Arzamas — in Nizhny Novgorod parlance, the word refers above all to an ancient city on the Tyosha River, one hundred and ten kilometers south of Nizhny Novgorod, the administrative center of the right-bank part of the Region.[1] The same word is used for the municipal district, the historic diocese, the painting school, the uyezd, the closed cities of the nuclear project, and a whole range of local subjects; below is a collection of everything in Nizhny Novgorod Region called Arzamas or "Arzamassky." A detailed account of the city itself can be found in the article Arzamas.

The City

The official founding date of Arzamas is considered to be 1578 — the earliest surviving documents date to that year; the fortress itself was laid down on the orders of Ivan the Terrible during his campaign against Kazan in 1552, on the site of an Erzya Mordva settlement.[1] The city lies about four hundred and ten kilometers from Moscow, on the high right bank of the Tyosha.[1]

The face of the city is Cathedral Square with the Resurrection Cathedral, built in memory of the Patriotic War of 1812, the Savior's Transfiguration Monastery, the St. Nicholas Convent, and the Gostiny Row (trading arcade).[1] Industry is centered on mechanical and instrument engineering: Arzamas Instrument-Making Plant and Arzamas Machine-Building Plant. The city has earned its fame for the Arzamas goose and the Arzamas onion.[1]

The municipal structure changed in 2022: under Nizhny Novgorod Region Law No. 55-Z of May 4, 2022, all settlements of the Arzamassky Municipal District were merged with the Arzamas city district.[2] A separate district no longer exists, but its article in the encyclopedia remains — Arzamassky District.

The Cluster and the City's Renewal

Since 2018, Arzamas has been developed together with Diveevo and city of Sarov as part of a pilgrimage and tourism cluster: the management company was established in April 2018.[3] By April 2026, one hundred and twenty-three of the one hundred and eighty-three planned initiatives had been completed, with a further thirty-two under way.[3]

In Arzamas itself, an overpass across the railway tracks has been built, fifty-five hectares of public spaces have been improved, more than two hundred and ninety façades have been renovated over three years, and the R-158 highway linking the cluster cities has been widened to four lanes over sixty-six kilometers.[3] During 2025, three hotels, seventeen cafés and restaurants opened on the cluster's territory, and more than two hundred jobs were created.[3] Details can be found in the article Pilgrimage and Tourism Cluster "Arzamas — Diveevo — Sarov".

June 4, 1988

The greatest disaster in the city's history occurred on the morning of June 4, 1988. At 9:32 a.m., a freight train carrying explosives for mining enterprises exploded near Arzamas-I station.[4]

Ninety-one people were killed and around eight hundred were injured. Within a radius of one hundred and fifty meters, forty-four buildings were completely destroyed and a further one hundred and seven were severely damaged; buildings within a radius of nearly one kilometer sustained damage. Firefighters prevented the fire from reaching the fuel depot. Power was restored within a day, water and sewage within three days, and the first new houses were erected within four months.[4]

A memorial stands at the site of the explosion, with a clock stopped at 9:32.[4]

The Arzamas School of Painting

In the early nineteenth century, the artist Alexander Stupin opened in Arzamas the first private art school in Russia outside St. Petersburg and Moscow. Over the years of its operation, around one hundred and fifty students received training there.[5] The school and its founder are covered in Stupin's Arzamas School of Painting.

The Arzamas That Does Not Appear on the Map

The city's name was used twice as cover for closed cities of the nuclear project. The names "Arzamas-16" and Arzamas-75 concealed what is now city of Sarov — the home of the Russian Federal Nuclear Center. These addresses had no actual connection to Arzamas: they simply indicated the nearest open postal hub.

Other Things Called "Arzamassky"

Chronicle of events

Details of each event are in the article about it; here are the dates and gist.

Sources

  1. visitarzamas.ru — Visit Arzamas — About the City: founding, location, landmarks, industry
  2. publication.pravo.gov.ru — Official Internet Portal of Legal Information (archive)
  3. nobl.ru — Government of Nizhny Novgorod Region — On the implementation of infrastructure projects in the "Arzamas — Diveevo — Sarov" cluster (April 24, 2026)
  4. 52.mchs.gov.ru — Main Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations for Nizhny Novgorod Region — And Time Stood Still: 35 Years Since the Tragedy at Arzamas-1 Station (June 4, 2023)
  5. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — 20 paintings from the Tretyakov Gallery exhibited at the NGKHM for the 250th anniversary of Alexander Stupin (archive)