I Novosibirsk was founded in 1893. In 1993, we celebrated its 100-year anniversary. For a relatively short period of time, Novosibirsk turned from a tiny settlement into a district town and grew into a large industrial, scientific, cultural and educational center, the capital of Siberia. Its foundation dated back to the construction of the railway laid through Siberia to the Pacific Ocean. In 1893, 2000 workers were hired to build the Trans-Siberian railway and the bridge connecting the right and the left banks of the Ob Rriver. So, a small temporary settlement for the workers engaged in the railway bridge construction appeared opposite Krivoshchokovo village. Garin-Mikhailovsky, a well-known writer and an engineer, was considered to be a founder of the city. He marked the narrowest place for the bridge. In 1897, the bridge was constructed and most workers left the temporary settlement, which had to be liquidated. But in 1897, the local authorities took the decision to preserve the settlement, which was called Novonikolayevsk. In December 1903 the settlement got the status of a town, and in 1917 it was a commercial center with trade banks and its own stock exchange.
IIAfter the Great Socialist revolution in 1926 Novonikolayevsk was renamed into Novosibirsk, which became a center of Siberian region (oblast). In the 1930s a machine building plant, a knitted-goods factory, a shoe factory, a weaving factory, soap works, a ship yard, a river port, a new railway station and a cinema factory were built. That time electric power station was constructed on the left bank of the Ob river. In the 1930s eight institutes and ten special technical schools were started.
IIIThe Great Patriotic war changed dramatically the life and the economic structure of the city. Those times Novosibirsk was compared with Chicago for the sharp growth of the population from 1940 to 1956. More than 50 plants, R&D institutions with the equipment and specialists were evacuated to Novosibirsk. New residents arrived in the city from rural areas to work at military plants and to reconstruct the capital of Siberia. In the result, the population doubled and totaled 730.000 from 1940 to 1956.
In the 1960s, Novosibirsk Electrotechnical Institute (NETI), Novosibirsk Institute of Geodesy and Cartography were built; Teachers’ Training, Medical and Agricultural institutes were expanded.
IV The history of Tolmachevo Airport began on 12 th of July 1957, when Tu-104 jet made the first passenger flight to Moscow. In 1963 the first largest airport in Siberia called Tolmachovo was put into operation to receive passenger jets arriving from different parts of the country. Today the airport became an independent enterprise with the status of an international airport. It is one of the forth biggest and well-equipped airports in Russia.
Novosibirsk is the biggest river port in Siberia and the third largest city of Russia with the population about 1.6 million. It’s situated on the banks of the Ob River, which divides the city into 2 parts stretching along the Trans-Siberian railway and the river. Novosibirsk consists of ten administrative districts.
Novosibirsk underground was built in 1986 and aimed to solve transportation problems.
V The 1960s were marked by the great contribution into science, research and development. That time Akademgorodok - the first town of science was built on the shore of the man-made Obskoye Sea (reservoir). The scientific and education complex of Novosibirsk Region ranks the third in the Russian Federation. In 1963 ten R&D institutions were set up and first living blocks were built. At the end of the 1970s the Academy of Agricultural Sciences was founded and the construction of a new agricultural center (Koltsovo) was started. At the end of 1980s the third R&D medical center was built.
Akademgorodok is an educational center. Though Novosibirsk State University (NSU) is rather small (only about 5000 students), it gives students as good facilities for study and research as anywhere else in the world. An exceptional students-to-professor ratio (4 and 1) justifies the high qualification of young researchers that graduate from our university. During the last forty years NSU has trained around 28000 researchers, teaching staff for higher education establishments and specialists for business.
VINovosibirsk is a cultural center of Siberia with its Fine Arts gallery, 10 drama theatres, 6 musical theatres and concert halls, Opera and Ballet House, Puppet theatre. The pride of citizens of Novosibirsk is the biggest in Russia Opera and Ballet House, which has won international recognition. This theatre is a symbol of Novosibirsk; it was opened on 12th of May in 1945 when Glinka’s opera Ivan Susanin was staged and performed. During the war, the exhibits from world-famous museums of Moscow (the Tretyakovskaya Gallery), Leningrad (Hermitage), Novgorod, Sevastopol and other Soviet cities were kept and saved here. The theatre is famous for its unique architecture and two permanent ballet and opera companies. There are several acting Orthodox cathedrals, a Catholic cathedrals, a Moslem mosque. The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was built in 1897 (one of the first stone-buildings of the city), but in 1937 it was closed. In 1988 it was decided to give the Cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox church, and in 1992 it was fully reconstructed. A tiny St. Nikola's chapel with three golden domes was erected on the place symbolizing the center of Russia on Krasny Prospekt which is the main longest street running through the center of the city.
Novosibirsks is one of the most attractive cities with its magnificent buildings and straight, broad streets.