Nizhniy Tagil (Tagil means “a lot of water” in the Mansi language) is a Russian city, the administrative center of Gornozavodsk Administrative District of the Sverdlovsk Region. It is situated on the eastern slope of the Ural Ridge, 149 km northward of Yekaterinburg.

At the 10 km distance from Nizhni Tagil there is the climatic resort area Rush.

History of Nizhniy Tagil

Nizhniy Tagil was founded in 1721 in connection with the beginning of development of of magnetic iron ore deposit on Vysokaya Hill (earlier called Magnetic) and the building of ironworks (was put into operation in 1725) by H. and A. Demidovs. The foundation date is 1722, when Vyisk copper smeltery (later merged with Nizhni Tagil smeltery) started working.

The city was named after its position on River Tagil (the right inflow of River Tura); the definition Nizhniy (“lower”) specifies the presence of another factory upstream of Tagil River.

In 1814 a copper ore deposit was discovered near Nizhniy Tagil (Mednorudnyansky Deposit, then the richest one in Russia), where malachite deposits were found in 1835. It gave rise to development of the gem processing industry.

Since the mid 18th century there has existed the handicraft of painting lacquered metal trays with colorful bouquets, and garlands.

In the early 19th century the Settlement Nizhniy Tagil Factory became the center of Nizhniy Tagil mining area that belonged to the Demidovs. Later deposits of gold, platinum, precious and semi-precious stones were also found in its territory.

In 1894 more than 1300 people worked in Nizhniy Tagil mines, and there were around 3500 workers at the factory.

Nizhniy Tagil became a city in 1919.

Since April, 1st, 2008 the area of Nizhniy Tagil has increased from 298 to 4106 square kilometers as a result of annexation of 22 settlements and villages.

As of 2008 the population of Nizhni Tagil makes 375 700 persons.

Sights of Nizhniy Tagil

The city boasts the unique Museum Preserve of Mining of Sredni Ural, with its rich collections including a model of the first Russian steam locomotive devised by the Cherepanov Brothers, Tagil painted trays, an original of great Raphael, rare mineralogical samples, and much more.

Nizhniy Tagil is also famous for its Museum of Fine Arts. The museum preserve includes 12 museums of various profiles: Historical Museums of Local Lore of Nizhni Tagil, Kushva, Nizhnaya and Verkhnyaya Salda, and Kachkanar; the Ethnographic Museum of miners’ household and crafts (“Manor house”); Museum of the History of Tray Handicraft (“the House of Hudoyarovs”); A.E.Fersman Mineralogical Museum in Murzinka Settlement; A.P.Bondin's Literary Museum in Nizhniy Tagil and D.N.Mamin-Sibiryak Museum in Visim Settlement; Russia’s first museum-factory of ferrous metallurgy technology development; and industrial heritage monuments in Kushva. Funds of the Museum Preserve total up to 450000 museum exhibits of historical and artistic value.

The city has 74 history and culture monuments, registered in the state lists of monuments. There are monuments of architecture, including the 18th century provision warehouses, 2-storeyed merchant houses of the 19th –early 20th centuries, etc.