Nizhny Tagil. City view. Photo by Anton Kraev

Nizhny Tagil is situated some 25 kilometers east of the border between Europe and Asia. It is the second city in the Sverdlovsk region (or “oblast”) by population.

Nizhny Tagil has been included into the register of "historical towns of Russia".

It is one of the oldest mining centers of both home and world metallurgy. It was the former land of the Demidovs, the famous dynasty of plant and mine owners and founders of the mining and metallurgical industries in the Ural.

The Nizhny Tagil Pond. On the background - The Temple of Saint Alexander Nevsky. Photo by Anton Kraev

The history of Nizhny Tagil began with the opening of the Visokogorski iron ore quarry in 1696. The deposits were particularly rich, and included lodes of pure magnetic iron. The surrounding landscape, rivers for transport, forests for fuel, and suitable climate, provided everything needed for a successful and productive mining and smelting operation.

Rivers and ponds take up one third of the city's territory. Nizhny Tagil spans 22 km from north to south and 21 km from east to west. The city is built around the Lisya Mountain (“the Mountain of the fox”), an extinct volcano. This mountain, with a watch-tower on its top, is a symbol of the city. Another mountain, Medved-Kamen (“Bear-Stone”), is located in the northern part of the city, and is 100 meters high. Only some peaks, Belaya (“White”, 711 m), Starik-Kamen (“Old Man Stone”, 753 m) and Shirokaya (“Wide”, 761 m), are above 700 m. The peak “Ostantsy” creates an original alpine landscape.

The unqie museum-plant named after Kuibyshev (former Nikolai Demidov plant). Photo by Anton Kraev

The city was founded on October 8th, 1722 among settlements connected to the construction of the Viyskiy copper smelting plant, owned by merchant Nikolai Demidov, in the settlement Vyya. Over the following decades, the city developed as one of the early centers of Russian industrialization, and it has been a major producer of cast iron and steel.

In 1833 in Nizhny Tagil the first Russian steam locomotive was constructed by father-and-son engineers Yefim and Miron Cherepanov.

In the center of the Theatrical Square, there now is a bronze monument where the locomotive stands. The city is also known not only for its first steam locomotive in Russia, but also for invention of the bicycle. Some believe that the copper for the Statue of Liberty was mined and refined in Nizhny Tagil.

Among numerous tourist attractions, one may visit the “Mednorudyanskoe” deposit that was discovered in 1813. In XIX century, it was the main source of malachite. Gigantic deposits of malachite were discovered there.

Palace of Culture in Nizhny Tagil. Photo by Anton Kraev

Nizhny Tagil was granted city status on August 20th, 1919 by the resolution of the Sverdlovsk military revolution committee.

The erection of first workshops of the Ural wagon works (“Uralvagonzavod”, UVZ) began in 1932. After four years, the production line was completed. The first freight car appeared in 1936, and the first tram in 1937.The working practice, which used electricity, was introduced in Nizhny Tagil for the first time in the world.

The National D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak Academic Drama Theater. Photo by Anton Kraev

Nizhny Tagil is a large industrial center with highly power-intensive industries, such as ferrous metallurgy, engineering, chemistry, and metal working. During the Great Patriotic War (1941-1045), the city works produced more than 30,000 T-34 tanks. Now, the industries of Nizhny Tagil give 7% of cast iron and 6% of steel products in Russia. “Nizhny Tagil Iron and Steel Plant” (NTMK) is a leading Russian steel company.

The Ural wagon works “Uralvagonzavod”. Photo by Anton Kraev

“Uralvagonzavod” (UVZ) is well-known for its tanks and other military equipment. Nizhny Tagil is home for the international exhibitions “Russian Expo Arms” and “Russian Defense Expo”.
Demidovs' initiatives in the area of culture had a favorable influence on the development of Tagil community, transforming it into the Ural' most important cultural center. In the XIXth century, a library, the museum of natural history and antiquity were open.

The Head Office of the Nizhny Tagil Iron and Steel Plant. Photo by Anton Kraev

Now, there is the old regional history museum, the museum of Fine Arts and a number of new museums opened in the 1990s, such as the museum of tray painting art. The local lore museum presented a number of specimens of local stones, rocks and stone crafts.

The Circus. Photo Anton Kraev

Tourists also like to visit the unique active plant that was turned into a museum. The first institute of higher education appeared in 1939, and now it is the famous Nizhny Tagil teachers’ training institute. Nizhny Tagil is famous for its professional theaters: the National Academic Drama Theater by Mamin-Sibiryak, a Puppet theater and community theaters. There is also an actor department of Nizhny Tagil College of Arts that has been training actors and actresses for Nizhny Tagil and the region for two years.

Many famous and talented people lived and worked in Nizhny Tagil.

Among them are Valeri Brainin, a poet, musicologist and President of the Russian branch of the International Society for Music Education (member of UNESCO). Also, the Russian painter Felix Lembersky, the world-famous and beloved Russain poet, the singer Bulat Okudzhava, and Alexander Radulov, the NHL hockey player.

How to get to Nizhny Tagil:

By bus: buses №№ 640, 591, 708, 643 from the North Bus Terminal;
By train: any suburban electric train to Nizhny Tagil direction.

Typical industrial landscape. Photo by Anton Kraev