Official actions
Traces of the U.S. in Vologda and Totma
23.07.2014 11:09
http://us-congen-spb.livejournal.com/
U.S. Consul General in St. Petersburg Bruce I. Turner
August 13, 2012
My Consulate colleagues and I enjoyed an absolutely enchanting three-day visit to Vologda and Totma in the very heart of Russia’s own lakes region and wilderness paradise. For the first time since I was in Turkey on my second assignment, I took an overnight train there and back. We were there not only to acquaint ourselves with the region, some of its officials, and its main historical attractions, but also to celebrate Totma’s 875th anniversary and the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Ft. Ross (derived from Rossiya, or Russia) in California by Ivan Kuskov. The Consulate also sponsored the travel of a bluegrass band to participate in a bluegrass festival (for the third time in Vologda) in the two cities. In sum, it was an extraordinarily packed but equally exhilarating agenda. Most of all, the visit offered a wonderful opportunity to delve into some of the history of U.S.-Russian relations more at the local level.
In Vologda, we attended the opening ceremony for the colorful restoration – funded in part through the State Department from its Ambassadors’ Fund – of the exterior of a sturdy log and wooden house from the 19th century that has joined an outdoor museum on the outskirts, the so-called Kopylov house that belonged to a merchant family from the region, some of the descendants of which are living now in the U.S. and who traveled there especially for the occasion.
Later that same afternoon we visited the city’s “diplomatic” museum in the very house that served temporarily as the U.S. Embassy from February to July 1918 following the Russian Revolution, when the United States and a number of other countries, including France and Great Britain, had been forced out of St. Petersburg and were deciding what to do next. Vologda was chosen because of its strategic location on the rail lines between St. Petersburg and Moscow, and to Arkhangelsk in the north. In the end, the diplomats fled to Finland, pending the subsequent establishment of diplomatic relations with the USSR and diplomatic missions in Moscow. Unfortunately the wooden structure outside is in disrepair, but the museum inside features a number of interesting objects, photographs and documents, and the personable director is a veritable treasure trove of fascinating anecdotes about their travails, including some of the tensions among the Western allies.
The following morning, after driving to the outskirts of Totma, we entered the city by boat along the River Sukhona and were welcomed by thousands to a celebration that was already in full swing, dedicated partly to the city’s anniversary, but perhaps even more so to the spirit of adventure that prompted Ivan Kuskov to explore Russia’s Far East of Russia and establish the first Russian-American trading company’s outpost in Ft. Ross. While it might seem odd at first glance that someone from one of Russia’s inland cities would play such a profound role in exploration and outreach, closer examination reveals that the ancient and established city had a history of trade and commerce, had become wealthy in its own right based on the salt trade, and had even developed its own “Totma Baroque” architectural style. Also of note is the fact that this part of Russia never instituted serfdom. The people are friendly and open, and entrepreneurial.
That evening a large percentage of the town turned out for a digital video conference with Ft. Ross, literally half-way round the world, which culminated with the ringing of bells donated to Ft. Ross by a local Totma entrepreneur and the bells of a church in Totma. An American from Ft. Ross was in Totma for the occasion, and Ft. Ross included officials from the Russian Consulate General, so there were representatives of both countries at both locations, and the ceremony featured a mix of Russian and English. It was delightful to see Russians and Americans thus united not only to share, but pledge to continue to maintain, a living link to each other.
Unfortunately there is not enough space here to go into detail about our trip to the 14th century Ferapontov monastery, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and features a small church with well-preserved frescoes covering all the walls painted by Dionysius in 1502, all completed in the span of only one month. Or Europe’s largest monastery of Kirillov, which is situated along the Siverskoye Lake and which was founded at almost the same time. There are a number of cruise lines that travel the region’s waterways from Moscow or St. Petersburg, and we noted the large number of foreigners speaking French, German, or Italian.
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