Mass Media Overview
Press release on anniversary celebrations in Totma, Vologda Region
29.08.2017 09:49
http://www.mid.ru/en/
18-08-2017
On August 11-13, the town of Totma, Vologda Region, celebrated its 880th anniversary. With the assistance of the Foreign Ministry, a programme for anniversary celebrations focused on events aimed at remembering prominent Totma residents’ contribution to the international prestige and influence of the Russian state, including events marking a memorable date in Russian-American relations, the 205th anniversary of the founding of Fort Ross, the first Russian settlement in California.
It is common knowledge that Totma’s history is closely linked with the exploration of the North American continent by Russian pioneers. Local merchants played a major role in organising expeditions to Alaska and the Aleutian Islands in the 18th and 19th centuries. A native of this old Russian city, Ivan Kuskov, was the founder and first governor of Fort Ross.
The anniversary celebrations were attended by Vologda Governor Oleg Kuvshinnikov, representatives of the Federation Council and the State Duma, members of the Foreign Ministry’s interagency working group for the preservation of Russian historical and cultural heritage in the United States, other officials, Totma residents and over 5,000 guests.
Packed with cultural and educational events, the celebrations kicked off with the planting of a pine alley in honour of Totma seafarers and ended spectacularly with a chimes ceremony and a video conference with California’s Fort Ross. From America, the residents and guests were warmly welcomed by the heads of the museum based at the Russian settlement and by representatives of the Kashaya Indians, who sent a delegation to Totma in 2012 to attend celebrations dedicated to the 200th anniversary of Fort Ross.
Speakers noted in particular the town’s contribution to preserving Russian America heritage and promoting scientific, cultural, humanitarian and public ties between Russia and the United States. They also praised the working contacts held within the Russian segment of Fort Ross Dialogue, an annual bilateral public, political and business forum, held this year in Pskov and Izborsk on May 29-30, 2017. There is an agreement on a Vologda Region delegation participating in the American segment of the forum in San Francisco in October of this year.