Vologda
The Vologda Oblast is one of the biggest regions of the European part of Russia, located in between two of Russia's major consumption markets - Moscow and St.Petersburg. It is the land of monasteries and churches, magical white nights, rivers and blue lakes, a popular tourist region.
Many historic sites of the Vologda Oblast are associated with Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, the names of the monks - Kirill Belozersky, Ferapont, Paul Obnorsky and Ignaty Brenchaninov, and the renowned writers and poets - Konstantin Batyushkov, Vladimir Gilyarovsky, Igor Severyanin and Nikolai Rubtsov.
The nature is very picturesque. The lakes scattered throughout the region, the forests sprawling along the banks of slow-flowing rivers, the plains stretching away to the horizon have the charm of their own. Tourist will be captivated by the stern and romantic northern nature. There is National Park "Russian North" and the Darwin state reserve on the territory of the Vologda Oblast. The reserves contain an adundance of wilderness, wildlife and spectacular beauty. They abound with rare varieties of plant and bird life. The peculiarity of the Vologda Oblast consists in the vicinity of the wildlife which is unique in its beauty, with the ancient monuments of history and architecture.
Russian national characteristics, generosity and hospitality - are the basic Vologda character traits.
Probably this explains the demand for water itineraries in the Vologda Oblast. One of them Vologda-Kirillov-Belozersk-Vologda passes through natural reserves, the Northern Dvina Canal and timbered sluices built in the 19th century. During this tour one can get acquainted with the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery (14th century) and the Ferapont monastery (14th century). The frescoes of the Ferapont monastery were painted by Dionisius, the genius of medieval Russian art and they are included into the UNESCO world heritage. On the grounds of the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery there is History and Art Museum with a collection of ancient icon painting and applied arts, monastery books of the 15-17th centuries.
Belozesk, the most ancient city of the Vologda Oblast was first mentioned in 862. There one can see a 30-meter high earthern rampart built in the 15th century under the order of Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III. White Lake is a natural sight of the place.
Another itinerary Vologda-Tot'ma-Veliky Ustyug-Vologda leading to the eastern part of the region runs along the Vologda river and the Sukhona.
Your visit to Tot'ma, a city-museum, will leave a lasting impression. Twenty expeditions to America were arranged by the residents of the city. One of the ships that sailed to Alaska was known under the same name - Tot'ma. The image of the black fox on the city's blazon symbolizes discoveries of the local navigators.
Veliky Ustyug is a contemporary of Moscow and Vologda. In the 16th century it got the name "Veliky" (Great) for its special services in boosting trade. The city is famous for its handicraft products made of silver, flax and wood. Unique and charming are niello adornments produced by Severnaya Chern company. Since 1999 Veliky Ustyug has become homeland of Farther Frost.
Veliky Ustyug - Homeland of Farther Frost is a new tour in the Vologda Oblast. Trains from Moscow, St.Petersburg and Vologda bring to Veliky Ustyug the ever-increasing numbers of visitors.
Such tours as Vologda Traditions, Vologda Butter, Vologda Lace and the Northern City of Thebes familiarize tourists with the Russian national traditions and the culture of the Russian North.
The Vologda Oblast can boast its own "Switzerland" - the district of Vytegra which connects the Leningrad Oblast with Onega Lake. Onega is the second-largest lake in Europe next to Ladoga, having an area of 3764 sq. m. Lake Onega lies 125 ft. above the sea. The greatest depths, 318 to 408 ft., occur at the entrance to the double bay of Lizhemsk and Unitsk.
Tudoozero is popular with both children and adults and is famous for its salubriuos climate.
Next to Onega Lake there is one of the most interesting places on the planet - Atleka - the place where the basins of the Atlantic ocean, the Arctic ocean and the Caspian sea join together. This spot is accessible only for scieniists, geologists and small groups of tourists who dare to carry out independent study.
Cherepovets is a port of five seas. From Cherepovets one can make a trip by a comfortable ship to the picturesque island of Kizhi where the masterpieces of wooden architecture by unknown masters of the Russian North are collected and the island of Valaam. Cherepovets is a native city of two brothers - battle painter Vasily Vereschagin and butter manufacturer Nikolai Vereschagin. The recipe of the world famous Vologda butter belongs to the latter. A memorial museum is housed in the Vereschagins' country estate. The memorial museum of I.Severyanin, the famous Russian poet, is situated near Cherepovets.
While travelling throughout the old Russian cities and towns which have preserved intact their historical character, architecture and their original northern lifestyle you will enrich your memory with unforgettable impressions.
Veliky Ustyug is Homeland of Russian Father Frost
Russian Father Frost is a symbol of Russian tradition. The Russian New Year is closely connected with the Father Frost's personality. The project "Veliky Ustyug is Homeland of the Russian Father Frost" was initiated by Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov and Governor of the Vologda Oblast Vyacheslav Pozgalyov on the eve of the new 1999 year. The main objective of the project is to acquaint the younger generation with the Russian national tradition and the culture of the Russian North as well as to attract Russian and foreign tourists to Veliky Ustyug.
The residence of Father Frost is situated 15 km from the town of Veliky Ustyug on the bank of the Sukhona river.
It includes not only the house of Father Frost, but also comfortable cottages made of wood, a restaurant, a recreation centre with a sauna, a swimming pool and a billiard room. Here you can find all possible recreation facilities such as skis, sledges, boats, fishing-rods, ets. You can ride a horse, sing and dance in a ring or take part in special competitions.
In the town of Veliky Ustyug tourists can visit special shop of Father Frost, where they can buy New Year souvenirs and books about the project "Veliky Ustyug is Homeland of Russian Father Frost".
Both children and grown-ups in Veliky Ustyug can send post-cards and letters with a special seal and autograph of Father Frost to their relatives and friends. The post office of Father Frost, built in Veliky Ustyug, has received about 500000 letters both from Russia and from foreign countries. Children often send not only letters, but also their pictures, poems and kind congratulations to Father Frost. The postmen of Father Frost send reply letters to all children.
The joint-stock company "Frost", "New Year in the Homeland of Russian Father Frost", "Winter Holidays in the Residence of Father Frost". Thousands of children and grown-ups from different regions of Russia come to the homeland of Father Frost every year.
It became a tradition in Veliky Ustyug to organize special New Year festivals and amusing competitions both for children and for grown-ups. The winners get prizes from Father Frost and Snow-Maiden.
Special Fairs of New Year and Christmas souvenirs are held in Vologda (September) and Veliky Ustyug (December - January). Thus, in 2002 the representatives of 11 regions of Russia exhibited their products in Vologda.
The history of the Vologda Oblast is also the story of many exceptional men and women who made a tangible contribution to the might, prosperity and glory of their motherland.
The abundance of cloisters and churches on the territory of the Vologda Oblast allowed the historians to call it the Northern City of Thebes. According to the chronicle of the Russian Orthodox church 2/3 of all Russian saints were born and lived on the territory of the Vologda Oblast.
The peculiarity of the Vologda Oblast consists in the vicinity of the wildlife which is unique in its beauty, with the ancient monuments of history and architecture. The impressive architectural structures strike you by the way they fit organically in the surrounding northern landscape. Here you can step back in time to an era that exemplified grace and tranquility. The region is famous for the number and significance of monuments of architecture and archeology, museums and libraries, all the diversity of handicraft products.
Ten cities - Vologda, Veliky Ustyug, Belozersk, Vytegra, Gryazovets, Kirillov, Nikolsk, Tot'ma, Ustyuzhna and Cherepovets are historical centres of Russian significance. There are 1700 monuments in the Vologda Oblast, 661 of them are monuments of Russian history and culture.
The area that comprises modern day Vologda Oblast can be divided into three sectors - central, eastern and western. One of the places that attracts visitors is Ferapontov monastery notable for the frescos belonging to the brush of Dionisius, the genius of medieval Russian art. It is an affiliate to the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery, the largest cloister in Russia's North that was established by a disciple of Sergius of Radonezh.
The Goritsy Nunnery is one of the remarkable convents situated 7 km off Kirillov on the bank of the Sheksna river. The Goritsy Convent of the Resurrection was founded by the Moscow princely family in 1544, namely by princess Ephrosiniya, spouse of the last appanage prince Andrei Staritsky (younger son of Ivan III). The nunnery being situated in a remote district has become the place of imprisonment for spouses and relatives of the noble that fell into disgrace.
The Vologda State Museum-Preserve of History, Architecture and Decorative Arts set up in 1923 has seven affiliates. They are the house of Peter the Great, the museum of architecture and ethnography, the exhibition complex, the house of the aircraft designer A.Mozhaysky, the house of merchant Samarin, the museum "World of Forgotten Things" and the memorial flat of the poet K.Batyushkov. The expositions of the Museum include unique works of old Russian artists, manuscripts, handicrafts, commodities, coins, armoury, and archeological finds.
The Vologda Picture Gallery is located in the house that initially belonged to the Vologda diocese and was used as living quarters for the clergy of a parish. It is a two-storeyed building dating from the 18th century. The great Russian writer Varlam Shalamov (1907-1982) was born in this house and lived here untill 1924. One of his works describes historical and artistic image of the house, life of the clergy and his own family. The Gallery is situated in the centre of Vologda on the territory of the Kremlin. The baroque building of the gallery, erected in 1772-1776, is a sort of symbol of the city's cultural life. Many connoisseurs of art go through the gallery every year, making it the most frequently toured home in Vologda.
According to some archaeological facts, the history of the region dates back to the paleolitic period.The first settlements were founded along the Mologa and Sukhona rivers and near the Beloe lake. One of the first towns of the Oblast is Beloozero (862). The town of Veliky Ustyug was founded in the middle of the XIIth century. The first reference to Vologda, the center of the Vologda Oblast, dates back to 1147 the same year Moscow was founded. A saying goes that in the XVIth century the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible even intended to make Vologda the capital of Russia.
Peter the Great paid much attention to Vologda. However, after Petersburg had been laid Vologda's significance as a big transport juncture was considerably reduced.
Peter the Great favoured greatly the industrial development of Russia. In 1703 two metal working plants were commissioned in the oblast. Woodworking industry started to develop in the XVIIIth century. Wood processing enterprises of Vologda and Tot'ma supplied timber products not only to local but also to Arkhangelsk and foreign consumers. Then two glass factories were set up in Vologda and near Kadnikov.
Since the end of the XVIIth century the importance of Cherepovets, the biggest industrial city in the oblast nowadays, started to grow dramatically, particularly after the construction of the Volga-Baltic canal.
One of the prior industries of the XIXth century was the flax spinning industry. In 1851 in Krasavino, near Veliky Ustyug, a flax spinning factory was commissioned producing scarves, napkins and tablecloths that became widely spread in Russia.
Towards the end of the XIXth century a pulp and paper and wood processing factories were set up in Sokol 40 Km (25 MI) off Vologda.
Butter making became popular at that period of time. Vologda butter, as well as Vologda lace, is nowadays known world-wide.
In post revolutionary time Vologda together with all Russian people suffered the tragedy and experienced the achievements of the social epoch of great experiments. On September 23, 1937, there appeared a Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, according to which the Vologda Oblast was formed within its modern borders. The battles of World War II almost did not touch the Vologda oblast. The hostilities took place only in Prionezhye (near Onezh-skoye Lake). The front-line, established in 1941, almost did not change, till Russian troops broke through the Leningrad blockade. At that time Vologda stayed a front-line city, fatefully intended to give refuge to people evacuated from the western parts of the USSR and to recover wounded soldiers and commanders. Weakened by the horrors and hunger of blockade, the citizens of Leningrad were taken out of the city across ice-covered Ladozhskoye Lake. Great many people could not endure the burdens along the way. In honour of that tragic time a special monument was erected on the communal grave of Leningradians who perished on the “road of life”. For these three years of war Vologda remained one of the most important medical centres for three fronts. That period of the city’s history is marked by numerous memorial boards attached to buildings where hospitals were situated in war-time.
The Vologda oblast is famous for the number and significance of its historical and cultural monuments: the Vologda Kremlin; Spaso-Prilutsky, Kirillo-Belozersky, St. Ferapont, St. Michael and Archangel monasteries. Ancient towns of Vologda, Veliky Ustyug, Tot'ma, Ustyuzhna, Belozersk and Kirillov are well known all over the country.
Dionisy's frescoes in the Nativity of the Virgin Cathedral of St. Ferapont monastery are real treasure among the monumental fine art works.
Today the Vologda Oblast is one of the important cultural and economic centers of Russia's North-West. | 
