Perm

Perm and It’s Environs
The indigenous population (komi – permyaki) of the Perm area appeared here in the end of the 9^th century and is mentioned for the first time in Russian chronicles in the 12^th century. Local tribes did not know agriculture and were at the end of stage of a primitive-communal system.

In the Perm district there are about one and a half thousand archeological monuments - there are sites of settlements and burial grounds of different epochs. In this area there are also unique monuments - “Kostischa” - sacrificial places, where ancient people carried out religious practices by sacrificing animals. Discoveries of hidden treasures – work instruments, weapons, and ornaments are common. Among these finds were handicrafts from silver, including the Central Asian, Byzantium and Iranian vessels of the 3 – 10^th centuries. The collections of eastern silver from the Perm region are kept in museums in Moscow and Saint Petersburg - the best in the world.

Turbinskii Burial Ground (an archeological monument of national value)
The Turbinskii Burial Ground (Turbinskii archeological remains from the Bronze Age) is situated not far from Perm on a gentle slope of Mt. Shustovaya, on the right bank of the Kama reservoir, close to the river Chusovaya.  In the valley of the river Chusovaya there are many sites from the Bronze Age.

Glyadenovskoe “Kostische” (also a national archeological monument)
Glyadenovskoe “kostische” - the sacrificial place for the ancient people of the Perm area (Glyadenovskaya archeological period from the 2nd century AD – I3^th century AD) is situated on the right bank of the river Nizhnyaya Mulyanka, near the village Savino.

The first Russians who appeared in the Ural Mountains were Novgorod combatants who began to trade with the inhabitants. At the beginning of the 15^th century Perm was a principality, which was joined to the Moscow state at the end the 15^th century. From this time began an active influx of Russians to the Perm area.
At the beginning of the 17^th century the village Egoshikha with it’s brass works (1723) was built at the site where modern Perm is situated.
In 1781 this village was named Perm (the centre of the Perm vice regency).
From 1796 Perm was the provincial centre - from 1781-98 and from 1807-31 the main mining administration of the Uralian metallurgical plants was situated here.
At the beginning of the 19^th century Perm was the largest port in the Kama river area and in 1846 regular navigation of the  Kama was organized. In 1863 the Siberian road was constructed via Perm and in 1878 the Uralian railway was built.
In 1863 near Motovilikha settlement (close to the brass-works which were founded in 1738 to the north of Perm), the Motovilkha cannon plant - one of the largest Uralian metal-working enterprises appeared.
Perm was also a place of political exile - from 1812-14 M.Speranskiy (Russian philosopher), from 1835 A.Gertsen (Russian writer) and from 1880-81 V.Korolenko (Russian writer) were exiled here. Before the Great October Revolution (1917) Perm was the administrative, trade, transit and also cultural centre of the Urals and from 1938 the centre of  the Perm district.
During WWII (1941-1945) many large industrial enterprises were relocated to Perm from the European part of USSR.
During the period 1940 – 1957 Perm was named “Molotov”.

Administration of Perm City – official web-site
Flag of Perm district
Flag of city Perm

If you visit the city Perm, we are glad to offer you some excursions in the Perm and its environs. All of these programmes start in the Perm.
For some impressions from our guests who have visited the Urals, please click here

The main industries of the Perm district are – machinery construction, chemical production and timber. Equipment for mining, metallurgical, petroleum, coal and timber industries, machine tools, river ships, bicycles and electrical appliances are all manufactured here. There are other large enterprises in Kungur (petroleum mechanical engineering), Lysva (turbo-generators, electric stoves and metal), Aleksandrovsk (mining and mechanical engineering), Suksun (an optical-mechanical factory), Sarany (ferroalloys and extraction of chrome). The chemical industry - manufacture of mineral fertilizers (Berezniki, Solikamsk), soda factories (Berezniki), a coke-chemical factory (Gubakha), manufacture of dyes (Berezniki), timber and chemical production (Krasnokamsk, Solikamsk) is well developed. In northeast of the Perm district there is a diamond deposit.  Also in this rich region oil, gas and coal are extracted.

Agricultural arable land covers 20 % of the district with potatoes, vegetables, flax, rye, wheat being grown and also dairy cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and poultry are raised.

Unfortunately the railway network is not well developed here with only two main trunks - Ekaterinburg - Perm - Kirov, and Solikamsk - Perm. Road transport is more often used in the southern and central parts of the area and to a lesser extent in the north. Navigation on the rivers Kama (more than 1000 km), Chusovaya and Vishera is carried out. Airlines connect the centre of the region to other large cities of Russia.  Perm is the centre of the transport network (4 railroad lines, 2 highways, river port and the airport).

There are many health resorts here, among them the most noted being the  balneological health resort “Ust-Kachka” (58 km far from Perm).

The area has unique natural resources including the state nature reserves  “Visherskii”,  “Basegi” and “Pred-Uralie”.

Apart from the natural sites many historical and architectural monuments are preserved. Some of them include - Petropavlovsk cathedral (1757-64), cathedral of Sudarium-Transfiguration monastery (1798-1832), buildings of the former public offices (the end of the 18^th century), City Duma (the end of the 18^th century) and the Noble Assembly (1830). There also is an old opera house and music school among buildings from the end of the 19^th century  and the begininnig of the 20^th century.  In Perm there is the only museum of wooden architecture in the Urals - Khokhlovka on the bank of the Kama reservoir.

Excursion programmes in the city Perm and its environs

The Belogorskii Saint-Nikolai monastery is the fifth temple in Russia by size - located on picturesque slopes of the Urals it is 100 kilometres from Perm and 85 kilometres from Kungur. From the 18th century affluent people from factories and Old Believers pursued by the authorities were concealed in cells and small monasteries here.
In the Perm district there are the towns (Solikamsk, Nyrob, Cherdyn, Kungur), where there are many historical monuments.
Solikamsk is the former settlement Sol-Kamskaya where was located the first salt-works. During the first centuries, the salt-works and trade with Europe and Asia were the key economic resources of the town, so Babinov’s road (only road linking Europe and Asia) passed through Solikamsk. It is a large industrial and cultural centre of the western Urals - you can see unique examples of stone architecture – Saint Trinity Cathedral, House of Voevode, Epiphny Church, Temple of the Transfiguration and the Cathedral Bell Tower and the underground museum – the Ust-Borovskij Salt-works (1882-1997), which is the only one in the Kama region. The salt-work’s buildings, made according to old traditions, are perfect examples of industrial architecture.
One of the interesting places of the Perm district is the memorial complex Perm 36, which is 100 km east of Perm. This was one of the infamous labour camps of the Gulag Archipelago where many dissidents were persecuted. Stalin ordered the camp built in 1946 for the detention of political prisoners, who were confined to small freezing sheds. Perm 36 closed in 1987 and the camp now has a memorial to the victims of the Gulag system and a museum and research centre.

Other attractions for tourists in the Perm region include rafting with the most popular rivers being the Kolva, Vishera, Berezovaya, Sylva and Chusovaya.

The region is also very popular among speleologists as there are about 600 caves here. Among them is the famous - Kungurskaya ice cave and other lesser known caves which are accessible only to speleologists. One of the most complex and interesting caves is Ordynskaya cave, situated near the town Kungur it contains many underwater galleries, grottoes and lakes.