Nikitin

The Nikitin Hotel is located in Nizhny Novgorod. This hotel is located 2 km from the city center. Near the hotel there is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, the park on Novaya Strelka with warehouses, the embankments of the Volga and Oka rivers. In a hotel There is a bar and a restaurant with Russian and European cuisine. Free Wi-Fi is available for guests. Guests can park in the nearby parking lot by car. The following services are also available to guests: massage room, library, business center, conference room, special equipment, hotel tour desk, transfer service. Laundry, ironing services, individual check-in and check-out, a press, a safe and a concierge are also available. The hotel staff speaks English and Russian. languages. The history of the Nikitin Hotel is not just a story about architecture and hospitality, it is a story about passion, talent and dedication, dating back to the century before last - in the world of circus art. It all started with the Nikitin brothers, Dmitry, Akim and Peter, simple serfs from the Saratov province. Their father, Alexander Nikitin, possessed remarkable wit. As a serf, he began by playing the hurdy-gurdy in the courtyards and fairs of Saratov. Things went so well that he was able to free himself and his entire family. Already in the early 70s, all three brothers worked in various booths and traveling circuses. Peter Nikitin was an equestrian, acrobat, aerialist, juggler, and jumper. Dmitry was a strongman, Akim Nikitin was a juggler, a gymnast, a red-haired clown in a mask of Ivan the fool. My father was spinning a hurdy-gurdy, my mother was selling tickets at the box office. Working hard and saving money, the brothers acquired circus property in Saratov from an Austrian citizen, Emmanuel Beranek, the owner of a private circus. This was an important step towards their main goal, which was to create a Russian circus, because all traveling circuses then belonged to foreigners. And so, in 1876, the Nikitin brothers' dream came true. The Nikitin Brothers' First Russian circus has opened in Saratov, a round wooden building with a canvas roof and a bright sign. For the first time, a performance was given here, in which only Russian circus performers participated. It was a real breakthrough in the art world and a symbol of national pride. The Nikitins toured the Volga and the Caucasus, winning the hearts of the audience with their skill and innovative approach. Akim Nikitin proved himself to be a talented organizer by developing a unique route: in winter - Tiflis and Baku, then by sea to Astrakhan, and from there by steamship through the cities of the Volga region. To transport circus property, including performers, a menagerie and a stable of one hundred horses, the Nikitins rented an entire steamer. But the brothers were not only talented artists, but also enterprising people, innovators of stationary circuses in large cities. Of Russia. In the summer of 1879, Peter and the Mayor received permission to build the first Russian carnival in Nizhny Novgorod on Samokatnaya Square. Until that time, a circus booth with an Italian rider, monkeys and camels was opened annually at the Makaryevskaya fair, and only buffoons were from Russians. And at the Nizhny Novgorod fair, bear hunters from Sergach and rope dancers performed. By 1880, the Nikitin brothers' circus empire had spread throughout provincial Russia. But there remained an impregnable bastion - Moscow, where the foreigner Albert Salamonsky reigned supreme. His circus was a model of pathos and technology: clown races on Ponies, "water queens" in aquariums with crocodiles, the best riders in Europe. It was a circus for aristocrats and rich merchants. If Salamonsky relied on the exotic, the Nikitins turned to Russian folklore - their posters were full of words: "The Nikitin Brothers' Russian Circus. benefit of the Russian clown... Russian horsemen..." The Amazons performed not in exotic outfits, but in sundresses and kokoshniks. Perform Russian folk dances. It was consonant with the era of Alexander III, and the merchants and the common people liked it. The Nikitins' triumph was a grandiose folk performance in the "Slavic style" at the coronation of the emperor in 1883. Meanwhile, there was a need to expand the circus in Nizhny Novgorod. The Nikitins started building a stone stationary circus. The work was completed in 1886. It was the first stone building of the Nikitin Circus in both Russia and Nizhny Novgorod. Maxim Gorky was a big fan of the Nikitins' circus. Unfortunately, the building has not been preserved to this day. The Nikitin brothers were famous for their generosity and were actively involved in charity work. They built houses, hospitals, baths, shelters, and did not skimp on the construction of bell churches. In 1881, the Nikitins' Hotel, owned by Akim Alexandrovich, the middle brother, was built as part of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair's urban planning ensemble. On the ground floor, he placed a tavern where the opera singer Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin loved to sing. Alexander Dumas, the great Russian artist Ilya Repin, the world-famous circus performers Gaetano Ciniselli and Williams Turzzi, as well as the American writer Theodore Dreiser, who stopped by the hotel while walking along the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, were guests here. In 1896, the XVI All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition was held in Nizhny Novgorod. During it, the hotel hosted a large number of guests, including even Emperor Nicholas II of the Russian Empire and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna. Interestingly, the Nizhny Novgorod Fair plan does not indicate which street the hotel building is located on, but it is easily recognizable by the arrow-shaped hexagonal structure that has not changed to this day. The Nikitin Hotel was built surrounded by two lakes, Barantsevo and Krugloye, which were filled in in 1900. The presence of the railway, which made a 90-degree turn next to the building, also affected the configuration. Moreover, the Druzhina Steamship Company was located next door. During the revolution of 1917, the hotel building became the property of the state, the rooms turned into communal apartments, and the tavern became the archive of the shipping company. This is how the building functioned until 1991. This is exactly what led to the Nikitin Hotel being accepted for state protection in 2000 as an object of historical and cultural value. In 2012, the building was renovated, and as a sign of respect and gratitude, the hotel today bears the name Nikitin, carefully preserving the memory of its legendary founder. The Nikitin Hotel is not just a place to relax, it is a living story embodied in stone and wood. This is a tribute to the Nikitin brothers, their talent, hard work and dedication to their work. Here, every guest can feel like a part of a great history and touch the legacy of the circus dynasty that glorified the Russian spirit.