The modern growth of Russia is greater than that of any other European country. Its fairs have done much to facilitate that growth. It seems as if its people were passing through those stages of commercial building up which the other nationalities have long left in the dim vista of the past. The greatest fair held in Europe at the present time is that of Nijni Novgorod; yet that is not greater, relatively, than was Sturbridge in England, or those of Lyons, or of Bari (Italy), or of Bruges, in Flanders. There are several other large fairs, of which I shall also give the best details available. They are chiefly in southern Russia. The fair of Riga is an exception. The fair of Kiakhta is in Asiatic Russia, as are also those of Irbit and Yekaterinburg. I shall first notice the smaller fairs, and finally that of Nijni.
Berdicheff (in the government of Volhynia, southern Russia).—This town has long been famous for its fairs. King Stanislaus Augustus permitted the holding of ten in the year. Five either now are or recently were held, viz. in January, March, June, August, and November. Those of June and August are the most considerable. These fairs have given rise to the commercial importance of the town. The chief trade of the fairs is in grain, wine, honey, wax, leather, and horses and cattle; while cotton and silk goods, glass-ware, hardware, salt, fish, and beetroot sugar are becoming of increasing importance. The value of the goods sold is estimated at £800,000; the Jews are the chief purchasers. At the principal horse fair there is sometimes a show of 40,000 horses. The nobles of the country with their families attend the fairs, and remain encamped in the neighbourhood of the town during the three weeks they last. At the January fair, 1883, a circus was burned, and about three hundred lives were lost.
Elizavetgrad (southern Russia).—This town, formerly designated “Fortress of St. Elizabeth,” with its “Great Perspective,” and boulevard of white acacias, has four annual fairs, the most important of which is that of St. George, held on 23rd April (old style). The value of the goods brought into the fair in 1863 was over £300,000. The chief commodities of the district are tallow and grain. The goods brought into it are those manufactured at Odessa, Wilna, and Berdicheff. There is also a daily market held here, with transactions of considerable magnitude, especially after harvest.
Jitomir (or Zytomiers), chief town in the province of Volhynia, western Russia, has two annual fairs—one in July, the other in August. Apart from the trade at these, which is considerable, the ordinary commerce of the town is small. There are three markets weekly.
Karkoff.—This town, situate in the administrative province of the same name in southern Russia, is a place of very considerable importance. It has four fairs, the “Krestchenskaya” or Epiphany fair, opened 6th January, being one of the most important in the empire. In 1863 goods to the amount of from two and a half to three millions sterling in value were brought to that fair, the textile fabrics alone representing a value of about one million sterling. Cattle and wool constitute the local produce. The wool sales take place exclusively at the Trinity fair in June. Bazaars and markets are also held on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. These are particularly active immediately before Christmas and Easter. This is one of the most pleasant districts of Russia. The vine and the mulberry, with other fruits, thrive here.
Kasan (Kazan).—This, while an independent state, had a considerable fair, one of the greatest in Europe; but John the Terrible prevented Russian merchants from attending it. In 1552 Kasan was conquered by this same Ivan, and annexed to Russia. See Makariev and Nijni Novgorod.
Korennaya, southern Russia, twenty-seven versts from Kursk.—Two very large fairs are held, viz. on the ninth Friday after Easter, and on the 8th Sept. in each year. The cathedral within the famous monastery of Bogoroditsky-Znamensky (Apparition of the Virgin) contains a holy image held in great veneration—that of the apparition of said Holy Virgin, after whom the monastery is named. Immense crowds follow the procession of the holy image every year, at a period coincident with the first fair. The monastery was founded in 1597.
Kremenchuk.—An important town in southern Russia on the Dnieper, in which fairs are held at end of January for fourteen days, on 24th June for eleven days, and on 1st September (all old style) for ten days. The business transacted is not large, particularly having regard to the favourable situation. In 1862 the sales of these fairs amounted to £85,000, and the value of the goods brought to about £110,000.
Kursk.—A town in southern Russia, on the river Tuskor. Two fairs are held here—one in April, the other in the tenth week after Easter. There are also two weekly markets—Mondays and Fridays. See also Korennaya.
Makariev.—The monks of the monastery of St. Macarius (after which the town seems to be named) by virtue of their charter established a fair here in 1641, after which annually in the month of July for a space of three weeks the few wretched huts, built on a sandy desert, were replaced by thousands of shops erected with a promptitude peculiar to the Russians. Taverns, coffee-houses, a theatre, ball rooms, a crowd of wooden buildings painted and adorned with taste, sprung up. People from many nations thronged here in great multitudes: Russians from all the provinces of the empire, Tartars, Tchuvaches, Teheremisses, Calmuks, Bucharians, Georgians, Armenians, Persians and Hindus; and in addition Poles, Germans, French, and English. Notwithstanding the confusion of costumes and languages, the most perfect order prevailed: all were there for the purposes of commerce. The riches which were gathered there within the space of two leagues were said to be incalculable. The silks of Lyons and Asia, the furs of Siberia, the pearls of the East, the wines of France and Greece, the merchandise of China and Persia. These were brought in contrast with the most ordinary articles of everyday life, in true Eastern fashion. This fair was in truth one of the developments of Nijni Novgorod, which see.
Orel.—An important town in south-western Russia founded by John the Terrible, about 1565, for the defence of the Grand Duchy of Moscow against the Tartars. The town has a large trade in tallow and hemp, also in linseed oil, wheat, cattle, timber and salt. This commerce has two outlets—the one by land; the other by water down the Oka, to Kaluga, Serpukhof, Kolomna, Murom, Nijni-Novgorod, Rybinsk, and St. Petersburg. There are three fairs annually—between 6th and 20th January, during the fifth and sixth weeks after Easter, and from 8th to 31st Sept. (O.S.) The first is the least considerable of these. The market or bazaar days are Fridays and Sundays. After harvest as many as 10,000 carts enter the town daily, laden with wheat and other produce.
Poltava, southern Russia, on the river Vorskla, long famous for the leeches found in its pools and morasses, and which are largely and widely exported. The importance of the trade of the town is chiefly due to its fair (Ilyinskaya) held on 10th July, and lasting a month. The average value of the goods carried to this great commercial gathering is estimated at about three and a half millions sterling. The number of carts engaged in bringing the produce from Moscow, Odessa, Kharkoff, Kursk and Voronej is upwards of 20,000. Russian manufactures are much sold, but wool is the great staple of trade. Horses, cattle, and sheep are likewise bought and sold in great numbers. There are two other fairs—one on the feast of the Ascension.
Riga (the capital of Livonia, Baltic Provinces) had several centuries since, two considerable fairs, one held in May, the other in September, very much frequented by English, French, Dutch, and other merchants. At the period of these fairs the town wore a very commercial aspect, and the port was thronged with ships. The local customs were peculiar, and gave rise to difficulties. The townsmen had priority in the selection of warehouses, and in the sale of commodities, and as a result the vessels of foreigners were unduly detained, and the selection of the produce made in advance of their opportunities. Hence it was recorded in the middle of the last century that these fairs were on the decline.
Rostof, on the river Don, near its mouth in the sea of Azof (Lake Nero), and famous for its manufactures of white lead, vermilion, and other mineral and chemical substances; also for its linen manufacture. Large fairs are held twice a year, when very considerable numbers of cattle and horses change ownership.
Voronej, on the Voronej river, near its confluence with the Don; one of the most flourishing towns in southern Russia. Its trade is in grain, linseed, tallow. Four fairs are held annually, the larger being those of 9th May and 29th August (O.S.). Markets are held three times a week.