Curious Facts about life in Krasnoyarsk

Krasnoyarsk has celebrated its 393th birthday! On this occasion, we have collected curious facts about the life of the capital of our big region, which was the Yenisey Province a century ago.

● In 1897 the first  general census of the population of the Russian Empire was held, Krasnoyarsk turned out to be the most educated city in Siberia.

● Krasnoyarsk residents picked honey fungus on Otdykha Island, and champignons – at the dump near the Kacha river.

● Every day the factories’ alarms informed about the beginning of a working day. In the evening, a night guard strolled along the streets, beat loudly a clapper and shouted: “It’s time to sleep! It’s time to sleep!”.

● At first, Krasnoyarsk residents brought water from the Yenisey using yokes. Then water carriers started to do it, and a bit later at the corner of Parizhskoy Kommunny and Bograda streets a water tower was set up. A bucket of water costed a half of a kopeck. Plumbing started its work in the city on the 14^th of September 1913. A fire brigade, having connected the fire hose to the hydrant, organized a demonstrative water firework to the amusement of the crowd. The water tariff was set and it equaled 25 kopecks for 100 buckets.

● Even before the war there were many Chinese people in the city. They sold vegetables, cedar nuts and sweet nougat made of sugar. Those days their vegetables plantations  were situated on Otdykha Island, where Chinese peasants worked from dawn till night.

● The first restaurant in the city opened in 1896 in Mira avenue, 70. It’s name was “Hermitage”. French cuisine was mainly served there.

● Krasnoyarsk was the city of cellars. It was caused by the absence of refrigerators. Cellars were dug to the depth of 8 meters and were stocked with ice. Simple food reserves were kept there – meat and vegetables.

● In 1841, on the decree of the government , each resident of Krasnoyarsk was obliged to plant potatoes. Those, who tried to ignore this root crop duty, were fined and even exiled to Bobruysk.

● Ancient Krasnoyarsk residents lived here over 35 000 years ago, what is proved by the archeological findings:)

Based on the materials by pobeda.krskstate.ru

Linocut “The morning on the Yenisey” by N.S. Salnikov, 1978.