The birth of the city
In 1632 in the mouth of the Ishim river was built Ishim outposts designed to protect local residents from attacks by troops remaining loyal to the Khan Kuchum. This settlement became one of the first strongholds of the development of Russian Ðriishimie. Today in its place is the village of Ust-Ishim. In 1687 near the Ishim outposts on the Ishim river was built Korkina Sloboda. Work on construction of the settlement was headd by Tobolsk nobleman Peter Onofriev. In 1720, Peter I introduced the administrative-territorial division into districts (counties). Korkina Sloboda became the center of Ishimsky district. In 1760 in the Korkinà Sloboda exiled serfs were settled, who later formed the basis of its population. By the middle of the eighteenth century was completed the process of mastering the Russian Priishimie, as à fertile agricultural district. In 1782 under the decree of Empress Catherine II Korkina Sloboda acquires the status of a town, hereinafter referred to as Ishim.
Nikolskaya fair
One of the most important for the history of Ishim traditions certainly can be called Nikolskaya fair. The city, located on a busy route between European and Asian parts of Russia, between the South, where there were caravans of spices and leather, and North, rich in fish and furs, was destined to become one of the largest centers of trade, had a huge impact on the exchange of a wide variety of goods and crafts, not only between cities of Ural and Siberia, but also many other parts of Russia and some foreign countries. St. Nicholas fair was first held in 1721 —the year of foundation of Ishim district.It started to draw a significant number of traffickers, since the end of XVIII century —the time when Korkina Sloboda acquired status of a County town called Ishim, and the construction of the first stone Cathedral of the Epiphany.The opening of the Fair traditionally began with a solemn prayer service. At that time in Ishim officially established three fairs: in May — the day of St. Nicholas, in August — the day of the Assumption of Our Lady, and in December — the day of St. Nicholas. If the first two fairs were mostly of local importance, winter Nikolskaya fair soon became one of the most important trading cities of the Urals and Siberia event, comparable only with the famous Irbit fair. Products, piles lying on the shelves and hanging from carts, were the most motley and varied — smoked ham and veal frozen carcases, salmon and sturgeon, Arctic Fox and Fox skins, glassware and kitchen utensils, products of masters of Tagil and frozen cranberries in barrels. Among the sold products at the fair the most important place took lard, served as raw material for candles and Soaps manufactured by the manufacturers of Tyumen, Yekaterinburg, Shadrinsk, Moscow and several other cities. Nikolskaya fair had a significant impact on the cultural life of Ishim. Communicating with the visiting vendors, locals became acquainted with the best samples of folk crafts and decorative styles. The performances of itinerant musicians and comedians, songs and stories heard from visitors formed the oral folklore of the Ishim, where one could see echoes of the folk traditions of different regions of Russia.
City merchants
Unlike most cities in the Urals and Siberia, the industry in Ishim has not been properly developed. During the XVIII — early XX centuries and wholesale fair trade remained one of the leading occupations of the population of the city. Thanks to this feature, merchants in Ishim has received the status of best bar, who, like the nobility, actively participated in the management of public life of the city. The identity of the individual merchant dynasties of Ishim in the years far outside of the city was identified in people with certain types of goods, equal in quality which was hard to find in any other place. However, apart from some trade representatives of Ishim merchants entered the history of the city as a vibrant public figures and philanthropists. Among them a particularly significant role was played by the first Guild merchant Nikolai Chernyakovski. In 30-40-ies of the XIX century, he donated the houses to the city hospital and parish school. Ishim merchant had made private donations and set up scholarships for the needs of the various public institutions of the city, for what was repeatedly awarded with state awards and received the title of Honorary benefactor. Nikolai Chernyakovski with great interest, communicated with representatives of the advanced intellectuals who lived in the settlement in isim. In 1838 he sheltered in his house the homeless Decembrist Vladimir Shteyngel, who together with Chernyakovski has written, published in the "Journal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs", "statistical description of the Ishim County Tobolsk province". The end of life's journey Ishim glorified public figure and philanthropist, was the bequest of capital for the construction of St. Nicholas Church (1891), in which he was buried. The life path of a number of Ishim merchants, testifies to the special role of the bar in the development of many areas of public life in the city.
Ishim today
Modern Ishim is a city of regional subordination, the center of a large agricultural district. The basis of the economy of the city is the food industry and a number of small companies specializing in the production of building materials and engineering equipment. Through the city runs the TRANS-Siberian railway. Ishim in the south borders with the Republic of Kazakhstan, in the east — with the Omsk region. The population of Ishim is more than 60 thousand people. The city's cultural life is represented by palaces of culture and cinema halls, as well as the Museum of local history, which became a kind of cultural and research centre, have undertaken the task of studying and revival of traditions, which are rich in the land of Ishim.
Ishim pedagogical Institute,named after P. P. Ershov in the entire history of its existence, had an extraordinary faculty,who are able to sincerely impart to the students all the necessary qualities conducive to the formation of the cultural image of new generations. All this together, probably, determines first impressions of the city and has always celebrated unprecedented in many other parts of Russia, the cleanliness and tidiness of streets, the care of the inhabitants of Ishim on the preservation of the historic appearance of the place in which they live.One of the monuments of Federal significance and architectural monument is the Cathedral of the Epiphany (built in 1814), the place where was baptized Ð.P.Yershov. The city is home to several protected areas, among which is the Birch Grove and People's Park. In Ishim a City Museum is founded, which is a Cultural Center named after Ershov, where there is the country's only exhibition on the life and work of the author of the fairy tale *The Humpbacked Horse*.
Monument of wooden 19th-century architecture is recognized as the Postnikov's House, which in our days is the Children's library. Today on October square was restored a monument to Joseph Stalin. In the suburb is the forest, which is a plot of the relic, rare species of trees and plants called Sinitsinskiy forest. Near lake Mergen there are unique hunting grounds and lakes, where is the saline water, there are many mineral springs.
The town of Ishim is associated with the names of many famous people. At the time here lived a geneticist and inventor Yuri S. Verlinski and writer Alexander N. Plotnikov, seven-times Olympic champion, Merited master of sport, Soviet gymnast Boris Shakhlin and revolutionary activist, the Belarusian and Polish poet Adolf M. Yanushkevich.
Here lived the Advisor to the President of Russia, the famous Russian lawyer Veniamin Yakovlev and Sverdlovsk region Governor Alexander Misharin, the famous champion of the winter Olympic games Nikolai Anikin. And also the author of the film *Barankin, be a man* the writer Valery Medvedev and the famous Decembrist, Alexander Odoevsky, the Decembrist Vladimir Shteyngeil and the national poet Gregory Machtet.
Here lived the man who had been the chief designer of the Ostankino TV tower Nikolai Nikitin and the monk of the Russian Orthodox Church Abalatski Michael, canonized, who was one of the authors of the Cathedral service to the Russian saints,and Athanasius, Bishop of Kovrov. Here lived the daughter of an exile, which became the prototype of many works of art of Russian and Western European writers Praskovya Lupolova, and once again we mention, that here was born the world famous author of the *Humpbacked Horse* Peter Yershov.