Golden Ring to Get a New City? Ministry of Culture Might Add Serpukhov to the Tourist Route
Serpukhov might be added to the Golden Ring of Russia. The Ministry of Culture is now considering to add the city to the route. Serpukhov is one of the oldest cities. In the 90s, buildings of questionable architecture were built next to historic squares. distorting the view of the old streets. How will the city resolve the issue and how will it attract tourists?
Nikolay Vasilyev with the details.
Zagryadnyi estate was to be demolished. One of the richest mansions of the old Serpukhov is rickety and covered in ivy Even though behind its windows covered in plastic wrap it still has its luxurious painted ceilings. The ownerless estate is protected from a total demolition by a fence and concerned townspeople.
Pavel Stenchev, Russian Society for Protection of Monuments of History and Culture: "This building is not included in the list of cultural heritage although we submit an application it's been included to the territory of the Federal subject — the local Kremlin".
Serpukhov Kremlin was destroyed in the 30s. All that remains of it is a hill and Troitsky Cathedral of the XVI century, which was almost lost in Soviet times. Like many other churches of Serpukhov it's currently being restored. The Cathedral of St. Nicholas with its Support in Childbirth icon the male Vysotsky Monastery and the female Vvedensky were fully restored.
Alexia (Petrova), abbess of Vvedensky Monastery: "Pilgrims are coming from Russia and abroad. We conduct almost 200 excursions per year not counting those people who come on their own".
Believers are led to Serpukhov by the miraculous Inexhaustible Chalice icon. which appeared here in the late XIX century and helped fight against drunkenness. The Monastery also has a curious tradition from the XVII century: peacocks walking right on the snow. Tourists never pass them by.
Alexia (Petrova): "Peacocks were kept in the monastery that's how they appeared on the coat of arms of Serpukhov".
The number of those wishing to admire the temples and monasteries of Serpukhov already exceeds the number of residents: In 2017 the city welcomed 150,000 tourists. And if this small regional center in the south of the Moscow Oblast receives the status and advertising of a Golden Ring Town the number of tourists in Serpukhov might exceed 1,500,000 per year.
This is the well-known XVIII century canvas factory of the Konshin family. The production had been abandoned since the Perestroika. It required 20 years to find new owners. They promise to restore the old industrial architecture and adapt the area for housing, restaurants, exhibitions, and hotels.
Alexey Sabirullov, architect: "This should be a comprehensive development of the whole territory: the factory as a social, cultural and tourist center which will simultaneously work for the new residential area for the city and for the tourists who come here".
The Art Museum is the gem of the tourist Serpukhov. Its collection can compete with the one in Moscow: Makovsky, Vereshchagin, Shishkin, Aivazovsky, Vasnetsov.
Lyudmila Gafurova, director: "It's the first work and that makes it unique. There is also a second copy which is in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg it's larger and was painted four years later than ours".
New shopping areas are growing against the background of the cozy merchant streets where it was possible to shoot historical movies. Carvings and plasterwork are mutilated with plastic windows siding, and advertising. Claiming the status of the Golden Ring Town Serpukhov is beginning to change. Where now a stele stands with Eternal Fire burning beneath it a year ago was a waste lot.
Dmitry Zharkov, mayor: "The status of the Golden Ring Town imposes great responsibility on Serpukhov our residents, our business community Tourists who visit Serpukhov must want to come back".
How can one want to come back to Serpukhov's main observation deck if the view of the city pond is blocked by the funeral services office and the only historical building in the Neo-Gothic style is lost in the scrap yard? It seems, the former authorities valued profit from the sale of land than the medieval spirit.
Evgeny Sosedov, Russian Society for Protection of Monuments of History and Culture: “The town preserved its integrity, not only individual buildings — the famous monasteries and numerous churches — it preserved its unique landscape with the Church Mountain and the Oka and Nara river banks. And the main thing it preserved is its historical center".
For Serpukhov, the Golden Ring is not just a chance to attract tourists but also an opportunity to save the remaining color of the Russian antiquity.
Nikolay Vasilyev, Oleg Ivanov Pyotr Belenikin, Ivan Murashov and Ustinya Luskanova Vesti, Serpukhov.