Pokrovsk (Yakut. Pokrovskay) - a city, the administrative center of the Khangalassky ulus of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), forms the urban settlement of the city of Pokrovsk.
Founded in 1682 by the Cossacks as a fortification of the Karaulny Cape, where the Pokrovskaya Hermitage was discovered, which belonged to the Yakutsk Monastery. In the 1720s it was transformed into an independent monastery, later the village of Pokrovskoye, since 1941 the working settlement of Pokrovsk, in 1997 it received the status of a city.
A city on the left bank of the Lena River, 78 km south-west of Yakutsk.
Before the arrival of the Russians, there was a guard
post of Tygyn Darkhan in the place where the city is now located. A
wide panorama of the river opened up from a high cape, and the
movement along the river up and down the stream was clearly visible.
The area was called Horuol tumus (Yakut. Horuol tumuһa) - Guard Cape
The city was founded in 1682, in which the last uprising of the
Khangalass Yakuts against the Cossacks took place. Driven to despair
by the exorbitant extortions of the royal governors, they opposed
them with weapons in their hands. At the head of the insurgents was
the Duke of Diennik. After the defeat of the rebels on October 1
(11), Pokrov Day, the troops of the voivode Ivan Priklonsky
installed a large wooden cross on a high guard cape, named
Pokrovsky.
In 1703, part of the hermits of the Spassky
Monastery from Yakutsk moved to a new place and founded a kind of
branch of the monastery, called the Pokrovskaya Hermitage. In 1720 a
church was built here. In 1724 the desert burned down. Several
families of Russian peasants settled in its place.
The
settlement then became the coach station of the Prilensky tract. In
1787 a second church was built in Pokrovsk, which gave it the status
of a village.
In 1821, a new two-story church building of
unique architecture was built. The high belfry and the gilded cross
were visible even from the mouth of Buotama. Built by craftsmen from
thick pine logs melted from the upper reaches of the Lena, the
church building stood for 139 years until it was dismantled in 1960.
In 1850 a post station was opened in Pokrovsk. A typical building
was built, which stood until the 80s of the last century, in which
in the last years of his life the old-timer of Pokrovsk N.A.Naumov
lived.
In 1870, at the expense of the merchant Shestakov from
Yakutsk, a brick building of the Church of the Transfiguration was
built. The merchant donated money in the hope of alleviating the
plight of his only son, who, as a student in St. Petersburg, joined
the Social Democrats and was arrested. In 1887, a parish school was
opened in Pokrovsk, in a church building. The first teacher was the
priest Neverov.
In 1895, Pokrovsk became the volost center of
the Prilensk peasants-coachmen, uniting 20 stations from Tabaga to
Sanyyakhtaakh. After 10 years, the parish was downsized, leaving 10
stations behind Pokrovskoe from Batamay to Tabaga. It was a small
village, where there were a dozen peasant households, the Church of
the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos and the Transfiguration,
the nunnery of Saints Zosima and Savvaty, a post station.
In
1931, Pokrovsk became the administrative center of the West
Kangalassky region, which was later renamed Ordzhonikidzevsky, now
Khangalassky. In 1941 it received the status of an urban-type
settlement. On September 26, 1997 the status of the city was
awarded.
Since the 80s of the XIX century, exiled populists,
Socialist-Revolutionaries, Social Democrats have been here: M.
Chkheidze, V. Iokhelson, S. Kotikov, G. Lisenkov, A. Gromov, A.
Borchaninov and many others. In 1916-1917 Sergo Ordzhonikidze was
exiled here.
In the 19th century, Pokrovsk was visited by
Russian writers Ivan Goncharov, author of the novels "Oblomov" and
"Frigate Pallada"; Vladimir Korolenko, who described in his stories
"The Sovereign Coachmen", "At-Daban" the life and customs of local
coachmen; famous traveler, author of the book "A Trip to Yakutsk"
Nikolai Shchukin; writer, ethnographer Vaclav Seroshevsky, author of
the famous fundamental work "Yakuts" and many others.