Mykolaiv

Mykolaiv (in Ukrainian - Mykolaiv, but much more wide known as Nikolaev) is a major city in southern Ukraine. The town was founded in 1789 by the Russian Governor General of Novorossiya Knyaz Potemkin initially as a shipyard called simply a New Shipyard on the Ingul river. Knyaz Potyomkin signed an order to construct a shipyard on August 27, 1789, which is considered to be a city birth date. The shipyard was to serve for the repair of the Russian Navy ships in the Russo-Turkish war. Later Potyomkin ordered the shipyard to be named Nikolaev to commemorate the date of fall of Ochakov (Turkish: Achi-Kale) to the Russian troops under his command on December 6, 1788, close to the day of Saint Nicholas (Nikolay) December 19, in the Russian Orthodox Church. The history of the city has always been closely connected to the shipbuilding as the city has three shipbuilding plants.