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In the land of the carved wooden fences
04.07.2012 13:05
http://english.ruvr.ru/
Tsarevskaya Lyubov
May 23, 2011
Photo: RIA Novosti
One of the big Soviet musical hits was a song about the city of Vologda. There were a few lines in the chorus, which loosely translated read:
Where are you, my dark-eyed beloved?
Where in Vologda can I find you?
Where, oh where, in Vologda?
At the house with the carved wooden fence.
Thanks to this song, for many Russian people, Vologda conjures up images of delicately carved wooden fence posts on cozy green streets. Even though houses decorated with carved wood and timber lace are few and far between now, they still remind of the former glory of masterful carpenters and woodworkers, which at one point made Vologda, an olden Russian city in the north of Russia, famous. Today’s program will be about the Vologda lands.
Vologda is as old as Moscow, also established in 1147. According to the annals, it started as a minor settlement on the banks of a river then eventually evolved into a town. There are two versions as to the origins of the name Vologda. The first says that it comes from the word volok, Russian for pull or heave, in a nod to the fact that ships were tugged from one river to another here. The second version suggests that the name comes from a Finnish word that means “luminescent water”.
This olden Russian city is located on the river of the same name, which flows into one of the tributaries of the Northern Dvina, the major water artery of the North.
Throughout the 13th and 14th centuries, it was a conduit for all trade between the north and south of Russia. Entrepreneurial merchants brought furs, salt, fish, wax and hemp here, and bought up high quality linens and leather in Vologda, dispatching large carts of goods to other Russian cities.
Vologda’s neighbours, Novgorod, Tver and Moscow, competed to pull this advantageously-located city into their domain of influence. The city became a real apple of discord between the northeastern princes. The most powerful of the princes, the Moscow prince Vasily I, won the fight and in the 14th century, the city joined the Muscovy princedom. The city became a gateway to the North and a Moscow outpost in the fight against foreign invaders.
Vologda really blossomed in the 16th century, largely as a result of Russia establishing trade ties with Holland and England along the northern sea route, which traversed the White Sea and the northern rivers.
The first ever English ship entered the mouth of the Northern Dvina in 1553. The ship’s captain, Richard Chancellor, was invited to Moscow by Tsar Ivan IV. During his stay in the capital, Chancellor rigorously reviewed the various benefits of trading with Russia and decided that such trade would definitely be advantageous for his homeland. And so he sought the Russian tsar’s permission for English merchants do business in his state. In 1555, Ivan IV granted a special certificate that gave the English the right to free trade in Russia, notably without duties.
The English started looking for a permanent base from where they could run their business affairs, in the end choosing Vologda – a large and conveniently located town that had ample supplies of grain and plenty of other valuable Russian goods – especially linen, hemp, wax and lard, which were twice as cheap here as they were in Moscow and Novgorod.
Moreover, Vologda traded with many Russian cities. Foreigners who came to the city noted its vastness and the great number of wooden houses and churches.
The architectural monuments of ancient Vologda are breathtaking. The magnificent Cathedral of Saint Sophia with its belfry is one of the holy places of the Russian North. It was the first stone cathedral built in the city, emulating the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. The 17th century saw an architectural ensemble spring up around the Cathedral of St Sophia – this was a bishop’s court-yard, which became known as the Vologda Kremlin. A stunning vista of the city, sprawled over the banks of the winding river, opens from the cathedral belfry.
Vologda was all wood until the middle of the 17th century. Even though time has destroyed buildings of such a respectable age, there are still many fine samples of wooden handicraft dating back to the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century in the city. Most of these constructions are finished with carving of incredible beauty and finesse. This northern area, densely covered in forests, was always famed for its distinguished woodworkers, whose masterful works, including carved window plates, shutters, gates and facades made each and every house unlike the rest.
If you were to ask any Russian person what he or she associates Vologda with, you’d probably hear: linen, butter and lace.
Flax, the fibers of which are used to weave linen, was first sowed here in the 16th century. The finest and most beautiful linen items were supplied to the tsar’s court, the peasants kept the simpler bits and pieces for themselves and whatever was left over was bought up by merchants, who sold the items in countries of Western Europe, where Vologda linens were immensely popular. By the turn of the 20th century, Russia became a leader in global linen-production thanks to the Vologda region.
Currently, 19 of Russia’s biggest operating linen-processing plants are located in the Vologda region. Experts forecast that by 2015, up to 70% of all clothing manufactured in the world will be made of linen fabrics, and the Vologda region may become a leading supplier of this valuable material in western markets.
And now a bit more about two other Vologda trademarks – lace and butter.
Vologda lace is known the world over. This unique handicraft has been around for several centuries and continues to delight people’s eye and add lovely touches to the decor of their homes. There is a museum in Vologda that you could call the museum of beauty without a stretch. This is something that has to be seen. Here is a member of the museum staff, Olga, to tell us about the inception and development of lace-making in the Vologda lands.
Lace-making had been around in Europe since the 15th century. Lace came to Rus’ in the 17th century and was always brought in from other countries. Its popularity here stimulated the establishment of domestic lace-making traditions. Vologda, which grew flax and manufactured linen, became one of the centres of Russian lace-making. Vologda lace received acclaim both in Russia and beyond. At the Paris World Expo of 1937, Vologda lace was awarded the Grand Prix for its artistic value and novelty, and in 1958 it received the gold medal of the Brussels exhibition. The refined austerity of the lace adds unique touches to dressed-up outfits and interior decor items, such as tablecloths, curtains, fabric panels and napkins. Today’s Vologda lace is first and foremost the production of Snowflake lace association, where more than one and a half thousand lace-makers work. They weave lace just like in the days of old, by hand, with the use of special needles that widen at one of the tips. Today, Snowflake produces more than 300 types of goods. This is difficult and monotonous work, so to make it a bit more dynamic, the lace-makers sing a lot. They even say that you can’t weave real lace without a song.
And now let’s talk about another kind of lace, made of birch bark. Birch is not only beautiful, it is also unique. It has always been admired by writers, builders, pharmacists and craftsmen alike. Weaving birch bark is an old Russian handicraft. The topmost layer of birch bark was sufficiently flexible and malleable for our forefathers to use it to weave sturdy, light and warm shoes, tableware and baskets for use in their homes. There is another unique handicraft in Vologda – Shemogodsky carving. Shemogodsky items, including all sorts of incredible containers and tableware can be found at the local museum.
“Shemogodsky carving started in the 18th century, in villages located on the banks of the Shemoksa river, a tributary of the Dvina,” says museum worker Yelena. “The birch bark was prepared in spring, when it swelled up and was easy to peel off. Bark was only taken from young birch trees that were less than 20 years old. It was polished, put under a press and made into a plate of 0.5mm thickness. Craftsmen continue to make special dishes and containers from it, including the tooyes, a tall lidded barrel-like bowl, which keeps tea warm and prevents milk from spoiling, and also makes for an excellent storage container for flour and grain. What’s more, goods made from birch bark also have healing properties. For example, a birch headband alleviates headaches and reduces blood pressure. Indeed, our ancestors wisely surrounded themselves with items made of natural materials and so were more healthy.”
Vologda is also famous for its butter. Indeed, Vologda butter is an indisputable national brand. Let’s delve a little into its history.
The Vologda region is the cradle of Russian butter-churning, inextricably linked with the name of Nikolai Vereschagin. After retiring from the Navy, he decided to take up farming and noted the great number of fields and pastures with their great many grasses and greenery around Vologda. It was Vereschagin who came up with the recipe for the famous Vologda butter. He thought of using pasteurized cream that had been heated to 80-85 degrees Centigrade – something that was a revolutionary breakthrough for butter-makers the world over. The butter that was made in this way had a distinctly nutty flavor and Vereschagin branded it “Parisian”, since he had previously encountered butter of a slightly similar taste in Paris. Meanwhile, foreigners had dubbed it “Peterburgian”, as it was shipped off for export from St. Petersburg. Vereschagin’s recipe was even used to make butter in a number of European countries and in Scandinavia. However, the fullness of the “Parisian” butter’s nuttiness only came through when the milk that was used came from cows that grazed in the unique natural conditions of the Vologda region. Even though the methodology was created in the 19th century, the main principles still remain. Vologda butter is expensive because its production requires four times as much milk as ordinary butter. The Vologda region is the only place that produces it right now and it is maintaining its high reputation.
Besides butter, linen and lace, the Vologda region is also an industrial haven, with well-developed iron metallurgy, forestry, wood processing and paper-cellulose production, machine building and metal processing. The products made at the Severstal metallurgy plant in the city of Cherepovets are exported to many countries of the world.
Russians also consider the Vologda region to be home to Father Frost, Russia’s version of Santa Claus. His estate with its whimsical chambers is located here, in the ancient city of Veliky Ustyug, and hosts many festivals, competitions and New Year’s celebrations. This is also where Russian kids address their letters when they write to share their New Year’s wishes with Father Frost.
Foreigners who visited Vologda in the 16th century noted the great number of churches in the city. Actually, it wasn’t just the city – the entire region had a great many monasteries and churches and was even called Russia’s Thebaid of the North, extending the metaphor of the Egyptian desert that became a settling place for early Christian monks and hermits. Monasteries played an important part in the exploration of the Russian North, because they became the hubs of material and spiritual culture in the region. The Belozersky and Ferapontov monasteries, established in the 14th century by the monks Cyrill and Ferapont, became the best known.
Because Beloozero was an outpost of the state of Moscow in the north, the monastery was not only a spiritual center for the region, but also an unconquerable fortress. The grandeur and power of its fortified walls and towers, and the golden domed cathedrals that seemed to float on the water made a stunning impression.
The Ferapontov monastery is world famous thanks to the 16th century Dionisius frescoes that cover the interior walls of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin. They have been wonderfully preserved in their original condition and even included on the UNESCO world heritage list.
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