Susan's Shanghai Blog - Week 46

A few of us decided to take a day-trip to Dmitrov, which is about 40 miles North of Moscow. Dmitrov was founded by Yuri Dolgoruky in 1154 deep in the woods at the site where his son Vsevolod was born. Its name is explained by the fact that Vsevolod's patron saint was Saint Demetrius.

We started the day at the train station where we figure out how to buy a train ticket and made our way to the tracks. It was a true "local" experience since we rode on one of the local trains. Here is Ku heading into the train.

And my "partners in crime" so to speak, on this trip .. Ku (from China) on the left, Kris (Canadian) in the middle, and Fernando (Brazil) to the right. A very international trip!

As we walked from the train station to the middle of town, we went by this monument that we assume is for soldiers in a war, but of course, my Russian was a little lacking.

We knew we had mde it to the center of town when we got to the Earth Wall. The Wall was built in 12-14th centuries and is considered the unique monument of Russian defense architecture. Its preservation is in itself unique in Russia. The ramparts are around 13 meters high. Here you can see the wall with the people walking along the top, with the church behind it. The main town was inside the earthen defensive wall initially.

There was a square with a few statues, one being Lenin, and a really cool fountain.

At the southern entrance to the Dmitrov Kremlin is a monument to Grand Prince Yury Dolgoruky, who founded the city in 1154, made in 2001 by sculptor V.M. Tserkovnikov.

From the top of the Earth Wall, you can see how it would make a good defensive position.

The Alexander Nevsky's Chapel is a brick octahedral chapel with a tent dome. It is constructed in pseudo-Russian style in 1868.

The wooden entry gate into the Kremlin of Dmitrov. Seems a popular place for weddings or at least wedding pictures, as you have the bride there.

Just inside the Kremlin gate is the Stone of Desires and the Fortune Bridge. The legend says that the horse of Yury Dolgorukiy broke its horse-shoe running on it and there is a horseshoe stuck in a stone there. Also., walking through two huge horse-shoes and by five small ones over the Fortune Bridge you can get some luck. Similar to the bridge in Paris, there were tons of locks bolted onto the bridge.

Then from the Fortune Bridge, there is a stone path leading to the Assumption Cathedral.

The Assumption Cathedral is the chief landmark of the Dmitrov Kremlin. It was built in 1509–1523. The basis of its complex three-dimensional architecture is a five-domed, four- columned brick temple of the cross-and-cupola type with a high ground floor.

I'm not sure who the statues were, but they had a few nice ones outside.

The church has some interesting pictures/mosaics under the eaves.

Inside, the Assumption Cathedral is famous for its five-tier iconostasis with icons from the 15th-19th centuries.

On Kropotkinskaya Street, there are a set of sculptures created by Aleksey Karaulov called "The People of Old Dimitrov". First, was a svelte schoolmistress with class register and a ruler in her hands.

Next up is a guy wearing bast shoes and wool onoochas. There is a bag with some provisions on his shoulder, and a stick in his hand.

Then is a girl holding a basket with some viands and wattle bag.

Across the street is a merchantman with his wife stopped to talk a little.

And lastly, "The Nobles", although local residents insist that it's Pushkin and Natalia Goncharova.

In front of the house-museum of Kropotkin is the monument of Kropotkin by Alexander Rukavishnikov, a member of the Russian Academy of Arts and national sculptor of Russia. Prince Pyotr Kropotkin (1842-1921) was many things (zoologist, theorist, scientist, geographer) and one of the world's foremost anarcho-communists, which advocates the abolition of the state, capitalism and private property. In 1957, the Kropotkinskaya station on the Moscow Metro was renamed in his honor.

As we walked back towards the central square, there was a little park with some interesting wooden statues.

I saw this on a couple buildings, where it had the year 1154 on it, which was the year that the city was founded.

As with many places, there was an eternal flame which we assume is either just a war memorial or a tomb of the unknown soldier type of memorial.

As we headed over to find lunch, we went by this cool fountain, and saw more interesting building art.

Elizabeth Cathedral was constructed in 1897-1898 as a house temple at the prison. It's the good sample of pseudo-Russian style, having the tent construction with a belfry.

We saw this wreckage of a plane in the yard ... we kinda wondered what it was...

We stopped by a museum inside of the walls, and walked through a section. One of the things they had was what the Kremlin of Dmitrov would have looked like long ago, when you had the Earth Wall topped with wooden walls and towers.