Perm and Perm Krai

We are proud that our Company was founded and is currently developing its business on the territory of Perm Krai and its main city – Perm. Perm Krai is rich in resources, talented people, and endless opportunities for business growth.

Perm Krai is a Russian Federation subject, part of Volga Federal District, with the population of 2.7 million people.

Perm Krai is one of Russia’s most economically developed regions. There are many important industries represented on its territory, such as machine-building, chemical industry (Uralkali, Silvinit, Mineralnie Udobrenia OJSC, SIBUR-Khimprom CJSC, Metafrax OJSC, Uralorgsintez OJSC), iron-and-steel and non-ferrous industries (VSMPO-Avisma, Solikamsk Magnesium Plant OJSC), timber industry (PFK, large printing production – Goznak Perm Printing Factory), etc.

Military industrial complex constitutes a major part of machine-building. The main products: artillery systems, aircraft engines and gas compressing stations, oil and mining equipment, electric and fuel-powered saws, communication equipment, river vessels, road construction equipment, electric tools, etc. Major enterprises in the industry: Motovilikhinskie zavody OJSC special machine building and metallurgy, Perm Machine Building Plant named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky federal state unitary enterprise, Perm Machine Building Complex CJSC, Perm Scientific Industrial Instrument-Making Company OJSC, Kamskiy Kabel LLC, Inkar Perm Aggregate Association OJSC, Morion OJSC, Iskra Research and Productions Association OJSC, Perm Plant Machinostroitel OJSC, Novomet-Perm CJSC, Perm Motor Carrier Repairs Plant, etc.

Perm, the capital of Perm Krai, is a large transport hub. The city features a favorable geographical position due to its location in the center of the country on the intersection of the railway between Europe and Asia (Trans-Siberian Line) with the submeridional water way leading to the five seas.

Perm Krai is very rich in mineral deposits: gas, oil, mineral salts, gold, mineral coal, diamond, chromite ore and brown iron ore, lignum fossil, limestone, gem stone, ornamental stone, and facing stone.

Geographical position of Perm Krai, its flora and fauna form a rich potential which can be admired and truly taken pride in.

The fauna of Perm Krai is represented by 62 kinds of mammals, 280 kinds of birds, 42 – fish, 6 – amphibians, and 9 – reptiles. Many of them are objects for commercial and nonprofessional hunting and fishing which makes our Krai very attractive for tourists who like hunting and fishing.

The dominating type of vegetation in Perm Krai is woods. They cover over 70% of the territory of our Krai.

The climate and weather of Perm Krai are diverse and rather unpredictable, but the most favorable conditions for tourists are in summer which is moderately warm here.

The Krai is rich is cultural, scientific, and historic heritage.

In Perm Krai there are many art schools and higher educational institutions of the federal importance: Perm state University, Perm State Technical University, Perm State Medical Academy, Perm State Pharmaceutical Academy, Perm state Agricultural Academy, Perm State Institute for Arts and Culture, etc.

Perm Krai is proud of its centuries-long history. It dates back to the depth of unrecorded times. That is why the territory of Perm Krai has a lot of archeological and historical monuments. The history of Perm Krai is truly rich in events. It tells us how the first people appeared on this territory, how primitive relationships were forming, how the feudal system developed, etc. History also tells us about the famous Stroganovs’ votchina which was founded here in the 16th century – it was almost as big as votchinas of Russian tsars. Everybody has heard about the important role of the Stroganovs in the history of Russia. Only a few know that it was here where Yermak started his famous campaign. Many rivers, cliffs, and populated areas are named after him. Perm Krai played an important role during the times of war. It could take hours talking about the art and culture of Perm Krai. After all, Perm is called the cultural capital of the Krai for a reason. Many peoples in different historical times lived on the territory of Perm Krai, and each of them left a trace.

All of this and more you could find in numerous monographs written by research scientists of the Krai. You could also learn a lot by visiting the most significant historical and cultural places of Perm Krai.

Here are some of them:

• Perm State Art Gallery, Perm Krai Museum, and PERMM Museum of Modern Art (Perm) located rather close to each other form a single museum complex which is very convenient for tourists visits. This “museum complex” is a unique way from the past to the future, from history to here and now, which transfers a visitor from one era to another thus giving an opportunity to learn about the history and culture of our Krai.

• Theater «Theater» (Perm Academic Drama Theater), Perm. It is not just a cultural institution of the city. The building designed by architects V. Davydenko and V. Lutikova in 1982 is a certain architectural “face” of our city. In 2007, Perm Academic Drama Theater was renamed into Theater Perm Academic Theater. The stage offers performances by various directors which are pretty famous in many Russian theaters. Every play is different in terms of spirit, intonation, and acting. Here you can find unique art experiments, enjoy a musical or a new Russian drama, watch classic plays. Every season the repertoire of the theater adds 5-6 new works.

• The Theater of Opera and Ballet named after P.I. Chaikovsky – Perm Academic Theater (Perm). It is the only Russian theater which has staged all the works by the composter (10 operas and 3 ballets) and thus has truly become the Home of Chaikovsky. This adds some zing to the music world of our country.

• The House of Meshkov (Perm). It is one of the most beautiful buildings of the city – the House of ship owner Meshkov. The current owner of the house is Perm Local History Museum. The building was erected in 1820s, supposedly designed by I. Sviyazev, and today represents a marvelous example of late classicism.

• Perm-36 (Perm Krai, Kutchino village). Perm-36 is the only museum for the history of political repressions in Russia. The complex is made up of preserved and reconstructed camp (correctional labor colony) facilities for political prisoners. It is a place where back in the days of war many dissidents, mavericks, active fighters for human rights in the Soviet Union, oppositionists of the communist regime, advocates of the national independence of enslaved peoples – in one word, people whose efforts and ideas advanced the destruction of the cannibal regime – were kept in hardest conditions, suffering and dying.

• White Mountain Orthodox St. Nicholas Monastery (Kungur Region). It is one of the main tourist attractions of our Krai, a center for pilgrim tourism. It is located 120 km south-west of Perm, in Kungur region, on the top of the White Mountain (height of the mountain – 453 meters above sea level). To get here, you need to take Siberian Highway which is also rich in its history.

In the beginning of the 20th century the monastery received a high name of the Urals Afon for the range of activities, austerity of monastic life, and the beauty of the scenery. Back in the Soviet times, the monastery facilities housed a juvey, an asylum, and a phychoneurological hospital.

Since 1990, the Monastery has been serving religious purposes again.

The Cathedral of the Cross Exaltation is still under construction. The lower church blessed in the name of the Iveron Icon of Madonna is now open. A new gold-filled four-decker iconostasis was mounted in the main Cathedral of the Cross Exaltation. Shrines at the Monastery: the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, relicts of the first centuries of Christianity, pre-revolutionary icons made in the White Mountain workshop, image of the first rector, now canonized monk-martyr Barlaam.

• Kungur Ice Cave (Kungur) – an unique natural monument. It got to the finals of the All-Russian Seven Wonders of Russia Competition. Kungur Ice Cave is a symbol of Kungur and a distinct landmark of Perm Krai. The first information about Kungur Cave dates back to folk legends. The entrance into the cave is at the base of the Ice Mountain. Starting from here, the Cave branches into numerous grottos all the way down into the depths of the mountain.

Each branch is a series of grottos connected by narrow passages. Some grottos are up to 20 meters high and 50-100 meters long. According to various data, the Cave has about 50 grottos with the total area of 50 thousand square meters.

The Cave grottos are decorated by stalactites and stalagmites (up to 2 meters high), ice and snow ornaments. The grotto of the People’s Friendship has the largest lake of the Cave – the Big Underground Lake. It is 38 meters long and 3 meters deep.

Another specific formation of Kungur cave is organ pipes. The reach 25 meters in height.

No other cave can boast such a rich history and is more famous in our country than the Cave in the depths of the Ice Mountain. Its bizarre bifurcated passages extend for almost six thousand meters deep under the ground. But this is only the researched part of the Cave.

Old devolutions and runs of hill still prevent determination of the full extension of underground labyrinths. Kungur Ice Cave is the only cave in the country appropriately equipped for tours. The length of the tourist trail is 1.5 km. The Cave is beautiful all the year round, but the best time for tourists is February-March.

• Khokhlovka architectural and ethnographic museum (Khokhlovka). This Perm architectural and ethnographic museum–conservation area is out in the open. Nineteen monuments of the wooden architecture of Perm Region of the end of the 17th – beginning of the 20th centuries are located on this area of 42 hectares. Many of them have interiors and exhibits created by research officers of the Museum. Almost at the banks of the Kama River, in the most picturesque part of the Museum, there is a unique architectural group of industrial buildings closely connected with the old works of the Krai – salt-making.

The history of salt-making in Prikamie is over 5 centuries old. The first works started back in the beginning of the 15th century. In the 16th century, the Perm salt or “permyanka”, as it was called, became famous in many regions of the Russian state.

• The Hollow of Mikhail Romanov (Nyrob). In 1601-16002, Mikhail Nikititch Romanov, blood uncle of the first Tsar of Romanov Dynasty, was kept here under hatches. By decree of Tsar Boris Godunov, he was sent from Moscow into exile to Nyrobka village which had only 6 houses. The locals sympathized with the “innocent sufferer” therefore were put to tortures.

The place of exile of boyar Romanov has been honored by the believers since the 17th century. The shackles of the martyr were kept in a stone tomb in the Epiphany Church of Nyrob. The chains became a shrine of Nrob. During church services, peasants would wear those chains to get rid of diseases. Pilgrims from all over of the Russian Land longed to pray in the hollow-dungeon of Romanov and get closer to his shackles.

Since 1928, the shackles have been kept in Cherdyn Museum of Local History. In 1913, a chapel was founded in the place of the hollow of Romanov. The Memory Day is celebrated in Nyrob annually in the middle of September. Part of celebrations are performances shown on the stage of the local historical theater which tell the audience the story about the Nyrob prisoner: arrival of boyar Romanov convoyed by archers to Nyrob, his imprisonment, help from the locals, etc.

• The Stone Town (Usva). The Stone Town, also called Devils’ settlement, is a natural monument located 5 km from Usva village at the ridge of Rudyany Spoi range. The name Stone Town was given because of the cliff castles and gaps which resembled palaces, buildings, and streets of the ancient settlement. Many farewell rocks have names – Turtle stone, for example, etc. The Stone Town attracts many tourists, especially in fall.

There are many more cultural and historic sites in Perm Krai which are worth visiting. Many towns of Perm Krai have their own special history and cultural heritage which deserve special attention. Among them: Ust-Kishert villagfe famous for its archeological monuments; Krasnovishersk town with its mountains and landforms within its suburbs (Pomyanenny Stone, Vetlan, Poludov Stone); Kungur with its richest history, religious, architectural, and natural monuments, Solikamsk with its historical and architectural monuments, a unique group of churches, and a famous Ludmilinskaya salt deposit; Usolie with its unique architectural complex of great historical importance; Cherdyn, one of the oldest towns of Ural included in the List of Historical Towns of Russia, and other towns, such as Tchaikovsky, Tchusovoy, Ntva, Berezniki, and many other glorious towns of Perm Krai.

It is impossible to describe all the beauties and riches of Perm Krai in one article. Its cultural heritage is great. In order to see the true value and greatness of local historical and cultural monuments of art, you have to come here and see everything for yourself.