M O S C O W Interview with Leonid Shishkin - Passport magazine

Travel
Torzhok
Text and photography by Larissa Franczek
Are you interested in architecture? Do you see, feel and enjoy
its harmony? Is your heart thrilled with delight when you
hear the names of Kazakov, Lvov and Rossi? If the answer is
yes, then take a four-hour train ride to Torzhok, a small town
in the Tver oblast. As soon as you arrive you will realize how
strongly it attracts and lures you. You keep pressing your
camera button and no matter which way you turn, understandable,
dear and loved Russian landscapes surround you.
Only the posts carrying electric cables remind you that this
is the 21 st century. If you try, you can easily find a secluded
spot on a street where there aren’t any such intrusions.
Torzhok is a marvelous example of an artistically complete
architectural ensemble in the classical style. That’s why the
town is considered to be a model of Russian architectural art
of the 18-19 th centuries. The most amazing thing is that Torzhok
has preserved its architecture almost untouched.
“Torzhok undoubtedly is one of the most beautiful towns
in Tver province. The banks of the beautiful Tvertsa river are
fine and diverse. The ancient town is located on eight hills.
Its streets and squares open a delightful panorama in front
of you. And there are quite a few architectural and historic
monuments around you that witness both sad and joyful
events gone by.” That’s what A. Ostrovsky, a great Russian
playwright, wrote in his diary about the place. I can only share
his opinion and testify to its truth.
Looking at the majestic Savior’s Transfiguration Cathedral,
the cozy churches, the Road Palace, Kamenny and Petrovsky
bridges, you feel stunned and perplexed. Finding all this
splendor and grandeur in an off-the-beaten-track provincial
town like Torzhok is surprising.
Over 30 churches, cathedrals and monasteries have been
preserved here. Services take pace in some of them; some are
closed and their interiors dilapidated. Be that as it may, Torzhok
is more fortunate than many other Russian towns. Few
churches were destroyed here during the Soviet times.
The Ascension church deserves special attention as a para-
1 June 2010
gon of wooden architecture. It is difficult to find examples of
this kind of construction which are not museums.
Talking about Torzhok’s architecture, you cannot help mentioning
the name of N. Lvov (1751-1803), to a great extent the creator
of the town’s inimitable look. He was a man of many talents:
not only a great architect, whose buildings are scattered all over
Tver oblast and other parts of Russia, but also a civil engineer, a
choreographer, a historian, a musician and a botanist.
On the bank of the Tvertsa river, Lvov built an elegant Rotunda,
the form he preferred above all others. Now the Rotunda
houses a souvenir shop and is the gem of the town.
There is a monument to Lvov right next to it.
The ancient Boris and Gleb monastery, founded in 1038
and redesigned in Neoclassical style by Lvov, was home to a
whole series of events in the history of Torzhok. The name of
the town was first mentioned in Russian chronicles in 1015.
Torzhok was conveniently located at a commercial crossroad
connecting the lands of Novgorod, Vladimir and Suzdal. It frequently
changed hands during medieval times.
In the 18th century, a land road, the so-called ‘sovereign’s
way’ between Moscow and St. Petersburg, was laid through
Torzhok. But even now there is no direct railway here, though
Torzhok lies half way between the two capitals. The legend is
that local merchants who had become wealthy transporting
their goods by river bribed the right people and the railroad
was built some distance from the town.
Torzhok was well-known in Russia 100 years ago as an important
industrial and commercial centre. Already in ancient times,
the town was a centre of gold embroidery in Russia. Some histori-