Krasnoyarsk is the fourth largest city in Siberia. It has a population of 930 000 and was founded in 1628 making it older than both Canada and Australia.
Krasnoyarsk is significant for me as it was the first place that I visited in Russia in 1998.
It is a very beatiful city surrounded by mountains and situated on the banks of the Yenisey River which holds the greatest volume of water of all the Russian Rivers. In Summer it is known as the City of Fountains (there are fountains all over the city centre) and in Winter it has the biggest and most beautiful collection of ice sculptures I have ever seen (I have been to numerous Russian and Canadian cities to make this a valid statement).
Krasnoyarsk is also the home of a dear friend of mine, Kostya.
5 comments:
There were towns (future cities) like Halifax and Montreal here before 1628, there just wasn't a "Canada."
I have seen photos (via email) of the ice sculptures there. They truly are amazing.
When were Halifax and Montreal founded?
A quote from Wikipedia: "Halifax, founded in 1749, is a community and former city in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Halifax was the shire town of Halifax County and the provincial capital."
Seventy years later, Samuel de Champlain arrived on the island, but the village of Hochelaga no longer existed. In 1611, he established La Place Royale, a fur trading post on the Island of Montreal, but the local Iroquois successfully defended their land. The first permanent European settlement on the Island of Montreal was created in 1639 by a French tax collector named Jérôme Le Royer. Missionaries Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, Jeanne Mance and a few French colonists set up a mission named Ville Marie on May 17, 1642.
So it appears that Montreal was established in 1639, 11 years after Krasnoyarsk.
Some Siberian cities are even older:
Surgut is one of the oldest Siberian cities. It was founded in 1594 by order of Tsar Feodor I.
Tomsk in 1604.
So it appears that European settlement in Siberia is older than in Canada and that Krasnoyarsk was settled before any Canadian settlements.
Just to further follow this up, Nova Scotia was first settled in 1604 which is earlier than the settlement of Krasnoyarsk; but Siberia was first settled in 1581. The histories are similar in some ways. I suppose Siberia is much older than the Canada that I have seen. I have not been to Nova Scotia, maybe I should!
Post a Comment