Staritsa is a small town in the Tver Upper Volga region, 70 km
southwest of Tver. The picturesque location on the banks of the Volga,
which are high and steep here, goes perfectly with the interesting
temple architecture and cozy atmosphere of the old city. It is also
worth visiting the surrounding area of Staritsa, where you will find at
least a dozen noteworthy architectural monuments.
The city of
Staritsa is located on the Volga, in a place called the Staritsa Gate,
where the river seems to “cut through” the limestones, so the Volga bed
itself is quite narrow here, and the banks often represent impressive
steep hills up to 50 meters high. Staritsky limestone, also known as
“Staritsky marble,” is of quite high quality, so the extraction of
“white stone,” which began in ancient times, continues to this day. Some
of the city’s buildings, both civil and ecclesiastical, are also made
from local stone. The bridge across the Volga divides the Staritsa into
two approximately equal parts: the left bank (Gorodishche) and the right
bank (Uspensky Monastery). Staritsa is located on the eastern edge of
the Valdai Hills, so on the road from Tver (which is in the lowlands)
you will see significant elevation changes.
Staritsa was founded
in 1297 by the Tver prince Mikhail Yaroslavich on the high left bank of
the Volga, but perhaps a settlement existed on this site before. At
first, the settlement was known as Gorodok and Gorodesk, and the current
name appeared in the 15th century and, most likely, is associated with
the Staritsa River (now Starchonka) flowing into the Volga. The
widespread legend that the city was named after the old woman, the only
survivor of the Mongol-Tatar devastation, either appeared because of the
city coat of arms, or influenced it.
In the 14th century, the
settlement was part of the Zubtsovsky principality, which was later
annexed to the Tver principality. In 1485, Staritsa became part of the
Moscow lands and for most of the 16th century was the center of the
appanage principality of the same name. At this time, Staritsa
flourished: Prince Andrei Staritsky rebuilt the Assumption Monastery,
and under his son Vladimir, the unusual five-tent Boris and Gleb
Cathedral was erected from local stone, dismantled at the beginning of
the 19th century. In 1566, Ivan the Terrible liquidated the Staritsa
principality and took its lands into the oprichnina, and in 1569
Vladimir Andreevich, who became the last appanage prince of Rus', was
executed. After this, Staritsa temporarily became one of the residences
of Ivan the Terrible, who lived for a long time in the fortified
princely palace, which stood on the high bank of the Volga. The name of
Grozny is associated with many local legends about quarries, underground
passages and hiding places. During the Time of Troubles, the city
survived the invasion of Polish-Lithuanian troops, who destroyed a
significant part of the city fortifications and churches.
In the
18th–19th centuries, Staritsa was a major pier on the Volga-Baltic
route, which provided funds for the construction of new churches, public
buildings and residential buildings, which were also built from local
white stone. The development of the city was carried out according to a
regular plan, outside the ancient settlement. In the 19th century, the
railway passed by the city, which turned it into a quiet provincial
town.
In the last few years, the Assumption Monastery has been
restored and polished to a shine, the condition of which now stands in
stark contrast to the shabby and slowly crumbling historical buildings
in other parts of the city. However, the city itself is more alive than
dead. Here come tiled sidewalks, according to the capital's tradition,
washed by the morning tractor, and city traffic lights are equipped with
solar elements. The water pumps placed throughout the city hint that
running water is not available everywhere here, but the city houses look
well-groomed and are pleasing to the eye.
1 Holy Dormition Monastery. Located on the low bank of the Volga,
the monastery complex is perfectly visible from the opposite high bank -
this is the calling card of Staritsa. The monastery was apparently
founded in the 16th century (the widely circulated founding date of 1110
is mentioned only in one and not very reliable source). The abbot of the
monastery and a native of Staritsa Job in 1589 became the first Russian
patriarch. In 1764, the monastery fell under secularization and became
noticeably impoverished (buildings after this time in the monastery are
rare); the fortress walls were dismantled as unnecessary. During Soviet
times, the monastery was closed, in 1997 it was reopened and in the
2000s. reconstructed Now its walls have been restored, temples have been
restored, and the territory has been completely improved. The monastery
became a popular site of pilgrimage.
In the center of the complex is
the Assumption Cathedral - the oldest church of the monastery, erected
in 1520 by order of Staritsky Prince Andrei Ivanovich. This is a
five-domed white stone church with kokoshniks, built following the
example of the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Attached to
it is a hipped brick bell tower (1686) and the Trinity Cathedral (1819)
- the latter is decidedly out of the ordinary, since it was built in the
classicist style at the expense of the Staritsa philanthropist Tutolmin
(he also donated money for the construction of a hospital in the city)
and became the tomb of his family . Next to this complex there is
another tomb, a miniature chapel-mausoleum of I. F. Glebov, a military
leader of Catherine’s times.
On the same square are located the
tent-roofed Church of the Entry into the Temple, erected as a single
structure under Ivan the Terrible, and the ascetic white-stone refectory
chamber attached to it, which is one of the rare examples of civil
architecture of the 16th century. A little further, the Church of St.
John the Evangelist, built in 1694, with an arched gallery, which was
the gateway on the river side. In addition, the monastery houses
fraternal and superior buildings of the 17th-19th centuries, a chapel, a
cemetery with ancient tombstones and a monument to the already mentioned
Patriarch Job.
The walls and towers of the monastery were mostly
restored in the 21st century, but the southern part of the wall, along
with one of the towers and the gate through which you will enter the
monastery, has been preserved from the 17th-19th centuries.
2 Resurrection Church, Privolzhskaya street. The baroque church of the
"octagon on quadrangle" type was built in 1784. It was erected from old
white stone on the site of an older church that had fallen into
disrepair, and the bell tower was added already in the 19th century.
Apparently, the church originally had paintings, which were updated at
the end of the 19th century; the remains of this painting are still
visible today. During Soviet times, the church was closed and used for
household needs; now it is in a dilapidated state.
3 Monument to the
700th anniversary of the city (monument to the Staritsa), st. Volodarsky
(next to the hotel). The symbolic figure of the legendary oxbow, after
whom the city is supposedly named, was installed on the central square
for the 700th anniversary of the city. You will see a similar figure on
the coat of arms of Staritsa.
4 Ilyinskaya Church (Elijah the
Prophet), st. Volodarskogo, 46 (entrance to the city from Tver). An
interesting baroque church built in 1804 on the site of an old wooden
church. In 1824, Emperor Alexander I attended a service there.
5 Bridge over the Volga. A picturesque arched bridge built in 1963
(before this there was no capital bridge in Staritsa). It offers an
excellent view of both banks of the Volga. The bridge is located in the
geometric center of the city. There are no other bridges across the
Volga in the area up to Zubtsov and Tver, respectively.
6 Church of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa (Nativity of the Virgin Mary), left
bank of the Volga, under the ancient settlement. Built in 1750 in the
Baroque style typical of that time, the church would have been quite
ordinary (or at least would not have stood out among dozens of similar
churches), if not for the numerous extensions that give the church a
spectacular and unusual appearance for an Orthodox church. To the side
of the original temple there are two symmetrical rotundas in the
classicist style (early 19th century), complemented by a chapel and a
white stone fence. Now the church is not active and is in a rather
neglected state. Both names of the church are used equally often.
7 White stone forges. Forges built in the thickness of the shaft, built
of white stone. The products of the Staritsky blacksmiths were known in
Russia; sickles were especially popular. These forges were built at the
end of the 17th century (one of them even bears the date “1798”) and
were used by dynasties of blacksmiths. In the 20th century, products
made in factories became significantly cheaper than handmade ones, and
the forges closed. Nowadays, out of about 50 forges, only a few remain.
Local residents use them as utility rooms.
8 Spasskaya
Church-belltower (Savior Image Not Made by Hands), new settlement. Built
in 1827 in the classicist style as a warm winter church of the complex.
The temple itself is the first tier of the building, and above is the
bell tower. The church is one of the dominant features of Staritsa and
can be seen from afar. Compared to the neighboring Boris and Gleb
Cathedral, it is lighter and more elegant. Now it doesn't work.
9 Boris and Gleb Cathedral, new settlement. The cathedral in the
classicist style was built in 1820, noticeably similar to the cathedral
of the same name in Torzhok. St. Petersburg architects took part in the
design, and local architect M. A. Chernyatin supervised the
construction. The cathedral was built next to the old Boris and Gleb
Cathedral, from which the foundation has been preserved - it was an
outstanding monument of ancient Russian architecture, plundered in the
Time of Troubles and later not restored.
10 Old settlement. A hilly
place at the confluence of the Starchonka River and the Volga, where the
ancient Russian Staritsa was located. Now there are no buildings here,
but from the fort there is an impressive view of the Volga and the
monastery, and the intricate relief of the fort itself looks very
impressive. The path leading to the top of the hills has a fairly steep
incline - be careful.
11 St. Nicholas Church (Transfiguration of the
Lord), st. Admiral Oktyabrsky. The church was built in 1814 at the
junction of Baroque and Classicism. Added in 1843, the bell tower is
located high above the banks of the Volga and dominates the city
landscape, echoing the Spasskaya Church, which is symmetrically located
relative to the bridge. Now the church is in a rather neglected state;
it lost its domes back in Soviet times. Just like the Church of the
Nativity, it has two names used.
12 Ruins of the Ascension Church,
City Garden. These ruins in the city garden are all that remains of the
white stone Ascension Monastery, built in 1668. During the
Polish-Lithuanian intervention, the monastery was badly damaged, so that
by 1761 a new white-stone cathedral had to be built, designed by an
unknown St. Petersburg architect. Already in 1764, the monastery was
abolished, and the church existed safely until its closure in 1935. It
was finished off by the German occupation and post-war attempts to turn
the building into a club. Jan 2024 edit
13 House of merchant
Filippov, st. Lenina, 18. The house of a local merchant, where balls
were held. Pushkin and Alexander I stayed there, and now it houses a
cultural center.
14 House of N. Shabunin, st. Marshala Zakharov, 61.
One of the most curious wooden houses in the city was built by
cabinetmaker Shabunin. This large house with a mezzanine features
original Rococo décor. An urban legend claims that the female and male
masks on the facade of the house are images of members of the family of
Emperor Nicholas II, and the date of construction or reconstruction of
the house - 1918 - strangely coincides with the date of the
Yekaterinburg execution.
The district development of Staritsa has
been preserved mainly on the left bank. The oldest stone houses that
have survived to this day date back to the end of the 18th century and
most of them are in disrepair. Staritsa marble was often used in the
construction of stone houses, but wooden houses can also stand on a
white stone foundation, have white stone basements or a fence. Wooden
houses are sometimes decorated with openwork carvings; look for them in
the list of cultural heritage.
“Staritsa is a city of inspiration,” says the motto on the stand near
the local history museum. This is probably why new private museums are
opening one after another in the city. In addition to the traditional
local history museum, private museums of porcelain, baking and Russian
ovens have opened here, and another museum is preparing to open.
1 Staritsky Museum of Local Lore , st. Volodarskogo, 38 (next to the
bus station). ☎ +7 (48263) 2-43-27. Wed-Sun 10:00–18:00. 100 rubles,
children under 16 years old free. A good local history museum, which
moved from the Assumption Monastery to a new nice building on the
outskirts of the city. The exhibition includes, among other things, a
model of the Staritsa Kremlin and objects of peasant life.
2 Museum
of Porcelain, Glass and Ceramics, st. Karl Marx, 48. 🕑 Tue–Sun
10:00–17:00. 250 rub. Three halls of the museum are dedicated to
porcelain tableware, porcelain sculpture and glassware of the 19th-20th
centuries. Along with domestic exhibits, well-known European companies
from Germany (many dishes from the former GDR), Czech Republic, France
and England are presented. The museum occupies a 19th-century city
estate; its owners did a good job decorating the interior of the
building.
3 Museum of Baking, Lenina Street, 41. Tue–Sun
10:00–17:00. 250 rub. The museum is located in a merchant mansion from
the mid-19th century and is dedicated to the history of baking.
4 Museum of Russian stove, st. Guseva, 12. Wed–Sat 11:00–17:00, Sun
11:00–14:00. ticket 200 rubles, excursions and master classes are paid
additionally. In the courtyard of the museum there are collected
exhibits telling about the peculiarities of village life. The main
highlight of the program inside the house is the Russian stove, around
which collections of antique utensils are collected.
By train
The Staritsa station of the same name is located 12 km
from the city; there are no closer stations. The train from St.
Petersburg to Smolensk passes through the station (several times a week
early in the morning) and commuter trains to Torzhok and Rzhev (2 pairs
per day).
1 Staritsa station, village. Staritsa station (12 km
west of the city).
How to get there: buses run to the station quite
regularly, but they are not connected to trains. Taxi drivers on duty
near the station help out; travel to the city costs 270 rubles (2018).
You can call a taxi from the city: taxi service "Economy" tel. +7
(48263) 2-20-07.
By bus
During the daytime, vehicles depart
from Tver approximately every half hour to hour. Buses depart from the
Tver bus station, and minibuses depart from the ticket office of the
commercial carrier Avtoexpress. Most flights go further - to Rzhev,
Zubtsov, Nelidovo and smaller settlements of the Tver region. Buses go
to Staritsa for about two hours, minibuses take a little over an hour on
the road and cost ten percent more than buses.
As of 2020, you
need to get from Moscow with a transfer in Tver, Volokolamsk or Rzhev.
2 Bus station, st. Volodarskogo, 48 (at the exit from the city
towards Tver, 1 km from the bridge over the Volga). ☎ +7 (48263)
2-15-63. There is an abundance of catering establishments - one cafe is
located inside the bus station and another one is closely adjacent to
it.
3 Autoexpress bus stop, st. Volodarskogo, 11 (hotel "Volga"). ☎
+7 (904) 000-13-40. 6:30–21:00. Commercial buses to Tver, Rzhev, Zubtsov
and Moscow.
By car
The A112 highway passes through the city,
connecting Tver (75 km) with Rzhev and Zubtsov (50 km each). 28K-1619
leads to the east from the city, through Lotoshino (75 km) and
Volokolamsk (110 km) allowing you to reach Moscow (220 km). There is
also a road to Torzhok (110 km)
The city is very compact, so there are no local buses, but there are buses to the train station several times a day. Suburban buses are available to some settlements in the region, including Bernovo and Krasnoe, usually twice a day - in the morning and in the evening.
1 Supermarket “Universal”, Tverskoe Highway, 15 (at the entrance to
the city from Tver). Grocery and hardware store.
2 Market, st.
Volodarsky (in the city center).
3 Sports and entertainment center
“Atlantis” , st. Kommunisticheskaya, 27. ☎ +7 (48263) 2-38-94. There is
a bowling alley.
Cheap
1 Refectory of the Assumption Monastery. 300 rub. A hearty
set lunch without any choice, the food is prepared in compliance with
the monastery canons.
2 Dining room of the pedagogical college,
Sovetskaya st., 10A. ☎ +7 (48263) 2-43-98. 09:00 – 15:00. Cheap canteen.
3 Cheburechnaya, Sovetskaya st., 2B. ☎ +7 (920) 152-23-00. 10:00 –
18:00. An unpretentious eatery where classic fatty pasties are fried,
it’s not for everyone.
Average cost
✦ Restaurant Mansion on
Karl Marx (in the hotel Mansion on Karl Marx). Main courses 200-350 rub.
Until recently, this was the best restaurant in the city both in terms
of service and quality of food preparation. Now (2023) due to staff
shortages, it only serves breakfast for the hotel and provides set
lunches for tourist groups. European cuisine.
4 Pizzeria “Tiamo”,
st. Karla Marksa, 53. ☎ +7 (920) 150-98-00. 10:00 – 22:00. A varied menu
with an emphasis on Italian cuisine, but there are also European dishes.
Good pizza, good desserts. Breakfast and business lunches are offered in
the morning and afternoon. There is Wi-Fi.
5 Cafe “Beryozka”, st.
Chernozersky, 14. Main courses from 400 rubles, business lunches 200
rubles.
6 Pizzeria , st. Lenina, 10. ☎ +7 (915) 711-37-32. 11:00 –
19:00. 500 rub. for a full lunch. In addition to pizza, the menu
includes salads, as well as simple meat dishes and desserts; for added
chic, the menu is translated into English. Previously there were
complaints about the quality of food, but now visitors are very
satisfied.
7 Cafe-dumplings, st. Lenina, 41. 11:00–20:00. The menu
includes several types of dumplings and dumplings, as well as soups and
salads. Reviews are mostly good, but there are also complaints.
Coffee shops
8 Bakery, Sovetsky lane, 5. ☎ +7 (920) 680-56-70. An
ordinary bread store, which also sells several types of not particularly
tasty cakes. There are several tables inside where they can make coffee.
1 Hotel “Volga”, st. Volodarsky, 11. ☎ +7 (48263) 2-16-36. Double
1700 RUR, 3200 RUR luxury. An old Soviet hotel, most of the rooms have
undergone minor renovations. Suitable for unpretentious visitors. The
staff may or may not be friendly, depending on the shift.
2 Hotel
“Mansion on Karl Marx”, st. Karla Marksa, 59 (left bank, on the
outskirts). ☎ +7 (925) 518-00-71, +7 (925) 589-60-06. Double room from
2200 rub. New hotel with restaurant and bathhouse. Wi-Fi. You can book
online. Good feedback. The local tourist information center is also
located here.
3 Guest house “Tiamo”, st. Karla Marksa, 59a (next to
the Mansion on Karla Marksa). ☎ +7 (925) 518 00 71. Double room 2400
rub. Belongs to the same owners as the Mansion on Karl Marx. Also good
reviews and about the same conditions.
4 Guest house on Starchonka,
Reka Starchonka street, 7. from 3,500 rubles/night. A guest house right
on the banks of the Volga, with a veranda offering picturesque views of
the monastery and the surrounding area. The house is located on the
outskirts of the town and you have to walk half a kilometer to the main
attractions and the bridge to the right bank of the Volga. The guest
house has its own restaurant with a focus on Russian cuisine, parking
and free WiFi. They offer a lot of entertainment from a photo shoot with
a professional photographer to fishing/hunting.
In wet weather, it is easy to slip on the ramparts of the fort and get seriously injured. Caution should also be exercised near abandoned buildings.
There is free Wi-Fi in the city garden.
The city is located on the eastern outskirts of the Valdai Hills, a pier on the Volga, 12 km from the railway station of the same name, 65 km southwest of Tver.
Founded in 1297 by Tver Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich as a fortress on
the Staritsa River.
Until the beginning of the 16th century,
Staritsa was usually called Gorodok or Gorodesk (but not New Gorodok or
Gorodok on the Volga, as some authors claim). The name “Staritsa”, which
was subsequently assigned to the city, was given by its location on the
river of the same name.
There is a legend that on the site of the
city of Staritsa there was the city of Lyubim, which was completely
devastated by the Tatars in 1292. When the city of Staritsa was founded,
an old woman lived in that place, hiding in one of the caves, from which
the city received its name. The legend does not contradict the course of
historical events, but there are no documentary references to the city
of Lyubim.
In 1319, according to the spiritual charter of Mikhail
Yaroslavich (killed in 1318 in the Horde on the orders of Khan Uzbek),
the territory of the Tver Principality was divided between his four
sons, and Staritsa (together with Zubtsov, Kholm and Mikulin) became
part of the Zubtsov Principality - the appanage of the second of
brothers, Alexander Mikhailovich. After the execution of Alexander
Mikhailovich in the Horde in 1339, his fatherland - the Zubtsovsky
principality - remained in the hands of his widow Anastasia and sons.
Later, the sons divided their father’s former inheritance among
themselves, and such a division was secured by the peace agreement of
the Alexandrovichs concluded in 1360 with Vasily Mikhailovich Kashinsky,
who then occupied the Tver grand-ducal table; at the same time, the
Staritsa became the inheritance of the eldest of the brothers, Vsevolod
Alexandrovich, whose center of possessions was Kholm.
Vsevolod
Alexandrovich died of the plague on January 8, 1366, after which his
Kholm-Staritsky inheritance was divided between his sons. The eldest,
Yuri Vsevolodovich, received the Hill, and the center of the possessions
of the younger, Ivan Vsevolodovich, became Staritsa.
In 1375,
during the Moscow-Tver War, Staritsa was briefly taken by the troops of
Moscow Prince Dmitry Ivanovich. Conflicting with his uncle, the Tver
Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, Ivan Vsevolodovich in 1397 made a kiss
on the cross to the Tver prince and went to Moscow, but after the death
of Mikhail Alexandrovich (1399) he made peace with the new Tver Grand
Duke Ivan Mikhailovich and returned to his inheritance.
In 1402,
Ivan Vsevolodovich died, transferring his possessions in his will to his
cousin Alexander, the son of the new Tver Grand Duke Ivan Mikhailovich.
On the coins that Alexander Ivanovich minted, there is, along with the
name of the prince, the legend “denga gorodeskaya”, indicating the place
of minting: Gorodesk (that is, Staritsa). In 1425, the Tver table also
passed to Alexander, as a result of which the Staritsa appanage
principality ceased to exist, merging with the grand-ducal possessions.
In 1485, as part of the Grand Duchy of Tver, Staritsa was annexed to
the Grand Duchy of Moscow. In 1505-1566, it was the center of the
appanage Staritsa principality - one of the last appanage principalities
within Moscow Rus'.
In 1565, when Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich divided
the Russian state into oprichnina and zemshchina, the city became part
of the latter. In 1566, Ivan IV the Terrible changed the inheritance of
the Staritsa prince Vladimir Andreevich: instead of Staritsa and Vereya
he gave Dmitrov and Zvenigorod, and took Staritsa to the oprichnina.
Ivan IV, who loved the city, surrounded it with a stone wall and
lived in it several times in 1579-1581 during the war with Stefan
Batory.
Since 1708, Staritsa has been a city in the Smolensk province. Since
1719, it was part of the Tver province (originally part of the St.
Petersburg province, and from 1727 - part of the Novgorod province).
Since 1775, Staritsa has been a district town of the Tver governorate
(since 1796 - Tver province).
In the 18th-19th centuries,
Staritsa was a large pier on the waterway to St. Petersburg. In the
vicinity of the city, limestone was mined (“Old Man Marble”).
In
1897, Staritsa had 5,396 inhabitants; there were 10 churches, 21
factories and factories (the largest of the factories was a tannery),
124 trading enterprises.
Soviet power in Staritsa was established
on November 30 (December 13), 1917.
During the Great Patriotic
War, Staritsa was occupied by Nazi troops on October 12, 1941. On
January 1, 1942, it was liberated by troops of the Kalinin Front during
the Kalinin offensive operation.
The city's coat of arms is clear: it depicts an old lady (an elderly
woman) in a green robe, leaning on a black stick. A coat of arms with
such an image was developed in the 18th century by Franz Santi, who,
when compiling city heraldic symbols, often relied only on the name of
the city, without going into its etymology, about which he had no
information. Therefore, on the coat of arms of Staritsa, he depicted an
old woman, although the name of the city is probably associated with the
staritsa in the meaning of “old river bed”. The coat of arms of the city
of Velikiye Luki was compiled in a similar way, on which Santi depicted
three large bows, although the name of the city is not associated with
weapons, but comes from the word “bows” meaning “bend” or “meadow”.
There is a toponymic legend linking the main image of the coat of
arms with the name of the city. According to it, the city was named in
memory of an old woman who, at the time of the city’s founding, remained
the only resident of these places after they were devastated by the
Tatars. Perhaps the legend appeared after the drafting of the coat of
arms.
It is convenient to combine a trip to Staritsa with a visit to Tver
or Torzhok. If you're traveling by car, the road between these cities
could easily take a whole day - there's so much to see along the way.
South of Staritsa is Rzhev, literally saturated with military history.
To the east is the village of Mikulino, the former ancient Russian city
of Mikulin in the Tver principality, where the remains of a fortified
settlement and the white-stone temple of Michael the Archangel of the
16th century are preserved.
✦ Staritsa quarries. In the vicinity
of Staritsa there are quite a lot of limestone underground quarries.
Nowadays they are not used for their original purpose, but they attract
extreme tourists. It is highly recommended not to visit them without a
guide.
1 Transfiguration Church in the village of Krasnoye (20 km from
Staritsa). A pseudo-Gothic temple that is rare in the vicinity of Tver,
a “double” of the St. Petersburg Chesme Church, built in 1790 for the
estate of the famous singer M.F. Poltoratsky, who wanted to have a
“piece” of metropolitan architecture. Just extravagance in the 18th
century gave a powerful visual effect today: the bright red church,
richly decorated with old white stone, looks truly surreal against the
backdrop of simple village houses. The original interiors of the church
were lost during Soviet times, but during the restoration of the
premises, the vertical division of the walls, previously made in the
form of vertical projections, was indicated by color, and even such a
simple design makes an absolutely stunning impression. The church has
excellent acoustics and, if you get inside, it will be highly
artistically demonstrated to you. Don't miss the opportunity to climb
the narrow spiral staircase to admire the pinnacles from above and
"ring" the bells (ask permission). Nearby are the remains of the
Poltoratsky estate - the ruins of the main house and a nice park.
Bernovo is an ancient village 50 km from Staritsa, marked by the
stay of A.S. Pushkin.
2 Wulf Estate (Pushkin Museum in Bernovo).
Wed–Sun 11:00–18:00. Pushkin visited the Wulf family estate several
times, and this was enough to preserve the estate in Soviet times - a
museum was opened here, which still exists. The museum, they say, is not
very interesting, but the estate itself is very cozy. You can walk
around the park, where there are ponds, as well as the Parnassus and
Menagerie slides.
3 Assumption Church. Church of the late 17th
century in Baroque style. Notice the stone patterns around the windows.
4 Museum of Vice Admiral V.A. Kornilova, Ryasnya village (50 km from
Staritsa, on a side road). ☎ +7 (903) 034-06-25. Wed–Fri 10:00–15:00,
Sat–Sun 10:00–18:00. There have been many famous Kornilovs in Russian
history, and among them is Vice Admiral Vladimir Alekseevich Kornilov,
the organizer of the defense of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. He
comes from the village of Ryasnya, Staritsky district, where local
residents, out of sheer enthusiasm, organized an interesting museum and
even erected a bust of Kornilov.
There is almost no public transport
on the highway to Torzhok. Buses go to Bernovo 3 times a day. Red is
located away from the road, buses go there even less often. There are no
direct buses to Torzhok at all.
Chukavino is a village 7 km from Staritsa on the right bank of the
Volga. Together with neighboring Konoplino, this is one of the most
picturesque places in the area.
5 Estate Chukavino. The large
noble estate was restored back in the 1980s. By the standards of the
Tver region, it looks quite well maintained, although it is in a state
of protracted redistribution of property. In addition to a large manor
house, a couple of outbuildings and a park of the 18th-19th centuries,
it is worth seeing the Vladimir Church (1746) in the Baroque style,
decorated with elaborate bas-reliefs and stone shells and enclosed by a
low stone fence with two holy gates. The estate is surrounded by a metal
fence, but at least during the daytime its territory is open to the
public.
6 Sled dog nursery (eco-land “Chukavino”) (next to the
estate). ☎ +7 (961) 015-22-22. The private dog kennel has gradually
turned into an independent tourist center, where they show huskies,
horses and sika deer, offer horseback riding, rides in a dog or reindeer
sled, excursions to the Staritsky quarries and just relaxation on the
picturesque bank of the Volga. There are guest rooms and a cafe. A visit
must be arranged in advance by telephone. Reviews from visitors are
quite contradictory - it seems that the nursery does not treat
independent travelers very carefully.
7 Konoplino estate (1 km west
of Chukavino). The old noble estate at one time belonged to I.I.
Lazhechnikov - Russian writer and Tver vice-governor of the first half
of the 19th century. It is curious that history repeats itself, and now
the estate has again become the governor's residence: thanks to this, it
has been restored, but is not accessible to the public.
There is
no public transport in Chukavino. From the turn from the Tver highway to
the estate is 4.5 km.
8 Assumption Church in the village of
Ivanishchi (20 km from Staritsa). Contrary to road signs and maps, local
residents use the letter sh instead of sch in the name of the village,
which is not surprising: the church stands a hundred meters from the
Ivanishka River, which gave its name to the ancient Ivanishki Monastery,
of which the Assumption Church is a part. One of the oldest churches in
the Tver region was built in 1534–1542 in the best traditions of Moscow
architecture. Despite the extensive reconstruction of the 18th century,
which “enriched” the church with a bell tower and a refectory, fragments
of the ancient white stone decor have been preserved. The paintings were
completed in the 1830s. 100 meters southeast of the church there is a
luxurious three-hundred-year-old umbrella pine - a natural monument.
Unlike other places in the vicinity of Staritsa, Ivanishchi is easy to
visit without a car: it’s less than a kilometer from the highway to the
church.