Nizhny Novgorod Fair

Nizhny Novgorod Fair
Нижегородская ярмарка
The Main Fair building
Location within Russia
Former names	Makaryev Fair
General information
Location	Nizhny Novgorod
Country	Russia
Coordinates	56°19′42″N 43°57′39″E / 56.32833°N 43.96083°E / 56.32833; 43.96083
Construction started	1817
Opened	1822
Owner	City Duma of Nizhny Novgorod
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Auguste de Montferrand
Website
yarmarka.ru

Nizhny Novgorod Fair (old name — Makaryev Fair) (Russian: Нижегородская ярмарка) was a fair in Nizhny Novgorod held annually every July near Makaryev Monastery on the left bank of the Volga River from the mid-16th century to 1816. Following a massive fire in 1816, it was moved to Nizhny Novgorod, but for some decades thereafter it still was commonly referred to as Makaryev Fair. It attracted foreign merchants from India, Iran, and Central Asia.

According to Durland, a journalist who visited the fair in 1905, the fair dates from "before the discovery of America." The fair was established by Muscovite princes to compete with, and draw commerce away from, a fair held since 1257, at Kazan, the Tartar capital. At the time Durland visited the fair, it consisted of 60 buildings, 2,500 bazaars and 8,000 exhibits, with goods for sale, along with a broad range of performances for the public.

This fair was a commerce centre to sell up to half the total production of export goods in Russia. The fair ceased in 1929. A society named Nizhegorodskaya yarmarka (Russian: Нижегородская ярмарка, Nizhny Novgorod fair) was created in 1991 with its headquarters in the former main fair building. However, today it is not actually a fair, but an exhibition center. Located in the historical centre of Old Kanavino.