The Volga is often called the main street of
The
But let us return to the source of the
settled called Volgoverkhovie (Top of the
Several kilometers from the source of the Volga
is situated
The centre of the Seliger area is a typical
provincial Russian town named Ostashkov. From its quay the steam ships depart.
The most popular excursion on the lake is an evening one. Hundreds of tourists
come to admire famous Seliger sunsets and to visit the tiny romantic island on
which the Monastery Nilova Pustyn' (Nil's Hermitage) is located.
Winding through numerous lakes and bogs,
incorporating waters of small and average rivers, the Volga, bending around
Moscow approximately
The city of Nizhny Novgorod is the third largest
of Russia. It is famous for the mediaeval Kremlin standing on the steep Volga
bank and for the constantly working exhibition of the Russian weapon. Because
of the many historical and cultural monuments here, UNESCO has included Nizhny
Novgorod in the list of 100 cities of global value. Its area is also famous for
unique national folk-craft goods: painted wooden ware from Khokhloma, knives
from Pavlovo, embroidery from Gorodets, matr'osh-kas (sets of nesting dolls)
from Sem'onov, filigrees from Kozakovo, laces from Balakhna. Nizhny Novgorod is
a city of merchants and craftsmen; it used to be so rich that it gained the
nickname «Russia's pocket». Grandiose industrial fairs have been held here
since olden times, assembling businessmen from all over the country.
The Volga city of Kazan', the capital of the
Republic of Tatarstan, is considered the centre of Islam in Russia. Every year,
more and more people visit the site of the settlement of Bulgar -which vanished
in the 15th century - where the Tatar state had arisen and Islam was accepted. Pilgrimage
tours attract not only Muslims but also Orthodox Christians. Among the sights
of the area, there are the Kazan' Kremlin, Old-Tatar Sloboda (settlement), the
Raifa Bogoroditsky (Virgin's) Monastery, small towns of Sviyazhsk and Yelabuga
with the so-called «Devil's settlement» nearby — the ruins of a fortified
settlement built by one of the Volga region tribes in the 1st millennium CE.
The most interesting architectural structure in
Kazan', S'uyumbeki Tower is the symbol of the city. Many legends are connected
to the tower. One of them says that having learned about the unearthly beauty
of the Tatar Khan's widow, S'uyumbeki, the Russian Tsar, Ivan the Terrible,
proposed her to become the Moscow Tsaritsa (queen). The received refusal became
the cause for a Russian expedition against Kazan'. Not wishing bloodshed,
S'uyumbeki agreed to marry the horrible Tsar but set a condition: as a wedding
gift she wanted a tower, built in no longer than one week and standing higher
than any minarets in Kazan'. The tower was erected by some miracle. During the
wedding feast, the bride expressed her wish to look at her native city from
above for the last time before departing to Moscow. Having climbed to the very
top, she jumped off the tower together with her small son. Ivan the Terrible,
having seen that, destroyed Kazan’.
Zhiguli Reserve and the National Park «Samara
bend» are called the Volga Switzerland. Many kinds of relict plants and animals
can be found in this area of unique nature. There you may stroll, or ride a
horse, or row a kayak on the Volga, or sail a yacht, or visit mysterious mining
galleries; as well as get acquainted with the culture of the small ethnic group
of the territory.
Great interest is caused by the numerous
abnormal phenomena observable in the territory of Zhiguli Hills. Periodically,
large spheres shining with green light appear in the sky - people call them
«cat's paws» - or triangular beams of light - «cat's ears». There are also
famous legends about Zhiguli Mirages - images of ancient cities, temples and
fortresses arising from the air.
The most beautiful and extended quay on the
Volga is in the city of Samara. It has an absolutely «resort» air, even though
Samara is a city with a population of more than one million. The tourists
coming to the city can go down into the deepest of the declassified objects of
the Second World War - Stalin's bunker - and taste the best brands of real
Zhiguli beer, the oldest in Russia, and sail through Zhiguli Gate, the
narrowest bottleneck on the Middle Volga.
In the Samara region on the Volga bank near
Mastryukovskie Lakes, for three decades, the bard song festivals have been
annually held. Romantics from all over Russia and from abroad come here in the
tens of thousands for some days to live in tents, to sit with friends at the
camp-fires and to listen to their favourite songs. The most spectacular part of
the festival is its final night concert. The stage is situated on water where a
raft in the form of a guitar has been constructed. And the spectators take
seats directly on the grass, so that the steep Volga bank starts sparkling with
thousands of pocket flashlights. Everybody joins the bards in their singing,
and so this bank is called the Singing Hill.
Many foreign tourists visit the town of
Ulyanovsk. It is connected, first of all, with a still existing interest to
Vladimir Lenin, who was born in this city. Many are attracted by an opportunity
to visit the once-closed aircraft works where Tu-204 planes are produced or the
Civil Aviation Centre, where you can work on an aircraft simulator that
completely imitates flying a plane. Besides, the visitors to Ulyanovsk discover
a lot of interesting things; that, for example, Tatars, Chuvashes, Mordovians
and the Volga Germans live here alongside Russians. And all these peoples
regularly carry out their national festivals: Kurban-bayram, Sabantuy,
Kirkhi-syra (autumn festival of beer), Kaze Mese (Tatar ritual festival of the
goose), Mostorovan' Morot (festival of
Mordovian folklore), Akatuy (Chuvash national holiday).
In Tolyatti is located the well-known Volga
Automobile Factory. But despite being an industrial centre, the town does not
suffer from any lack of clean air, all its three districts are surrounded by
woods where you are likely to meet elks and roes, foxes, hares, squirrels. One
local legend says that the pine forest located today in the downtown was
planted in the first half of the 19th century by the French soldiers taken in
captivity during the Napoleon campaign in Russia.
The city of Saratov - one of the largest on the
Volga - is located on its right-hand bank. The history of this region is
connected to the names of the 17th and 18th centuries' peasant war leaders -
Stepan Razin and Yemelyan Pugachev. It is interesting that a huge role in the
development of the city and region was played by numerous immigrants from
Western Europe, mainly from Germany, who began to come here
in the 18th century during the reign of the
Russian Empress Catherine the Great, a German by birth. Among the German
settlers, the families of well-known millers stood out for their richness: the
Schmidts, the Reinekes, the Borels. The most beautiful houses in Saratov
belonged to them. They were great philanthropists and patrons of the arts.
Across the river from the city, a few kilometers downstream, there is another
significant place. Here, near the village of Smelovka. the first astronaut in
the world, Yury Gagarin, landed on April 12, 1961.
The most ancient city in the lower reaches of
the Volga, Astrakhan is located in the delta, on several islands. It is the
centre of fishing on the Volga and Caspian Sea, where the largest quantity of
sturgeons remain (white sturgeon, Russian sturgeon, stellate sturgeon,
sterlet), comprising about 90 per cent of the world's production. The main
dainty - famous black "Russian caviar" - is exported from here
worldwide.
There are many secrets of how to correctly
prepare this dish, which real gourmets believe to be worth its weight in gold.
The best caviar is extracted from the fish caught within certain weeks in
spring and autumn at the spots where the Volga branches flow into the Caspian Sea.
After rinsing, caviar is salted in metal reservoirs. A skilled expert mixes
caviar gotten from several sturgeons, carefully selecting it by colour,
consistency of capsule and other features known only by the artists of this
skill.
The sturgeon is a national wealth of Russia. To
restore the stock of this most valuable and rare fish, 8 piscicultural
factories work in the Astrakhan region. The gainful fishing of the sturgeon and
beluga is forbidden, but sports fishing is very popular. You catch a fish,
weigh your trophy, have your picture taken with it to keep as a souvenir - and
let it go. Generally speaking, fishing is the main thing for which this place
is worth coming to.
To tell the truth, most of the delta territory
is considered reserved, therefore only licensed fishing is allowed. But you can
get a catfish up to
Recently, the tourist infrastructure of the
Astrakhan area has been developing very fast. Modern camp sites with all
imaginable conveniences are under construction for the fans of active rest, as
well as floating hotels with a set of services which can compete with those of
the best on land; and small comfortable steam ships are being equipped for
travels on the Volga.
Near the Volga delta on the border between Russia
and Kazakhstan, a unique relict plant of surprising beauty - the lotus - can be
met with in some gulfs of the Caspian Sea. Special boat excursions are
organized during its flowering, and the tourists set out to admire the lotus
fields; it is a really fantastic show.
The place of the source of the Volga was quite
definitely known yet in XVII century. Ancient state documents point out that
the Volga flows out of a bog, from under a birch and runs to the Volga lake. By
an order of the Russian tsar in 1649 at the source of the Volga, which was
considered a sacred place the Volgoverkhovsky Spaso-Preobrazhensky monastery
was founded. Now there is a cathedral of red stone in this place. The first
symbolic bridge across the Volga was built only in several meters away from its
source, though even a child can easily jump over the river in this place.
Nearby there is a typical small Russian village called Volgoverkhovie. It is a
real place of the tourists' pilgrimage, families come here from far away, and
parents wish to show their children this sacred place.
Lake Seliger is in several km distance from the
source of the Volga. It is the most famous tourist center of central Russia. It
is a lake district consisting of a chain of channels and reaches which stretch
over
Ostashkov is the center of the Seliger region, a
small provincial town. It is over 500 years old and it is famous for its
leather production. Special places of interest of the town are houses standing
almost in the water on the Old embankment. Boats run from the landing stage of Ostashkov.
The most popular excursion over the lake is an evening one. Hundreds of
tourists come to admire the famous Seliger sunsets and to visit a small
romantic island where the famous monastery Nilova Pustyn' is located, the place
of pilgrimage of all the Orthodox Christians.
One of the greatest reservoirs in the world
built by Soviet convicts has been named after this small town on the bank of
the Volga. Rybinsk was situated at the crossroads of river and railways, its
people from ancient times used to fish and deliver fish to the tsar's court,
grow bread and bring goods to Petersburg. It is believed that «the town of
Rybinsk is a corner of Petersburg». It looks like the Northern capital in terms
of street planning and look of temples and buildings.
Nizhny Novgorod is the third of the greatest
cities of Russia; it is famous for its Kremlin of the XVI-XVII centuries which
stands on the tall bank of the Volga, its fine embankment and an exhibition of
Russian arms. Since ancient times grand industrial trade fairs have been held
in the city and gathered entrepreneurs from the whole country.
Kazan' is one of the greatest cities on the
Volga, the capital of Tatarstan Republic. In its history and architectural
memorials, such as the Kazan' Kremlin, the native Russian spirit is combined
with a unique flavor of the East. The main site of the Kremlin is the Tower of
S’uyumbeki. Today Kazan' is a great cultural center where Russian and Tatar
national traditions coexist.
From Kazan' one can sail to the island where an
old town of Sviyazhsk with memorials of ancient Russian architecture is
situated. On the way one can see a monastery in the depth of a woody rock. The
nature of these lands is amazingly beautiful: rare plants grow and muskrats,
minks, wild boars and sandpipers live in the flood-lands of the Sviyaga River.
The most beautiful and the longest embankment on
the Volga is situated in Samara, one of the five cities of the Volga with an
over a million population. There have always been a lot of foreigners,
especially Germans, in this old merchant city. The acting Roman-Catholic church
has a magnificent organ. Tourists visiting this city can go down the deepest
declassified site of World War II - Stalin's underground shelter (its depth is
Zhiguli Hills, which are
Known over the world under the name of
Stalingrad, this city keeps the memory of World War II, and the main memorials
in Volgograd are certainly connected with this event: Mamaev Kurgan, the
gigantic monument Motherland, Panorama museum «The Battle of Stalingrad». But
there are other places of interest, too: the unique Church on the water,
museum-reserve «Old Sarepta». Closeness of the Volga, Southern nature, mineral
springs and sandy beaches on both banks of the Volga create wonderful
conditions for rest in this region. One can stay at the suburbs of the city, in
a Cossack stanitsa, in houses of the XVIII-XIX centuries, feel the Cossack
life, take part in ancient ceremonies and fish.
In the delta of the Volga, on several islands,
the oldest city of the Lower Volga district - Astrakhan' - is situated. This is
the center of fishing at the Volga and the Caspian Sea where a multitude of
sturgeon fish has survived (white sturgeon, Russian sturgeon, stellate sturgeon
and sterlet) which is 90% of the world's output. The main delicacy is the
famous Russian caviar, which is exported over the world.
In the delta of the Volga, at the frontier of
Russia and Kazakhstan, in the bays of the Caspian Sea, one can meet relic
plants - nut lotus and white water lily. Since ancient times in India lotus has
been considered a sacred plant. In Egypt light-blue lotuses have been
respected. But a real lotus is a poisonous plant; one can feel sick after
eating only a few nuts of lotus.
Fishing in the Delta of the Volga is just
magnificent. In the fishing season everybody is allowed to fish. No wonder that
thousands of fishermen come here for whom sailing landing stages have been
built. Fishing sporting events are regularly held. Sturgeon is the national
riches of Russia. 8 fish hatcheries work in Astrakhan' district for
reestablishing this valuable and rare species.