Mirny is a city in Russia, the administrative center of the Mirninsky district, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), forms the urban settlement of the city of Mirny. The diamond capital of Russia.
It arose as a settlement at the diamond deposit - the Mir kimberlite diamond pipe, which was named Mirny by its name; in 1959 the settlement was given the status of a city.
The city is located in the west of Yakutia, on the Irelyakh River (Vilyui basin). Distance from the capital of the republic, Yakutsk, along the Vilyui highway - 1072 km, by air - 820 km.
Mirny is located in the very north of the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. The climate is sharply continental. The winter is very cold; summer is short but warm enough. The city belongs to the regions of the Far North.
In 1957, in the village of Mukhtuya (now the city of Lensk), located
on the Lena River, the construction of a port and a highway to Mirny
began. In 1978, the construction of the year-round highway Lensk - Mirny
- Aikhal - Udachny was completed. As of 2022, almost the entire length
of the road is unpaved - for weather reasons (heavy rain), traffic can
be difficult. The first 10 kilometers of asphalt pavement on the
Lensk-Mirny section were completed in 2021.
As of 2022, the
Yakutsk-Vilyuysk-Mirny highway has no bridges at 4 intersections with
the Vilyuy River (near the villages of Verkhnevilyuysk, Kundyade,
Suntar, Krestyakh) (until 2019, there was also no crossing over the
Markha River near the village of Zharkhan) - off-season movement is
impossible, in the summer pontoon and ferry crossings are built, in
winter - winter roads.
Also in winter it is possible to drive
along the winter road Ust-Kut - Lensk.
The only year-round
connection with the "mainland" as of 2022 is carried out through the
Mirny airport. The main volume of transportation of heavy and oversized
cargo to Mirny is carried out in the summer: to Lensk by river
transport, then by road.
It is planned to build a year-round
federal highway "Vilyuy": Tulun - Bratsk - Ust-Kut - Mirny - Yakutsk.
The city owes its existence and name to the discovery
in 1955 of the Mir kimberlite pipe.
In 1957, open pit diamond
mining began (the Mir open pit), which lasted 44 years (until 2001).
By 2001, the quarry was 525 meters deep and over 1200 meters wide,
becoming one of the largest in the world after the Udachnaya quarry
(640 meters deep, 1600 x 2000 meters on the surface).
Since
1957, diamond mining on the territory of the Mirninsky region and
the Yakutsk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic as a whole was
carried out by the trust, later the production and scientific
association (PNO) "Yakutalmaz" them. V.I. Lenin. In 1992 the
association was transformed into the joint stock company Almazy
Rossii-Sakha (ALROSA).
In 1959 Mirny already received the
status of a city. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Udachny -
Lensk highway, about 800 km long, was built for the development of
the city of Mirny, the settlements of Udachny and Aikhal, the
construction of Yakutalmaz mining enterprises in these settlements.
In the next 40 years, the city's population increased 5 times,
and most of the residential buildings began to be multi-storey stone
buildings. Processing of diamonds began at factories No. 1, No. 2
and No. 3. A rather large airport appeared with a runway length of
about 2800 meters.
Mirny is the center of the joint-stock company ALROSA, which mines
diamonds in the Mirny, Anabar and Nyurbinsky uluses with their
subsequent sale.
The main structures of the social and cultural
sphere of the city and the Mirninsky district were built by builders and
at the expense of AK ALROSA, and are on the balance sheet of this
company.
The Srednebotuobinskoye oil and gas condensate field,
one of the richest oil and gas fields in the region, is located 130 km
from the city.
JSC Vilyuygesstroy, Western Electric Networks, JSC
ALROSA-Gas, local industry enterprises, trade and public catering
organizations also operate in the city and in the Mirninsky district.
In January 2017, it was planned to open a major international postal
exchange (IMPO) in the city by the Russian Post. This MMPO was supposed
to remain the only one through which foreign postal services that did
not agree to increased tariffs would be able to deliver unregistered
mail and small packages (up to 2 kg) to the country. Exceptions to this
tightening of rules were supposed only for EMS, forwarding mail from the
EurAsEC countries.
Palace of Culture "Almaz" (until 1980 the Palace of Culture and
Technology "Metallurg") - opened in 1977
Universal theater and
concert center "Yakutsk"
Mirny Central City Library - opened in 1960
Museum of Local Lore
Historical and production AK ALROSA was founded
on the basis of the historical and production museum of PNO Yakutalmaz,
opened in 1986
Museum of Kimberlites - opened in 2002, its creator
was the geologist Dzhems Ilyich Savrasov; in 2022, the museum stopped
renting premises in the city administration building, some of the
exhibits were placed in the Almaz Palace of Culture
Botanical Garden
- opened in 2005
Natural Park "Living Diamonds of Yakutia" (Aan
Aiylgy) - opened in 2009
At the moment, there are 7 schools in Mirny: School No. 1,
Polytechnic Lyceum, School No. 7, School No. 8, School No. 12 with
in-depth study of English, School No. 26, and the Orthodox Gymnasium in
the name of St. Innocent Metropolitan of Moscow.
The Mirny
Regional Technical College operates in the city, which trains workers
and technical personnel for the diamond mining company ALROSA and oil
and gas companies operating in Western Yakutia, is considered the best
educational institution of secondary vocational education in Yakutia and
one of the best in Russia: (in 2011, 2012 , 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
and 2018 is among the 100 best secondary schools in Russia.In November
2015, by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation, he was
awarded the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation in the
field of quality, In 2018 he is a laureate of the Prize of the CIS
countries in the field of quality of goods and services ). The college
has 4 branches in the city of Udachny, the villages of Aikhal,
Chernyshevsky and Svetly. The director of the college, Vladimir
Viktorovich Berezovoy, is an Honorary Citizen of the city of Mirny, an
Honorary Worker of Secondary Vocational Education of the Republic of
Sakha (Yakutia), and was also awarded honorary signs of the Board of
Directors of Russian secondary schools "Director of the Year" in
2011-2018.
There are several branches of universities, including
the Branch of NEFU (MPTI - Mirny Polytechnic Institute), branches: Tomsk
TUSUR, Institute of Professional Innovations and Novosibirsk NGASU
(Sibstrina), North-West Open Technical University (SZOTU).
Holy Trinity Church (rector - Archpriest Vladimir Sevryukov).
Andreevsky Monastery. Temple in honor of the holy Apostle Andrew the
First-Called. Hegumen Seraphim (Roshka).
Chapel in honor of the Icon
of the Mother of God "The Burning Bush". Territory of the Fire
Department.
Chapel in honor of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. ATC
area.
Sports complex "Olympus".
Palace of Sports "Kimberlit". It hosted
the World Futsal Championships among club teams (2005), and then among
national teams (2007), the International Games "Children of Asia"
(2008).
Triumph Stadium. It was built in 2005 together with
specialists from Finland. Capacity - 5000 people. Became one of the best
stadiums in the Far Eastern Federal District.
Pool "Crystal"
MFC
Almaz-ALROSA (disbanded). Winner of the highest league of the Russian
mini-football championship in 2010, 2012, 2019.
Municipal institution
of additional education "Children's and youth sports school".
There are 2 squares in the city center (both on the main street -
Leningradsky Prospekt). One of them houses the Vilyuy guest house, the
Azimut hotel, the city hall, the district administration building and
the Almaz Palace of Culture, the other is the Yakutsk theater and
concert center, a monument in honor of the 30th anniversary of the
Victory, the Church of the Holy Trinity. On Tikhonov Street there is a
beautiful building of the Diamond Sorting Center of AK ALROSA.
Unlike many northern projects in the USSR, Mirny was not built according
to a pre-approved master plan, as, for example, the city of Ust-Ilimsk.
Starting from the 1950s, the city grew around the Mir quarry, which
predetermined its current state and architectural and planning problems.
The territorial development of the city is significantly limited by
the layout of the city, which developed spontaneously during the years
of active growth. The growth of the city to the east is limited by the
Mir quarry and the airport with a runway. From the southeast, the city
is surrounded by an ore-carrying road, along which heavy dump trucks and
technological vehicles run. In the northeast there is a large gas boiler
house, the construction of housing near which is prohibited by SanPiN.
The development of the city to the north is limited by the enrichment
plant No. 3 and its tailings, and to the west - by natural relief.
This state of affairs is forcing the local authorities to build
houses on vacant plots, often "embedding" large 9-story houses in the
yards in front of 4-5-story houses.
Architecturally, the city is
a collection of houses of various heights and years of construction. The
basis of the housing stock is made up of 4-, 5- and 9-story houses built
in the 1970s and 80s, however, entire streets built up with 2-story
wooden houses built during the development of the Mir pipe have
survived. Some of them still lack sewerage. For the construction of the
city, a Building Materials Combine was put into operation, which
supplied prefabricated reinforced concrete structures for the
construction of houses.
There are almost no “Khrushchev”
buildings in the city, since most of the projects were developed by
their own scientific research institute “Yakutniproalmaz”, whose
specialists categorically objected to the “Khrushchev” building. Thanks
to their efforts, the project for the construction of the only 9-storey
building of the so-called increased comfort (house No. 12 on Tikhonov
Street) was approved. In this house, 3-, 4- and 5-room apartments are
made on two levels with the allocation of an entrance hall to a separate
level under or above the main area of the apartment (project of the
Yakutniproalmaz Research Institute).
It should be noted the
overall high quality of the construction of panel houses. In connection
with the need to provide thermal insulation of housing in severe Yakut
frosts, the thickness of the wall panels is up to 70 cm, and the panels
themselves were made of high-strength concrete.
The main square
of the city is framed by three buildings - the Almaz Palace of Culture,
the building of the district administration and the Zarnitsa hotel. In
2005, a monument to V. I. Lenin was erected on the square. The buildings
are not united into a single architectural complex and are typical
projects.