Vologda
was the last place I visited during the second part of my New Year's
holidays. It is listed in my guidebook, and is conveniently located a
night train's distance from St Petersburg. Wikipedia tells me the
2010 census shows more than 300,000 people live in Vologda.
Surprise
surprise, Vologda is another Russian city with multiple founding
dates in the city history. The oldest date is 1147, which would make
the city as old as Moscow. This date comes from a guy in 1780 who was
writing a book called 'Stories and Miracles of Gerasimus of Vologda.'
According to this book that is when the Trinity Monastery was
founded, so official city documents use that date as when the city
was founded.
Even
though this is the official city date, Wikipedia goes on to tell me
that this is the wrong date. There is no scientific evidence to back
up a founding year of 1147. Scientific evidence does back up a
founding date in the 13th century; the city was mentioned
as a possession of the Novgorod Republic in 1264.
When
Ivan IV (usually known as Ivan the Terrible,) was in power Vologda
became a center of trade, via the White Sea.
At the time, most of the
trade with foreign countries was with England, Holland, and other
western countries. In 1566 Ivan traveled to Vologda to supervise the
founding of a new fortress, on the Vologda River.
One of
the churches inside this new fortress was Saint Sophia Cathedral,
which was the first stone building in the city. Until then,
everything had been made of wood. In 1571, before construction was
finished, Ivan left the city, and never returned.
Legend says he
wanted the church demolished, as he had received a head injury when a
small rock had fallen on his head, and therefore he considered the
whole thing unlucky. The church wasn't demolished, but wasn't
consecrated until after he died.
In
1612 Lithuania took control of the city, and burned it down. Not long
after, the city was able to rebuild itself pretty quickly, and use
its location as a center of trade as an advantage to bring in money.
Vologda continued as a center of trade for a while, and when Peter
the Great became tsar he made the city host to a main military base.
Vologda
lost much of its trade importance after St Petersburg was founded in
the 18th century. The city began to decline, but when
Catherine the Great became empress it started to grow again. When
railways connected the city to Moscow, St Petersburg, Yaroslavl,
etc..., businesses and trade started to grow.
Though
Vologda is not considered to be part of Siberia, it was also a center
of exile. Wikipedia tells me famous people like Stalin and Molotov
were sent to Vologda for a time.
Near
the end of WW1 Vologda became the 'diplomatic capital' of Russia,
when some countries were worried about the safety of their embassies
in St Petersburg and moved them temporarily to Vologda. This lasted
only a few months, until the Bolsheviks kicked everyone out of
Vologda and the whole country if I understand correctly.
WW2
wasn't good to Vologda, as it became one of many fronts after the
Finnish military crossed the border. Residents dug trenches, built
bomb proof shelters, and industrial organizations switched to
military production.
After
the fall of the Soviet Union, it took Vologda a few years to sort
itself out. The political change happened in 1991, but the first
elections in Vologda didn't take place until 1994. That being said,
the city has sorted itself out, and is now the capital of the oblast.
I
arrived in Vologda before sunrise, so I sat in the train station for
a little while, staying warm and figuring out what I wanted to see/do
during the day. As soon as I left the station I saw a city sign, so I
made my first photo of the city straightaway.
From
there I walked all the way to the accomodation I'd booked.
I found
the address easily enough, but figuring out how to get in was a
different matter. There were two doorbells, and I rang them both
several times, but no one answered the door. I called the number on
the booking, which turned out to be a family member of the guy
managing the place, then they called the guy, then he opened the
door.
I got
settled in, then relaxed for a couple more hours. Eventually I went
back out, and headed toward my first sight, the kremlin. The kremlin
is the fortress I mentioned above, built in the mid 16th
century. It is still the main sight in the city, and based on the
crowd, is popular with locals, not just tourists. When I got to the
platz just outside the kremlin I found holiday decorations, as well
as a holiday fest taking place, complete with music, games, and food.
I went
into the kremlin area, noticing that one of the churches was closed
for renovation. (This probably means I'll never see the church, as
these sorts of renovations tend to take years.)
I was cold and tired,
and as it was Christmas Eve (6 January,) I didn't see much open. The
area inside the walls was actually pretty small, but I think there
are normally several museums in there.
After
leaving the kremlin, I walked toward the first of three Lenin statues
in the city. This one was the biggest Lenin.
Not
only were there three Lenins, they were all pretty close to each
other. At this point the weather was super windy almost nonstop, with
clouds rolling through really fast.
In the sun, it felt great, when
the clouds came, not so much. I got to Lenin number two just a few
minutes later, this one had his name spelled out, which I've found is
not terribly common.
Lenin
number two was on one side of Revolution Square. On another side of
the square was the 0km mark, showing the spot in Vologda from which
distances are measured. I like these kinds of monuments.
In the
platz itself was a war memorial, with an eternal flame.
Lenin
number two also wasn't far from the Church of John the Baptist, which
is where I went next. It was warm inside, the interior was quite
small.
The iconostasis wasn't exciting, but I liked the carpets
spread around the floor.
When I
walked out of the church I headed toward one of the bridges over the
river. Along the way I walked through a small park with another war
memorial in the middle, this one had names and the dates of the war.
Next
to one side of the bridge was a quirky monument. A dog lifting his
leg next to a pole is supposed to memorialize the first lamp post.
Kinda cute, kinda not.
At this point the light was starting to change
to the blue light that comes before sunset. Even though I hadn't been
out and about for very long, I decided to get dinner.
Vologda
doesn't have a huge number of restaurants, so I settled on pizza.
After pizza I found a branch of a coffee shop I'd visited in Nizhny
Novgorod, I remembered it as having really good chocolate cheesecake.
Needless to say, I was more than happy to have it again.
When
I'd left the hostel earlier in the day, the manager showed me which
doorbell to use when I came home in the evening.
I used that
doorbell, but it didn't make any sound. I called him directly, and
said I was home, and he came out to open the door. I told him neither
doorbell worked, but I don't think he understood me. Argh.
The
next morning I packed up and checked out, then walked back to the
train station to drop my bag for the day. It was a long-ish way to
go, but I didn't want to have to deal with the lack of working
doorbells and leave my pack in the hostel all day.
From
the train station I had another long walk, all the way to a big
monastery. The walk from the train station to Spaso-Prilutsky
monastery was over eight kilometers, and took me a couple hours at
least. I don't walk all that slowly, but I do stop regularly for
photos, and on this day I had to walk through snow a few times.
A few
mini snowstorms as well. The kind where everything is lovely, then
ten minutes of not seeing where I'm going, then back to clear-ish.
Not
far from the monastery I saw a double train bridge, which was just
neat to see.
I assume trains going one way went on one bridge, then
trains coming the other way go on the other bridge, but I don't know.
I like bridges, it was neat to see two of them so close to each
other.
Spaso-Prilutsky
Monastery looks like someone played with different sets of Legos to
put it together. A couple of the exterior walls are red brick, two
others are white. The various towers around the whole thing are of
different styles too. Nothing matches. Weird.
The
monastery was first established in 1371. Like most religious
facilities, the Soviet period was not good for the monastery. It was
abolished in 1924, and the buildings were used for private
residences, a prison, a depot, and a museum. Thankfully, all the
buildings were preserved, just not used as they were originally
intended. The monastery reopened in 1991, and still functions as it
was meant to.
I
wandered through the areas I was able to see, there weren't many. I
also walked along the tops of the walls, which were open for this. I
love walking on monastery and fortress walls.
Even
though the walk to the monastery took a while, in then end I was
there for just 30-45 minutes. The walk back wasn't quite as long,
since I only walked to the city center. After getting back to the
city center I went to see Lenin number three, and made a photo with
him. He stood in front of the main university in the city.
After
visiting with Lenin, I felt as if I'd seen what I wanted to see in
Vologda. I went back to the coffee shop from the day before, eating a
full meal before having another piece of chocolate cheesecake.
I was
in a seat near a plug, so I took the chance to charge my phone for a
couple hours before walking back to the train station.
I
guess I was in a cheapskate mood when I booked my ticket back to
Moscow, as I booked a seat, not a bunk. Trying to sleep while sitting
up is hard enough, it was even harder because the lights came on
every couple hours when there were bigger stops. Argh. I was
knackered when I finally got back to Moscow.
I
would go back to Vologda, though I'd prefer to do it in warmer
weather. Since this visit, I've looked at the city map, and found a
few more things to see :)
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