Puchezh

Historical information
Природа, животный мир
Museums
Handicrafts, trades
Accommodation    The Puchezh District is situated in the eastern part of the Ivanovo Region, at a distance of 157 km from regional centre Ivanovo, the nearest railway station is located in Kineshma (117 km). In the east the Puchezh District is washed by the waters of the Gorky Reservoir and bounded by the Sokolskoye District of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. In the north it borders upon the Yuryevets District, in the west - upon Lukh and Verkhny Landekh ditricts, in the south-west - upon the Pestyaki District of the Ivanovo Region and in the south it shares its border with the Chkalovsk District of the Nizhniy Novgorod Region.
    Puchezh is a town of a unique history. It was destined to have two lives. The first one lasted several centuries and the second started in 1952 when in connection with the erection of the Gorky hydroelectric power station a decision was passed to transfer the town to a new loftier locality, as the territory occupied by Puchezh was to be flooded.
    The old town that boasted its churches, merchant buildings and a marvelous embankment vanished for good. Wooden buildings were partially carried to the new location while all the stone ones were destroyed. The only church that escaped destruction was the Church of Assumption of the Virgin, though its fate was also unhappy: in early 60s of the past century it was pulled down. Nevertheless the image of the old town is preserved in living memory, in writings of the chroniclers. The earliest chronicle that survived to our day where Puchezh was mentioned is dated 1614. In this chronicle references were made to Puchezh starosta (seniorman) and tax collector's petitions dated 1604 and 1594, providing the evidence, that in the 2nd part of the XVI century Puchezh was an important settlement.
The name of Puchezh originates from the river Bolshoy Puchezh (now the river Pushavka), and the river Maly Puchezh (now the river Rodinka) flowing together into a small river Pushavka. At the confluence of those two rivers lay Puchezh Slobodka (the estate of Puchezh). Its inhabitants were engaged in handicrafts and merchandising. Arable farming was hardly practiced.
    The earliest information about the Puchezh inhabitants and their trades is found in cadastres dated 1676. Puchezh Slobodka was governed by the Grand Palace Office, i.e. it was a personal property of the tsar family and paid tributes to the tsar treasury. At that time the village numbered 114 households and 500 inhabitants. The articles put on sale by the Puchezh merchants were dyed cloth, leather, salt and soap. The most important of the trades were cloth dyeing and blacksmith's work. In addition to the tributes the Puchezh inhabitants supplied court with fish and salt.
    In close vicinity of Puchezh Slobodka on the opposite bank of the river Pushavka there was a monastery – the Pushavka Hermitage. It wasn't big, at different times it was inhabited by 6 to 20 monks. In 1717 the wooden building of the monastery church was rebuilt in stone. The Church of Resurrection of Christ was built on the donations of Novgorod and Galich Metropolitan Iowa. He also endowed the Monastery with plenty of precious church plates and a shroud of Christ (1441). In 1918 the shroud of Christ was confiscated and nowadays it is deposited in the stocks of the Kremlin museums.
    In 1793, following the decree by the Empress Catherine II, Puchezh Slobodka was transformed into Puchezh Posad (the trading quarter of Puchezh). By that time the Monastery had been closed down. Preserved till 1917 was the convent - an almshouse attached to Podgorny parish. The mysterious nun Arcadia dwelt there in a separate cell in the end of the XVIII - beginning of the XIX century.
    In the second half of the XVIII – the first half of the XIX century Puchezh underwent great changes. Puchezh merchants turned to purchasing and selling grain and raw flax, steering long barge convoys to Rybinsk, the main grain market of the country. Many Puchezh inhabitants belonging to petty bourgeoisie devoted themselves to shipping: having in possession their own ships (only in the Puchezh shipyards nearly 35 ships were built annually having freight carrying capacity of 27000 poods (1 pood = 16,38 kг) they contracted with merchants for shipping grain. That is why Puchezh was one of the main centres where barge haulers were hired. While the total population of Puchezh was only 1000, the number of barge haulers who gathered there at the beginning of the navigation period reached 6000. By the middle of the XIX century the turnover of the raw flax on the Puchezh market was as large as 700000 poods. In 1862 a merchant from Vyazniki Iosif Senkev erected a flax - spinning mill, where 1000 workers were employed.
    As a result of the reforms being carried out in Russia between 1860 to 1870 Puchezh was granted elements of self-government. In 1863 Zemstvo (elective district council in pre-revolutionary Russia) was introduced in Puchezh and in 1870 a town council headed by the mayor was established. The posad was given its own coat-of-arms. According to the data reported in 1898 its population numbered 2315. There were 6 churches, a primary school, a higher primary school, a municipal public bank and a savings bank there.
    The change of power in 1917 was accepted by the inhabitants of Puchezh rather indifferently. The only follower-up to this change was the town council election that resulted in the victory of social-revolutionaries.On the 25th of February 1918 the town soviet was set up. In 1924 when the Puchezh population reached 4088 a town electrical station was erected and in 1925 the first dwelling houses for workers were built. Puchezh was officially given the status of a town. In 1929 the Puchezh District was established, its outline and area having been repeatedly changed. In 1947 the fate of Puchezh was decided as a decision was passed to construct the Gorky hydroelectric power station.
    The present-day Puchezh inhabited by 9000 citizens doesn't bear much resemblance to the Puchezh of older times. Multi-storey dwelling houses and new industrial buildings have been erected in the town recently. Among them are: a flax mill, a ferro-concrete structures and parts production plant, embroidery and garment factories, an agricultural machinery maintenance centre.
    URL - http://puchezh-town.ivanovo.ru/

    
    The Puchezh District is situated on the Volga River in the area of the Gorky Reservoir. Its territory occupies 36216 hectares of arable land, 29254 hectares of marsh land, 33 hectares of bushy lands and 3329 hectares of other grounds. 9039 hectares are under the water. Forestry area in the district covers 29514 hectares: Annual estimated wood cutting area is 25000 - 26000 sq. m.45 % of the forests are valuable wood species (fur-free, pine-tree).
    Taking into account actual forestry development rate (less than 52% of the estimated wood cutting area) and with regard to the vast areas of ripening forests (4429 thousand cubic meters) and reproduction of the forests on an expanded scale, the raw material base for the next 50 years is predicted to be quite stable.

    The art of Puchezh embroidery formed during many centuries. There were stitched artels in some parts of Russia, and every artel has its own artistic hand (Artel – cooperative association of workmen). Puchezh stitched embroidery has its own stylistic peculiarities making it different from the embroideries of other areas. It is distinguished by special ornamental patterns and by diversity of techniques. There such design techniques as embroidery, the white stitch with colorful outline, narrow and wide drawn-thread works, painting, "cutouts", white loose satin-stitch. Today three Puchezh enterprises are engaged in stitched embroidery. They are the closed corporation Istoki, Naris, Ltd and Rishelje, Ltd.
    They use techniques of old Puchezh craftsmen. These enterprises make garments of gray-state fabric, white linen, cotton fabric, crкpe-chiffon, crкpe-satin, crкpe-sateen, "soaked silk".
    

Puchezh enterprise of art trades closed corporation Istoki

Naris, Ltd

Rishelje, Ltd