When you get into a town like Torzhok you suddenly catch yourself wondering at globalization effects. Its rushing progress sweeps away all the characteristic beauty and differences between nations, towns and countries reducing everything to a unified pattern. Glass and concrete sky-scrapers wipe out the personality of the world capitals; a modern Chinese guy differs from his Hungarian counterpart only in the shape of his eyes. Common currency, common architecture, common music isnt it frightfully boring? It is a real tourists nightmare: wherever you come you find the same. Globalization is driving humanity into a tight framework of the world standards but our soul rebels and craves for variety. And we are thankful to come across some oases untouched by the galloping globalization. In their half ruined churches Spirituality is still glimmering, half dead History peeps out from unkempt nooks, and the wind brings the smells of childhood
Birds with strong wings outspread
fly easily through centuries.
Six dovesIts a tale of glory,
of feats and of life.
( A song about Torzhoks coat-of-arm)
Nowadays Torzhok is a provincial town in the Tver region; the town is bearing a gloomy mark of historic oblivion. Shabby facades, collapsing bell towers and closed churches are fraught with a thousand year history of this amazing town.
But only 100 years back it was well known all over Russia as a major industrial and commercial centre. In the eleventh to fifteenth centuries plenty of merchant ships called on its port and Torzhok even had its own silver coin Novotorzhskaya Denga. In the 18 c. the main road connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg The Tsars Road- intersected Torzhok. By the way, even now Torzhok lies way off the direct Moscow-St.Pete railway though it is situated right in the middle between these two cities. The legend has it that Czar Nicholas I when tracing the route for the first railway in Russia just drew a straight line with the ruler and it crossed Torzhok. But the local merchants who had gathered wealth owing to goods transportation by the river managed to curve a bit the main Imperial thoroughfare bribing the right people and the railroad was build some distance away from the city.
The merchant nature of the town is already perceived in its name it comes from the Russian torgovat to trade, to sell since the town has been engaged in commerce forever. This pursuit was not damped by the numerous wars and strives inherent to the city located at a commercially convenient crossroads connecting Novgorod, Vladimir and Suzdal lands. You name an invader he was there! The peaceful Torzhetsky Gorodets was raided and burnt by Batu Khan, Dmitry Donskoy, Ivan the Terrible, the poles Those last ones, by the way, did their best to the extent that the town had to be literally raised from the ashes by the uncompromising citizens determined to stay on the banks of the economically advantageous Tvertsa river. The newly built town was called Novy Torg, and the people, correspondingly, novotors. This unusual word has given rise to some amusing misprints like in a leaflet I came across in Moscow where the Torzhok residents were called innovators.
Talking of novotors, all the travellers visiting the town were amazed at the local population. You do not have to live in Torzhok too long before you notice how different local customs and clothes are compared to those in other places, says a nineteenth century guidebook. For example, this difference was noticed in the manners of local girls they treated their beaus somewhat too democratically to outsiders judgment; however, guys mostly became their husbands before long. And their clothes attracted attention by the way they affectionately retained all the details of the old fashioned traditions.
Other chroniclers savoured the local accent where some sounds were substituted for others while the speakers were proudly confident that Ah spich is de pu-west in de wold ( Our speech is the purest in the world). The tourists of the 19th century also noticed the locals frantic passion for pigeons young and old alike spent hours in the pigeon lofts and even the towns coat-of-arm reflects this affection (it bears 6 doves).
I need travelling both
morally and physically
(A.S. Pushkin)
A .N. Radishchev, a famous 18th century author of A journey from Moscow to St.-Petersburg made a stop in Torzhok and dedicated a whole chapter of his immortal book to this town. The playwright A.N. Ostrovsky showed the novotors customs in his play The Thunderstorm, a must in every high school curriculum. On various occasions other well-known personalities of the past also happened to visit this town, among them Russian authors Tolstoy, Belinsky, Gogol, Aksakov, Turgenev, Saltykov-Shchedrin and many others. But it was A.S. Pushkin, the sun of Russian poetry and the most highly rated Russian tourist that unawares gave the ace of trumps to the local tour companies. Almost all Russian cities try diligently to unearth al least some minor traces of the great poets stay in their cities. Some places, like Pskov, Arzamas, Odessa, are undoubtedly lucky enough, Moscow and St-Petersburg being the most fortunate, of courseBut Nizhny Novgorod, for example, put up the great poet for one night only, which, however, sufficed to launch a museum and start a lot of research dedicated to this period of Pushkins life.
Torzhok is fabulously fortunate in this respect since Pushkin passed through it scores of times on his journeys from Moscow to Petersburg and back. This fact contributed to the town being included in the tour called Pushkin-related places of the Upper Volga; besides it gave birth (quite by right) to a museum which was even given a memorial status and also inspired yearly festivals dedicated to Pushkin which are held on the first Saturday in June. The main advantage of Torzhok compared to other places is that the central part of the city has not much changed in the last centuries so that it looks much the same as it used to be seen by Pushkin.
All the 7 rooms of the Pushkin Museum are associated with the road topic. The exposition gives an insight into the poets numerous travels along this road and is called The Moscow- St. Petersburg thoroughfare in Pushkins life and activities. Pushkin and Torzhok. Unfortunately, the museum cannot boast of many Pushkin-related objects here, as the poet used to put up mostly at inns and left no material evidence of his stay. But the atmosphere of the 19th century travels has been captured marvellously. Of interest is the museum building an old country estate of the Olenin family, the poets friends. One more detail reminds us of the Pushkin epoch: a grave at a rural cemetery near Torzhok where lies Anna Kern whose beauty and personality inspired Pushkin to write most famous and ever moving piece of poetry. By the way, it was here that the poet saw a signboard: Eugine Onegin a master tailor; he lent his name to Child Harolds Russian brother.
But Torzhok was honoured not only by famous visiting celebrities. The town prides itself on its glorious fellow compatriots: it was the birthplace of N.V. Maievsky, an outstanding artillery scientist, S.I. Chevakinsky, the architect of St. Nicholas Marine Cathedral in St. Petersburg. A.A. Voskresensky who initiated the development of organic chemistry in Russia D. Mendeleyev, N.N. Beketov, N.A. Meshutkin were all his students. But the most resounding was the name of N.A. Lvov.
Nicholas Lvovs stone symphonies
Today Ive toiled a lot:
I visited the island and the regiment,
Ive played at school a bit
and made a landscape; I beat Kharlamov;
could one accuse me of being idle?
(N. Lvov, a humorous poem
about his regimental life )
In fact, one could hardly accuse N.A. Lvov (1751-1803) of being idle. In the 52 years of his lifespan this self-taught man of genius became known not only as an outstanding architect, but also as a civil engineer, a choreographer, a carver, a historian, a musician, an ethnographer, a botanist, a hydro- technician He is, beyond doubt, a figure of national significance. He designed the building of the Main Post office in St. Petersburg, the Nevsky Gates of the Peter-and-Paul Fortress 87 structures, all in all, in both the capitals and also in other major Russian cities. Some experts remark that Lvov regarded everything built before him as nothing but old stuff to be pulled down and substituted for new classic style buildings. We do not venture to decide whether he was right or not but Torzhok owes its inimitable look exclusively to Lvov, and a ring of gorgeous country estates created by Lvov at Torzhoks outskirts can stand next to any mansion in the vicinity of Moscow or St-Petersburg.
Beethoven and Rossini used Lvovs melodies in their works, Catherine II held him in great favour, he was the leader of the famous Derzhavin Circle of poets, made the first in Russia machine for manufacturing paper, conducted coal and turf development The limits of one article do not allow us to even list all the things this great man created. He was believed to be Fortunes pet to which he reasonably retorted: He knows the price of happiness who bought it dearly.
The climax of Lvovs architectural creative work was the revival of Torzhok s main sanctuary the Cathedral of the most ancient in Russia Borisoglebsky Monastery (1038), one of the best samples of austere Russian classicism. Thanks to his concern and good relations with the Empress the local nunnery was able to afford several more minsters and on the right bank of the Tvertsa river Nikolay Alexandrovich erected a cosy 20 column rotunda the architectural form he preferred above all others. So far no unanimous decision has been reached as to whether it is a well or a chapel, but anyway nowadays the rotunda is the gem of the town and they sell souvenirs there. In 2004, with some delay (of about 200 years), grateful novotors erected a monument to Lvov next to the rotunda.
Treat yourself to Pozharsky cutlets
in Torzhok while you are there
(A.S. Pushkin in his letter to S.Sobolevsky)
Along with elegant architectural ensembles that you cannot very well expect to come across here, besides the majestic cathedrals that hardly belong to a provincial town like Torzhok it has other special things to be proud of. First of all, the famous cutlets that used to be served in the most popular Pozharsky Inn that hosted members of the imperial family, state officials, men of science, letters and arts. In a book of memoirs we read: I had been told about this inn back in Tver, so having arrived in Torzhok I went straight there and ordered a good helping of Pozharsky cutlets Pushkin also mentioned this inn repeatedly in his letters to his wife and friends. The fame of these cutlets was so wide-spread that they were known even abroad.
Unfortunately, three years ago the unique Pozharsky Inn building burnt to the ground. Efforts are being made to rebuild it; as to cutlets, you can enjoy them at the restaurant of the Tvertsa Hotel the most stylish building in the town. We cannot claim if they are much like the ones served in Pushkin times, but they taste something terrific! But the way, snackwise, Torzhok is not very inspiring. Two or three cafes is the most you can expect to find in the whole town, and the railway station stall can only offer a frozen pizza and a pack of dumplings
Torzhoks goldwork embroidery is much more renowned than Pozharsky cutlets. Archaeological findings show that embroidery with gold threads was practised in these parts even before the Mongol invasion. Beginning from the 17th century gold- embroidered items from Torzhok steadily won Russian and then the world market. Garments embroidered by Torzhok seamstresses were worn not only by the beau monde ladies. One of the favourite dresses was made and adorned for Catherine II by the local needlewomen and they also dressed in gold the whole family of Alexander II for the coronation ceremony. Gold embroidery from Russia became the main souvenir to be taken home by foreign tourists. Trozhok gold embroidery workshops made costumes for the films War and Piece Anna Karenina. Today there is the only one in Russia school of artistic embroidery and a goldwork embroidery factory. In case you drop in, be sure to pay a visit to the exhibition hall Torzhok Goldwork Embroiderers at the factory named after the 8th of March the International Womens Day.
Coming to Torzhok a traveller has but two concerns: to meet his stomachs demands and to quench his thirst for new impressions
( from a nineteenth century
travellers notes and memoirs )
So, having appeased our stomachs demands with the cutlets, its high time to satisfy our thirst for new impressions. The fact that most sights and architectural monuments are rather tightly knit together in Torzhok is very convenient for sightseeing purposes. Walking a few steps from the bus station we find ourselves in another dimension that can be literally described by the lines taken from Odoyevskys old fairy tale called A small town in a snuffbox: Gates, little towers, a tiny house, another, a third, a fourth, all tiny and all made of gold, and the trees are all of gold with tiny wee silver leaves. And from behind the trees the Sun comes out sneaking quietly along the sky, and the sky and the little town grow lighter and lighter; the windows are burning with bright fire
Majestic cathedrals, churches, the monastery follow one another in almost continuous chain now disappearing behind the undulating landscape, now reappearing from nowhere. Whole streets, many architectural complexes of the 18th century are of invaluable historic and cultural importance. The central square with the rotunda is a well-preserved magnificent ensemble (in spite of sometimes barbaric restructuring). It houses a cosy All-Russia Historic and Ethnographic Museum. I have already mentioned the museums dedicated to Pushkin and to Goldwork Embroidery. A special trip should be spared for Vasiliovo estate, a monument of park architecture dating back late18th - early 19th centuries lying seven kilometres off the town. Lvov built a system of beautiful ponds here adorned with elaborate stones grottoes and a 100 meter long arched bridge. The final chord of this stone music piece is a series of viewing terraces offering amazing vistas of the park, the forest, the river. Nowadays the estate is an architectural and ethnographic open air museum.
Torzhoks accommodation possibilities consist of two hotels the luxuriant Tvertsa on the bank of its namesake, the river Tvertsa, and the less posh but more affordable Okolitsa at the outskirts of the town. Tvertsa has also accumulated the main entertainments serving, as it seems, the towns cultural and leisure centre.
Torzhok has a stone minster almost contemporary to the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. Next to it was later erected the famous Borisoglebsky monastery which is the towns main jewel with a host of its churches and chapels; from its walls a fascinating panorama of the town spreads before our eyes. One hitch, though, the entrance to the bell tower with a viewing terrace has long been barred it is in a deplorably dangerous condition. And unfortunately, many other buildings in Torzhok make a sorry sight. A frightening half-burnt ruin of the Pozharsky Inn has been standing unperturbed in the middle of the town ever since the fire the restoration is only just starting; pealed off paint and cracked plaster seem to be normal here
Out of 28 churches only four are active, nine have been pulled down, and the remaining 15 are in a horrifying state. Among the deserted churches Voznesenskaya (16th century) built only with an axe unaided by a saw is a real gem of the ancient Russian architecture. However, it is a relief to know that some companies (the factory of fire fighting devices, All-Russia Historic and Ethnographic Museum and others) have undertaken to restore numerous towns buildings. So, we may look forward to the time when Torzhoks golden domes will shine again and the town will welcome visitors with rainbow colours of the almost forgotten past
And in the meanwhile, years, days and hours of our life in this town were inexorably trickling away, and never in the course of subsequent visits was I fortunate enough to meet my past here again
( from a 19the century travellers notes on Torzhok)
Alena Palazhchenko
Translator Tatyana Ouglova
