Blagovestchensk - a city in Russia. It is the
administrative center of the Amur region and the Blagoveshchensky
district, that forms the "City District of the city of
Blagoveshchensk." With the population of 225,091 (2018), it is the
fifth largest city in the Far East. Located on the left bank of the
Amur and on the right bank of the Zeya (at the mouth); the only
administrative center of the region of Russia, located on the state
border, the Chinese city of Heihe stands on the right bank of the
Amur, a distance of 526 meters.
Blagoveshchensk - the final
railway station on the line, departing from the station Belogorsk on
Transsib. Ignatievo International Airport. Scientific and
educational center. It was founded in 1856 as the Ust-Zeya military
post; since 1858 - the city of Blagoveshchensk (from the Church of
the Annunciation). Preserved fragments of wooden architecture from
the late XIX century.
By plane
Blagoveshchensk International Airport
"Ignatievo" (IATA:BQS) is located 16 km northwest of the city. The
airport accepts flights from the cities of Moscow,
Khabarovsk, Irkutsk,
Chita, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk,
Yakutsk, seasonal flights from other Russian
cities are possible. Local flights are carried out on the AN-2 with the
settlements of Ekimchan, Fevralsk and Svobodny. The city can be reached
from the airport by bus number 8 or express bus number 10, travel time
from 30 to 50 minutes. It is better to order a taxi from the city, the
approximate cost is 600 rubles. For taxis that stand near the terminals,
it reaches 1,500 rubles.
By train
Blagoveshchensk can be
reached by direct trains from Moscow, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Chita and
Tynda, or with a transfer through the Belogorsk station. Blagoveshchensk
lies 130 km south of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the Belogorsk station
is located between Irkutsk and Skorovodino in the west and Birobidzhan
and Khabarovsk in the east. The journey from Belogorsk station to
Blagoveshchensk takes approximately 2-2.5 hours. From Moscow can be
reached in 5-7 days. Tickets can be bought at the railway station which
is located on the street. Station, 70
By car
From Moscow to
Blagoveshchensk 8091 km, travel time for one driver is about a week, for
shift driving about five days. From Chita, travel passes along the
federal highway R-297 "Amur" Chita - Khabarovsk. The entrance to the
city is carried out along the Belogorsk-Blagoveshchensk branch, 124
kilometers long. There is a traffic police post with weight control in
front of the city. You can drive to the city along the branch Svobodny -
Blagoveshchensk, the distance is 140 kilometers, there is no post.
By bus
Shuttle buses run every 2 hours from Belogorsk station to
Blagoveshchensk. The cost is about 300 rubles.
On the ship
In
the summer from Heihe.
Buses are the main public transport. The route scheme covers almost all districts of the city, about four dozen routes. Suburban flights to nearby settlements and all regional centers of the region (departure from the bus station). The cost of travel, luggage transportation around the city is fixed - 25 rubles. (July 2019).
Triumphal Arch.
Monument to Chelnok.
Dinosaur
graveyard.
Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin.
Monument to the border guard with a dog.
Monument to N.N.
Muravyov-Amursky.
Monument "Snow Maiden".
Amur
Regional Museum of Local Lore. G.S. Novikov-Daursky, st. Lenina, d.165.
from 10.00 to 18.00, closed-Mon.
Museum of Paleontology, per.
Relochny, 4. ✉ ☎ +7 (4162) 52-34-54, 33-27-10, 54-42-76. Mon–Fri
8:00–17:00.
Amur Regional Drama Theatre, st. Lenina,
146. ☎ +7 (4162) 33-74-20.
Amur Regional Puppet Theatre,
Blagoveshchensk, st. Shevchenko, 60/4. ☎ +7 (4162) 51-46-66.
In 1896-1901. in Blagoveshchensk, the majestic Trinity Church was built, “the pearl of the architecture of the Far East”, also called the Shadrin Cathedral in honor of the merchant Semyon Shadrin, whose money the construction was carried out. The cathedral was a copy of the Church of the Epiphany, located in St. Petersburg on Gutuevsky Island. In July 1936, the Shadrinsky Cathedral was destroyed. A few years earlier (in 1923-1932), Russian settlers in Harbin built a third "twin church" - St. Sophia Cathedral. In 2008, a decision was made to restore the cathedral.
In the late 1940s, a "cemetery of dinosaurs" was discovered in Blagoveshchensk. Reptile bones at the quarry site were found by an ordinary schoolboy. He brought them to the local history museum and showed them to scientists, who immediately became interested in the unique place. In the 1980s, excavations were actively carried out, which were then interrupted for several years. In recent years, not only Russian scientists, but also paleontologists from Belgium have been working on extracting ancient bones.
Mass grave of
118 fighters for the power of the Soviets who died in 1918-1922. F. N.
Mukhin, V. I. Shimanovsky, S. F. Shadrin, Ya. G. Sharif were buried.
Monument to the Warriors of the repair and maintenance base of the
fleet. V. I. Lenin, who fell in the battles in the Second World War for
the freedom and independence of our Motherland. 1941-1945 Installed in
1957.
Monument to home front workers - opened in 2015.
The
monument to Muravyov-Amursky is a visiting card of the Amur region. A
3-meter monument to the Amur sculptor Nikolai Karnabeda on a rectangular
pedestal was installed on the Amur embankment in 1993. During the
large-scale reconstruction of the embankment in 2011, the monument also
underwent minor changes, or rather its base, which became round from the
so-called green granite. And in 2017, the monument was moved a few tens
of meters closer to the Amur.
The monument to Saint Innocent is a
bronze bust on a granite pedestal, erected in 1998 in the alley that now
bears his name.
Monument to St. Innokenty and Muravyov-Amursky, the
founders of the city, immortalized in stone on a common pedestal.
Installed in 2009 near the cathedral. The sculpture, the author of which
is the sculptor Valery Razgonyaev, was cast in Ulan-Ude.
Monument to
Peter and Fevronia - a three-meter bronze sculpture in the park near the
registry office. The composition depicts a holy couple in princely robes
with doves in their hands - a symbol of fidelity.
Art objects on the
city's embankment: a seven-meter sculpture of Amurosaurus, which at the
time of installation was the most accurate sculptural reconstruction of
this prehistoric animal, and casts of Kerberosaurus footprints.
Cheap
Several cafes near the bus station
Entertainment center "Royal" (includes a hotel), st.
Mukhina, 82. ☎ +7 4162 772577.
Hotel "Druzhba", Kuznechnaya st., 1.
Hotel "Zeya", Kalinina st., 8.
Hotel "Amur", Lenina st., 122.
Hotel "Yubileinaya", Lenina street, 108.
Hotel "Asia", Gorky St.,
158.
Postal code: 675000. Telephone code: 4162. Annunciation time is 6 hours ahead of Moscow time (GMT +9) There are cellular networks in the city: Beeline, MTS, Megafon, ChinaMobile. There is 3G on all operators. There is an internet cafe. Wi-Fi is available in every business center.
The city center is safe at almost any time. The level of street robberies and thefts in public transport is very few. The city center is constantly patrolled by the police; in other areas, the presence of law enforcement officers is very few. At night, you should especially be wary of areas of the city, such as the checkpoint, Taiwan, Astrakhanovka, Speech factory, Pervomaisky Park, Furniture Factory, Swamp.
Founded in 1856 as the Ust-Zeya military post on the Amur; in 1858 it was transformed into the city of Blagoveshchensk according to the church founded in the same year in the name of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos.
On May 21 (June 2), 1856, a military detachment of about 500
soldiers arrived on the left bank of the Amur, not far from the
mouth of the Zeya, who began clearing the territory, preparing it to
accommodate future settlers. The soldiers uprooted the forest,
prepared logs for buildings, cleared a place for vegetable gardens.
On June 29 (July 11), the first group of migrants arrived in the
amount of 60 people, assembled from Transbaikal Cossacks. The
detachment was led by the centurion M. G. Travin. They had to hold
out for the winter in order to receive a new batch of immigrants
next year. Their duties included guarding food warehouses and
maintaining postal communications. In addition, it was necessary to
build as many houses as possible for future residents before winter.
In 1857, another hundred people of Transbaikal Cossacks with
their families arrived along the Amur for permanent residence. Thus,
by the spring of 1858, Russian people were already living on the
banks of the Amur. There was a favorable situation for the
documentary consolidation of these territories for the Russian
Empire. This honorary mission was entrusted to the Governor-General
N. N. Muravyov. On May 5 (17), 1858, he arrived at the Ust-Zeya
village. He was accompanied by Archbishop Innokenty (Veniaminov) of
Kamchatka, the Kuriles and the Aleutians.
On May 9 (21),
Vladyka Innokenty founded a church in honor of the Annunciation of
the Most Holy Theotokos in Ust-Zeyskaya village. On May 12 (24),
negotiations began between representatives of the Qing Empire and
officials of the Russian Foreign Ministry, headed by N. N. Muravyov.
Negotiations were held for 5 days, accompanied by numerous
ceremonies according to Chinese and Russian customs. On May 16 (28),
1858, the Aigun Treaty was signed, under the terms of which the
entire left bank of the Amur was recognized as Russian. On May 17
(29), Muravyov solemnly returned to the Ust-Zeya village with
escort. Archbishop Innokenty immediately served a thanksgiving
service. The next day, during a reception arranged for the signing
of the treaty, Muravyov congratulated all the participants with
these words: “Comrades! Congratulations! We did not work in vain:
Amur became the property of Russia. The Holy Orthodox Church is
praying for you! Russia - thanks! Long live Emperor Alexander and
flourish under his roof the newly acquired country. Hooray!"
On May 21 (June 2), the text of the treaty and the plan for further
actions proposed by N. N. Muravyov were sent for review to Emperor
Alexander II. On the fact of solving this difficult task with the
delimitation of territories, the emperor elevated Muravyov to the
dignity of a count. The adjective "Amursky" was added to Muravyov's
surname. More than 200 people who participated in the signing of the
agreement were awarded. On July 5 (17), 1858, the city of
Blagoveshchensk was established by imperial decree.
On
December 8 (20), 1858, the Amur Region was founded by the highest
order of Emperor Alexander II. Blagoveshchensk became its
administrative center. The city is still an outpost of Russia on the
banks of the Amur, protecting the Far Eastern borders of the
country.
On December 21, 1858 (January 2, 1859), through the
efforts of Innokenty, Archbishop of Kamchatka, the Kuriles and the
Aleutian, the department of the Kamchatka diocese was transferred to
Blagoveshchensk.
In 1865, gold mining by private individuals
was allowed in the Amur Region. Due to this, the further development
of the city up to the Soviet period is inextricably linked with gold
mining. In 1894, more than 13 tons of gold were mined on the Amur.
In this regard, water transport developed at an accelerated pace,
only by water it was possible to reach remote mines.
Meanwhile, agriculture developed well. The average level of grain
production per inhabitant of the Amur region in the 1890s was at
least 50 pounds, while in the Vladimir and Moscow provinces - 27
pounds, in the south of Ukraine - 51 pounds.
In 1867, N. M.
Przhevalsky visited Blagoveshchensk.
In 1876 M. O. Makeevsky
became the first mayor.
In 1888, the first iron foundry in
the Amur region (now a shipbuilding plant) started operating in the
city. Founder merchant N. S. Lvov.
The woodworking industry
was developed in the city.
By the end of the 19th century,
the city was a large river port and industrial center. In 1905 there
were 157 steamships and 220 barges.
Nevertheless,
Blagoveshchensk was a merchant city. Several largest commercial and
industrial houses, such as Kunst and Albers, I. Ya. Churin and Co.
”, and numerous merchants provided the townspeople with a variety of
goods.
In 1889, the centurion of the Amur Cossack army,
Dmitry Nikolaevich Peshkov, a native of the Albazinskaya village,
began the horse crossing Blagoveshchensk - St. Petersburg, which
ended on May 19, 1890. On a horse of the Mongolian breed, nicknamed
"Gray", he rode through the taiga for six months, including in
winter, with 40-degree frosts. Alexander III staged a parade in St.
Petersburg in honor of Peshkov's arrival. This event is the basis
for the 2006 French film director Joel Farge's film Cerco.
A.P. Chekhov, who visited Blagoveshchensk in 1890, left the
following notes in his letters: “Here they are not afraid to speak
loudly. There is no one to arrest here and nowhere to exile,
liberalize as much as you like. The people are more and more
independent, independent and logical; I am in love with Amur, I
would gladly live on it for two years. And beautiful, and spacious,
and free, and warm. The last exile breathes easier on the Amur than
the very first general in Russia; Cupid is an extremely interesting
region. Life here is in full swing such that in Europe they have no
idea.
In 1891, the city was visited by Tsarevich Nicholas,
the future Russian Emperor Nicholas II. The first train from
Blagoveshchensk to St. Petersburg left on December 13 (26), 1913.
In the summer of 1900 in Blagoveshchensk there was a conflict with the Chinese, during the so-called Boxer uprising. On July 1 (14), 1900, China's military operations against Russia began: Chinese attacks on Russian ships took place on the Amur. In Blagoveshchensk, Russian residents were hastily arming, preparing to repel an attack from the Chinese side and possible hostile actions from ethnic Chinese living in the city and region. A massive shelling of the city began from the other side of the Amur. It lasted two weeks. The bombing of Blagoveshchensk by the Chinese in 1900 is captured on the canvas of Aivazovsky's student A. A. Sakharov, "The Defense of Blagoveshchensk in 1900." Cases of violence against the Chinese and their killings have become more frequent in the city. The decision to expel the Chinese from the territory of the city was not quite clearly announced by the military governor of the police. In the narrowest part of the river, above Blagoveshchensk, at low water, it was planned to transport them to the other side. But misunderstanding of the decree and mutual bitterness led to the fact that the escort Cossacks drove the Chinese afloat. Many of them did not know how to swim and died during the crossing. A witness to these events, N. Z. Golubtsov, wrote: “There were few means of transportation in the village, and for a crowd of more than two thousand people it would not be easy to find them. Meanwhile, from the other side they did not stop firing. Here the fact of the Chinese crossing the Amur directly by swimming took place. Of course, few of them reached their shore, but even here a sad fate awaited them: they were beaten by their own.
After the February Revolution, Blagoveshchensk became the center of
the Ukrainian national movement in the Amur region. In May 1917, the
Amur Ukrainian Regional Congress was held in Blagoveshchensk, in which
200 delegates took part. At the congress, it was decided to create the
Union of Settlers of the Colonists of the Amur Region and the Amur
Regional Ukrainian Rada was created, headed by Petrushenko. Also in the
city on March 18, 1917 Blagoveshchensk Ukrainian Community was created
which published the newspaper "Ukrainian Amur Right". From the
Annunciation Ukrainian Community, three were elected to the Annunciation
City Duma Volodko, Sitnitsky, Rudikov. The educational organization
"Prosvita" was created.
On November 12 (25), 1917, the first
information about the October Revolution in Petrograd and the texts of
the first decrees of Soviet power were received in the city. The city
council of deputies was headed by the Bolshevik Fyodor Mukhin. In 1918,
in Blagoveshchensk, ataman Ivan Mikhailovich Gamov rebelled against the
Soviet regime. The Cossacks, led by Gamov, captured the city and
arrested the entire composition of the regional executive committee.
Captain Muravyov, an employee of the military static department of
the district headquarters of the Amur Military District, writes in his
report on a business trip to Blagoveshchensk in March 1919: “Japanese
troops are currently located along the line of the Amur railway,
guarding stations, bridges and other railway structures from attack and
spoiling them by the Bolsheviks. The main base of the Japanese is
Blagoveshchensk, where their forces are concentrated as part of one
brigade under the command of General Yamada. It also has two armored
trains and eight airplanes. If necessary, to fight the Bolsheviks,
detachments are sent from here to the required points.
The
Japanese invaders became famous for their cruel executions: for example,
on the night of March 26-27, 1919, 16 Amur commissars were executed on
the territory occupied today by the first city hospital.
On May
18, 1920, Amur partisans and troops of the Far Eastern Republic expelled
the Japanese from the territory of the Amur Region. From 1920 to 1922,
the Amur Region was part of the Far Eastern Republic.
In November
1922, the Amur region became the Amur province, Blagoveshchensk remained
the provincial center until March 1926. All norms of the Constitution of
the RSFSR and Soviet legislation came into force in the city only in
1924.
In the 1920s, trade developed in the city according to all
the laws of a border city, including legal barter and smuggling. From
the Chinese side, the city received mainly alcohol, which was exchanged
in the taiga for gold.
In 1937 the situation worsened
considerably. First of all, due to the collectivization of agriculture,
and also due to the deprivation of the region's gold mining base.
However, it was in the 1930s that the Amur Metalist plant was launched
in the city, a match factory was reequipped, and a sewing and
confectionery factory was built. In the 1930s, the situation beyond the
Amur escalated: the Japanese, who captured it in 1932, began to actively
operate in Manchuria again. They consolidated their efforts with Russian
emigrants to seize power in the Amur region. In 1931, a native of
Blagoveshchensk, Konstantin Rodzaevsky, created the Russian Fascist
Party, prepared sabotage and attacks on the territory of the Amur
Region.
During the Great Patriotic War, Blagoveshchensk was
marked by gratitude from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The city sent
its inhabitants to all fronts as mobilizations and volunteers. In August
1945, the 2nd Red Banner Army crossed the Amur in order to defeat the
Japanese deployment sites in Manchuria. The Armored Boat monument
reminds of this event on the city's embankment.
Until the end of
the 1980s, entry for residents of other regions of the USSR to the
border Blagoveshchensk was limited, the entry of foreigners was
prohibited. To visit the city, an invitation from friends or relatives
and a special pass were required. Due to this circumstance, crime in the
city was practically absent. But the restriction on entry also did not
contribute to population growth; Blagoveshchensk gained 100,000
inhabitants only by its 100th anniversary in 1958.
In the period
from November 1975 to 1994, there were 2 city districts in
Blagoveshchensk: Leninsky, which included the eastern part of the city,
and Pogranichny, located in the west of Blagoveshchensk. The border
between the districts passed along the street of the 50th anniversary of
October.
The city is located in the extreme south of the Amur-Zeya Plain, on
the left bank of the Amur, at the confluence of the Zeya River. It is
located 7985 km east of Moscow, bordering the Aihui district of the
Chinese urban district of Heihe. The city district of Blagoveshchensk
and the city district of Heihe are separated by the Amur River, the
width of which in this area is about 550 meters. There is a visa-free
regime between Blagoveshchensk and Heihe.
The Zeya River
sometimes overflows its banks, as happened in August 1928.
Blagoveshchensk was built up like a Roman military camp: straight
streets were located parallel and perpendicular to each other. Some
originated from the Amur River, others from the Zeya River. The quarters
were regular rectangles. This layout of the city is still preserved. At
present, the city stretches for 8 km along the Amur, along the Zeya for
13 km.
The rivers Burkhanovka and Chigirinka flow in the city. The relief of
the city is mostly flat, but there are small hills.
Representatives of the rarest species of the Japanese crane are found in
the vicinity of Blagoveshchensk. A unique plant lotus Komarov grows.
Sometimes the Amur snake crawls into the city.
The existing green
zone around the city is displayed in the gallery.
Blagoveshchensk is located in the MSK+6 time zone. The offset of the applicable time from UTC is +9:00. According to the applied time and geographic longitude, the average solar noon in Blagoveshchensk occurs at 12:30.
Blagoveshchensk lies on the same parallel with Kiev and the Russian
Chernozem region, despite this, winters here are longer and much colder.
The weather, due to the very small heat capacity of air, in the
temperature regime is very dependent on the duration of sunshine and the
incoming solar heat. Therefore, December is colder than February, and
June is only slightly colder than August. In accordance with the
climatic zoning of Russia, Blagoveshchensk is located in the monsoonal
Far Eastern region of the temperate climate zone. The climate of the
city is characterized by high continentality, which manifests itself in
a large annual (43°С) and daily (10...15°С) temperature range. Monsoon
climate is expressed in the direction of seasonal winds, active cyclonic
activity and a large amount of precipitation in the warm season. Summers
are hot, with a significant amount of sunshine. Winter is cold, dry,
with thin snow cover. The temperature record was recorded on June 25,
2010, when the air temperature in the city rose to +39.4 °C.
Average annual temperature: +1.9 °C.
Average annual air humidity:
67%.
Average annual wind speed: 2.0 m/s.
The World Meteorological
Organization has decided that it is necessary to calculate two climate
normals: the climatological standard and the reference one. The first is
updated every ten years, the second covers the period from 1961 to 1990.
A comparison of both norms showed that the climate of Blagoveshchensk
has become warmer.
The largest flood in Blagoveshchensk occurred in 1958. The water
level reached a nine-meter mark, the water broke through the dams and
entered the city. In August 1984, Blagoveshchensk experienced another
serious flood. The water level in the Amur exceeded eight and a half
meters. Houses located along the river embankment were flooded. The
cause of these floods was heavy rains and high floods in the upper
reaches of the Amur and Zeya.
On July 31, 2011, a tornado passed
in Blagoveshchensk. On October 14, 2011 at 16:15 local time, tremors
were recorded in Blagoveshchensk. The epicenter of the earthquake was in
the north of the region. In August 2013, the city experienced another
flood. More than 780 homeowners, as of June 29, 2014, were found to have
lost their homes. As of July 11, 2014, 31 sections of roads in the city
were recognized as affected (subsidence).
On June 26, 2021, the
level of the Amur near Blagoveshchensk exceeded the 2013 flood mark of
822 cm. On June 27, the 1984 figure of 857 cm was already exceeded. At
the beginning of July 2021, the water level subsided.
According to the 2020 All-Russian Population Census, as of October 1,
2021, in terms of population, the city was in 82nd place out of 1,118
cities in the Russian Federation.
In pre-revolutionary times, the
population of Blagoveshchensk grew rapidly: in 1868 there were 3,500
people, in 1878 - 5,000, in 1888 - 20,000, in 1898 - 40,000, in 1905 -
more than 50,000, in 1913 - about 80,000 people.
In 1900, at the
beginning of the Russian-Chinese war, there was an insufficiency of the
population for the defense of the city and the region in case of
hostilities. Therefore, immediately after the war, in 1901, Ivan
Durnovo, chairman of the Committee of Ministers, with the permission of
Emperor Nicholas II, decided to resettle landless peasants from Tver,
Tambov, Tula, Kursk, Moscow, Ryazan, Yaroslavl, Kaluga, Vladimir,
Vologda, Simbirsk, Chernigov, Poltava, Kharkov provinces, as well as
Vilna (Lithuania and Belarus) provinces and provinces of the Kingdom of
Poland (Privislensky region). The state provided substantial assistance
to the settlers in the form of travel loans and in the establishment of
a household.
There are large enterprises in the city:
since 1893, the Amur
Metallist plant has been operating, specializing in the production of
mining equipment;
shipbuilding plant. October Revolution, producing
sea tugs and seiners;
confectionery factory "Zeya";
Amur plant of
reinforced concrete structures.
The city is provided with thermal and partly electrical energy by the Blagoveshchensk thermal power plant. In connection with the development of the city's industry and the construction of new microdistricts, a decision was made to build the second stage of the station. Blagoveshchensk is home to the executive office of the Far East Distribution Grid Company, which manages the 35-110 kV distribution networks of the Far East. The structure of JSC "DRSK" includes branches "Amur ES", "Khabarovsk ES", "Primorskie ES", "ES EAO" and "South-Yakutsk ES".
Blagoveshchensk has a six-digit telephone number, city code: 4162.
Main fixed-line operator and Internet provider; PJSC Rostelecom.
Cellular communications 2G, 3G, 4G are provided by all-Russian operators
MTS, Beeline, MegaFon. In addition, GSM- and 4G-connection of Chinese
operators China Mobile and China Unicom is available in Blagoveshchensk.
Until 2005, there were two operators in Blagoveshchensk providing paging
services.
Urban
Public transport in Blagoveshchensk is represented by buses,
fixed-route taxis and taxis. In addition, ships (buses in winter,
hovercraft in the off-season) carry passengers across the Amur River.
In Blagoveshchensk, there are about 50 city, suburban
(intermunicipal) and taxi public transport routes. The main carrier: MP
Avtokolonna No. 1275, which transports mainly using Daewoo BS106 buses,
which are popular in the Far East. The main transport used by private
entrepreneurs: GAZelle NEXT Citiline and Isuzu Bogdan A092. Buses BAW
2245 Street, Zhong Tong LCK6605DK-1 and PAZ-3205 are also used. Until
1997, LiAZ-677, Ikarus-280 buses of yellow and white colors, as well as
several Ikarus-260, mainly worked on the routes. In 1994 - 1997 three
Alterna-4216 buses manufactured in the city of Amursk also worked on
city routes. In 2020-2022 The municipal carrier received new
PAZ-320415-04 "Vector Next" and LiAZ-5292.65 buses.
In 1979, a
trolleybus service was opened in the city (see Blagoveshchensk
trolleybus). In 1990 - 2002, route No. 4 operated to the city hospital
No. 1 (line along Gorky Street). The operation of this line was
terminated due to the unprofitability of the route and the lack of its
own electrical substation. Until 2015, route No. 2K operated. Since
2015, it has been served by medium-capacity buses. In 2016, due to the
political engagement of the head of the city and the governor of the
region, as well as the obsolescence of the infrastructure (contact
network and rolling stock) and, as a result, the unprofitability of the
remaining network, the last trolleybus route No. 2B was liquidated and
the trolleybus depot was closed. Route No. 2B became bus route No. 2Kt
along Tenistaya Street and began to be served by VMK-AI3044 buses for
transporting people with limited mobility. Routes No. 2K along Kalinina
Street and No. 2Kt along Tenistaya Street were transferred to the
carrier MP Autocolumn No. 1275.
Intercity
Air communication is
carried out through the Ignatievo airport, which has international
status. There is direct communication with major Russian cities and
charter flights to China, Thailand, Vietnam.
Railway
communication is carried out through the Blagoveshchensk station of the
Far Eastern Railway.
Bridges over the river Zeya
The automobile bridge across the Zeya
is a continuation of Magistralnaya Street and the initial section of the
Blagoveshchensk-Raychikhinsk regional highway (to the Amur highway).
It is planned to build a second road bridge across the Zeya River,
it was planned to start work in 2014, but was postponed to 2015.
Commissioning was planned for 2017. According to the plan, the bridge
will have two traffic lanes, a ten-meter wide passage, the length of the
entire bridge will be 1,933 meters, there will be an interchange and a
reversal ring. The bridge will be built near Gorky Street. The
justification for the construction of the second bridge is the
congestion of the existing one. According to the general plan for the
development of the city until 2025, this bridge was planned to be built
in the area of Oktyabrskaya Street.
Bridges over the Amur River
Since 2012, a pontoon bridge has been built on the Amur every year. It
operates in autumn and spring, when there is neither navigation nor an
ice crossing between Russia and China. It carries out the movement of
both cars and trucks, as well as bus service.
Ideas for the
construction of a permanent bridge appeared in 1993-1995, but things did
not go beyond survey work. The design of the bridge itself has been
revised more than once. In July 2014, at the Russian-Chinese exhibition
"Expo", the Governor of the Amur Region, Oleg Kozhemyako, announced that
the construction of the bridge would begin in 2015. According to the
plan of the builders, the bridge was supposed to be a combined road and
railroad bridge, and first they had to build a car bridge.
On
December 24, 2016, the first introductory meeting of the headquarters
for the large-scale construction of an automobile bridge across the Amur
River was held. On May 31, 2019, the spans of the automobile bridge were
docked, and on November 29, 2019, the completion of construction was
announced. The launch of freight traffic is scheduled for April 2020,
and passenger traffic - a year later, after the construction of a
permanent checkpoint. The bridge was opened to traffic in June 2022.
Cross-border agglomeration Blagoveshchensk - Heihe
In 2019, the
Government of the Russian Federation approved the Spatial Development
Strategy until 2025. In it, a key role is assigned to the development of
urban agglomerations, and the Amur Region is defined as a priority
geostrategic territory.
In this regard, the city of
Blagoveshchensk has begun to apply the practice of spatial development
of the territory. The cross-border agglomeration project will be one of
the key points of growth within the framework of the integration
conjugation of the Eurasian Economic Union and the One Belt, One Road
project.
As part of the project, the city administration has
already carried out serious preparatory work. On May 24, 2019, the
administration of the city of Blagoveshchensk, the administration of the
Blagoveshchensk district and the people's government of the city of
Heihe signed a memorandum of cooperation in developing the concept of a
cross-border agglomeration. The agglomeration included the cities of
Blagoveshchensk and Heihe, as well as the villages of
Verkhneblagoveshchenskoye, Chigiri and Kanikurgan.
The goal of
the project: to maximize the opportunities for economic cooperation
between the cities of Blagoveshchensk and Heihe, to create the largest
transport, logistics and economic center on the Russian-Chinese border,
which will contribute to the realization of the investment potential of
small and medium-sized businesses.
The main operator of digital and analogue terrestrial television and
radio broadcasting in Blagoveshchensk is the branch of RTRS "Amur
ORTPTS" (Amur Regional Radio and Television Transmitting Center). TV and
radio broadcasting is carried out from the Annunciation TV Tower. There
are about forty newspapers in the city, among which is Amurskaya Pravda,
which has been published since 1918. The largest news agencies in
Blagoveshchensk and the Amur Region are Amur.info news agency,
ampravda.ru, and portamur.ru.
A television
Terrestrial TV
channels of Blagoveshchensk
31 TVK - Yu
34 TVK - First multiplex
(Channel One, Russia 1, Match TV, NTV, Channel Five, Russia K, Russia
24, Karusel, OTR, TV Center)
36 TVK - Second multiplex (REN TV, Spas,
STS, Home, TV3, Friday!, Zvezda, MIR, TNT, MUZ TV)
Disconnected
terrestrial analog TV channels
3 TVK - Channel One
5 TVK - STS -
Blagoveshchensk / MU IA "Gorod"
10 TVK - Russia 1 / GTRK Amur
25
TVK - TV Center - Far East
27 TVK - TNT - Blagoveshchensk / Alfa
35 TVK - NTV
39 TVK - Amur Regional Television
43 TVK - Channel
Five
45 TVK - Star
Radio stations
87.7 FM - Autoradio
88.7 FM - Radio Chanson
89.1 FM - Radio Dacha
89.7 FM -
Heilongjiang Women's Radio (Heihe)
90.2 FM - Radio Mayak
91.0 FM -
Radio of Russia / GTRK Amur
91.4 FM - Love Radio
92.1 FM - (PLAN)
Radio Finder
100.6 FM - Radio Komsomolskaya Pravda
101.5 FM -
ENERGY Radio
102.0 FM - Heilongjiang Music Radio (Heihe)
102.5 FM
- Heilongjiang University Radio (Heihe)
103.3 FM - Russian radio
103.8 FM - Heilongjiang Information Radio (Heihe)
104.4 FM - Road
radio
104.8 FM - Heilongjiang Life (Heihe)
105.1 FM - Europe Plus
105.5 FM - Children's radio
106.3 FM - Radio MIR
106.9 FM -
Heilongjiang Road Radio (Heihe)
107.3 FM - Vesti FM
Higher educational institutions of Blagoveshchensk:
Amur State
University
Amur State Medical Academy
Blagoveshchensk State
Pedagogical University
Far Eastern State Agrarian University
Far
Eastern Higher Military Command School named after Marshal of the Soviet
Union Rokossovsky
Branch of the Moscow Academy of Entrepreneurship
Branch of the Novosibirsk State Academy of Water Transport
Amur
Branch of the Human Resources Academy
Amur branch of the Maritime
State University. Admiral G. I. Nevelskoy (River School)
Blagoveshchensk branch of the Modern Humanitarian Academy
Blagoveshchensk Branch of the Khabarovsk State Academy of Economics and
Law
Branch of Moscow State Technical University-MAMI (branch in
Blagoveshchensk)
There are also 15 secondary specialized educational
institutions in Blagoveshchensk.
According to 2006 data, the
number of university students, technical schools and vocational school
students is 22% of the city's population.
There are 25 schools, 3
gymnasiums and 2 lyceums in the city.
Blagoveshchensk has a rich historical and cultural heritage.
The city has a drama theatre, a puppet theatre, three parks, six
cinemas, and a social and cultural center. The city has four recreation
areas equipped with fountains.
The Amur Regional Museum named
after G. S. Novikov-Daursky, the oldest in the Far East, is one of the
main historical buildings of the city. It was founded on August 16, 1891
by the Blagoveshchensk City Duma. 19th century building, architects from
Germany. The museum contains historical exhibits - witnesses of the most
important events in the history and culture, politics of the city and
the region at the turn of the century. Among the exhibits presented in
the museum there are also unique ones: costumes and attributes of the
Daurian and Evenk shamans, the Ust-Nyukzhinsky meteorite (found at the
beginning of the 20th century in the Tyndinsky district), bones of
fossil animals.
The Paleontological Museum of the AmurRC was founded
in 1997 at the Amur Complex Research Institute (now the Institute of
Geology and Environmental Management of the Far Eastern Branch of the
Russian Academy of Sciences), and on March 1, 2007 it was separated into
an independent unit within the Amur Scientific Center of the Far Eastern
Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The museum exposition is
based on unique finds from excavations in the Amur region, where several
unique paleontological objects are located, including the
Blagoveshchensk dinosaur locality. The museum houses the largest
collection of dinosaurs in Russia, including holotypes, reference bones
used to describe unique dinosaurs. Among the finds are the remains of
carnivorous dinosaurs of the Tyrannosauridae family. Collections that
contain holotypes are equated to the national heritage of the country.
The oldest in the Far East are located in Blagoveshchensk:
Diocesan Women's College (now operating as Pedagogical College No. 1),
opened in 1901 by decree of the Holy Synod of Government;
Printing
house No. 1, operating since 1862 (it was originally with two fonts:
Russian and Manchu - for the publication of the newspaper "Drug
Manchu");
The first city public library, established in 1859;
River School, operating since 1899;
Alekseevskaya Women's Gymnasium
(now Secondary School No. 4) was built in 1874. In 1874, on September 1,
the school year began.
On the territory of the city there are
more than 80 monuments of architecture and monumental art. The
decoration of Blagoveshchensk is the Triumphal Arch, recreated according
to archival documents in 2003-2005 on the site of the original 1891 arch
dismantled in 1936. Samples of the original wooden buildings of the 19th
century have also been preserved in the city. On the embankment of the
Amur River, a monument was erected to the founder of the city,
Governor-General of Eastern Siberia Muravyov-Amursky.
There are
three Orthodox churches in the city. A monastery was founded in honor of
the Archangel of God Gabriel and other incorporeal Heavenly Forces. The
ruling bishop is Lukian, Bishop of Annunciation and Tyndinsky (Kutsenko
Leonid Sergeevich). The local shrine is the miraculous Albazin Icon of
the Mother of God, called the "Word Flesh".
Every year since 2002
Blagoveshchensk has hosted the Amur Autumn Open Russian Film and Theater
Festival (until 2010, the Amur Autumn Open Russian Film Forum). The
competition program of the festival includes novelties of Russian
cinema, as well as private performances with the participation of famous
Russian actors. A Japanese crane is depicted at the prize award of the
Amur Autumn festival. In 2007, during the Amur Autumn Film Forum, Gina
Lollobrigida, an Italian actress and winner of the Golden Globe Award,
visited the city. To do this, she made a 12-hour flight (at the age of
80). Getting off the plane, the actress said: "Finally, I'm in
Siberia!". Blagoveshchensk, according to her, impressed her as a bright
city.