La Russie au fil de l’eau de Moscou à Saint-Pétersbourg
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Discover Russia through the waters from Moscow to Saint Petersburg, on board a boat to sail on the Volga and the Neva River from May to September, allows for the unaccomplished vow of Peter the Great and to travel extraordinarily attractive and original.
Difficult to describe the magic of this cruise has the advantage of revealing some of the jewels of the Holy Russia and immediately puts us in connection with a thousand years of history. Straight out of the nineteenth century, villages, dominated by the domes of their churches punctuate the navigation is done between banks lined with thick forests of birch and conifers, familiar only to scholars of mushrooms and berries . Here frolic still preserved fauna of wolves, foxes, bears and elk, swans, cranes and wild birds. This morning when the mist clears, a light hanging over the boreal dachas. Time to read the Russian classics in which everything is already written sun tinged or playing hide and seek behind the Karelian birch, the sinner who brandishes her or the house attached to his wheel hay. But what is regrettable is the virtual disappearance of livestock and agriculture in these areas has ended, the Russians today are reduced to import their wheat and meat, while the plains could feed the entire planet.
Over the rivers, canals, lakes and 1900 km that we will go, a feeling of vastness takes you. After the hubbub of Moscow and its congestion, the boat seemed a haven of peace, a time machine. We leave the river station in Moscow, building granite and marble built in the Stalinist era in which the official ideology dictated the enthusiasm and optimistic vision of the world, a trend which was especially reflected in the architecture – to begin our circuit by the Volga River mythique dear to the hearts of Russians (3690 km), then the Lagoda and Onega lakes, the largest in Europe and, before completing the cruise on the Neva, to borrow the longest canal the world, that of the Volga to the Baltic, which opened in 1964 is actually made up of a large number of rivers and lakes dammed by man. Our first step, the next day will be Ouglitch, one of the oldest and most beautiful Russian cities experienced mixed fortunes. Local legends based its existence at the time of Princess Olga, was in the tenth century. In 1218, Ouglitch became the capital of the principality of the same name and was taken in 1238 by the Mongols who pillaged, the inhabitants massacred or carried into slavery, at least young men and women beautiful. In the fourteenth, when Moscow began to assemble the Russian land, was annexed Ouglitch but soon burned by the Tver prince who claimed possession. In the fifteenth, the city finally lived a period of prosperity, striking coins, but after the death of Ivan the terrible, it was the scene of a tragic event: the assassination of Tsarevich Dimitri on 15 May 1591, then aged for ten years, sponsored thought Boris Godonov who wanted to seize power. This drama was also a human tragedy in the history of the country since the beginning of time disorders illustrated by internal discord and foreign interventions. Our visit starts with the Church of St. Dmitry-on-Blood, built on the site of the supposed death of the little prince, canonized in 1606, that cap admirable blue domes and the adjacent palace princes privileges, built in red brick dating from the late fifteenth, where the child and his mother (the seventh wife of Ivan the Terrible) had sought refuge after the death. In 1611, Ouglitch experiencing a new period drama: invaded by the Poles, the city was sacked and the population exterminated. An estimated 40,000 casualties. After the massacre, the city is recovering slowly and it will be under the reign of Catherine II that she finally through an era of peace and prosperity. It opens a library, a theater and a museum. But the October Revolution brings change. After the construction of the hydroelectric power in 1930, the city was severely damaged: we blew the Monastery of the Intercession, and other notable buildings of the 15th, 16th and 17th century, then flooded the area. This will not be until 1952 that the restorers save what we can admire and visit today and that gives this city if proven an undeniable charm. We’re greeted by natives who, with gentle smiles, we offer flowers and crafts more beautiful than the other and have the privilege of listening to liturgical and folk songs of breathtaking beauty. This will happen several times to assist churches in a concert of religious music in Slavonic, the Russians are known as good singers than dancers.
We resume our navigation qu’égayent aboard a variety of activities including lectures on the history of Russia, concerts, courses in Russian and the pleasant privilege of walking on the promenade deck or simply rely on rail to to contemplate, in the beginning of sleepless nights, the pale pearl of a day that goes on and intensifies as we approach St. Petersburg, while arising in the indentation of a forest , the Kremlin (walls) and churches with gold headdresses. Our next step will be one of the architectural jewels of the old Russia: Yaroslavl, a city founded in the eleventh century by the prince of the same name attacked by a bear, had found refuge in this place. At the time of the Troubles, the city he founded was so important that it was the capital of Russia. Nowadays, it has become a major art centers of the country and its 600,000 inhabitants are proud of the treasures which it abounds and they continue to restore with passion. It is in the Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Savior-old nine centuries it was discovered that the manuscript of the masterpiece epic Russian: The Tale of Igor’s campaign. Moreover, one can observe two types of construction: the churches of the sixteenth of inspiration with their Byzantine dome-shaped helmet warrior and those with more modern domes are shaped bulb onion and better adapted to the Russian winter The snow slides immediately fell.
From here we return to Kostroma. According to legend, Catherine II, visiting his range would have thrown on the table for architects, giving them the idea of building the city in range around a large central square, which was done. The main resource of this city is the work of flax to your visitors in various forms: in tablecloths, clothing, finely embroidered blouses. But the highlight of the visit is undoubtedly the wonderful monastery Saint Ipatiev 8 km from the center, birthplace of the Romanov, built in the 14th century by a Tatar visited by the Virgin, whose imposing walls and five golden domes its cathedral of the Trinity is reflected in the river Kostroma. The ensemble is beautifully maintained and includes, apart from the Church of the Trinity, which houses a superb iconostasis, the hotel where the Romanovs are collected memories of the imperial family. Here, in fact, that Michael Romanov (1596 – 1645) visiting her mother, who had taken the veil, agreed in 1613 to ascend the throne of Russia, particularly critical time in the history of the country, becoming the first of a dynasty which reigned until 1917. Therefore, each new tsar, in his introduction, consider it an honor to make pilgrimages to Kostroma and and make large donations to the monastery which houses a few monks.
Shortly after our step Kostroma and Yaroslavl, we leave the Volga river to the source of numerous folk songs and literary works, which helped to build up over the centuries, the ties between different peoples living on its banks: Russians, Tatars, Mariis, Chuvash, and Mordvins proved to be a bulwark against which more than one enemy will run in vain – to enter, after passage of yet another lock in the dam of Rybinsk. The realization of this true artificial Wednesday, where 60 rivers are emptying into a reservoir 4500km2 was decided by Stalin in 1941 and caused irreversible damage to the environment. Thus whole populations were displaced, 4,000 ha of farmland inundated and 700 villages wiped off the map, giving the water a greenish color caused by the decomposition of forest lands and submerged. Popular on top of this huge cemetery, there are times when we noticed that a tower is emerging so pathetic, leaving us to imagine what were the despair of all those people forced from their homes, their town, and the strenuous work of millions of political prisoners released from gulags to engage in such hard work with their lives.
After this crossing, the boat reaches Goritsy, a region of lakes covered with thick forests and is now protected as natural park in northern Russia. The Convent of the Resurrection, where Ivan the Terrible enferma the fourth of his seven wives, stretches its buildings more or less in ruins on the shores of the Sheksna that connects the reservoir of Lake Rybinsk Blanc and a few nuns have begun to restore. But the monument by its remarkable architecture and its importance is only a few places there, the monastery of Saint-Cyrille-du-lac-Blanc. After crossing the Black Mountains, we see taking shape in his grandiose quadrilateral walls and corner towers, 11 churches preparing their bulbs to the sky and the 13 ha of garden where medicinal plants grow. Religious center as far as a stronghold, he had his fortune to its strategic location on the trade route linking the north to the center of the country and in the second half of the seventeenth up to 200 monks. After the Revolution turned into a museum, it contains priceless treasures, objects of worship and 200 sumptuous icons.
Goritsy starts after crossing the White Lake and the entrance into Lake Onega, rich berry-like narrow fjords and abundant islands – there are about 1300 – offering beautiful landscapes suffocating, especially if we look at the bow of the boat to admire in the late evening, light of white nights, from 15 May to 15 July, decline in the sky an array of white, silver and gold and pose on aquatic landscapes pearlized tones almost unreal. The next day, early in the afternoon, the profile is Kizhi Island, Pearl of Karelia, and the 22 domes of the cathedral of the Transfiguration. In the fourteenth century, the island served as a relay to the merchants of Novgorod going to the White Sea, from where they imported furs and walrus ivory. Kiji was repeatedly attacked by the Swedes and the Church of the Transfiguration was built of wood without a single nail in 1714 to celebrate the victory of Peter the Great on the Scandinavian troops. Its bulbs covered with essaules – tiles aspen wood – reflect, in turn, the game amazing the light of the sun and the moon. Half a century later the church will be built of Intercession at 9 domes, which will be added a pyramidal tower roof. On the other hand, to make this island (under the high protection of UNESCO) an open-air museum, it will carry, from the neighboring towns of Karelia, beautiful wooden buildings, including the chapel of Saint Lazarus dates from 1391 and would be the wooden church of the oldest of all Russia. The true wonder of 3m long is a jewel set on the waterfront, in a grove where alternating meadows and groves osieries elms. Around, we discovered isbas, barns, mills and bani (small buildings used for steam baths highly charged by the Russian and northern populations in general), while men and women, in this timeless setting, is engaged in traditional activities working with wood, wicker, wool, hides. To fully enjoy the beauty of Kizhi, it is advisable to isolate a moment in order to discover the fields dotted with wildflowers, the cemetery that women have with care and the village where the 50 permanent residents supplied the winter by snowmobile, as here, the winter is harsh and deep snow – everywhere with impregnable views of the lake.
The following night, we can sleep a few hours to enjoy the spectacle of the boat rolling slowly in the stupendous silence, in the middle of this interlacing islets covered with forests, sometimes emerging from behind the curtain plant, the dome of blue a church, which before we did the Svir, majestic river banks and which unites the picturesque Lake Onega Lake Lagoda. For many years, this region remained wild and almost deserted, the population fleeing the Mongol invasions. As always it was appreciated for the quality of its high wood forests, so it is not uncommon that one way to float the whole trees that the villagers use it for crafts. The Svir is characterized by swift currents, winding his bed and thick fog in spring and fall. Now everything is clear. Profound peace bathes the landscape which we delight.
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Jul 30 2009
