Salekhard city executive
Alexander Mikhaylovich Spirin
Tel: 2-56-05
Fax: 2-56-10
e-mail: adm@salekhard.org
48, Sverdlova St., Salekhard, 629008
Official site of Salekhard municipality:www.salekhard.org

Archaeological findings of recent decades give evidence to the fact that over two thousand years ago in the area of modern Salekhard there already was a settlement of a people which later merged in title peoples of the North - the Nentsi and the Khanty. As centuries went by, people carried on their fight to conquer the North. The area was populated twice more: in 6-7th centuries A.D. and 12-14th centuries A.D., which is proved by an archaeological monument Zelenaya Gorka situated within the city.

It has been over four hundred years now since the Cossack river campaign brought about the emergence of a new 'krepostitsa' (fort) on the lower Ob' - the town of Obdorsk. It was founded in 1595 in the area of an Ostyak town on the bank of the Polui River, a few versts away from its confluence into Ob', which was called Nosovoy among the Russians.

The origin of names 'Nosovoy' and 'Obdorsk' ('Ob' is a river, 'dor' is a cape) can be found in the Zyrian, Samoyedic, and Ostyak languages. 'Salekhard' is a Nenets name, which in translation into Russian would mean settlement ('sale') on a cape ('khard'). That gave rise to the old Russian name of the fort - 'Fore Town'. Another name for Obdorsk was Nazov, or Nazova. Obviously, it is an awry sounding of the word 'nizovoy' (lower), that is - a settlement in the lower Ob'.

Historical necessity for building Obdorsk fort emerged late in the sixteenth century, after the Yermak's march, when there turned up a chance to join rich Siberia to the Russian State.

Obdorsk fort was one of the northernmost outposts on the way of the Russians to the shores of the Arctic and Pacific oceans.

The first Obdorsk church was built in 1602 'with the maintenance of the approved in princedom by tsar Boris Godunov newly proselytized prince of Obdorsk Vasily' in the honor of his saint, Vasily, the archbishop of Caesarea Cappadocia, known in Christian history by the name of Vasily the Great.

Throughout the seventeenth century the process of proselytizing of lower Ob' pagan peoples was slow. Obdorsk prince Vasily Tayshin himself, having been converted into Christianity officially, did not abide it in his day-to-day life. Quite the opposite, he continuously provoked his mates to rebel against Moscow authorities. In 1607 to suppress the disloyal prince, a streltsy cohort was sent led by a centurion Ivan Ryabov. The same year, Tayshin was put to death.

Early Obdorsk was a 'shift-watch' fort. From the beginning of September 'till the month of June being there is of no avail, as the area is deserted', the documents of Siberian Board testify. However, in summer, when the Ob' was cleared up after ice flow, Ob'-Poluysk port became busy and crowded. The fort turned into a shelter for fearless merchants, audacious sailors, craftsmen, and other courageous people. Nature riches beckoned intrepid Russians.

Starting from 1635 customs executives were sent to Obdorsk. This was the time when a permanent Russian settlement emerged there. Also, that was the time when Obdorsk, according to voivode charter, was referred to as 'outpost'.

Traders here had to pay 'the tenth duty to the Sovereign', even on dogs' food. The outpost was abundant of various goods: sable fur, beaver, fox, caftans, high shoes, dogs' food, and even worn shirts and tin buttons. Only furs were sent to Moscow, the rest was sold by customs executives on the spot; money gained for this was used to give payments to serfs. It was more than enough to offset all the expenditures for the outpost maintenance.

In 1641 in the place of a two-towered burg, a new, four-towered, one was built, with two passable towers and two watchtowers. At the same time two storehouses for traders were constructed in the burg, and customs to collect duties from the local traders was established. Permits for export of furs and other official papers were affirmed with a seal saying: 'The seal of the Ruler of Siberian territory in the Ob' mouth'.

In 1731 according to an Anna Ioannovna's decree, Obdorsk was reconstructed - a new wooden fort was erected. In the fort, 'all-year averters' were kept, which was a permanent Cossacks squad of 50 people to protect Yasak Ostyaks from nomad Samoyeds, to prevent their assaults on the fort itself.

Above one-floor houses of so-called 'godovschiki' (one-year workers) and Cossacks there overlooked a wooden Vasilyevskaya Church, erected in 1602. The town was honored with a coat of arms, which depicted a fox holding an arrow. The fort had cannons and mortar guns.

In 1799, Tobolsk governor Koshelev issued a decree to abolish the 'armory' of Obdorsk. Tactical supply was moved out, Cossack guards from Tobolsk did not call on the fort anymore: the fort made do with its own serfs. Early in the nineteenth century, according to the order of Governor Kornilov, town defense constructions were pulled down 'due to their dilapidation'.

By the mid-nineteenth century, in Obdorsk there was a settlement of about a hundred and fifty Russians. Basically, these were fishery managers from Tobolsk and Berezov.

These areas were already to travelers' liking in those old times. Mikhail Sidorov writes, 'The township is quite well-built, on a dry, high over the river Poluy, place, in its appearance and structure beating Pustozersk, Turukhansk, and Surgut.'

From the early nineteenth century, the main attraction of Obdorsk turns to be the New Year Fair. The authorities had to hold it in order to put a stop to illegal trading. As time passed, storehouses grew into a whole block; Obdorsk came to have three times as many storehouses as resident houses. By January, this place gathered merchants not only from Siberian cities such as Tobolsk, Omsk, Tyumen, and Irkutsk, but also from Europe - Arkhangelsk, Nizhny Novgorod, and Veliky Ustyug. 'The outer looks of Obdorsk fair is remarkably ingenious and is not a bit of a trading place,' writes Konstantin Gubarev in Nekrasov's 'Sovremennik', 'On completely flat tundra ground, right next to the river bank, up to four hundred and more deers hitched to sledges are bunched. Shaggy costumes of Samoyeds dressed in buck skins from top to toe, long, jabbed next to every sledge poles with pikes at the top add to this part of the image something wild and hawkish. The fair square ends with a few wooden barns where there are more valuable goods and trade goes as if in bulk.'

The main luxuries of the region in those days were the products of deer farming, fishing, and hunting. Some favorable years could boast of goods exchange of one million of rubles. During the fair, the population swelled to several thousands.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, in Obdorsk 'took place': land assessor, justice of peace, excise inspector, district police officer, district doctor, and other public officials. Trade turnover of Obdorsk merchants and manufacturers by this time had stepped over the border line of one million rubles.

In 1891 the city was populated by 876 people, among them there were 378 Russians.

On September 4, 1894, Tobolsk bishop Agaphanel dedicated a unique Peter and Paul's tabernacle, built in permafrost conditions without a single stilt. An architect Gotlib Tsinke, born in Magdeburg, took part in its construction. After the revolution the tabernacle was used as a warehouse, accommodation for in-migrants, children's sport school.

In 1897 Obdorsk had 30 houses, 150 stores, 500 permanent inhabitants. The same year, a fishing school was founded.

From 1897 to 1910 in Obdorsk there lived an Orthodox missionary and educator Ivan Semenovitch Shemanovsky (hegumen Irinarkh). Thanks to his efforts, the first in the district library was compiled, a boarding school for aboriginal inhabitants' children, missionary school, and local history and archeology museum were founded.

In 1920 all the crafts and enterprises in lower Ob' region were nationalized by the department of nationalities of Siberian revolutionary committee.

On March 17, 1921, peasants' rebellion broke out in Obdorsk against the policy of War Communism. To quell rallies, emergency governing institution was created - revolutionary committee. By the end of the day, the insurgency was quelled, several people were killed: Ivan Korolev, military commissar Ivan Maslov, police Chief Ivan Glazkov, soldiers Nikita Terentyev and Yakov Rochev. The deceased were buried in a bed of honor, where now a needle memorial is erected.

From 1925 district industry started to develop. A timber industry plant is built, houses are wired for electricity, and well-known 'Oborsk obscurity' is vanishing.

On June 19, 1931, 'another spring came out, not least important in the North', which is canning manufacture. At the birth of industry in the district, it was obvious that northern tinned fish is to be targeted at export; the first supplies numbered some hundreds thousands of tins. In the domestic market, they were considered as those of the best. In June 1931 the primary consignment of Obdorsk tinned fish was manufactured. On July 6, Chukreyev was appointed as the head of the plant, in October - Sergey Akimovich Arkhipovsky. In 1939 the fish canning plant took part in the World Fish Production Fair in New-York.

Still, the key activity in the district was agriculture (pasture deer farming). At the same time Veterinary-Bacteriological Institute emerged in Obdorsk.

Subpolar population census in 1927 gave evidence to the fact that at that time the district was already inhabited by 16,500 people, among them the biggest part was represented by the Nentsi, Khanty, and Komi.

Salekhard and its neighborhood area was the place where thousands of people were exiled to. The state set up a system of 'special settlements' - camps for repressed peasants.

On December 10, 1930, with a Decree of General Executive committee of USSR, Yamal (Nenets) national district is formed as part of Ural Region. Obdorsk comes to be its center, which later, in 1933, gets the name of Salekhard.

The city basically grew for the account of special settlers from southern regions - Chelyabinsk, Omsk, Tyumen', and others, as well as enthusiasts who arrived here following the call of the party and Komsomol. In 1935 construction teams of state enterprises only built almost four hundred new buildings. A new canning plant was constructed, an integrated industrial plant launched production of bricks. The route Salekhard-Tyumen' came to be covered by scheduled planes. In 1937 a new in-district scheduled airline was launched. Salekhard roads became the place where sea crafts often stopped off, those heading for the south, to Omsk, or for the north - to Arkhangelsk, Dikson, or Tiksi. The city gets connected to the country telephone network. The first comprehensive school in the district is built.

In 1936 a scientist from Leningrad V.S. Adrianov discovered a unique Ust'-Poluysk ancient settlement on the territory of Salekhard, which was to become a worldly-known monument of architecture. Later, specialists defined the age of the monument (over two thousand years) and came to the conclusion that Ust'-Poluysk settlement was founded by neither Nentsi nor Khanty, but a people inhabiting the place even before them and which later joined the title peoples of the North. The scientist's investigations were reflected in literally all world archeology media. The problems of Ust'-Poluy were raised in Scandinavian and American literature. The scientist died a tragic death: one year later, in 1937, he was arrested straight in Salekhard and sent to Omsk where he was shot dead.

According to the Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR d/d November 27, 1938, the working settlement Salekhard is converted into a district subordination city. The Decree points out the borders of the new city and its administrative arrangement.

In war years, the city lived and worked with a motto 'More production for the battle-front'. 'Rear front' successfully completed its war tasks. Over three hundred inhabitants of Salekhard left for the war to never return home again. Two of them were named heroes of the Soviet Union: I. Korolkov and A. Zverev.
In 1945 a cultural-educational school opened in Salekhard, which later was renamed as the District School of Arts and Culture.

In the first postwar years industrial plants start springing up laying the groundwork for bigger enterprises. The Irtysh inland navigation company organizes its own operation section in Salekhard.

Salekhard also got caught by the net of the Gulag concentration camps. It became the fixed pivot where prisoners were assigned to different camps, those in charge of Ob' Administration of labor camps, as well as Major Administrations of railroad construction camps #501 and #503. Starting from 1947, prisoners of Ob' labor camp carried out construction of the sea base in Yamal in the area of township of Mys Kamenny. The communication was performed via railway through the township of Novy Port. The pier was supposed to be linked with a canal which was to be dug out as far as the closest lake, which, in its turn, was targeted as a place for anchoring surface vessels and submarines. It took prisoners two years to build a five-kilometer larch pier. Nevertheless, the construction was never completed owing to stress of weather. A storm in 1950 crashed the unique construction; after Stalin's death, the country started dismantlement of 'great constructions'. Still, what was created in those years is used as warehouses and a pier for Novy Port fish processing plant nowadays.

In 1949 Salekhard houses the administration of construction site #501, whose main task was building a railway to Salekhard and from Salekhard to Nadym. Later this road was supposed to reach Chukotka and, taking a turn south, flow into Trans Siberian line. The works had to be completed in 1952. According to the last chief of construction site #501 A.D.Zhiguin, over 60,000 people were involved. 80 percent of them were prisoners. As of January 1, 1954, 800 kilometers of railway was built out of total 1,500. Total construction costs outreached 4 millions of rubles. This was 24 times as much as the expenses on industrial and housing construction in Tyumen' region in all years of the fourth five-year plan.

Construction works started in spring of 1949 all along Salekhard-Igarka highway. Only one rail track was laid, where there were supposed to be 28 stations every 40-60 kilometers and 106 sidetracks every 9-14 kilometers. Two ferries were ordered from abroad - to be put on the Ob' and the Yenissey.

The road went across tundra bound by permafrost. In winter, frosts dropped down to minus 60 degrees Celsius, severe blizzards struck down people and blew down buildings. In summer bogs gave birth to swarms of gnats. Almost everything was built manually. Few power shovels could only be found in some open-cut mines freighting turn around cars. However, the construction got on quite fast at a loss of quality. The consequences showed up also fast: railway embankments settled, melt and rain waters collected in hollow spaces and washed out slopes; marshes engulfed rail-tracks altogether with cross-ties.

In 1951 railway reached Salekhard. It was a railway spur of the northern rail trunk Moscow-Vorkuta. The road was laid by prisoners. Reminders of the past years can still be come across with in neighboring woods and tundra. In the city suburbs a rail depot was built. Engines first reached Labytnangi, then they were ferried across the Ob'. In winter, on the river ice a special railroad was constructed ('ledyanka') - a rail track on a specially washed over ice embankment.

After Stalin's death, 501 construction sites were closed down, camps were demolished. People left. In tundra, 11 engines were cast off, let alone tens of carriages and tractors. By a modest computation, over 60,000 tons of metal were left along the railway. Only an insignificant part of equipment available for further use was evacuated. The ferry from the Ob' crossing was hauled to the Black Sea to Kerch. On the initiative of Ministry of Communications, all the construction projects were discontinued. The uncompleted road was written off. Only Chum-Labytnangi section, completed and accepted to use in 1955, was opened. Until 1976 the phone line Salechard-Igarka was active.

In the 50-s in the city there appear a milk plant, a woodworking plant, and a brick factory. Buildings of four city specialized schools are built: of pedagogical, medical, trade-cooperative, and cultural and educational ones. In-plant trainings move to a technical vocational school.

A landmark of the northern city became an air harbor. Salekhard, among few Russian cities, owned a big fleet of water planes An-2V.

In 1951 an exploration team from Mining and Geological Institute of North-West branch of Academy of Sciences of the USSR headed by V.V. Vdovin set off from Salekhard. The team found indirect indicators of liquid hydrocarbons inventory; also, in the area of township of Khe, in the middle of flood bed - a gas show.

The discoveries brought to Salekhard the first settled expedition. On May 5, 1954, Salekhard oil-and-gas expedition #5 was created 'to carry out oil-and-gas exploration and thematic works'.

The area comes to be of state importance. To solve complicated geological problems, scientific forces of research centers of Moscow, Leningrad, Novosibirsk, and Tyumen' are drawn here and joined together. Salekhard becomes a base for expeditions that carry out the search throughout all the huge area of the district. In 1958 the city builds up a competent Yamal-Nenets complex geological observation expedition headed by V.D. Bovanenko, who are involved in the search of oil and gas.

Over the period from 1963 to 1970, while an alliance Yamalneftegasrazvedka was active in Salekhard, such gas 'pearls' like Medvezhye, Zapolyarnoye, Urengoyskoye, Yamburgskoye, Arkticheskoye, Komsomolskoye, Bovanenkovskoye deposits were explored and opened. In Novoportovskaya, Russkaya, and Gubkinskaya fields, quality oil of commercial scale was found. In many structures, gas condensate deposits were discovered, which is a raw material not less valuable for industry than 'the black gold'.

In 1956 the first musical school in the district was opened in Salekhard.

In 1970 construction of a retranslator brought television to the city. In the same year the first five-floor brick houses were built. The tests showed that invincible permafrost can be a reliable basement.

On May 9, 1975, by the fiftieth anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War, a needle war memorial devoted to deceased soldiers was erected. In 1982 a school of national sports for children and teenagers opened; it was decided to open a psychoneurologic dispensary.

In 1987 a recreation center of peoples of the North was built in Salekhard. In 1989, children's recreation center opened.

On June 11, 1991, there was a solemn dedication of Peter and Paul's Tabernacle by a bishop of Tyumen' and Tobolsk episcopate Vladiko Dmitri; in 1998, it was restored.

In October 1991 Culture and Sports Center 'Polyarny' opened up.

In 1992 an architect A.V. Opolovnikov works out two projects: the first - reconstruction of Obdorsk fort, the second - reconstruction of the historic part of Salekhard. 'Obdorsk seems to have a lot ahead...,' he writes, 'The tighter the connection between its present and its heroic past will be, the more prosperity for the city we can expect.'

In January 1994 there opened a museum in a former apartment of Leonid Laptsuy. Its head has been Ye.G. Susoy since its foundation up to now. The museum keeps objects related to life and creative work of the Nenets poet, a member of Writers Guild, Leonid Vasilyevich Laptsuy. The museum operators carry out work on arrangement of funds, hold readings from Laptsuy in various areas of the district, attend seminars and conferences, examine the poet's personal files, and prepare his works for publications.

On November 5, 1994, following the resolution of the city administration, on the base of kindergarten 'Orlyenok' a boarding school 'Raduga' opened. Its first inmates came to be 11 children without parental support.

On September 19, 1995, according to the Statute of Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District Salekhard gets the status of a county seat. A target program of expeditious city development is worked out and approved. From this moment a separate district budget item provides expenditures on development of the city as a county seat. They start dynamic construction of housing blocks, schools, power stations, air terminal complex, etc.

The Arctic Circle divides the city into two parts. This uniqueness of the city geographical position is a business card of Yamal capital. Salekhard is the only city in the world situated on the polar circle.

In March 1997 Salekhard got the status of municipality; in a referendum the inhabitants of the city accepted the organization charter of municipality Salekhard, and a mayor was elected.

The same year an air strip was opened to receive modern heavyweight planes like Tu-154, Il-86, or Boeings; an air-company 'Yamal' was created; on the basis of old drawings, a restoration of a section of Obdorsk jail started; a construction of a mosque set off.

Salekhard is changing its appearance without losing its uniqueness at the same time. New tasks and new status contribute to this. The city which existed in wood for centuries is becoming a stone one.

Celebrated in 1995, its quadricentennial jubilee came to be a turning point for the city, which started developing as a capital of a fully legitimate constituent entity of the Russian Federation. At the beginning of the 90-s Salekhard virtually did not have neither asphalted roads, nor convenient city areas, nor housing towers. A big part of the housing fund consisted of, and still does, two-floor wooden houses, and the sidewalks used to have plank covering.

Elected in 2000, the mayor of the district capital Alexander Spirin carries on implementing the ideas and decisions of the Administration of the autonomous district and his predecessors, systematically and purposefully turning Salekhard into a truly capital city, not a halfpenny worse than Finnish, Swedish, or Norwegian northern cities.

In recent years in Salekhard modern, corresponding to all international requirements, buildings of a comprehensive school and two grammar schools were built, where not only educational work is carried out, but research work as well. Huge attention is given to selection of educational staff, so the education of Salekhard schoolchildren is up to the level now.

Primary questions that the city administration works on are those of youth policies, sport and culture development. In the last few years in Salekhard new sports and teenagers' centers emerged.

On October 27, 2001, a modern ice-skating center opens, where in fall last year under the auspices of International Federation of weightlifting an International Competition of Grand Prix category 'Russia-Yamal' was held for the first time in Salekhard. The capital of the district was visited by the most prominent weightlifters of the planet, who arrived here to take part in the competition.

In January 2003 regional competition in ice hockey of the Russian club 'Zolotaya Shayba' was held. Yang hockey-players of Salekhard, as well as figure-skaters, are brilliant at not only district and Russian, but also international competitions.

In December 2001 the Polar Chess School flung its doors open, altogether with the Weightlifting Center of Yury Zakharevich. In recent years sports elite of Salekhard added more Europe and world champions.

In 2002 a recreational center for the young was built, which came to be one of the major places attracting young inhabitants of Salekhard.

Housing building is soaring in Salekhard; banks, oil-and-gas companies' representative offices, subdivisions of federal government authorities are built. Before the middle of the 90-s engineer support of the city was given so little attention that today a lot has to be built from the scratch. Engineering infrastructure is developing: new roads are laid, sewerage systems, a water draw-off, and power stations are built.

Since the beginning of the nineteenth century the key point of interest in Obdorsk has been the Winter Fair. Today museum-exhibition complex, launched in 2001, carries on traditions of the northern city in the sphere of trade. Fairs in Yamal capital attract representatives of large Russian and foreign companies, mutually profitable goods and equipment delivery contracts and agreements are signed.

More and more impetuously Salekhard turns into a capital of the largest Russian gas and oil region, administrative constituent entity of the Russian Federation, transport, business, and commercial center of the region. Interregional and international contacts are spreading. In 1998 Salekhard welcomed delegates of the Workshop of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region Countries, in 2001 the eleventh annual international congress 'New High Technologies of Gas and Oil Industries, of Power Economy and Communications' was held.

The long-history capital of Yamal is growing, turning into a modern city always welcoming guests and open to collaboration.