May 22 – Yaroslavl, Russia. We have been sailing on the Rybinsk Reservoir for some time today. At the time it was filled it what the largest manmade body of water on earth, with a surface area of over a million acres. It's fed by over 60 rivers and is a vital link in the waterway from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Both the Volga and Sheksna Rivers were dammed and over 700 villages were flooded out. The dams were finished in 1941 and it wasn't until 1947 that the lake reached full capacity.
Yaroslavl is another of the historic Golden Ring cities, the largest. Now it's a major industrial city that stretches for 18 miles on both sides of the Volga River. It has a diesel engine, tire and petrochemical plants because it's at the hub of road, rail and river transportation systems. It's been an important commercial city since the 11th century. Its many 17th century churches and the fact that it's a great example of the urban planning reforms ordered by Catherine the Great have landed it the title of UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It was founded in 1010AD by the Prince of Kievan Rus', Yaroslavl the Wise. Rus' was the former name of Russia. In the 13th and 14th centuries the city consisted almost completely of wooden houses. During this time it was destroyed several times by fires, besieged by the Mongol Horde, the Golden Horde and also the Plague twice. It the 16th century things took a turn for the better, the Volga was becoming a major trade route, Ivan the Terrible came to power and supported Yaroslavl by instating a building program. It was attacked by the Poles in the early 1600 but it was not successful. The Poles did capture Moscow so for a few months in 1612 it was the capital of Russia until the Poles could be driven out of the Kremlin in Moscow.
We departed for the older part of the city. On our way we passed the very pretty red brick and white with black domes, Church of the Archangel Michael. Our first stop will be at a park near the confluence of the Volga & Kotorosl Rivers. The bus parked next to a memorial for Russian soldiers in Afghanistan. Two large blocks of granite, separated by about 20 feet and set at angles to each other, have faces carved into one corner. On one block it's the head and shoulders of a woman and the angle of the corner she's carved into has her looking at the other block. The corner of the other block she's looking at has the head and shoulders of a Russian soldier carved into it and the angle of the block has the corner looking past the carving of the woman, not at her. I'm pretty sure the sculptor meant to convey the fact that the woman is still remembering the soldier who died but the soldier is looking into the unknown or eternity if you like. A message symbolically represented in stone but all too real in the hearts and minds of many relatives of military men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and culture.
We walked across the park to an overlook by the Assumption Cathedral. The meeting of the rivers is a very pretty place. They've landscaped a park at the river level. It has a large fountain and a statue at the point where the rivers meet but I can't tell what it is. Looks like it could be Varoslavl and might commemorate the Millennium of the city in 1010.
The Assumption Cathedral is a large white building with 7 golden onion domes (five on the roof of the sanctuary and one each on the roofs of the transepts) and black roof tiles. The only real decoration is ceramic tiles around the top of the main dome's barrel and some large, colorful tiles set into façade at the base of the stairway columns.
Our bus parked at the Soviet Square right next to St. Elijah's Church and from there we'll set out on foot. Soviet Square is named for the fact that it is bounded by Soviet constructed buildings on three sides. One was the meeting place for the local Communist Party; the others were administrative building that implemented and oversaw Soviet policy. The party building is a very austere structure in grey. Corners are very square, absolutely nothing to make it seem welcoming or warm. The Hammer, Sickle and Star carved at the top of the middle windows on either side of the doorway don't add to the friendliness of the place. The one attractive thing about it is the large bronze copy of the city seal over the main entrance. It depicts a bear walking upright with a long handled axe over his shoulder. The shield he's depicted on is topped by a crown.
We went inside St. Elijah's Church and it's decorated in typical style. Murals cover almost every surface that is not already covered in icons. The murals are very colorful and clear so I suspect they've been restored lately. It icons are also very bright and the detail is very visible so they must have been restored also. The iconostasis is 7 rows tall, a new record for me. Some of the rows are very short but there are seven of them. The Last Supper is at the very top as well as its usual place right above the Beautiful Gates. Icons are painted in a very stylized fashion and unless they have symbols I'm familiar with I'm lost. Murals with actions are easier to interpret.
The first icon to the right of the Beautiful Gates appears to be John the Baptist. He's almost always depicted carrying a very small Jesus but not this time. Next to John is the Prophet Elijah in the place usually reserved for the patron of the church.
Next to the gates on the right is apparently the Dormition of Mary. There's Jesus and angels in heaven looking down on a group of women in red surrounding a woman in gold. Two angels appear to be making their way to earth to get her. Then again I could be totally wrong. The only major icon I'm sure of is the next one on the right. It's the Archangel Michael and he appears to be involved in some of the activities of the Tribulation Period.
The ceiling murals are colorful and easy to see. Not so easy to photograph, but I think I did ok. The large center panel has a scene much like the one of Mary that I'm not sure about but in this depiction it appears that Mary has arrived in heaven as all those surrounding her have the halos of saints.
We left the main sanctuary and went to a smaller space that served as the winter church. Generally the churches are not heated because the ceilings are so tall the heat would never get down to the floor anyway. They had smaller chapels off the main sanctuary that could be heated so the liturgy could be carried out through the long, hard Russian winter. Waiting for us in the winter chapel was another six-man a cappella group. Once again they were excellent. The bass didn't have the voice of the one in Uglich but he was very good. The acoustics of the chapel were great and that just added that little extra punch. In Uglich they were singing in a large, rectangular room that didn't help them at all but they were still a bit better.
From there we went to a little anteroom that was also completely covered in murals. These had not been restored lately and were much paler and more damaged than those in the sanctuary. But because we were much closer to them they were still very easy to see if not to interpret. The center panel of the ceiling was clearly a depiction of heaven. All three members of the Trinity were in one large circle of clouds at the top. Angels were flying everywhere and the saints were grouped in some way also sitting on a cloud by group. Could have been prophets on one cloud, apostles on the next, martyrs on a third, you get the idea. If I could only read Russian, the groups are all labeled but not the individuals.
From the Soviet Square we walked together for a few blocks to the city's central market. It was fantastic. The fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, baked goods and sweets were all beautiful and nicely displayed. Since the Russian trains do not have diners and the snacks available from your car attendant are limited I'm planning to stock up on some provisions for the 36 hour train ride from Moscow to Vienna. I started my collection today with about a pound of dried fruit, mango, figs, apricots, and a few things I'm going to have to taste to find out what they are. That will not be an onerous task.
There's a small brick chapel on the market square that has two domes, neither of the onion style. It's the Alexander Nevsky Chapel, the same name as the main cathedral we saw in Tallinn Estonia. The guide at the time told us that the Russians had built that church and now here's a chapel to the same guy. He was a soldier, politician, prince and after his death a saint in the Russian Orthodox Church. He was so well respected that Catherine I introduced the Order of Alexander Nevsky as one of the highest military decoration Russia had. He won an epic battle against foreign knights on ice in 1242 that resulted in their expulsion from the parts of Russia they had occupied. This was long before Western European tacticians had learned that foot soldiers could defeat mounted knights in full armor but that's what Alexander did.
Our last stop was at the governor's palace. It's a living museum to Russian art, history and culture. We were met by our guide in the foyer; she's playing the part of one of the governor's daughters. She welcomed us to her home while flanked by two officers in the local army detachment. She led us upstairs and while we toured each room told us about the art and artifacts we were seeing as well as the traditions and activities of her family that took place there. It was a very nice alternative to just facts and figures. Some of the art was extraordinary. One painting showed the Kremlin in Moscow from the corner where we entered to see the armory. The walls were white in 1879 and I remembered that our guide had mentioned that during the tour. It gives the place a much less foreboding look when the walls are white. It almost becomes a fairy castle looking affair. The artist was Pyotr Petrovich Vereschagin. Not only is the subject very nice the painting is lovely. Two other paintings caught my eye, Reading a War Telegram (to Earnings) by Leonid Ivanovich Solomatkin and A Portrait of the Mining Engineer Alexey Ivanovich Antipov by Ilya Efimovich Repen. The Solomatkin painting is Impressionistic is style and I was immediately struck by it. It's a bit unusual for a portrait to call itself to my attention but this one is really great. The face captures your attention as if the man himself were sitting there. The face expressed his personality and emotion of the moment so well it was like you could hear him speaking. Like I say, portraits are not my favorite kind of painting but this one definitely was. The last time a portrait struck me this way was when I saw Rembrandt van Rijn's Old Man in Military Costume. It used to be called Portrait of Rembrandt's Father) at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. That one stopped me in my tracks too.
When we got back to the ballroom a bit of a surprise was waiting. A classical trio of women (piano, violin and cello) was waiting to play for us. The played two familiar pieces but I can't name them. There was also a four mam a cappella group that sang. This time the first tenor was the standout. He had a marvelous voice, clear as a bell and totally controlled, no sliding into the notes. Wonderful! The other museum guide came in to join our, her sister in the play along with the two officers and they danced for us to the music of the trio. The danced a waltz, a quadrille and minuet. All done in very formal style, no freelancing. It was very enjoyable. Of course, at one point they came to get dance partners from the group and Diana was asked to do the quadrille. She loves to participate with ethnic and historical dancers to of course she didn't hesitate a bit. It was a good time and enjoyable visit.
After that it was back to the boat for some late afternoon sailing on the Volga. We are heading north and the days are getting longer and longer. It's very light at 10:30PM and the gloaming, as the Scots call twilight, lasts for another hour and a half. You can see pretty well until almost midnight.
No comments:
Post a Comment