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Veliky Ustyug, the home of the Russian farther Christmas
04.05.2012 15:18
http://english.ruvr.ru/
Dan Moody
Feb 2, 2011
Photo: RIA Novosti
Today I’ll be taking you around the official home town of Russia’s Santa Claus and taking a look at the things the mythical gift giver does around the town. As usual, I’ll tell you about some of the museums, other sights and, of course, the history.
So I should start by saying that getting to Veliky Ustyug is no easy feat. The nearest train station, Yadrikha, is 50 km away, though it does connect to Veliky Ustyug by tram. You'll spend about 13 hours on the train to Vologda from the Yadrikha train station, and about 20 to get to Moscow. Limited service to the Veliky Ustyug airport connects the town to Vologda do getting there will be a bit of an adventure!
If you were to get your map out and look to the east of Vologda region, you’d probably just think it was some far off nook, cut off from civilization. But remote areas of still have some tricks up their sleeves to surprise even worldly-wise travelers. Veliky Ustyug is just one such place.
Now since I mentioned the red present-giver himself, it should come as no surprise that one of the major tourist attractions of the Vologda Region is Veliky Ustyug, or great Ustyug. This is the town is known as the residence of Ded Moroz, who is the Russian equivalent of Father Christmas, St. Nick, Santa Claus or whichever version you prefer. In Russian his name is literally means Father Frost. According to legend, Veliky Ustyug it is the starting point of Ded Moroz’s New Year travel, which he undertakes every year to bring joy and presents to everyone on New Year, not on the 25th like in the West. There are a whole range of festive events celebrated throughout the year in Veliky Ustyug. Usually you can see different contests, festivals, theater performances fireworks and sightseeing tours too.
Farther Frost’s home was originally a governmental project that was implemented under the Moscow Government and Vologda Region Administration 1998. Now Veliky Ustyug has become a vivid and bright representation of Russian culture and traditions and to boot it’s probably the most picturesque place of Vologda Region. You can see white churches, bell towers and old houses and other what you could call rural treats.
Apart from general beauty, it has many other places of interest. Since it was founded in the 12th century it is just as old as Vologda or Moscow.
Unlike Moscow or Vologda, the climate there can be a bit harsh and winters are long and cold, just the way Russian Santa likes it, and summers are moderately warm. The coldest month is January and the fixed lowest temperature was a whopping -49?C. The winter season begins, as a rule, in November and usually the last winter month is March.
Climate aside, one thing Veliky Ustyug is famous for is silver crafts. The major achievement of decorative art in Veliky Ustyug is its silver goods and wood carving masterpieces. Again, great souvenir potential. Another Russian thing produced there are valenki. In case you don’t know, Valenki are national footwear made of felt. Back in the past, Valenki were the only way of protecting your feet from the harsh cold climate. If you get your hands on a pair you’ll be able to feel just how warm they are. Farther Frost probably even wears them when he’s strolling around town.
If you do go to Veliky Ustyug then you too might want to set off on a stroll around the town since has been described as an open-air museum because there are so many centuries-old structures preserved, like the Ascension Church and Dormition Cathedral.
A good starting point for exploring the town’s historic centre is Ded Moroz’s part-time ‘residence’ where the Russia’s Santa shows up at festival times. When there you’ll get to see his throne room (because Russian Santa is pretty important guy) and exhibition room.
Ded Moroz's residence is a part of a recreational center that is suitable for both children and adults, just don’t forget to visit Ded Moroz’s souvenir shop and stock up on souvenirs of your stay. Keeping to the Ded Moroz theme, you can also see his post office that sends and receives letters from the man himself. He gets a lot of mail too, or more specifically, about 400 thousand letters from Russia. Despite most people not knowing his address, letters manage to get to him when people address them to ‘Ded Moroz’.
Coming back to the town though, you’ll be interested note the complete lack of wooden buildings, even though in the 17th century wood was the only building material available. Gradually though, as time rolled on, all the wooden buildings were replaced with stone buildings, modernized so to say. But which of the buildings should you see?
If you’re interested in the region you might like to go and visit the Veliky Ustyug Architecture-history and art museum to give you a bit of a perspective on the place. Another interesting building to see is the home of a well known merchant from the town where you can see exhibitions of all kinds of local history and examples of Russian art from the 19th century.
Well some of the churches and cathedrals to check out would be, at least to start with, Cathedral yard which is the main temple ensemble of Veliky Ustyug. The complex includes the Assumption cathedral and bell tower that dates from the mid 1600s, also another two main cathedrals and some other churches and buildings.
One of the earliest one of Ustyug’s stone architecture buildings is the church of Ascension which is something else to snap a picture of.
Probably one of the other main monasteries is the Michailo-Arkhangelsky which was founded in 1212 with the main stone buildings that were built in the second part of the 17th century along with most of the other stone work.
Moving away from churches, you might like to be a bit of nature watching, so to say. One good place to do this is the Veliky Ustyug zoological reserve. This is essentially an area of 34.6 thousand hectors that is located at the basin of the Luzhenga River. The reserve actually helped save the beaver population in the region and now it supports other kinds of animals. You can find all kinds of wildlife there.
Another nice natural area that some might like is Strelnensky forest. It’s about 70km to the south west of Veliky Ustyug and makes up an area of about 6627 hectors. Apart from some nice scenery, the forest also has some seriously old trees or 160 years old to be more exact, just make sure you visit when the weather isn’t so cold, that way you’ll be able to fully enjoy it!
But what about the history behind this Russian Santa wonderland?
Well the first mention of the town was in 1207 when it was part of the Rostov princedom. Things expanded when Rostov – Suzdal tsars decided to join their ownerships where the Sukhona and Yug meet. After their little merger the new village was called Ustyug.
Since it was built on a high bank, fenced in one side by a river and a deep ravine on the other, it made it a natural place for creating a stronghold.
In the 1320s when Ivan Kalita was governing it Ustyug was included as a part of the Moscow princedom. It was later that Ivan the terrible added the title ‘Great’, or Veliky as it is in Russian, to the name. In the early 1600s Poles besieged the town but didn’t succeed in taking it.
By the end of the 15th century the town had really turned into an important trade centre on the route to European Russia and Siberia.
Trade with Europeans was really very important for Veliky Ustyug and so were the water ways leading out to the White Sea. Thanks to all this trading, the town had become a fairly rich merchant town that was developing on and upwards. Unfortunately, as important trade points around the Russian empire changed locations, Veliky Ustyug lost its trade and transport importance. This happened with quite a few Russian towns and cities and marked the start of a bit of a downward spell for the town.
Later on in history after the Russian revolution arrived, a lot of merchants there were persecuted and industry was nationalized. As with a lot of towns, the churches were left to desolation. Active work on their reconstruction only really began in the 70s. Fortunately now, many of them are part Russia’s list of cultural heritage and are visited by plenty of tourist each year.
The real boost and revitalization came to Veliky Ustyug not so long ago, in 1998 in fact. It was the project called ‘Veliky Ustyug home of Ded Moroz’ project that put it back on the map.
This took it from a half forgotten provincial town to one of Russia’s most popular tourist towns. Summer and winter families and their kids come to visit as well as fans of Russian architecture and art. So if you have the time and fancy a bit of an adventure, you might like to see the Russian Santa’s town too!
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