We tell you what tourists can see in Cherepovets, Kirillov and Ferapontovo.
Cherepovets is primarily known for its metallurgical plant. And at the mention of it, the imagination paints pictures of the industrial landscape. However, the very first look at the city destroys these stereotypes. It impresses not only with its green streets, but also with many interesting museums and attractions. However, in Cherepovets itself, only the Resurrection Cathedral remained from the monastery that once existed there. If you drive 120 km away from it, into the Russian North National Park, you can see four monasteries, two of which are world famous.
The steel heart of the garden City
Cherepovets, which is located in the Vologda region, is a very green city: there are more than 100 parks and squares. There are also wide streets and boulevards, a cozy historical center with well-maintained merchant houses, most of which have been restored. University, theaters, museums, cozy cafes and modern art spaces, a beautiful promenade with bike paths and sandy beaches.
The traveler’s gaze will definitely stop at two handsome cable—stayed bridges Oktyabrsky and Arkhangelsky, spanning the deep-flowing Sheksna. They connect the old and the new city. It is worth noting that one of them is the first cable—stayed bridge in our country, it was built in 1979.
About museums and more…
In Cherepovets, everyone will find a museum to their liking. For those who are interested in history, this isthe museum of Ivan Andreevich Milyutin, the famous mayor who served in this post for 46 years. During his activity, seven educational institutions were opened, a public library, a museum, a bookstore, a pharmacy, a printing house, an almshouse at the cathedral, a charity house in the name of St. Nicholas. Philip and Maria, the harbor was built, street lighting appeared, telephone communication was carried out. Yes and The Northern Railway passed through the city entrusted to him thanks to the efforts of Milyutin.
Art lovers will find the Vereshchagin House Museum, where the family lived, who gave the world two outstanding personalities – the famous artist Vasily Vereshchagin and Nikolai Vereshchagin, the founder of the dairy industry in Russia Of Russia.
Those who are interested in rock culture will certainly include a visit to the Alexander Bashlachev Museum in their program — a Soviet poet, rock musician, bard, singer, who, for his very short and unique life, has about 200 concerts, 100 poems, 60 of which have become songs. Bashlachev was born in Cherepovets, and his family, mother and father, still live in the city: with their direct participation, this chamber and completely different museum was opened 3 years ago.
This is interesting: Bashlachev played a 12-string guitar, which had 11 strings.
The Samovar Museum is located in one of the old buildings of the city,the private museum of the city. Its building is an architectural monument, an object of cultural heritage of the early XX century. Previously, there was a women’s vocational school, founded in 1887 under I. A. Milyutin.
In addition to the incredible collection of samovars in terms of quantity and variety, you can get acquainted with the household items of tsarist Russia and plunge into the atmosphere of those years. Leaf through old books, look “through time” in a stereoscope, and, of course, drink tea from a samovar to the sounds of a gramophone.
In the House of Natureyou can see minerals, herbariums, collections of insects and stuffed animals, as well as get acquainted with the living representatives of the aquatic fauna of the region. The exposition of the museum with the telling name “From fish to fish” consists of 9 panoramic aquariums inhabited by crucians, ruffs and carp, sterlets and trout.
Visitors will have a rare opportunity to observe and even chat with the very sociable Nemo perch. No, we didn’t misspoke, no matter how strange it sounds. Undoubtedly, it is slightly absurd to hear from the mouth of the guide that this perch is special and he seems to be watching the visitors and employees, scaring away all the other inhabitants of the aquarium if one of the participants of the tour decides to get to know him better. But the little fish really behaves very consciously. While one of the visitors is standing at the glass of the aquarium, Nemo is also “standing” on the other side of the glass and looks very attentively at the “interlocutor”. Believe it or not. But the fact remains, verified by a Profi employee.Travel.
This is interesting: when visiting this place, you must make a wish. The locals have a belief: if you meet the gaze of a pike, then hurry up to make a wish, it will definitely come true.
The famous metallurgical giant Severstal, a unique plant for the production of rolled metal, both galvanized and polymer—coated, invites guests of the city not only to immerse themselves in their history, to understand the features and processes of its work in the Museum of the Metallurgical Industry but also to visit the production itself, see the blast furnace and visit the rental shop.
Despite the fact that the museum was created relatively recently, it is a real educational center where you can spend several hours studying stands and layouts, playing interactive games, solving crosswords and puzzles, trying on virtual armor, trying yourself as a blacksmith or a museum employee. Everything here is done innovatively, with soul and, importantly, with humor.
This is interesting: at the entrance to the Museum of the Metallurgical Industry, tourists will be offered to wear not shoe covers, but “magic steel walkers”. At the exit, it is necessary to leave “steelworkers who have lost their magic power.”
Of course, a tour to the very heart of the combine is a truly unforgettable adventure! Anyone over the age of 14 can visit its territory as part of an organized group. Applications are submitted through the museum. Already in September this year, tourists will be able to see how the largest of the 5 blast furnaces Severyanka works — by this time its major repairs will be completed.
Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant— one of the largest steel plants in the world, it is a real city within a city. It is located on an area of 55,000 hectares — with streets through which traffic flows and an extensive network of railway tracks. The length of the 2,000 rolling mill alone (the most productive mill in the country) is almost a kilometer. The company employs 24 thousand people in three shifts. The activity of the giant’s workshops should not stop for a minute. Many processes at the plant are automated as much as possible. The newest Cherepovets furnace, for example, is serviced by only 12 employees.
Great attention is also paid to environmental aspects. Coke is fed into the furnace of the plant and natural gas is injected, which has a significant effect of reducing the release of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. And the slag obtained in the production process is recycled by 98%. For example, they have already begun to make paving slabs out of it.
The birthday of the combine is considered to be August 24, 1955, when the first metal was obtained at the plant. And the “father” of this incredible giant is considered to be the Russian metallurgist, academician Ivan Pavlovich Bardin, under whose leadership the plant was built in just 1,000 days.
This is interesting: on the territory of the plant, an image of a cat can be seen on a number of buildings. It turns out that Ivan Pavlovich Bardin had a favorite cat named Thomas Edison. And now his image is a kind of talisman of the Cherepovets giant.
And in Cherepovets, you can plunge into the atmosphere of the landowner’s life of the XIX century in the Galsky estate or go for a river walk and take a photo of two famous cable-stayed bridges. Visit the Children’s Museum or immerse yourself in the history of the city in the local history museum. Enjoy the unique collection of the art museum or watch a performance at the Chamber Theater. Or you can just sit in the MuzSovet cafe on Sovetsky Prospekt or take a walk through the parks, alleys and the embankment of the garden city.
“Russian North”
120 kilometers from Cherepovets is the Russian North National Park, a specially protected natural area in Russia on the territory of the Kirillovsky district of the Vologda region. And if in Cherepovets itself only the Resurrection Cathedral remained from the monastery that once existed there, then there are 4 monasteries in the park, two of which are world famous.
A bit of history… In the summer of 1397, two monks, later canonized, Cyril (a disciple of Sergius of Radonezh) and Ferapont came to the shore of Lake Siversky with a special mission — to found a monastery, including to protect the Northern Trade Route. This is how one of the largest monasteries in the world was founded at the moment. In Russia and Europe — Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. Now it has the status of a museum, but on its territory there is an active Small Ivanovo Monastery, which has been completely transferred to the church. The territory of the monastery is really amazing in its scale and grandeur: one and a half kilometers of stone walls, 7 meters thick and 11 meters high, fourteen 40-meter-high towers.
If you climb one of the towers of the monastery, you will have a breathtaking view of the lake and the surrounding area. And the museum’s collection has more than 50 thousand exhibits. Among them are graphics, ancient Russian paintings, icons, fabrics, books and documentary materials. The inspection will take more than one hour: both to get acquainted with the interior of the monastery and to walk around its territory.
This is interesting: the place is very popular with directors and cameramen of both feature films and documentaries. The frames of the films “Born of the Revolution”, “The Monastery”, “The Apostle” and others were shot here.
About 20 kilometers from Kirillo-Belozersky, there is another Ferapontov monastery, completely unlike it either in scale or in spirit. It was founded by monk Ferapont, who worked with Cyril on the construction of the first monastery on these lands. And although this monastery is not so grandiose in scale, it has gained no less fame.
In the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Located on the territory of the Ferapontov Monastery, thanks to the 30-year work of a team of restorers, the only painting in the world of an outstanding representative of the Moscow school of icon painting Dionysius has been preserved. And that is why the Ferapontov Monastery was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2000.
The territory of the monastery is small, but it contains unique collections. So, in the refectory of the monastery there is an exposition dedicated to the history of the monastery. Here you can get acquainted with the everyday objects of monks, explore the oldest collection of icons from the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin and objects of peasant culture of the Russian North. But, of course, the pearl of the monastery remains the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, in which you can lose track of time, being in the flow of light and power emanating from the frescoes of the great master Dionysius.
This is interesting: Dionysius, together with his children, painted the walls of the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin for 33 days. And it took 30 years to restore the frescoes.
Now the temple has a system that maintains a temperature and humidity regime. Her work is constantly monitored by climate scientists. Groups of no more than 20 people and for no more than 15 minutes are allowed into the temple. All these measures are being taken to preserve the frescoes. Important: photo and video shooting are allowed.
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