Ancient cities of Russia: Vyazma
Slimming - a small town 175 km from Smolensk and 210 km from Moscow has seen a lot in its history. 1239 - the first mention of the city, the official status of Vyazma received in 1723.
Curious versions of the origin of the name. Linguist Max Fasmer pointed to the local geographical terms "elm", "knitters", "knit", that is, a tramp place or swamp, and hence - viscous, swampy.
According to another version, the city got its name from the river, which as if twice "tied" the city, changing direction.
The special geographical position of the city, near the borders of foreign countries, influenced its fate. Vyazma survived all the major wars that occurred on the territory of our country, several times the city passed from Russians to Poles and Lithuanians.
Vyazma is called the unknown capital of Russia, since it was in it in the middle of the XVII century that the residence of the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov was for several months, because the capital experienced a plague epidemic. A wooden palace was built in the city, the royal family arrived with Patriarch Nikon. From October 21, 1654 to February 10, 1655, Vyazma was the real capital of the Russian state.
Wars.
Vyazma survived the Patriotic War of 1812 - near the city, Russian troops on October 22 (November 3) defeated Napoleon's retreating army.
A popular proverb reads: “Napoleon drank hot water in Moscow, in Kaluga his ass was tied up in dough, and in Vyazma a carrot in his teeth is tied...”
With the events of those years, a curious legend is associated that, allegedly, retreating from Moscow, Napoleon threw the looted valuables into the nearest, Semlevskoye Lake of the Vyazevsky district. Whether it is true or not is not known, but treasure hunters do not lose hope.
The city has a monument to the "Valiant Ancestors" heroes of 1812, participants in the battles for Vyazma in 1812.
During the Great Patriotic War, the city was badly destroyed, thousands of local residents were killed and taken prisoner. In October 1941, about 400,000 Soviet citizens died in the battles near Vyazma, and from October 7, 1941, the city was occupied by German troops (liberated in March 1943).
Monasteries and temples
Before the 1917 revolution, there were about 24 churches in Vyazma, now there are about ten.
In the Church in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin there is a local history museum, which presents exhibits covering the history of the city from ancient times to the middle of the XX century.
The museum contains personal belongings of the composer A. S. Dargomyzhsky, actor Anatoly Papanov, commander Lieutenant-General M. G. Efremov.
Holy Trinity Cathedral is located on the Cathedral Hill, the left bank of the Vyazma River, on the territory of the Vyazem fortress.
The Odigitrievsky Church of the Ivanovo Monastery is considered a pearl of architecture, it is one of the few three tent churches that miraculously survived in Russia.
Monuments
In 2012, on the Old Smolensk road was installed a memorial sign "Russian paw", the authors - sculptor Ivan Larionov and designer Yuri Trusov.
This monument was erected as a reminder of the historical path made by our ancestors, who walked along the ancient Smolensk road thousands of kilometers.
The memorial plaque reads: “From Laptya to space, from Stratonaut Prokofiev to Cosmonaut Gagarin, from Moscow to Paris.”
In 2012, a monument was opened to the remarkable actor of theater and cinema Anatoly Dmitrievich Papanov (sculptor Igor Chumakov). The great actor spent the first years of his life in Smolensk.
The gingerbread
Before the revolution of 1917, the town was famous for its gingerbread, there was a saying: "The elm in the gingerbread is stuck." Interestingly, for several decades Vyazem dessert was a competitor of Tula and Moscow gingerbread.
In Soviet times, the recipe for gingerbread was lost, but in the twentieth century, the production of the famous pastry made of honey and flour was restored. A fragrant souvenir can be bought in the company store at the Vyazem bakery.
Museum-Reserve "Chmelita"
If you leave for 37 km from Vyazma, then in the village of Khmelita it is worth visiting the State Historical, Cultural and Natural Museum-Reserve “Hmelita”. The family estate of the great Russian writer Alexander Griboyedov was restored at the end of the twentieth century. Every year in May, the All-Russian Griboyedov holiday takes place in the reserve.
At a distance of 20 km from Khmelita there are remarkable monuments of history and architecture. For example, the village of Kasnya, which belonged to Volkonsky, and is considered one of the settings of the novel by Leo Tolstoy “War and Peace”. In the village of Nikolo-Pogoreloye you can see the estate of Baryshnikovs XVIII-XIX centuries.
Text: Polina M
Photo: Free sources
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