Solombala is one of the most picturesque parts of old Arkhangelsk. It still preserves elements of the old Admiralty settlement (sloboda). The picturesque Solombalka River is proof of this. In the summertime the Solombalka is chock full of cutters and motorboats belonging to the Solombala people. This little river is famous far beyond the borders of our country – the plot of the short novel “Childhood in Solombala” by E. Kokovin unfolds on its banks. But what we call the Solombalka today was actually the river Kurya.
       The Solombalka initially connected two streams – the Maymaksa and Kuznechikha, and the Kurya flowed from the northern Dvina near the “Krasnaya Kuznitsa” factory and into a large river near the Maymaksanskaya Dockyard.
       In the beginning of the 19^th century the streams Kurya and Solombalka were connected by a channel which was called “the testing ditch” and separated the admiralty from the first and second villages in Solombala. The channel was excavated so that it could be more convenient to complete ships. On its banks there were forge shops, rope workshops and other manufacturing facilities aimed to equip ships.
       By the beginning of the 20^th century the original Solombalka was made shallow and was filled in. In our times the former Kurya stream is called the Solombalka now -- a little part of the original Solombalka together with an artificially dug channel.