We study the Motherland. Where is Blagoveshchensk?

1856 is considered the date of the foundation of the city, but in the XVII century the territory where Blagoveshchensk is located, tried to master the groups of pioneers V. Poyarkova and E. Khabarova. The signing of the Treaty of Nerchinsk forced the Russians to leave these places assigned to China. Only two centuries later the resettlement began here first of the Trans-Baikal Cossacks, then landless peasants from different parts of the Russian Empire - after the left bank of the Amur was recognized by the Russian territory as the Treaty of Aigun.

City at the confluence of two rivers

In those places where the city of Blagoveshchensk is located, a special geography. The successful location at the confluence of the Amur and Zeya undoubtedly influenced its development.

Shipping, fishing, agriculture were addedgold mining. Of course, trade flourished, not only with China on the other side of the river, but also with other regions of the country. For a long time, water transport was the only means of communication with the rest of the world.

The construction of roads was complicated by the terrain, whereBlagoveshchensk is located: forest tracts, swamps, large distances to other settlements. Now Blagoveshchensk is connected by passage with the federal motorway M58 Chita-Khabarovsk. The railway was built only in 1913. In 20 kilometers from the city works the international airport "Ignatyevo".

Neighbor on the other side of the river

From any place of the embankment of the Amur, where is the city of Blagoveshchensk, you can not just see, but also see the houses and other objects of the Chinese city of Heihe, because the width of the river in this place is 800 meters. Relations with China developed in different ways. There was a period of active trade, in the city there were Chinese quarters, the Chinese, or rather, the Manchus found work here, sometimes seasonal: they worked as porters, janitors, handymen, traded fish and vegetables. But in 1900, China launched military operations against Russia, began to shell not only the territory where Blagoveshchensk is located, but also other border regions. In the city at that time there were more than two thousand Chinese, the massacres began. As a result, the settlers were forced to cross the Amur River by swimming. Few, swam to the Chinese shore, were immediately beaten by compatriots.

At present, a free zone has been created in Heihetrade between Russian and Chinese, for citizens of Russia there is a visa-free entry into this city. Increasingly, Blagoveschensk pensioners buy apartments in Heihe: life there is cheaper. In Blagoveshchensk, it is not uncommon for Sino-Russian marriages.

But the deteriorating state of the Amur is alarming. The fact is that the waters of the Amur, where Blagoveshchensk is located, are polluted from the right bank of Heihe with industrial and food waste. The fish richness of the river is under threat. The Annunciation says that even now local fish can not be processed without a long treatment.

Interesting Facts

• In 1889, Mr .. D. Peshkov, a centurion of the Cossack army, made a six-year journey from Blagoveshchensk to St. Petersburg on a horse of the Mongolian breed, in honor of him Emperor Alexander III arranged a parade in the capital, and in 2006 a film about this amazing campaign was filmed in France.
• In 1994, Boris Yeltsin arrived in the city,instead of the planned food store, where an abundance of goods was organized, visited an ordinary grocery store and was indignant in particular at the fact that three kilts are lying on the counter, and the local authorities boast that there are more than three hundred species of fish in the Amur.

• In the city there is an unusual monument to the shuttle - a man with a huge trunk, a large box and a bag-purse on the belt, into which coins are thrown, believing that it brings good luck.