About city
In summer of 1859 Governor-General of Eastern Siberia N.N. Muravyov-Amursky calling
at the Gulf of Peter the Great on board the steam corvette America
visited the peninsula and the bay that was somewhat similar to the Bay of the
Golden Horn in Konstantinopol (Istanbul). The peninsula was later named
Muravyov-Amursky and the bay – the Golden Horn Bay (Zolotoy Rog). A beautiful,
convenient harbor as though nature-intended to be a port of, caught his eye. The
first Europeans visited this bay were two English Frigates Winchester and
Barrakuda and it happened in 1855.
On June, 20 (July, 2 - New Style) 1860 the military supply ship Manchur
under the command of Captain-Lieutenant A.K. Shefner called at the Golden Horn
Bay to found an outpost. The future outpost was named Vladivostok (meaning “
Lord of the East”). 28 soldiers under the command of Ensign N.V. Komarov, were
brought from Nickolaevsk-on-the-Amur by ship to construct the first buildings of
the future city. In 1862 the outpost of Vladivostok officially became a Port. With the purpose to encourage
foreign trade, a Free Port Status or Free Trade Status for imported goods was
established. In 1864 the Command of the Southern Harbors was moved to
Vladivostok from Nickolaevsk-on-the-Amur. A year later a Shipbuilding Yard was established in Vladivostok and the first
settlers from Nickolaevsk-on-the-Amur began arriving. Foreigners began visiting
Vladivostok. In 1871 it was decided that the Naval Port, Military Governor’s
Residence, and the main base of the Siberian Military Flotilla were to be moved
from Nikolaevsk-on-the-Amur to Vladivostok.
The first street of Vladivostok was Americanskaya Street that was named in 1871 to
commemorate the above-mentioned corvette America. Two years later it was
renamed and got the name Svetlanskaya Street in honor of the frigate Svetlana
on which the Grand Duke Alexey Alexandrovitch visited Vladivostok. At that very
time it was consisted of a part of today’s Svetlankskaya Street: from the
Amursky Bay to house # 85. Its other parts were then considered as separate
streets and had the names of Portovaya, Afanasyevskaya, Aekipazhnaya streets.
In 1878 40% of over 4 000 residents in Vladivostok were foreigners. In 1880 the
Volunteers’ Fleet with the help of the government organized regular trips
between Odessa, Petersburg and Vladivostok. On April 28 (May, 10) 1880
Vladivosotk was proclaimed a city and a separate administrative unit independent
from the Primorye Oblast. At that time the population of the city totaled 7300
people that is twice as many as in 1878. Three hotels operated in Vladivostok at
that time, they are Moscow Hotel, Vladivostok Hotel and Hotel De Louvr.
In 1883 The Resettlement Administration was established in Vladivostok and the
steamships of the Volunteers’ Fleet began a mass transport of peasants from
European Russia to the Far East where active settling had begun. Vladiostok became the main shipping center. A great increase in the
city’s significance was a result. In 1888 the residence of the Oblast Governor
(Governor of the region) was moved from Khabarovsk to Vladivostok. In 1899
Vladivostok was proclaimed a Fortress and two torpedo–boats brought
disassembled from the Black Sea were launched.
In the 1880’s the cultural life in Vladivostok became more active and a music
school at the Siberian Fleet Depot was opened. In 1883 the first newspaper Vladivostok
began circulation. In 1884 The Society of the Amursky Territory Study headed by F. Busse was established. In 1887 the public Reading-Hall
was opened in Vladivostok and the professional theater performed in Vladivostok for the first time. The city began
acquire modern amenities. The trees were planted along the main streets and 120
kerosene street-lamps were installed in the city streets.
By the end of the 1880’s Vladivostok had approximately 600 wooden and more than
50 stone houses, some of them were 2 and 3 storied buildings. The main urban
buildings were grouped in the area of today’s central square and the
Matrosskaya Sloboda (Sailor’s Suburb) – a territory from the Obyasneniya
River as far as Gaydamak Tram Stop. These figures are not large for a city,
which was about 30 years old. But considering the fact that it is located 10 000
km from the major cultural centers of the Russian Empire and that it took 3 or 4
months for the mail to arrive from those places, one can admire the persistence
and stubbornness of the first settlers.
In the 1890’s the shipping lines Kobe – Nagasaki – Vladivostok were opened.
In 1891 the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad began in Vladivostok.
This is one of the longest railroads in the world and it was very important for
the development of many remote Russian outlying districts. In 1897 a new Commercial Port in Vladivostok was opened and regular
traffic to Khabarovsk by rail began. In 1899 the first Far Eastern higher educational institution – The Oriental
Institute – was established. Today it houses the main building of the Far
Eastern State Technical University. From 1899 through 1909 four theaters were
opened in Vladivostok. In the period between the two Russian Revolutions (1907 - 1917) a Railway Station of
Russian Architecture of the 17th century style which resembled the
Yaroslavsky Railway Station in Moscow, the City Power Station, two Girls’
Schools, the School of Commerce and Versailles Hotels were constructed. There
were about 3000 shops and stores, Publishing Houses issued 61 different books in
Russian and foreign languages. By 1917 Vladivostok had become a scientific, cultural and industrial center, the
largest in the Far East and Eastern Siberia. Many newspapers and magazines were
published and the first theater buildings of stone were constructed in the city.
After the October Revolution of 1917 a new stage of life began in Vladivostok as well
as in the whole country. The armed forces of the Entente were brought into the
city and the West of Russia. On December 31, 1917 Japanese, British and American
Cruisers entered the Golden Horn Bay. In April of 1918 the Japanese Firm Isido
was attacked in Vladivostok. After this incident the Japanese and British
Commands landed their troops under the pretext of protecting their citizens. The
supporters of the Bolsheviks conducted a partisan struggle in the city. From
1916 through 1922 population in the city increased from 97 000 to 410 000 people
as a result of the opponents of the new Regime settling in the port city while
retreating to the East together with the White Army. There were many Russian
cultural workers among them; about 650 representatives of Moscow and Petersburg
creative intelligentsia lived in Vladivostok. They established two
conservatories, two theaters and several symphony orchestras here. They
published a number of art magazines. After the victory of the Bolsheviks the
majority of these people moved to Australia, China, USA and other countries. On October 25 1922 the last units of the interventionists
left the city and the units of the Red Army took control completely. Later, in
November, the Far Eastern Republic existed from 1920 till 1922 was included into
the RFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republc). The Bolsheviks
understood the importance of Vladivostok as a major Russian port on the Pacific
Coast and as an outpost of the Communist Empire in the East. In the 1920’s –
1930’s the reconstruction of the Vladivostok Port was carried out and the
construction of the Fishing Port began. In the beginning of the 1930’s direct
flights left Moscow for Vladivostok and vice versa.
Far Eastern University was established in Vladivostok in the beginning of 1920’s
but at the end of the 1930’s, during Stalin’s Regime, it was closed for 20
years. In 1925 The Pacific Scientific-Commercial Station was established in
Vladivostok. It was reorganized into The Pacific Scientific-Research Institute
of Fisheries and Oceanography in 1930. In 1932 the Far Eastern Division of the
Academy of Sciences of the USSR was created in the city. So, as you can see,
science and culture acquired the spirit of that time which was reflected in
their zigzag development. Radio Station began broadcasting; three theaters and
three new movie-theaters were opened in the city. The collection of Primorye
Picture Gallery was formed during 1929-1931. About 1 000 pictures were brought
from the Hermitage, Russian Museum and Tretyakovskaya Gallery. And you know,
after the Revolution of 1917 many museums located in the Russian Provinces were
formed by this principle.
In the 1930’s the mass repression began in the country and the transit camp for
political prisoners carried out from the western regions of Russia to Kolyma was
opened in Vladivostok. The prisoners constituted a considerable part of the
labor force that built factories, ports and cities in the Far East from 1930
through 1940.
A new intensive development of the city began after visiting by Nikita Khruschev
in 1954, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He was
the first acting leader of Russia and the whole USSR who visited the city. Far
Eastern State University, the only classical university in the Russian Far East
until today, was reopened; a lot of micro-regions have been built intensively;
new multistory buildings and constructions were built; the fisheries industry was developed, a large volume of military
goods were produced. And from 1930 till 1970‘s foreigners were not allowed to
visit Vladivostok. And even after Gerald Ford’s, the president of the USA,
visit to Vladivostok the ordinary citizens couldn’t visit the city, the city
that was home base of the Pacific Fleet for almost 20 years. Even Russian
citizens had to get special permission to visit their friends and relatives. And
in 1992, for the first time in 70 years, Vladivostok was officially opened for
visits by foreigners. Since that time it has been welcoming many people to enjoy
its beauty and culture.
Today Vladivostok
is the capital and the largest city of Primorye. With a population of 660,000
people and a total area of over 600 sq.km (230 sq. miles), it is also the
largest city of the Russian Far East and, of course, one of the most interesting
and remarkable cities of Russia. Vladivostok is one of the ten most prospective
cities of the world, as determined by the special UNESCO Commission. Of all the
European-style cities it is the closest to the Asian Pacific region. And it’s
not the all. Today Vladivostok is a port city of sailors, fishermen and
shipbuilders. The third part of Vladivostok citizens work in professions
relating to the sea. The streets begin and end at the coast. The numerous masts
of vessels in the Golden Horn Bay look almost like a forest of trees. Passenger
ships, huge fish-factory vessels, military ships and even ice-breakers sail in
the waters of Vladivostok. As you will see, everything in Vladivostok has
connection with the sea: the city's history, landscapes, and industry; even the
railroad, which ends where the ocean begins.
Vladivostok is the leading scientific center in the Russian Far East. The headquarters of the Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy
of Science is located in Vladvostok. The academy consists of 35 scientific
research institutions located in Vladivostok, Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Khabarovsk
and Magadan. Scientists are engaged in fundamental and applied research in a
variety of fields. Many scientists are the members of various foreign academies and well known in the world.
There are many educational centers: 13 higher education institutions such as the Far
Eastern State University, the Far Eastern State Technical University,
Vladivostok Medical University, Far Eastern Marine Academy, Pacific Naval
Institute, Vladivostok State University of Economics and Management and the Far Eastern State Institute of
the Arts.
Many universities established links with educational institutes of the USA, Japan,
Great Britain, Italy and China. Regional scientific conferences and symposia are
regularly held in the city. Two frigates Pallada and Nadezhda were
designed to train students of the Fishery University and Marine Academy. They
participated in numerous regattas and round-the-world trips. Today they are one
of city attractions for tourists. Voyages on these frigates can be arranged upon
request.
There are a number of theaters in Vladivostok. The biggest and the most popular one is
Primorsky Krai Gorky Drama Theater. Russian and foreign plays are regularly
staged here. There are also fine performances in Chamber Theater, Pacific Navy
Theater and Youth Theater. The majority of the concerts take place in the
Concert Hall of Primorsky Krai Philarmonic Society situated in a historical building in downtown. The biggest
concert hall of the city is in the Seamen Culture Palace located on Egersheld
Peninsula.
The comfortable location of Vladivostok makes it a real “Gateway to the Russian
Far East” or as it’s called sometimes “Russian San Francisco”. A
sprawling port and transport hub that links the capitals of Asia and Europe.
Flights from Vladivostok to cities in Japan, South Korea, People’s Republic of
China take a few hours only. The flight to Moscow, however, takes about 8 hours.
Here, from the Peter the Great Bay Russian vessels go away to Japan, Korea,
China and other countries of the South East Asia.
You are welcome to Vladivostok! | 
