in front of the office, he was told that it was a "Motorola spy ship".
The vessel was donated to Forum Marinum, the maritime museum located by the Aura River in the city of Turku, in the spring of 2013.


Marietje Schaake

Maria Renske “Marietje” Schaake (; born 28 October 1978) is a Dutch politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Netherlands between 2009 and 2019. She is a member of Democrats 66, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party.
Schaake has been named International Director of Policy at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center, as well as an International Policy Fellow at the University’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence.
At the CyberPeace Institute (CPI) she takes the role of President. CPI seeks to reduce the harms of escalating conflict in cyberspace, perform collective analysis of cyberattacks with the aim of informing the public, supporting vulnerable communities, and promoting responsible behavior, norms and respect for international law.
She writes a column for the Financial Times and the Dutch NRC newspaper’s economic section twice a month.
"The Wall Street Journal" called her "Europe's most wired politician", while CNN called her a "rising Dutch star" who makes an increasingly rare "passionate and public case for liberalism and globalization". She was selected as one of the "Politico 28" in 2017. During her last months in office in 2019, "Politico" also called her one of the 40 MEP's who mattered in 2014–2019. According to "Politico", Schaake is the "ultimate digital MEP" whose name has been floated as a potential candidate for the foreign ministry". The magazine also called her a "lead MEP on cybersecurity". In 2017 she was invited as a 'civic leader' to address the Obama Foundation summit. She publishes op-ed's in the "Financial Times", "The Guardian" and Bloomberg.
Education and early career.
Schaake was raised in Leiden and attended the Haags Montessori Lyceum (high school) in The Hague. She then left for the United States to study liberal arts at Wittenberg University in Ohio. She then studied sociology, American studies and new media at the University of Amsterdam. After an internship with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Schaake was granted the Lantos Fellowship of the United States House of Representatives, where she focused on international relations and human rights issues.
Before her political career, Schaake served as an independent advisor to, amongst others, the United States Ambassador to the Netherlands and to the president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights in Washington, D.C.. Other assignments included consulting the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as cultural institutes and companies. Schaake specialized in issues such as transatlantic relations, diversity, integration, civil rights and Muslims in the West. In 2007 she received the Barney Karbank Memorial Award 2007 for outstanding leadership on the issue of human rights.
Political career.
In the autumn of 2008, Schaake was nominated as candidate for the European Parliament for the Dutch political party Democrats 66 (D66). In the European Parliament elections of 2009, Schaake was elected at age 30 when D66 won three seats. In the 2014 elections, she was re-elected for a second term.
In the European Parliament, Schaake was the ALDE Coordinator of the International Trade committee (INTA). She was also the spokesperson for the ALDE Group on the Canada-EU Trade Agreement Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). In 2016, she served as the parliament's rapporteur on a ban on trade in certain goods which could be used for capital punishment, torture or other treatment or punishment. She then pushed for stricter export controls for cybersurveillance technologies through her work on the dual-use legislation. Schaake also advanced stronger oversight over the trade in cultural goods from conflict areas.
Schaake additionally served on the committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), where she focused on strengthening Europe as a global player. She worked on the EU's neighbourhood policy, notably Turkey, Iran and North Africa and the broader Middle East. In the subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI), she spoke on human rights and coordinated the monthly human rights resolutions for ALDE.
During her period in parliament, Schaake took several initiatives to promote digital freedoms and to include them in European Union foreign policy. She was the Vice-President of the delegation for relations with the United States and served in the delegation for relations with Iran, and in the delegation for the Arab peninsula. Schaake pushed for completing Europe's Digital Single Market and copyright reform. She supports an open internet in discussions about internet governance and digital (human) rights.
Schaake established the Intergroup on the Digital Agenda for Europe. In this group Members of the European Parliament, cross-party and cross-nationality, work together in strengthening the digital agenda for Europe.
In March 2011, the European Parliament adopted Schaake's report on the Cultural Dimensions of the EU's External Actions. This was followed by the adoption of Schaake's report on a Digital Freedom Strategy in EU Foreign Policy in December 2012 and her report on Freedom of the Press and Media in the World in June 2013. Furthermore, in April 2014 the European Parliament supported Schaake's amendments to enshrine net neutrality into European telecommunications legislation.
In 2017, Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, appointed Schaake as Chief Observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission to Kenya. In 2017, she was also appointed to represent the European Parliament to the board of the Madad fund. This European Commission Trust Fund concentrates the financial support of different EU institutions, member states and other donors under one heading to more effectively distribute aid to those within Syria and its surrounding countries.
In September 2018 Schaake announced she would not seek a 3rd term and would not participate in the 2019 European elections.
Other activities.
Schaake has several unpaid additional positions, including the following:
Schaake is also a member of the Board of Advisors at the EU-funded research project 'Media, Conflict and Democratisation'. In September 2013, Schaake joined the Steering Committee of the "Transatlantic Dialogues on Security and Freedom in the Digital Age" project of the New America Foundation. Earlier she was a Commissioner at the Global Commission on Internet Governance and a Member of the board of directors at the Flemish-Dutch House deBuren. All additional positions are unpaid. On 25 September 2020, Scaake was named as one of the 25 members of the "Real Facebook Oversight Board", an independent monitoring group over Facebook.
Schaake was also a candidate to become United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres's first-ever Envoy on Technology in 2021; instead, the role went to Chilean diplomat Fabrizio Hochschild Drummond.


Nicolaes de Helt Stockade

Nicolaes van Helt Stockade (1614–1669), was a Dutch Golden Age painter.
Biography.
According to Houbraken, Joost van den Vondel made a poem about him.
According to the RKD he became a master in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1646 and worked on the city hall of Nijmegen and the Amsterdam City Hall.


Hans Schenk (economist)

E.J.J. (Hans) Schenk is a Dutch professor emeritus of economics and fellow of the Tjalling C. Koopmans Research Institute at Utrecht University’s School (NE) of Economics (USE) of which he was founding director. He was a Crown-appointed independent member of the Social and Economic Council SER of the Netherlands from 2010 until 2018. With other financial economics specialists, and help of Triodos Bank, he founded the Sustainable Finance Lab in 2011.
Before accepting the professorship at USE, he was a professor of economics and business at Tilburg University (NE) and an associate professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam (NE) and the University of Groningen (NE).
Biography.
Work.
Schenk graduated from the University of Oregon (US), obtained his MBA in the collaborative Leuven/Cornell programme and his doctorate in economics from Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis (FR). He has held chairs at several foreign institutions, among which the China-Europe Management Institute in Beijing and Université Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg (FR). He was a fellow of the Centre for International Business and Management when it was at Cambridge University between 2005-2015, after which he became an academic associate .
He was a consultant to multinational enterprises, employers’ federations as well as trade unions, the United Nations, the Dutch and English parliaments, the European Commission, and the governments of the Netherlands, Vietnam and South Africa. He directed the family business firm in Maastricht (NE) for five years and acts on various supervisory boards.
He has been chief advisor to the Royal Dutch Economic Society and is an associate editor of the "International Journal of the Economics of Business" and the "International Review of Applied Economics."
"The Economist" qualified him as “the internationally most reputable Dutch economist” in 1993. He was a nominated recipient of Le Monde's Science Award in 1998 while Edward Elgar's Who's Who in the Management Sciences (2000) selected him as one of seven Dutch entries among the world's 350 leading business scholars.
His work is being quoted frequently in Dutch newspapers while he appeared regularly on radio and TV news programmes. Abroad, he was interviewed for media such as Canadian Public TV, Newsweek, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, and the China Business Times.
Schematic view.
Education.
Economics as well as business at Nyenrode University (NL), University of Oregon (US); MBA from University of Leuven (B); Economics doctorate from Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis (F)
Miscellaneous.
Acted as consultant to multinational enterprises, Dutch ministries, the governments of Vietnam and South Africa, UNCTAD, UNI-Europa, trade unions, and employers' federations. Past member of the Industrial Policy Committee of the SER and various other official committees. Organiser of several conferences, most recently on ‘Governance of the Modern Firm'. Led the academic supporting team of the De Wit Committee of the Dutch Parliament which studied the causes of, and policy responses to the Great Financial Crisis of 2008.


Arkazhsky Monastery

The Arkazhy Monastery (Russian: Аркажский монастырь, "Monastery of Arcadius") was one of the most important monasteries of medieval Novgorod the Great. It stood about two miles south of the city and just west of the Yuriev Monastery. All that remains of it today is the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God, which is visible on the road out to the Yuriev Monastery. The foundations of the medieval monastery were excavated by Soviet archaeologists in 1961.
The monastery was founded by and takes its name from Arkadii, who founded it in 1153 prior to his being elected bishop of Novgorod (1156–1165). He initially built a wooden church to the Assumption. This church was subsequently rebuilt in stone in 1188 by Simeon Dibakevits and was consecrated by Archbishop Gavriil (1186–1192) the following year. Other boyars, including several posadniks, helped add to the monastery over the centuries. In 1206, Posadnik Tverdislav Mikhailovich built the Church of Simeon Stylites over the gates of the monastery; in 1395, Isaak Onkifov had the Church of St. Michael the Archangel rebuilt in stone; it was overhauled in 1407 by Posadnik Yuri Dmitrievich and his cousin Yakov.
In addition to patronizing the monastery, at least two posadniks, in fact a father and son, became monks there: in 1206, Posadnik Mikhailko was shorn in the schema, the highest level of Eastern Christian monasticism, in the Arkazhsky Monastery and died there, having taken the monastic name Mitrofan. In 1222, his son Tverdislav was also shorn a monk in the monastery after he had taken ill.


Stephen the Great Monument

The Stephen the Great Monument () is a prominent monument in Chișinău, Moldova.
Description.
The monument to Stephen the Great was designed by architect Alexandru Plămădeală in 1923. It was erected near the main entrance of the Stephen the Great Park in Central Chișinău. The monument was completed in 1927 and opened on 29 April 1928 (to replace the monument to Alexander II of Russia, destroyed by the Romanian authorities in 1918). The total cost of the monument was 4.000.000 lei.
A few days before the 1940 Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina, the monument was relocated to Vaslui, and its pedestal was blown up. On August 25, 1942, the monument was returned to Chișinău and taken back to Romania in 1944. In 1945, the Soviet authorities ordered the restoration of the monument to Chișinău.
On 31 August 1989 the monument to Stephen the Great was returned to its original location, chosen by Alexandru Plămădeală in the 1920s. The initial inscriptions were restored. Flower-laying ceremonies are regularly performed at the pedestal of this monument on each national holiday and on days of official top- and high-level visits.


Jean-Pierre Minckelers

Jean-Pierre or Jan Pieter Minckelers (also Minkelers, Minckeleers) (1748-1824) was a Dutch academic and inventor of coal gasification and illuminating gas.
Minckelers was the son of Anna Margaretha Denis en Laurens Michael Minckelers, a pharmacist in Maastricht. After finishing Latin school in his hometown at the age of 15, he went to the University of Leuven (French: "Louvain"), where he studied theology and philosophy at the Collegium Falconis. In 1771 he became a deacon and the next year he became professor of natural philosophy. From 1778 Minckelers focussed on the study of gasses. He worked closely with Jan Frans Thijsbaert (Jean-François Thysbaert; 1736–1825), director of the school of experimental physics at the university, and it was under Thysbaert's direction that he did his experiments on coal gas.
In the early 1780s the question of aerostats and Montgolfier balloons was occupying the mind of scientists, and Louis Engelbert, 6th Duke of Arenberg, a promoter of science and art, engaged Minckelers, Thysbaert en Carolus van Bochaute, a third natural philosopher at the university, to address the question of the best gas for balloon purposes. In 1784, after many experiments, Minckelers published a work entitled "Mémoire sur l'air inflammable tiré de différentes substances, rédigé par M. Minkelers, professeur de philosophie au collège du Faucon, université de Louvain" (Louvain, 1784). As an appendix to this memoir there was a "Table de gravités spécifiques des différentes espèces d'air" by Thysbaert.
In his memoir Minckelers relates how he made his discovery: from the very beginning of his experiments he had had the idea of enclosing oil in the barrel of a gun and heating it in a forge. Under action of the heat the oil dissolved and gave way to a very light gas, having other advantageous qualities. Having proved that oil gas was the best for balloons, Minckelers used it for many balloons which rose rapidly and travelled great distances in the neighbourhood of Leuven in 1783. As we learn from his pupil von Hulstein, who was in his class in 1785, Minckelers at times used this same gas to light his lecture hall. Later on some students' bedrooms were lit by gas as well. Moreover, the drift of his memoir proves clearly that in its inventor's eyes the great combustibility of the gas was one of its leading qualities. When Joseph II, in 1788, transferred the Catholic University of Leuven to Brussels, Minckelers continued as professor. During the Brabant Revolution, Brussels was besieged and Minckelers was forced to flee, leaving his equipment behind. The gaslight apparatus is thought to have survived until World War I. As a supporter of the emperor, he could not regain his position when the University moved back to Leuven. He officially resigned in 1794 and was appointed professor of physics and chemistry at the Central School of Maastricht. While not at a center of higher learning, he proceeded to do research, among others on meteorology and on a Mosasaurus skeleton discovered in a local limestone quarry in 1800.
In 1816 he became member of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands. He retired in 1818 and died six years later in his hometown of Maastricht.
Minckelers is remembered as an inventor of coal gasification and gas lighting and as the first to do this at a practical scale. On Maastricht's market square stands a statue, created by Bart van Hove, that carries an "eternal" gas light. For sustainability and budget reasons, the flame is coin operated since 2006. Another statue of him is in Heverlee near the science buildings of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. A number of schools and streets in the Netherlands and Belgium carry his name, including a street in the center of Leuven.


Gradec, Zagreb

Gradec (), Grič (, , ) or Gornji Grad (meaning "Upper Town", cf. Donji grad, "Lower Town") is a part of Zagreb, Croatia, and together with Kaptol it is the medieval nucleus of the city. It is situated on the hill of Grič. Today this neighbourhood forms part of the Gornji Grad-Medveščak district.
History.
Gradec was given a royal charter by King Béla IV in 1242. The royal charter, also called the Golden Bull, was a very important document by which Gradec was declared and proclaimed "a free royal city on Gradec, the hill of Zagreb". This act made Gradec a feudal holding responsible directly to the king. The citizens were given rights of different kinds; among other things they were entitled to elect their own city magistrate () fulfilling the role of mayor. They were also entitled to manage their own affairs.
The citizens engaged in building defensive walls and towers around their settlement, fearing a new Mongol invasion. They completed the defensive system at a time between 1242 and 1261. It could be rightly assumed that by building its fortification walls in the middle of the 13th century, Gradec acquired its outward appearance that can be clearly seen in today's Upper Town (Gornji Grad). The defensive walls enclosed the settlement in the shape of a triangle, its top located near the tower called Popov toranj and its base at the south wall (today's Strossmayer Promenade) and Lotrščak tower, which could be explained by the shape of the hill. In some places, rectangular and semicircular towers fortified the defensive walls.
There were four main gates leading to the town: the west gate in the Mesnička Street, the new north gate, later known as the Opatička Street gate, Dverce in the south and the Kamenita vrata () in the east. Kamenita vrata is the only gate still preserved to date.
Gornji Grad today.
Gornji Grad is a local government unit, encompassing a population of 3,432.
Undoubtedly, the focal point of Gornji Grad is the square around St. Mark's Church that had been called St. Mark's Square for years. St. Mark's Church is the parish church of Old Zagreb. When guilds developed in Gradec in the 15th, and later in the 17th century, being the societies of craftsmen, their members including masters, journeymen and apprentices would gather regularly in St. Mark's Church.
On the opposite side of the Square at the corner of Basaričekova Street lies the St. Mark's parish office. The house has been standing there since the 16th century, although it underwent reconstruction in the 18th century and had an extension added in the 19th century. At the west end of St. Mark's Square, the mansion called "Banski dvori", the former residence of the Civil Governor of Croatia (), was built at the beginning of the 19th century and yet, it can be classed among the Zagreb antiquities. "Banski dvori", along with the Baroque mansion beside it, is the seat of the Government of the Republic of Croatia. Since 1734, the Croatian Parliament has taken up the east side of St. Mark's Square.
In 2008, Gornji Grad was closed to car traffic except for residents, making it a primarily pedestrian zone. In 2014, Zagreb Administrative Court struck down the order prohibiting other cars from parking at residents' parking spaces, and car access and parking was again allowed on Gornji Grad, albeit at a hefty fee for non-residents.


Nicolaes Hasselaer

Nicolaes Hasselaer (1593 – 1635), was a Dutch Golden Age brewer and major of the Amsterdam schutterij, who is best known today for his portrait by Frans Hals.
Biography.
He was born in Amsterdam as the son of Pieter Dirksz Hasselaer, brewer of the "Witte Arent", and a founding member of the Dutch East India Company. Nicolaes became known in the 18th century for his biography by Jan Wagenaar in his history of Amsterdam, who claimed he saved a remonstrant's family from a mob in 1627, and in 1629, he saved the Dutch West India Company from a raid (the building housed the silver bounty brought back by the local hero Piet Pieterszoon Hein). He was held in such high respect that the mobs dispersed without him ever needing to fire a shot. He was mentioned for his bravery in a poem by Vondel. His reason for defending the WIC headquarters was personal, since he was listed in their investor's catalog "Groot-Kapitaalboek" twice, for the sums of 4000 guilders and 2000 guilders. That is worth about 420,000 euros in 2010. He married Geertruid van Erp on 29 December 1619 and their son Gerrit was baptized in the Nieuwe Kerk on 13 October 1620. Geertruid van Erp apparently didn't survive and Claes married a second time to Sara Wolphaerts van Diemen on 14 August 1622. They in turn had a daughter Geertruyd Hasselaer who was baptized in the Oude Kerk on 18 April 1624, followed by Anna on 5 April 1626, and Aefje on 17 May 1629.
Hals portrait.
The pendant portraits of Nicolaes and his bride Sara are currently in the Rijksmuseum, where they were part of a bequest in 1885 by J. S. R. van de Poll. Since 2007, the sitters of these undated and uninscribed portraits have been disputed. His portrait was documented by Hofstede de Groot in 1910, who claimed that contrary to what the museum states, this is in fact a portrait of Nicolaes' brother Dirk Hasselaer the younger:
"186. DIRK PIETERSZ HASSELAER (probably). M. 42. Half-length. He sits on a chair facing right, with his head three-quarters right, and looks down to the left. He has a moustache and pointed beard ; his hair is rough. His right elbow rests on the arm of the chair ; his left hand is on his thigh. He wears a dark costume with a broad and close-fitting white lace collar and white wristbands. In the Rijksmuseum catalogue the sitter is identified as Nicolaes Hasselaer (1593-1635); but his wife, Geertruyt van Erp died in 1620, and this portrait, from its style, must have been painted later than that year. [Pendant to 187.] Canvas, 32 inches by 26 1/2 inches. Presented to the Rijksmuseum in 1885 by J. S. R. van de Poll. In the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1907 catalogue, No. 1089."
Hofstede de Groot lists the portrait's pendant as possibly a portrait of Brechtje van Schooterbosch, the wife of Nicolaes' older brother. The Dirk-Brechtje couple baptized children in 1617 and 1618 and were older than Claes and Sara. Considering Hofstede de Groot's comment that this portrait displays a style "later" than Claes's marriage date of 1622, then it is clearly a mistake to label it as Dirk's, though Dirk lived longer than Nicolaes and took over his appointments as regent of the Amsterdam city orphanage and captain-major of the civic guard. However, it is possibly the portrait of another member of the extensive Hasselaer family.


SS Bjoren

SS "Bjoren" is a wood-fuelled steamboat that travels the route between Byglandsfjord-Bygland and Bygland-Ose on the lake Byglandsfjorden in the municipality of Bygland in the Setesdal valley. She runs on Sundays in July.
Using wood as fuel is a natural choice as there was, and still is, good local access to it. Using wood to fuel the steam engine contributes to make "Bjoren" a unique part of Norway's cultural heritage and a floating technical museum.
History.
The steamer "Bjoren" was built at Akers Mekaniske Verksted in 1866. She was long and had a engine. In 1897, the boat was extended by and in 1914 she was further extended by . She had a new boiler installed and new engine that produced . Today the boat is long and weighs . She is certified for up to a maximum of 55 passengers.
In the early years "Bjoren" was in regular use at a place called Kilefjorden, a part of the river Otra. When the Setesdal Line, a narrow gauge railroad, was opened to Byglandsfjord Station in 1896 and as a direct cause of this she was moved to her present location in Byglandsfjord, about north in the valley Setesdal where she was in service until 1957. In the 1920s, buses took most of the traffic in the valley and eventually, when a new road was built in the 1950s, the traffic reasons for the steamer was gone. The boat was put in storage, deterioration started and eventually she sank.
"Bjoren"s next life.
In the 1970s, a group of local enthusiasts decided to make an attempt to preserve the boat. As the boat was counted as part of Norwegian history, the government saw its interests and they helped with the funding. The boat was restored at "Drammen Shiprepairs A/S" and in 1994 was once again ready to be used.
Today, "Bjoren" is owned and run by the company "Bjoren AS". In addition, the local group called "Bjorens venner" (Friends of Bjoren) put a lot of effort into preserving the technical values of the boat. "Bjoren" is still receiving government funding and, as the world's only existing wood-fuelled steamboat still in service, she is a unique attraction to both tourists and others.


Hendrick van Buyten

Hendrick van Buyten (1632 - July 1701) was a baker in Delft. He is famous because of his connection to Johannes Vermeer. In August 1663 he owned a painting by Vermeer when he was visited by Balthasar de Monconys. Van Buyten told the diplomat, accompanied by two friends, he had paid 600 guilders (?) for the painting. Monconys opined that he would have thought he had overpaid for it had he bought it for sixty guilders.
In a disposition of January 1676, a month and a half after Vermeer's death, Catharina Bolnes appeared before a notary to acknowledge that she had "sold and transferred" two paintings by her late husband to Van Buyten. Catharina further declared that she had been paid 617 guilders for the two paintings, which she owed Van Buyten for bread delivered. He would return the paintings, "a person playing on a cittern" and another "representing two persons one of whom is sitting writing a letter" if she paid all her debts. Catharina had persistently urged him to. She had over twelve years to refund the main part of the debt at fifty guilders per year, and she did not even have to pay interest. Van Buyten must have delivered a great deal of bread to accumulate a total credit of over 726 guilders.
Van Buyten was married to Machtelt van Asson and in 1683 to Adriana Waelpot. If he earned more than 600 guilders a year, he belonged to the richest people in Holland, where a guilder a day was seen as a very good salary.


SM U-29 (Austria-Hungary)

SM "U-29 or U-XXIX" was a "U-27" class U-boat or submarine for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. "U-29", built by the Hungarian firm of Ganz Danubius at Fiume, was launched in October 1916 and commissioned in January 1917.
"U-29" had a single hull and was just over in length. She displaced nearly when surfaced and over when submerged. Her two diesel engines moved her at up to on the surface, while her twin electric motors propelled her at up to while underwater. She was armed with two bow torpedo tubes and could carry a load of up to four torpedoes. She was also equipped with a deck gun and a machine gun.
During her service career, "U-29" sank three ships and damaged two others, sending a combined tonnage of to the bottom. "U-29" was at Fiume at war's end and was surrendered at Venice in March 1919. She was granted to France as war reparation in 1920, but foundered while under tow to Bizerta for scrapping.
Design and construction.
Austria-Hungary's U-boat fleet was largely obsolete at the outbreak of World War I. The Austro-Hungarian Navy satisfied its most urgent needs by purchasing five Type UB I submarines that comprised the from Germany, by raising and recommissioning the sunken French submarine "Curie" as , and by building four submarines of the that were based on the 1911 Danish "Havmanden" class.
After these steps alleviated their most urgent needs, the Austro-Hungarian Navy selected the German Type UB II design for its newest submarines in mid 1915. The Germans were reluctant to allocate any of their wartime resources to Austro-Hungarian construction, but were willing to sell plans for up to six of the UB II boats to be constructed under license in Austria-Hungary. The Navy agreed to the proposal and purchased the plans from AG Weser of Bremen.
"U-29" displaced surfaced and submerged. She had a single hull with saddle tanks, and was long with a beam of and a draft of . For propulsion, she had two shafts, twin diesel engines of for surface running, and twin electric motors of for submerged travel. She was capable of while surfaced and while submerged. Although there is no specific notation of a range for "U-29" in "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906–1921", the German UB II boats, upon which the "U-27" class was based, had a range of over at surfaced, and at submerged. "U-27"-class boats were designed for a crew of 23–24.
"U-29" was armed with two bow torpedo tubes and could carry a complement of four torpedoes. She was also equipped with a 75 mm/26 (3.0 in) deck gun and an machine gun.
After intricate political negotiations to allocate production of the class between Austrian and Hungarian firms, "U-27" was ordered from Ganz Danubius on 12 October 1915. She was laid down on 3 March 1916 at Fiume and launched on 21 October.
Service career.
"U-29" underwent diving trials at Fiume and then made her way to Pola on 29 November 1916. There, on 21 January 1917, SM "U-29" was commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy under the command of "Linienschiffleutnant" Leo Prásil. Prásil, a 29-year-old native of Pola, had previously served as commander of .
"U-29" departed on her first patrol on 23 January, destined for duty in the Mediterranean. The next day, however, the U-boat encountered a severe storm near Lussin that damaged her. Prásil steered the boat into the harbor at Brgulje to wait out the storm. Departing Brgulje on the 25th to resume her journey to the Mediterranean, the submarine developed a leak when performing a test dive. "U-29" headed back to Pula for repairs, which lasted until 30 January. On 5 February the U-boat set out for Cattaro, which she reached after three days journey.
Prásil took "U-29" out of Cattaro on 17 February to begin the delayed patrol in the Mediterranean, but on the 20th encountered another severe storm. Suffering no damage in the tempest, the boat continued on. On 24 February, she had an at-sea rendezvous with . On 1 March the U-boat's gyrocompass broke down, necessitating a return to port. Two days later, as she neared Cattaro, "U-29" encountered yet another storm, this one again damaging the ship. The beleaguered U-boat headed back to the base at Pula for more repairs, and remained there until early April.
On 4 April, "U-29" set out from Pula, touched at Cattaro, and continued on into the Mediterranean for her second patrol there. While from Cape Matapan, Prásil torpedoed and sank the steamer "Dalton", traveling in ballast. "U-29" took the master of the 3,486-ton British ship captive; three other men lost their lives in the attack. Five days later and some away, "U-29" torpedoed , a British India Line passenger steamer of . The ship, en route from Calcutta to London with a general cargo, was finished off by "U-29"s deck gun. As with "Dalton", "Mashobra"s master was taken prisoner. Eight persons died in the attack. "U-29"s gyrocompass broke down again on 17 April, once again forcing the boat to return for repairs. "U-29"s second Mediterranean tour ended when Prásil docked the boat at Cattaro on 19 April.
"U-29"s third Mediterranean deployment began on 8 May when she departed Cattaro. After eleven days at sea, Prásil torpedoed the British cargo ship "Mordenwood" from Cape Matapan. "U-29" took the 3,125-ton ship's master captive. Two sources disagree on the number of casualties when "Mordenwood" went down, but place the number at either 21 or 31. Escorting destroyers launched a depth charge attack on "U-29" but did not succeed in damaging the U-boat. Two days later, "U-29" launched a torpedo attack on the British steamer "Marie Suzanne" but did not sink the ship. "U-29" arrived at Cattaro on 25 May.
After a brief time in port, "U-29" set out for the Mediterranean again on 17 June. One day out, the U-boat came under attack from an airplane out of Valona, compelling "U-29" to crash dive; none of the three bombs dropped by the aircraft hit their mark. "U-29"s patrol ended without success when she docked at Cattaro on 6 July. After a return to Pola on 12 July, the U-boat underwent extensive repairs that kept her out of action for the next nine months.
On 16 March 1918, the newly refitted boat sailed from Pola to Cattaro, departing that port for another Mediterranean tour on 25 March. Near Valona the next day, an Italian destroyer attempted to ram "U-29", scraping one of her propellers against "U-29"s conning tower. The damage done was slight and "U-29" continued on into the Mediterranean, weathering a storm in the Ionian Sea on the 27th. On 4 April, "U-29" launched a torpedo attack on what was thought to be a cargo ship. In fact, it was the British protected cruiser which had been hit. "Edgar" was damaged but did not sink; she suffered no casualties in the attack. The following day Prásil attempted to torpedo a ship in a convoy but missed and was exposed to a depth charge attack by the convoy's escorts. The U-boat ended the patrol with no further successes.
In June, the Austro-Hungarian Navy planned an assault on the Otranto Barrage, similar to a May 1917 action that evolved into the Battle of Otranto Straits. "U-29" was deployed from Cattaro on 9 June in advance of the attack. One of the seven separate groups participating in the attack, the two dreadnoughts and , came under attack from Italian MAS torpedo boats in the early morning hours of 10 June. "Szent István" was hit and sank just after 06:00, and the entire operation was called off. "U-29" returned to Cattaro on 12 June. Over the next two months, "U-29" operated in the Adriatic out of Cattaro, patrolling off Durazzo and the Albanian coast.
While at Cattaro, command of "U-29" passed to "Linienschiffleutnant" Friedrich Sterz on 4 September. The 27-year-old native of Pergine, Tyrolia (in present-day Italy), had previously commanded and, like Prásil, had also served a stint as commander of "U-10". After assuming command of "U-29", Sterz set sail for Durazzo the same day. The U-boat had encounters with MAS torpedo boats on 9 and 12 September. On the latter date, "U-29" had to crash dive to avoid a bombing attack from Allied airplanes. None of the seven bombs hit their mark and "U-29" returned to Cattaro on 16 September.
"Linienschiffleutnant" Robert Dürrial replaced Sterz as commander on 29 September. The Galician Dürrial, like both Stertz and Prásil, had served as the commander of "U-10", but had most recently commanded . A day after assuming command, Dürrial headed for the Albanian coast in "U-29" and patrolled off Durazzo.
After the Armistice with Bulgaria on 29 September ended Bulgaria's participation in the war, Durazzo gained importance to the remaining Central Powers as the main port for supplying their forces fighting in the Balkans. Anticipating this, the Allies put together a force to bombard Durazzo. While the second echelon of the attacking force got into position to bombard the town, "U-29" and sister boat maneuvered to attack. While "U-31" was able to hit and damage the British cruiser , "U-29" was blocked by screening ships and herself attacked. The Allied escorts (mainly American submarine chasers) subjected "U-29" to a heavy depth charge attack. "U-29" was able to make her way back to Cattaro on 8 October.
Over the next three weeks, "U-29" patrolled between Cattaro and Antivari, Montenegro. After her arrival back at Cattaro on 1 November, "U-29" was moored between the coastal battleship and . There she remained until she was awarded to France as a war reparation in 1920. "U-29" was towed, along with sister boats "U-31" and , from Cattaro for Bizerta for scrapping, but foundered on the way. In total, "U-29" sank three ships with a combined tonnage of 14,784, and damaged one warship.
Notes.
3. Josef Guenther Lettenmaier, who served on U 29 as "Maschinenquartiermeister", roughly equivalent to Machinist Mate 2nd Class, documented his experiences in the Austro-Hungarian Navy and aboard U 29 as historical fiction in "Rot-Weiss-Rot zur See", published by Tyrolia Verlag, Innsbruck, 1934. Lettenmaier's book is the only published record of the K.u.k. U-Waffe written by "other ranks".


Derbent Governorate

The Derbent Governorate () was a short-lived governorate (guberniya) of the Russian Empire in 1846–1860.
It was established by the decree of 14 December 1846 of Nicholas I of Russia. In accordance with the "Regulations on the Administration of the Dagestan Oblast" (Положением об управлении Дагестанской областью, 5 April 1860), the Derbent Governorate was abolished, and most of the area became part of the Dagestan Oblast.


Zhytomyr

Zhytomyr ( ; ; ; ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Zhytomyr Oblast (province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Zhytomyr Raion (district). The city of Zhytomyr is not a part of Zhytomyr Raion: the city itself is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast; moreover Zhytomyr consists of two so-called "raions in a city": Bohunskyi Raion and Koroliovskyi Raion (named in honour of Sergey Korolyov). Zhytomyr occupies an area of . Its population is
Zhytomyr is a major transportation hub. The city lies on a historic route linking the city of Kyiv with the west through Brest. Today it links Warsaw with Kyiv, Minsk with Izmail, and several major cities of Ukraine. Zhytomyr was also the location of Ozerne airbase, a key Cold War strategic aircraft base southeast of the city.
Important economic activities of Zhytomyr include lumber milling, food processing, granite quarrying, metalworking, and the manufacture of musical instruments.
Zhytomyr Oblast is the main center of the Polish minority in Ukraine, and in the city itself there is a Latin Catholic cathedral and large Roman Catholic Polish cemetery, founded in 1800. It is regarded as the third biggest Polish cemetery outside Poland, after the Lychakivskiy Cemetery in Lviv and Rasos Cemetery in Vilnius.
History.
Legend holds that Zhytomyr was established about 884 by Zhytomyr, prince of a Slavic tribe of Drevlians. This date, 884, is cut in the large stone of the ice age times, standing on the hill where Zhytomyr was founded. Zhytomyr was one of the prominent cities of Kievan Rus'. The first records of the town date from 1240, when it was sacked by the Mongol hordes of Batu Khan.
In 1320 Zhytomyr was captured by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and received Magdeburg rights in 1444. After the Union of Lublin (1569) the city was incorporated into the Crown of the Polish Kingdom and in 1667, following the Treaty of Andrusovo, it became the capital of the Kiev Voivodeship. In the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 it passed to Imperial Russia and became the capital of the Volhynian Governorate.
Following the Union of Lublin, Zhytomyr (known in Polish as Żytomierz) became an important center of local administration, seat of the starosta, and capital of Żytomierz County. Here, sejmiks of Kiev Voivodeship took place. In 1572, the town had 142 buildings, a manor house of the starosta and a castle. Following the privilege of King Sigismund III Vasa, Zhytomyr had the right for two fairs a year. The town, which enjoyed royal protection of Polish kings, prospered until the Khmelnytsky Uprising (1648), when it was captured by Zaporozhian Cossacks and their allies, Crimean Tatars. Its residents were murdered, Zhytomyr was burned to the ground, and all government files were destroyed. In 1667, Zhytomyr became capital of Kiev Voivodeship, and in 1724, a Jesuit school and monastery were opened here. By 1765, Zhytomyr had five churches, including 3 Roman Catholic and 2 Orthodox, and 285 houses.
In 1793 Zhytomyr was annexed by the Russian Empire, and in 1804 was named capital of the Volhynian Governorate. In 1798, a Roman Catholic Diocese of Zhytomyr was established. During the January Uprising, the town was a stronghold of Polish rebels.
During a brief period of Ukrainian independence in 1918 the city was for a few weeks the national capital. Nicolas Werth claims that armed units of the Ukrainian People's Republic were also responsible for rapes, looting, and massacres in Zhytomyr, in which 500–700 Jews lost their lives. From 1920 the city was under Soviet rule. Under Soviet rule a German National District was set up in the area for the German minority, according to Soviet minorities policy before World War II.
During World War II Zhytomyr and the surrounding territory was, for two and a half years (first from July 9, 1941 to November 12, 1943 and again from November 19, 1943 to December 31, 1943) under Nazi German occupation and was Heinrich Himmler's Ukrainian headquarters. The Nazi regime in what they called the "Zhytomyr General District" became what historian Wendy Lower describes asa laboratory for… Himmler's resettlement activists… the elimination of the Jews and German colonization of the East—transformed the landscape and devastated the population to an extent that was not experienced in other parts of Nazi-occupied Europe besides Poland. [While]… [u]ltimately, the exigencies of the war effort and mounting partisan warfare behind the lines prevented Nazi leaders from fully developing and realizing their colonial aims in Ukraine… In addition to the immediate destruction of all Jewish communities, Himmler insisted that the Ukrainian civilian population be brought to a 'minimum.'
From 1991, the city has been part of the independent Ukraine.
Administrative division.
The city is divided into two administrative districts:
Microdistrict
The city of Zhytomyr contains the following areas (microdistricts):
Population.
Roman Catholics.
Zhytomyr had been a Latin Catholic bishopric since 1321, until the see was suppressed in 1789 in favor of the Diocese of Lutsk and Zytomierz, until that was split up again in 1925, when it was restored as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Zhytomyr; that was formally suppressed in 1998 to establish the Diocese of Kyïv–Žytomyr, but actually the city retains the episcopal see in its Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom, while Kyiv (although first in the title and the national capital) only has a co-cathedral.
The Zhytomyr cemetery was opened in 1800. At first, it served Polish nobility from Volhynia, such as the Czeczel and the Woronicz families. Later, other Catholics were buried here, including Germans, Ukrainians and Russians.
In 1840, the Chapel of St. Stanislaus was built (now in ruins), and the cemetery was divided into nine districts, named after different saints. In the Soviet Union, the complex was devastated, now it is under the process of renovation.
Among most famous people buried here are:
Jews in Zhytomyr.
Zhytomyr apparently had few Jews at the time of the Khmelnytsky Uprising (1648), but by the time it became part of Russia in 1778, it had a large Jewish community, and was a center of the Hasidic movement. Jews formed nearly one-third of the 1861 population (13,299 in 40,564); thirty years later, they had somewhat outpaced the general growth of the city, with 24,062 Jews in a total population of 69,785. By 1891 there were three large synagogues and 46 smaller "batei midrash". The proportion of Jews was much lower in the surrounding district of Zhytomyr than in the city itself; at the turn of the century (circa 1900) there were 22,636 Jews in a total population of 281,378.
In Imperial Russia, Zhytomyr held the same status as the official Jewish center of southern part of the Pale of Settlement as Vilnius held in the north. The printing of Hebrew books was permitted only in these two cities during the monopoly of Hebrew printing from 1845 to 1862, and both were chosen as the seats of the two rabbinical schools which were established by the government in 1848 in pursuance of its plans to force secular education on the Jews of Russia in accordance with the program of the Teutonized Russian Haskalah movement. The rabbinical school of Zhytomyr was considered the more Jewish, or rather the less Russianized, of the two ("Ha-Meliẓ", 1868, No. 40, cited in "Jewish Encyclopedia"). Its first head master was Jacob Eichenbaum, who was succeeded by Hayyim Selig Slonimski in 1862. The latter remained at the head of the school until it was closed (together with the one at Vilnius) in 1873 because of its failure to provide rabbis with a secular education who should be acceptable to the Jewish communities. Suchastover, Gottlober, Lerner, and Zweifel were among the best-known teachers of the rabbinical school at Zhytomyr, while Abraham Goldfaden, Salomon Mandelkern, and Abraham Jacob Paperna were among the students who later became famous in the Jewish world.
The Jewish community of Zhytomyr suffered pogroms:
The Jewish community of the region was largely destroyed in the Holocaust. In the four months beginning with Himmler's 25 July 1942 orders, "all of Ukraine's shtetls and ghettos lay in ruins; around 3,000 Jewish men, women, and children were murdered by stationary and mobile SS-police units with local Ukrainian auxiliaries."
Today, the Zhytomyr Jewish community numbers about 5,000. The community is a part of the "Union of Jewish Communities in Ukraine" and the city and district's rabbinate. Rabbi Shlomo Vilhelm, who came to the city as a Chabad emissary in 1994, serves as rabbi. Other Jewish institutions are also active in the city, including the Joint and its humanitarian branch "Chesed" and the Jewish Agency.
The community has an ancient synagogue in the city center which has a mikveh. Chabad operates in the city various educational institutions which have residence in a village next to the city.
Culture.
The city has 2 state theaters and a philharmonic, more than 10 museums, libraries and planetarium.
One of the world-famous museums of cosmonautics Sergei Pavlovich Korolyov Museum of Cosmonautics is located in the city.
Theaters and music
In 1809, the first stationary theater building was built in Zhytomyr on the initiative of Volyn governor M. I. Кomburley.
In 1858, the first stone theater in Ukraine was built (now it houses the regional state philharmonic). M. Kropyvnytskyi, M. Zankovetska, V. Komisarzhevska, I. Aldridge, P. Viardot performed here.
In 1966, a new theater building was built with a large auditorium for 943 seats and a small one for 70 seats, a lobby with an area of 550 m2, rehearsal halls, dressing rooms, offices, production shops.
Currently in the city work:
Since 1973, the Zhytomyr Academic Dance Ensemble "Sun" exists in the city.
The internationally renowned chamber choir OREYA is based in the city.
Famous composers Boris Lyatoshinsky and Sviatoslav Richter were born in Zhytomyr.
Museums
The following museums operate in Zhytomyr:
Libraries
Architecture: sights and monuments
The city has 74 historical monuments, 24 archeological monuments, and 15 monuments of monumental art (one of which is of national importance). Monuments of architecture and urban planning of state importance — 10, local significance — 72.
Monuments of historical, cultural and religious significance in the city of Zhytomyr include:
In 1996, the Memorial to the Victims of Fascism was erected in Bohunia by the sculptor Yosyp Tabachnyk (a memorable location of the Bohunіa concentration camp for prisoners of war).
Geography.
Zhytomyr lies in a unique natural setting; all sides of the city are surrounded by ancient forests through which flow the Teteriv, Kamianka, Kroshenka and Putiatynka rivers. The Teteriv river generally forms the southern boundary of Zhytomyr, though there are also some small areas of Zhytomyr city territory below the southern bank of the river. The city is rich in parks and public squares.
Zhytomyr is set out on a mostly radial type of street net with the centre at the main public square of the city, named "Sobornyi Maidan" (which means "Cathedral Square"). A building containing courts and some other institutions is in the west of the square. Before 1991, this building contained Zhytomyr Oblast Committee of the Communist Party. Just behind the building (that is to the west of Sobornyi Square) is a small quiet park, bearing the name of "Zamkova Gora" ("Castle Mountain") and containing a monument-type boulder with an inscription stating that this is a place where Zhytomyr was founded. This historical centre of Zhytomyr is in the south part of the city. The old part of Zhytomyr is on three rocky hills over the river Kamianka: Okhrimova, Zamkova, and Petrovska.
The old town is surrounded by new housing estates, the names of which are often borrowed from the former suburban villages or reflect the longstanding occupations common in these places. The main streets connecting Sobornyi Maidan with the outskirts of Zhytomyr are Kyivska Street or Kyiv Street (going to northeast, to the railway station and also to the main bus station of the city), Velyka Berdychivska Street (going to southeast), Lech Kaczyński Street (going southwest; its further continuation is Chudnivska Street going to beaches and a forest-type park near the river of Teteriv), and Peremohy Street (going north).
The best-known street in the central part of Zhytomyr is Mykhailivska (named after St. Michael's Church at the northern end of the street). The street is about 500 metres to the east of Sobornyi Maidan and runs approximately from north to south, connecting some points at the above-mentioned Kyivska Street and Velyka Berdychivska. Mykhailivska Street is for pedestrian traffic: vehicles are forbidden, with the exception of some slow-moving ones. A puppet theatre is nestled in the middle of the street, while the building of the Zhytomyr City Council is at its southern end. Several small coffee houses and cafés have sprung up here recently, frequented by locals from all walks of life and of all ages. If one crosses Velyka Berdychivska Street from the southern end of Mykhailivska Street, then one finds oneself at Korolyov Square containing the building of the Zhytomyr Oblast Council. Crossing Kyivska Street from the northern end of Mykhailivska Street, one can continue to go along Pokrovska Street, another important long avenue of Zhytomyr (going north).
The best-known park of Zhytomyr is named after Yuri Gagarin, in the south of the city, at the left (northern) bank of the Teteriv River. It was formerly owned by the Baron de Chaudoir.
Economy.
Zhytomyr is an important economic center in the region. Enterprises in the city include glass, metal fabrication, electronic devices, screens, fabrics, furniture, shoes and others.
In addition, a large pharmaceutical factory is in Zhytomyr. Since 1944, a confectionery factory (ALC "ZhL") works in Zhytomyr; the enterprise is one of the leaders of Ukrainian confectionery market.
The city is home to the Zhytomyr Armored Factory. The factory has been one of the main repair facilities in Ukraine since the start of the War in Donbass, running on 3 shifts. In September 2014 it was announced that the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine had placed a 280 million hryvnia order with the factory.
Transport.
In ancient times, the city was on the important road from Kyiv to the city of Brest-Litovsk.
Now this road is of international highway connecting Kyiv to the Hungarian border near Chop.
Some other roads:
Railways connect Koziatyn with Zhytomyr (through Berdychiv), Korosten, Novohrad-Volynskyi, Korostyshiv and Fastiv. In 2011 a stretch of the Fastiv — Zhytomyr rail line was electrified.
Zhytomyr is about 131 kilometers from Kyiv (by road 140 km, by rail 165 km).
The following trains pass through Zhytomyr train station (both directions for all):
The city has an airport (however it is not currently being used for passenger transport; it is intended for the use of strategic bombers, though not currently being used).
Zhytomyr has three bus stations connecting it with many other cities and villages in Ukraine and abroad.
Zhytomyr has fifteen bridges and junctions built over rivers and roads. There is a 30-kilometer ring road around Zhytomyr.
The most interesting bridge in Zhytomyr is one over the Teteriv River in Gagarin Park (named after Yuri Gagarin).
Public city transport.
Common kinds of public transport shuttling within Zhytomyr are trolleybuses, buses, and minibuses. There are also electric trams, but on one route only. Earlier there were several tram routes in Zhytomyr, but all excepting one were canceled during a period of domination of the opinion that a tram is a bad kind of transport.
Trams began to shuttle in Zhytomyr in 1899. Thus Zhytomyr became the 5th city with electric trams within the territory of present-day Ukraine. Trolleybuses appear in Zhytomyr in 1962.
The total length of Zhytomyr city electric transport routes (trolleybuses and trams) is 275 km. Zhytomyr is the first city in Ukraine to implement e-ticket system in all municipal public transport.
Twin towns – sister cities.
Zhytomyr is twinned with:


Pieter Gallis

Pieter Gallis (1633 in Enkhuizen – 1697 in Hoorn), was a Dutch Golden Age painter. His favorite color was blue.