CITY · IVANOVO OBLAST

Ivanovo.

Ivanovo lies north-east of Moscow and for more than a century was the country's leading textile town, earning the name "Russian Manchester". It grew one of Russia's most interesting ensembles of constructivist architecture, and because so many mill workers were women it became known as the "city of brides".

Region: Ivanovo Oblast
Population: 361,644 (2021)
Founded: 1608
Airport: Ivanovo Yuzhny · IWA

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History

The village of Ivanovo probably appeared in the late 14th or 15th century and is first recorded in 1608–1609, during the Time of Troubles. The first manufactories opened in the mid-18th century, and calico printing soon became the backbone of local life. In 1871 the village merged with Voznesensky Posad to form the town of Ivanovo-Voznesensk, which took its present name in 1932. During a major strike in 1905 a city council of workers' deputies was formed here, regarded as the first Soviet in Russia.

Culture & traditions

The years 1914 to 1934 are called the golden age of Ivanovo architecture: this is when the constructivist Ship House (1930) and Horseshoe House (1934) went up, followed by the Palace of Arts in 1939. The city has drama, musical and puppet theatres, a circus and a philharmonic hall. Museums include one devoted to calico and local textile history, a local history museum and a museum of the first Soviet. The French writer Nathalie Sarraute was born in Ivanovo.

Sport

FC Tekstilshchik was founded in 1937 and has carried its present name since 1958, after spells as Spartak, Dynamo and Krasnoye Znamya. Its home ground is the Tekstilshchik Stadium, which holds almost 10,000 spectators. The club spent many seasons in the second tier of Soviet and Russian football.

Practical information

Ivanovo has been linked to Moscow by rail since 1896, and the overnight train takes about five to six hours. Civil flights use Ivanovo Yuzhny Airport. Around town there are trolleybuses and buses. The climate is continental, averaging about −12 °C in January and +18 °C in July, so May to September is the nicest time to explore the constructivist districts.

What to see

Ship House — a 1930 constructivist apartment block shaped like a liner
Horseshoe House — another striking piece of Ivanovo constructivism
Shchudrovskaya Palatka — the town's first brick civil building, 17th century
Calico Museum — the story of the fabric that made the town famous
Palace of Arts — a monumental 1939 building in the centre