The Best City on Earth Part 2
“It’s good where we are not” said Chatsky in the comedy A.S. Griboyedov “Woe from wit”, but is it really so? We continue our selection of the most beautiful cities of Russia with a rich cultural heritage and an interesting history.
yaroslavl
According to legend, Yaroslav the Wise laid Yaroslavl on Ilyin day. Yaroslavl is a city, which is very few in Russia. The embankment on the Volga is much as good, wrote, passing through Yaroslavl, A. N. Ostrovsky. And it is impossible not to agree with him, the city is white-stone, beautiful, with gardens, with ancient five-domed churches, with a green courtyard or garden around, even in the XX century this city was called “Russian Florence”. As for the embankment, it still retains its original image. From spring to autumn you can go on a trip along the Volga, from the river port.
At another time, it will be interesting to visit the Museum-Reserve of the Transfiguration Monastery, the Transfiguration Monastery, the Church of Ilya the Prophet, the Governor’s Garden in Yaroslavl, the Millennium Park of Yaroslavl, the Museum “Russian Valenki”.
Children will be no less interesting in the zoo, the Museum of entertaining sciences, the Museum-theater "Aleshino Podvorye".
A traditional gift from Yaroslavl are wristwatches and pocket watches made of various materials, including the Seagull decorated with precious metals, as well as an unusual variety of cheese from Poshekhonia.
Rybinsk
The city in the Yaroslavl region, which at different times was called differently and Rybinsk, and Shcherbakov, and Andropov, this city belonged directly to the Moscow tsars and provided the royal court with fish.
Due to the large number of merchants, the city was distinguished by the high welfare of residents, with a small population and county status, it had many institutions characteristic of large cities: gymnasiums, schools, a landscaped embankment, city parks, temples of all denominations (except for the Orthodox - Old Believers, a church, a Lutheran church, a synagogue).
In 1936, as part of the Big Volga project, construction of the Rybinskaya HPP and hydroelectric power plant was started to provide a deep-water route from the Volga to the Baltic and the Moscow River, as well as to provide the growing industrial center with electricity. During this project, villages and villages, the city of Mologa were flooded.
During the Great Patriotic War, a number of strategic facilities, including the aircraft engine plant and the aviation institute, were evacuated to the city of Ufa.
At the beginning of the war, the Rybinsk reservoir was a backup source of electricity for the most important facilities in Moscow. It is due to this underground backup cable that electricity supply to Moscow strategic facilities has never been interrupted, despite the fierce bombing, even when the CHPPs near Moscow were put out of action.
Rybinsk was a "semi-closed" city; it was almost never visited by tourists, so the sphere of tourist services is not very well developed, but the city is very interesting for its cultural heritage.
As well as in Yaroslavl, here you can go on a trip to the cities of Myshkin, Uglich, Kalyazin, Dubna.
The main attractions of Rybinsk are the Transfiguration Cathedral, the Church in the name of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, “Rybinsk-Cinema-Hollywood”, with a child you can visit the play of the Rybinsk puppet theater.
As a gift, fish and Ivanovo textiles are brought from Rybinsk.
perm
One of the best cities with beautiful nature were the cities of Perm and Izhevsk.
Perm is connected by waterways with five European seas: Caspian, White, Black, Azov and Baltic.
The semantic meaning of the coat of arms of Perm is diverse, different sources give their interpretation, but I liked the interpreted ones that I heard in Perm: “Severe disposition of the people, through faith in education.”
At the beginning of the XX century, the population of Perm was about 100 thousand people, most of the city's population were philistines, merchants, artisans, officials and employees. . And then there was the revolution of 1905-1917 and the civil war. In 1946, a camp for political prisoners “Perm-36” was established. Until 1972, convicted Soviet law enforcement officers were sent there. Since many of them were well aware of the security system of such institutions, the camp's security was reinforced many times to prevent escape. The area was covered with additional fences. It was the last of all Russian camps for political prisoners.
In Perm there are many monasteries, about eight male and female. The most striking sights are the sculptures of the Kama River, Permak - salty ears, the City Esplanade Park, the Museum of Modern Art, the Diorama Museum in Motovilikh, the House of Gribushin.
With children, you can go to the planetarium. Well, a special place is occupied by the Kungur ice cave (a candidate for the eighth wonder of the world). By the beginning of the last century, more than 1000 meters of the five and a half kilometers of the total length of the cave were mastered and studied. The researchers found that in the cave there are about 70 lakes filled with pure water, the depth of which sometimes reaches 3 meters, and connected to the Sylva River. The temperature in different parts of the Ice Cave ranges from -28 to +5 ° C.
An unusual souvenir from Perm will be the Perm animal style, which tells about the civilization of the Guardians who lived in three worlds: Upper, Middle and Lower, each of which was ruled by their gods, or rather, Spirits. All three worlds were roughly equivalent, and life in each was mirrored.
And also selenite products.
izevsk
The “arms capital” of Russia and the capital of the Udmurt Republic, at different times, was called differently, at the time of its appearance, it was called Izhevsk Plant, Izhevsk, Izhkar, Izhau, Ustinov, and now it is called Izhevsk.
Like Volgograd, Izhevsk was also part of the Kazan Khanate, after the capture of Kazan in 1552, the lands returned to the Russian state.
The civil war did not bypass the city, after bloody fighting on November 7, 1918, Izhevsk was taken by storm by the Red Army. In connection with the approach of the troops of A.V. Kolchak, on April 9, 1919, the evacuation of part of the employees and workers, as well as the main equipment of the arms factory, began.
It is better not to go to Izhevsk in winter, as the winters are cold there. During the rest of the year, you can visit: Monument of Friendship of Peoples, the Main Building of the Izhevsk Arms Plant, Izhevsk gunsmiths, Mikhailovsky Column of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral of St. Mikhailovsky Cathedral Museum and Exhibition Complex of Small Arms named after M. T. Kalashnikov.
Children will be interesting: the largest zoo of the Volga region and planetarium.
In the summer, from the pier of the Izhevsky pond, you can go on a trip on the river tram "Izhevsk-Volozhka Wharf".
As a gift from Izhevsk, you can bring folk art products - ornamentation of household things.
sviyazhsk
The most fabulous city, in my opinion, is the city described by A.S. Pushkin:
“...sees a hill in a wide field;
The sea is blue around,
Oak green over the hill
...
And marveling, in front of me.
It's a big city.
Walls with frequent teeth,
And behind the white walls.
Church poppies shine
And the holy monasteries.
...
“We have travelled the world;
Over the sea, live in bad weather,
Here's the miracle.
The island was steep in the sea.
Not flat, not residential;
It lay in an empty plain;
He grew a single oak on it;
And now he's standing there.
A new town with a palace,
With golden-headed churches,
With baths and gardens,
And in it sits Prince Guidon.
Everyone probably knows these lines. Once the Grand Duke ordered to cut down the city with wooden walls, towers, gates, as a real city; and beams and logs to sweep everything from top to bottom. Then this city was dismantled, folded on rafts and fused down the Volga, along with military men and large artillery. When he approached Kazan, he ordered to build this city and fill all the fortifications and called it Sviyazhsky. In 1551, the fortress was assembled in 4 weeks from parts harvested in the area of Uglich and fused along the Volga.
And then the island-city experienced hard years, so in 1928 in the premises of the Assumption Monastery was opened a children's labor commune, which in 1936 was transformed into a correctional colony initially for 200 convicts. In 1943, prisoners of war appeared in the colony. From 1953 to 1994, a psychiatric hospital functioned in the premises of the Assumption Monastery.
On the territory of the City Island there is an extraordinary Cathedral of Our Lady of All Sorrowful Joy, as well as a lot of monasteries and cathedrals.
Beyond the merits, of course, there are disadvantages, but it is important to properly prioritize and choose a city that will be good.
Author of the text: Natalia Drankova