View of Nerchinsk, from Eberhard Isbrand Ides (1710), Driejaarige reize naar China (Dutch edition)
A 1900 postcard showing the Butin Palace in Nerchinsk
The fort of Nerchinsk dates from 1654. Afanasy Pashkov [ru] founded the town four years later; in that year he opened direct communication between the Russian settlements in Transbaikalia and those on the Amur River which had been founded by Cossacks and fur-traders from the Yakutsk region.[11] In 1689 Russia and China signed the Treaty of Nerchinsk, which stopped the farther advance of the Russians into the basin of the Amur for two centuries (see Sino-Russian border conflicts).
After that, Nerchinsk became the chief center for Russian trade with China. The opening of the western route through Mongolia, via Urga, and the establishment of a custom-house at Kyakhta in 1728 diverted this trade into a new channel. But Nerchinsk acquired fresh importance from the influx of immigrants, mostly exiles, into eastern Dauria, from the discovery of rich mines and from the arrival of great numbers of convicts to the Nerchinsk katorga. Ultimately Nerchinsk became the chief town of Transbaikalia.
The famous English adventurer and engineer Samuel Bentham visited Nerchinsk in 1782. Bentham had seen a potential for Nerchinsk as a base for access to the Sea of Okhotsk, provided the Chinese would authorize navigation on the Amur River. Such a venture would have opened up the possibility of fur trade with the Pacific Ocean, as far as the Chinese port of Canton.
In 1812, Nerchinsk was transferred from the banks of the Shilka to its present site, on account of floods. The town relinquished its supremacy to Chita in the late 19th century, when the Trans-Siberian Railway bypassed it.
In the early 20th century, Nerchinsk was built of wood, and its lower areas frequently suffered from inundations. The inhabitants supported themselves mainly by agriculture, tobacco-growing and cattle-breeding; a few merchants traded in furs and cattle, in brick-tea from China, and in manufactured wares from Russia. Gold-mines in the vicinity were owned and developed by the Butin family of merchants, whose Neo-Moorish palace now accessible for visitors.
Nerchinsk today
As of 2016[update] Nerchinsk is home to some small electromechanical and food-processing industries. It has a small museum, established in 1884. Among its sights are the Resurrection Cathedral, built in the Neoclassical style in 1825 to commemorate the city's relocation, its belltower destroyed by the Communists. The site of old Nerchinsk is marked by the Assumption Monastery, the oldest in Dauria, founded in 1664. Its cathedral, consecrated in 1712, is the easternmost building in the Muscovite Baroque style.
The Nerchinsk Airport is a former air-base located 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) northwest of the town. It was abandoned in the 1990s.[13] The substandard runway length suggests a 1950s design.
References
Notes
^ abcdefRegistry of the Administrative-Territorial Units and the Inhabited Localities of Zabaykalsky Krai
^Федеральная служба государственной статистики. Федеральное агентство по технологическому регулированию и метрологии. №ОК 033-2013 1 января 2014 г. «Общероссийский классификатор территорий муниципальных образований. Код 76 628 101». (Federal State Statistics Service. Federal Agency on Technological Regulation and Metrology. #OK 033-2013 January 1, 2014 Russian Classification of Territories of Municipal Formations. Code 76 628 101. ).
^"Об исчислении времени". Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). June 3, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
^Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (in Russian)
Министерство территориального развития Забайкальского края. 1 января 2014 г. «Реестр административно-территориальных единиц и населённых пунктов Забайкальского края», в ред. Распоряжения №209-р от 10 июня 2014 г.. (Ministry of the Territorial Development of Zabaykalsky Krai. January 1, 2014 Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Units and the Inhabited Localities of Zabaykalsky Krai, as amended by the Directive #209-r of June 10, 2014. ).
Законодательное Собрание Забайкальского края. Закон №317-ЗЗК от 18 декабря 2009 г. «О границах сельских и городских поселений Забайкальского края», в ред. Закона №1070-ЗЗК от 31 октября 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в Закон Забайкальского края "О границах сельских и городских поселений Забайкальского края"». Вступил в силу через десять дней после дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Забайкальский рабочий", №239–242, 21 декабря 2009 г. (Legislative Assembly of Zabaykalsky Krai. Law #317-ZZK of December 18, 2009 On the Borders of the Rural and Urban Settlements of Zabaykalsky Krai, as amended by the Law #1070-ZZK of October 31, 2014 On Amending the Law of Zabaykalsky Krai "On the Borders of the Rural and Urban Settlements of Zabaykalsky Krai". Effective as of the day which is ten days after the day of the official publication.).
Законодательное Собрание Забайкальского края. Закон №316-ЗЗК от 18 декабря 2009 г. «О границах муниципальных районов и городских округов Забайкальского края», в ред. Закона №770-ЗЗК от 26 декабря 2012 г. «О внесении изменений в Закон Забайкальского края "О границах муниципальных районов и городских округов Забайкальского края"». Вступил в силу через десять дней после дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Забайкальский рабочий", №239–242, 21 декабря 2009 г. (Legislative Assembly of Zabaykalsky Krai. Law #316-ZZK of December 18, 2009 On the Borders of the Municipal Districts and Urban Okrugs of Zabaykalsky Krai, as amended by the Law #770-ZZK of December 26, 2012 On Amending the Law of Zabaykalsky Krai "On the Borders of the Municipal Districts and Urban Okrugs of Zabaykalsky Krai". Effective as of the day which is ten days after the day of the official publication.).