Sri Lankan Night at ‘Markin Square’, Nizhny Novgorod

Wednesday, 10 July 2013 00:25 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The ‘Mega Tourism Caravan’ arrived at the fifth largest city of the Russian Federation recently. Nizhny Novgorod, colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with a population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia and the Administrative centre of Nizhny Novg-orod Oblast. From 1932 to 1990, it was known as Gorky after the writer Maxim Gorky who was born there. The city is an important economic, transportation and cultural centre of Russia and the vast Volga - Vyatka economic region. Nizhny Novgorod is one of the centres of the IT Industry in Russia. It ranks among the leading Russian cities in terms of the quantity of software R and D providers. Intel has a big software R&D centre with more than 500 engineers in the city, as well as a major data centre.

The first event of the day, ‘Workshop for travel and tour operators’ was held in the Yalta Hall of the Marins Hotel. The workshop which was attended by approximately one hundred participants was the first, to be held in Nizhny. At the beginning of the workshop Udayanga Weeratunga very warmly welcomed all participants and conducted a very informative and educative presentation on Sri Lankan Tourism. During the presentation he covered salient points such as history, climatic conditions, major tourist attractions, major cities, visa procedures and recent infrastructure developments in the spheres of socio – economic and tourism. Marins Park Hotel is the biggest modern hotel in Nizhny Novgorod and Privolzhskiy federal district. The hotel is situated at a place where the Oka River flows into a powerful Volga, the famous confluence of the rivers. All-Russia Exhibition Complex ‘Nizhegorodskaya Yarmarka’, St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral with its golden domes, Saviour (Old Fair) Cathedral, Blagoveschensky monastery and the biggest Circus in Europe are all situated within close proximity to the hotel.

In the evening, the cultural show ‘Sri Lanka Night’ was held at famous ‘Markin Square’ of Nizhniy. Markin Square is an area on the Lower Volga River embankment near the railway station and has been named in honour of Commander of the Volga flotilla Nikolai Markin. Markin, Baltic Bolshevik sailor, was the organiser and the Commissioner of the legendary Volga Flotilla, which was created in Nizhny Novgorod. Dancers of the dancers guild directed by maestro Chandana Wickramasinge mesmerised the gathering during the Sri Lankan Night and the photo exhibition which was held at the Marins Hotel was a major attraction during the workshop. This time also the main collaborator of the campaign is the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau under the Ministry of Economic Development.