Skopin is a city of regional significance in the Ryazan region of Russia. The administrative center of the Skopinsky district and urban district is the city of Skopin.
In the city of Skopin, the capital of the pottery industry of Russia,
with the development of tourism infrastructure in 2017, the tourist flow
significantly increased.
Currently, there are 3 modern hotels
operating in the municipality, and a system of navigational tourist
signs has been installed. In 2017, the city’s display sites were visited
by 13,112 people from 34 regions, 73 cities in Russia and abroad.
Including from Germany, the Netherlands, Armenia, Ukraine, the Republic
of Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and the Republic of Cameroon.
This is a well-equipped platform for the realization of the abilities of masters and the opportunity for everyone to see how works of folk art are created. The peculiarity of the center’s work is that it promotes and develops not only pottery, but also other rare crafts - Mikhailovsky lace, Shilovsky vine, Kadomsky veniz. Tourists coming to the city of Skopin are invited to visit the exhibition rooms of all folk arts and crafts of the Ryazan region, an excursion into the history of Skopin artistic ceramics with master classes by leading potters of the Skopin pottery, interactive programs in all workshops of the Center, telling about the secrets, history and traditions of various crafts of the Ryazan region.
One of the three centers of folk ceramics on the territory of the
Russian Federation. The deposits of light pottery clay, located on the
site of the present city of Skopin, have been used by residents since
the 12th century. Researchers date the emergence of decorative ceramics
in Skopin to the second half of the 19th century. Then the city began to
produce glazed ceramics of complex shapes, including sculptural images
of birds and animals. The demand for decorative sculptural ceramics led
to the emergence of modern production. Currently, JSC Skopinskaya Art
Ceramics produces figured kvass and kumgans, candlesticks, sculpture
vessels, decorated with complex stucco, made in the form of outlandish
animals or birds. In parallel, work is underway to create original
highly artistic works for museums, exhibitions and to order.
The
factory has organized a program for receiving tourists, including a tour
of the enterprise, a visit to the museum of the history of crafts, and a
master class with training in pottery. Original products of Skopinsky
artistic craft are a kind of calling card of the Ryazan region.
Skopinsk ceramics are presented in more than 40 museums across the
country, including the Museum of Ceramics (Moscow region), the
Historical Museum (Moscow), the Russian and Ethnographic Museums (St.
Petersburg).
At the moment, the exhibition of the Skopinsky Museum of Local Lore
is quite extensive and includes 8 thematic halls and 2 halls with
rotating exhibitions.
The Hall of Archeology and Antiquity houses
interesting exhibits found during archaeological excavations in the
area. Here you can also see mammoth tusks and bones of long-haired
buffalos that previously inhabited these territories. Also in the hall
are the tools of ancient people, fragments of ceramics and more. The
main part of the exhibit items dates back to the 3rd-1st millennium BC.
The time frame of the Streletsky Hall is the XV-XVIII centuries. As
the name suggests, various weapons of that time are presented here:
chain mail, spears, arrowheads, among them there are also firearms and a
cannon. Of particular value to this exhibition are ancient coins from
the 28th century and the lifetime mask of Peter I.
In the Hall of
Life of Skopin in the 19th - early 20th centuries. Museum visitors will
be able to see household items of Skopino peasants of the 19th century.
The women's peasant costumes of that time presented here are also very
interesting. There is also an exhibition dedicated to the merchant
lifestyle of this time. Furniture, clothing, and a beautiful collection
of porcelain are presented here.
In addition to the above, the
museum also has halls dedicated to pottery, the Second World War, miners
and railway workers (the Skopino railway transport enterprise, which
served the mines, was one of the largest in the RSFSR), education and
culture.
Youth theater "Limit" was created in 1988. Over 30 years
of creative activity, he became a laureate and winner of numerous
All-Russian and International festivals in Germany and Lithuania, France
and Latvia, and Ukraine. For many years, the theater team has been
collecting Ryazan folk costumes, studying the rituals and holidays of
their native land. This is what prompted the creative team under the
leadership of Vladimir and Irina Del to create a unique and inimitable
project on the history of costume.
The Dimitrievsky Monastery is located on a high mountain near the
village of Dmitrieva, on the banks of the Verda River (95 km from Ryazan
and 45 km from Kulikovo Field). According to legend, at the site of the
monastery there was a wooden chapel of the holy warrior, great martyr of
the 4th century Demetrius of Thessaloniki and a hermit’s cell.
According to legend, the troops of Dmitry Donskoy, going on a campaign
against Khan Mamai, stopped near the chapel. The legendary warrior monk,
monk of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery Alexander Peresvet, preparing for
the future battle on the Kulikovo Field, prayed in the hermit’s cell and
left his apple tree staff there. The staff of Alexander Peresvet was
initially kept in the altar, and then behind the choir in a special
case.
The Tourist Information Center, which was created in
September 2016, operates fruitfully in Skopin. In 2017, TIC employees,
together with the center of folk arts and crafts, took part in
international exhibitions in Moscow (“Intourmarket” - March, “Ladya. A
Winter’s Tale - 2017” - December). The Tourist Information Center has
produced advertising materials about the main objects of display of the
municipality. A tourist map of the city, indicating local attractions,
hotel business and food facilities, is very popular among tourists.
In 2018, it is planned to implement several tourism projects in
Skopin. Among them are the organization of a bus excursion to the
Dimitrievsky Monastery on an ongoing basis, the creation of audio guides
around the city, and the creation of a promotional video for the city of
Skopin.
By train
Along the Moscow - Bogoyavlensk / Uzlovaya - Ryazhsk
railway lines.
1 Railway station.
By bus
There are bus
routes from Moscow to Skopin from the Shchelkovsky bus station. There is
a bus service with Ryazan, Tula, Novomichurinsk, as well as the nearest
regional centers of the region.
2 Bus station, st. Lenin (next
to the railway station).
By car
Along the federal highway "M6"
(Caspian).
Skopinskaya ceramics store, st. Pushkina, 93. Mon–Fri 9:00–16:00, Sat–Sun 9:00–15:00.
1 Pizza House, st. Lenina, 5. 11:00–22:00, Fri and Sat: until 24:00.
Contrary to the banal name and plastic appearance, this is a good cafe
with a full range of soups, hot dishes and desserts.
2 Cafe “Kolos”,
st. Pushkina, 25. 7:00–18:00. Dining room with own baked goods.
3 Cafe “Metropol”, Red Square. 9. 9:00–17:00.
4 Pizzeria “Third
Rome”, microdistrict. Avtozavodsky, 22. 10:00–22:00. The setting is
casual, but the food is cooked to order. Not just pizza.
5 Restaurant “Sahar” , microdistrict. Avtozavodsky, 14-a. 🕑
12:00–24:00.
1 Hotel “Verda”, st. Sovetskaya, 98. ☎ +7 (920) 951-22-80.
Facilities in the hallway, there may not be hot water.
2 Hotel
“Pearl”, microdistrict. Avtozavodskoy, 14th century. ☎ +7 (910)
563-50-56. New hotel. 5 rooms with amenities in the corridor.
3 Mini-hotel “Basilik”, microdistrict. Avtozavodskoy, 22. ☎ +7 (910)
561-66-98. Single room with amenities per block/in room: 1000/1600 rub.
Hotel in a residential building, some rooms have amenities per block.
There is a kitchen. Online booking.
4 Hotel “Gostiny Dvor”, st.
Proletarskaya, 21. ☎ +7 (951) 109-09-73. Double room: 3700 rub. The only
hotel in the city where amenities are always in the room and there is
always hot water. Very good reviews.
5 Guest house, microdistrict.
Oktyabrsky, st. Zavodskaya, 11 (9 km from the center). ☎ +7 (910)
907-30-22. Double room: about 1500 rub. The rooms are small, but with
amenities. Newly renovated, there is a kitchen. Very good reviews.
The city is located on the Verda River (Pronya basin), 109 km from
Ryazan. Railway station on the Uzlovaya - Ryazhsk line.
The city
is surrounded by the Skopinsky district. The main river of Skopin is the
Verda. Within the city limits, several streams flow into it.
The city of Skopin, like the entire Ryazan region, is located in a time zone designated by international standard as the Moscow Time Zone (MSK).
The climate is moderate continental, characterized by warm but
unstable summers, moderately cold and snowy winters. The wind regime is
formed under the influence of circulation climate factors and the
physical and geographical features of the area. Atmospheric
precipitation is determined mainly by cyclonic activity and is
distributed unevenly throughout the year. Precipitation is about 553 mm
per year, the maximum occurs in the warm season. Droughts occur in
summer. The growing season is about 180 days.
Below are data from
the Pavelets weather station, located in the village of the same name in
the Skopinsky district.
Usually the etymology of the city's name is traced to the legend of
the osprey bird.
According to one version, the Ryazan city of
Lomikhvost, mentioned in the chronicle “List of Russian cities far and
near,” is ancient Skopin and reflects the dialect name of the osprey
bird — “a bird of prey of the hawk family.” It is also impossible to
exclude a possible connection between Skopin and the princely family of
the Skopins-Shuiskys.
An interesting version is that the name of
the city is associated with the Old Russian male name or nickname Skopa,
which, in turn, comes either from the verb “save” in the meaning “to
save, hoard, collect.” Thus, Osprey could be called a thrifty owner who
managed to increase his fortune. Or from the word “skopova” - this is
how in some dialects they called the elected representative of one
village, sent to a gathering in the volost assembly. Such a person was
usually literate, savvy and enjoyed the respect and trust of the entire
population
Also, “skop” is an outdated synonym for the words
“stock” or “warehouse.”
Skopin is one of the oldest cities in the Ryazan region. Its surroundings have been inhabited since the Neolithic era. There are finds from the Bronze Age, arrowheads, bones and teeth of mammoths.
According to archaeological research, in the 12th century, near
modern Skopin, on the site of an ancient Finno-Ugric settlement of the
Gorodets culture, a fortified settlement was formed, fortified with
ditches and ramparts to protect against Polovtsian raids, called
Likharevsky.
By the 16th century, the fortification on the site
of Skopin became a fort. Here began the south-eastern section of the Big
Zasechnaya Line, stretching east to Shatsk. The settlement was located
on a hill, protected from the west by the Verda River, from the north
and north-west by its tributary - the Voslebka and Kalika rivers, and
from the south and south-east by the Pesochenka River. In addition, to
the west was the vast Goat Swamp. The first documentary mention of the
town under the name Skopin dates back to the end of the 16th century. In
the scribe books of the Ryazan region, in the section of payment books
of the Pekhletsky camp, Skopin was mentioned in 1597 as the patrimony of
the old boyar family of the Romanovs.
In 1629, Skopin was
mentioned as a settlement, fenced on three sides by earthen ramparts,
and on the side of the Verda River by a chopped wooden wall. There are
seven wooden towers and one earthen one on the ramparts and walls; there
is only one gate leading into the city.
In 1663 (according to
other sources, in 1597), a wooden fortress arose on the site of the
modern city - a fortress, which was part of the system of defensive
structures on the southeastern borders of the Moscow state. Since the
end of the 17th century, the settlement was called Skopinskaya Sloboda.
At that time the city was quite well armed. According to the
inventory dated May 1, 1688, compiled during the transfer of affairs
from one governor to another, the city had 10 cannons of arshin length
with three vershoks, 5 cannons of 2 arshins without three vershoks and
three forged squeaks, 112 muskets, and 27 reeds. The cellars contained
127 pounds of gunpowder, 45 pounds of lead, 500 large iron cannonballs,
100 medium and 70 small ones. In addition, the archers and Cossacks had
161 muskets.
In the painted list dated May 1, 1688, when Vasily
Aleksandrovich Daudov took over the city and patrimonial estate, the
governor Ivan Polivanov wrote: “The city of Skopin, on the Verde River;
an earthen rampart, an oak fort along the rampart, chopped olams along
the fort, covered with planks. Two carriageway towers, one with a
messenger bell. Six towers are blind. Two city gates and two keys. In
the city, on the towers and in the cannon barn there are ten cannons,
the length is half a third arshin and an inch, with all cannonballs
costing three hryvnias. Five cannons, length two arshins less three
inches, cannonballs weighing two hryvnias less. The gun is half a third
arshin with three inches. A cannon of three arshins minus two arshins.
The cannon is half a third arshin with two vershki, for all three
cannonballs for a hryvnia. The cellar of the newly built government
cellar contains potions, lead, cannon supplies: one hundred and
twenty-seven pounds of cannon and musket gunpowder in barrels,
forty-five pounds of lead, five hundred large cannonballs, one hundred
medium ones, seventy small ones; all iron ten pounds to fetel. In the
state granary there are one hundred and twelve muskets, including seven
barrels without stocks, fifty-four dilapidated ice-boxes, twenty-seven
reeds and dilapidated spears. The Skopinsky Riflemen have fifty-one
muskets, seventeen bandelers, and thirty-three ice creams; the Cossacks
have one hundred and six dilapidated ones. There are four iron gods in
the city.”
In 1693, the Ascension Convent was founded in Skopin.
During the reign of Peter I, Skopin became part of the Azov
province, thanks to the ship forests located in the district, which were
used to build a fleet.
In 1719, Skopin was included in the Yelets province of the Azov
province. Since the mid-18th century, Skopin has been part of the
Dankovsky district of the Yelets province of the Voronezh province.
Officially approved by the city in 1778. In 1787, the first Skopino
school was opened, which in 1804 was replaced by a parish school. In
1816 (according to other sources, in 1818) Emperor Alexander I passed
through Skopin, stopping at the house of the merchant Pletnikov. In the
same year, the Skopino residents achieved the opening of a theological
school in their city, which existed for more than a hundred years. As of
1832, the city had a stone Cathedral Church, the Spirits (formerly
Trinity) Monastery, seven stone parish churches, three chapels, and a
prayer chapel for the Old Believers.
In the second half of the
19th century, economic relations, especially trade, developed
significantly in Skopin. Small tanneries, candle-making plants, lard
factories, soap factories, iron foundries, oil churns, and grain
crushers appeared. In the 1860s. Ceramics production was founded by
peasants, the Ovodov brothers. In 1863, the notorious Skopinsky Bank was
established, which went bankrupt in 1882. In 1884, its director Ivan
Rykov was sentenced to exile in Siberia for embezzlement. In 1876 a real
school was opened. On December 8, 1870, Skopin became a railway town on
the Ryazhsko-Vyazma Railway. Coal production was established in the
mines of the Moscow Region coal basin, which attracted foreign
specialists and European capital. The Franco-Belgian joint-stock company
under the leadership of Max Gancard owned the mines until 1918, when
Lenin's Decree on their nationalization was issued.
During the revolutionary events of 1917, numerous rallies and
performances by soldiers of the 81st reserve infantry regiment, as well
as workers and peasants, were celebrated in Skopin. In March 1917, the
Council of Workers' Deputies was organized. On September 4, 1919,
Mikhail Kalinin held a rally in Skopin.
In 1922, a power plant
with a capacity of 2,250 kilowatts was put into operation at the
Pobedinsky mine. From June 12, 1929 to July 23, 1930 - as part of the
Tula district of the Moscow region. In 1932, Skopinsky Mining College
was founded. In 1939, a teacher's institute opened.
In the Great
Patriotic War, during the Battle of Moscow, Skopin became the
easternmost point that German troops reached. On November 25, 1941, the
Nazi invaders (these were units of the 10th Motorized Division from the
2nd Tank Army of General G. Guderian) consisting of 30 infantry
vehicles, 80 motorcyclists, with 4 tanks, 3 wedges, 6 armored vehicles
and 4 mortar light units launched an attack on the city of Skopin. A
local fighter squad of 108 people on the outskirts of the city entered
into battle with them, which lasted 3 hours. During this time, the Nazis
lost more than 70 people killed and wounded, 3 cars and 4 motorcycles.
Our losses: 4 killed, 6 wounded. During the day, the city's economy was
completely destroyed, 28 people were shot, including 6 bakery workers, 6
tractor drivers, 2 pensioners and a number of other workers. The
occupiers stayed in the city for just over a day. On November 26, with
the help of volunteers and soldiers of the 84th Separate Marine Rifle
Brigade under the command of Vasily Molev and units of the 10th Army of
General Philip Golikov, Skopin was liberated.
The Telavi Military
Infantry School was stationed in Skopin from December 1942 to September
1946.
In the post-war years, the city became an important
industrial center of the Ryazan region. New factories are emerging:
glass, hydrometallurgical, sand-lime brick, electric pumps, auto
aggregates, construction machines and others.
The main city-forming enterprises of the city are the Skopin
Automotive Unit Plant and the Mining Equipment Plant. In addition to
them, the city is also home to food industry enterprises - a meat
processing plant, a manufacturer of frozen semi-finished products
"Lina", a pharmaceutical plant, a clothing factory and a silicate plant.
Skopin is also famous for its artistic ceramics factory, the
products of which are one of the national folk crafts of the Ryazan
region.
Retail chains in the city are represented by supermarkets: “Magnit”, “Dixie”, “Pyaterochka” and “Ruble Boom”. The city is also home to an agricultural market and seven large shopping centers - “New Market”, “Skopinsky Euromarket”, “Bugrovsky”, “Continent”, “Plaza”, “Ocean” and “Crown”.
Due to the many years of work of the local metallurgical plant “Metallurg”, about one and a half thousand tons of dusty waste with an 80% content of arsenic salts were buried in the burial grounds of the enterprise. Considering that five milligrams of arsenic salts is enough to poison a person, there are more than 200 billion lethal doses of arsenic in burial grounds.
In Skopin there are 10 kindergartens, 8 secondary schools, 5 art
schools, a children's art house and a pop vocal studio.
Secondary
specialized educational institutions are represented by Skopinsky
Electrotechnical and Ryazan Medical Colleges.
The visiting card of the city is the Skopinsky Museum of Local Lore,
which has several departments, including a botanical department, where
collections of vegetation of the Ryazan region are collected. Since
2014, the Skopinsky Center for Folk Arts and Crafts has been operating,
inside which the Museum of Pottery is located.
Guests of the city
can visit the Museum of the History of Pottery at the Skopinskaya Art
Ceramics Factory and the Museum of the History of the Moscow Coal Basin.
The International Festival of Potters is held every two or three years. The city also hosts: the open international festival of solo performances “White Light”, the annual inter-district festival “Play, Harmony, Ring, Ditty!”, the inter-district folk costume festival “Deep Legends of Antiquity”, the inter-district festival of textile crafts, a youth rally on the territory of the Dmitrievsky Monastery .
The People's Youth Theater "Predel" was created in 1988. About the
name of the theater, its director, Honored Worker of Culture of the
Russian Federation, Vladimir Del, said: “The limit is a very capacious
concept... this is the Motherland, fate, destiny, the tension of
strength in achieving the goal.” The basis of the repertoire is
classics. Entering into an argument with tradition, the theater is
trying to rediscover the names of Pushkin, Saltykov-Shchedrin,
Ostrovsky, Tsvetaeva, Dostoevsky, Chekhov.
The core of the
creative team in “The Limit” is the family: Vladimir Del is the
director, Irina Del is the costume designer, Ilya Del is their son, an
actor since the age of 4. Vladimir Del's students receive acting
professions at famous theater universities in Russia: School named
after. Shchepkin at the Maly Theater, Saratov Conservatory. Sobinov, St.
Petersburg Theater Academy, RATI (GITIS). During its existence, the
theater became the Laureate and winner of more than 70 theater festivals
in Lithuania, Germany, Ukraine, France, and Russia.
Since December 7, 2018, a modern cinema hall has been operating.
Skopin has a long hockey tradition. In February 1951, the 1st Ryazan
region ice hockey championship took place. Two Ryazan teams took part in
it - Dynamo and Spartak, as well as Shakhtar Skopin. In the winter
season of 1951-1952, the 2nd regional championship was held in two
rounds: the first at the stadium in Skopin, the second at the Ryazan
Spartak stadium. Of all the districts of the region, the game of ice
hockey found fertile soil only in Skopin. The main team of the city,
Shakhtar, participated in all regional competitions, and in the 50s it
already hosted the district championship. In the 1952-1953 season, four
teams took part in it: the same number of teams were in the Ryazan city
championship in the same season. Also, a friendly match was held for the
first time: a team from the city of Bobrik-Donskoy, Tula region, came to
Skopin. The opponents played a draw - 6:6. In February 1953, Shakhtar
became the silver medalist in the final competition of the Central
Council of its sports society, losing to the hockey players of
Novomoskovsk.
In the 1954-1955 season, the Skopins became
regional champions for the first time (Ryazan teams “Dynamo”, “Spartak”,
“Nauka”, “Red Banner”, Skopinsky “Shakhtar” and debutants - hockey
players Mikhailov) took part in the competition), and then performed
successfully in the zonal tournament of the RSFSR championship. In
Voronezh, Skopin's athletes passed ahead of their teammates from
Bobrik-Donskoy, actually winning a place for the Ryazan region in class
"B" of the national championship. Shakhtar coach Yuri Stepanovich
Nikitin, whose name is associated with the entire history of Ryazan
hockey, became one of the first who began to develop this sport in the
Ryazan region. Later in 1955, he continued to develop hockey as the head
coach of the Ryazan masters team. In recognition of his services to
Ryazan hockey, a jersey with his name was raised under the vault of the
training skating rink in Ryazan.
In the 1955-1956 championship,
Skopin's Shakhtar became the regional champion for the second time,
gaining 14 points. In the same year, the Shakhtar team competed in zonal
competitions for the RSFSR championship. The opponents were hockey
players from Petrozavodsk, Tula, Saratov, Kalinin, Rostov and Penza. The
Skopin team has repeatedly become the winner and prize-winner of the
Ryazan region ice hockey championship, and for many years hockey players
have been called up to the national team of the Ryazan region and the
city of Ryazan to participate in all-Union level competitions.
Subsequently, “Torpedo”, representing the auto parts plant, “Crystal”
from the glass factory and Pobedinsk “Mashzavod” played in the regional
championship with varying degrees of success. The latter, without
finishing the 1993/94 season, essentially turned the last page of
Skopin’s glorious professional hockey history. The children's team of
Skopin and Skopinsky district is a repeated winner of the regional
Golden Puck tournament.
At the moment, Skopin hockey, due to the
lack of all-season training infrastructure, is represented exclusively
by amateur teams.
The governor of the Ryazan region, Oleg
Kovalev, has repeatedly made statements regarding the need to build an
indoor ice skating rink in Skopin, since the city and region have great
potential for the further development of this sport, and ice hockey
itself is a huge success among residents of Skopinsky and neighboring
areas. The construction of an all-season ice complex would significantly
increase the number of children and adults involved in ice sports not
only in the regional center, but also in neighboring areas.
In 1996, on the initiative of the management of the Skopinsky Automotive Aggregate Plant, the Torpedo football club was created, and in 1998, a stadium with the same name was built (now owned by a private individual). In 1996-2002. FC "Torpedo" (Skopin) took part in the championships and cups of the Ryazan region in football, the third division of the Russian football championship.
In the 1940-1950s. Skopino athlete Valentina Vorotnikova set several records in running and long jump.
Cross-country skiing competitions are held periodically for prizes from the Ramensky sports family.
Motorsports
The history of Skopino motorsports dates back to 1957. The
development of motocross in Skopin took place on the basis of the Palace
of Pioneers, later DOSAAF, and since the 1990s on the basis of the
Yunost MSTK in the village of Uspenskoye.
Since the 1960s, first
on the site of the current Avtozavodsky microdistrict, and since 1976 on
the track near the village of Ivanovka, traditional All-Russian
motocross competitions have been held, dedicated to the memory of the
Hero of the Soviet Union, Marshal of the Soviet Union, National Hero of
Yugoslavia Sergei Biryuzov. Over the years, competitions were held
within the framework of the USSR Championship, the Russian Major League
Championship, the Russian Team Championship, and the Russian Junior
Championship.