KOSTROMA
Situated at a strategic location on the Upper Volga, Kostroma played an important part in several stages of Russian history. For a time, in its early history, it rivaled Moscow in importance. A hundred years after its founding in the late12th century, the Godunov family dominated the region. The Ipatievsky Monastery, pictured here, was a major benefactor of the family's wealth and influence. The burial vault of the Godunov family is within the cathedral. In addition, the Romanov family is represented by an icon that Ivan the Terrible gave to the monastery in memory of his oldest son.
The cathedral , built in 1652, features 5 golden domes. All Orthodox churches have domes and they have symbolic importance -- one dome is for Jesus; three domes stand for the Trinity and five domes symbolize Jesus and the four gospel writers. The cross of the Orthodox Church also is full of symbolism and is sometimes referred to as the "eight ended" cross. The guide explained them all to us, but we only managed to jot down three before she finished and we moved on! The right end of the top bar stands for Jesus. The left end of the lower, slanted bar is for the thief who went to heaven and the other end is for the thief who went to jail.
Click here for more information regarding the Russian Orthodox cross.
The golden doors inside the cathedral are one of only ten pairs in Russia. The process that was used in making these gold doors required mercury which is very toxic for those working with it. Thus the process can no longer be used and the doors which remain are very rare. It's amazing that they survived Stalinist anti-church rule.
We arrived in the middle of a service and members of our group who were Russian-American and Orthodox joined in, after placing scarves on their heads. We were reluctant to take photos but were encouraged to do so.
There are a number of interesting wooden building within the monastery compound, but the "stilted" church is the most unique. Originally located near a river, the stilts prevented the structure from being damaged during flooding. Brought to this site, it took four years to reassemble.
Kostroma is considered the flax capital of Russia and vendors lining the pathway to and from the boat and in town were hawking their linen ware. Blouses, shirts, aprons, tablecloths were all offered at reasonable prices. It seems like most women on our boat bought blouses for prices averaging about $10, because many could be sporting them later that evening at dinner.
UGLICH
One of our favorite images of Uglich is the water color that we purchased from the painter. The scene is that of the town as one approaches it from the river.
Thanks to our friend Peggy Curry we have some other images of Uglich that capture our experience there. Here is one image of the approach from the water ...
and here is a closer view of the Church of St. Dmitry of the Blood (1692) As you can see, the brilliance of the onion domes is often breath-taking.
As we arrived we were greeted by a woman with the traditional gift of bread and salt, a Russian symbol of hospitality. This goes back to the time of the czars when salt was very scarce and gifting someone with it was a singular honor...
and, as at other ports, vendors were lined up along the path, from boat to town, to sell their wares.
These girls were selling hot pads.
Here is a sampling of wares that were offered. You can see the linen tops on the left. Doesn't this young vendor have a lovely face?
We visited a open market in town that was very similar to others we had experienced except for a vendor who announced he was having a "K-Mart Blue Light Special." He didn't appear to speak any other English, so it must have taken some misguided American tourist a little while to help him master the phrase.
Other items for sale included samovars, metal urns used for boiling water for tea.
Our primary memories of Uglich are of the orphanage. Here a benefactor from Seattle,who had visited previously, came back to live and has built a modern Internet cafe. Some of our group had known about the orphanage prior to our visit and had brought clothing and other items that they donated to it at the end of the trip.
And here among Peggy's pictures is a the beautiful face of a woman from whom Peggy bought flowers. She reminded Peggy of the old Russia.
Russia is indeed a mixture of the old and the new... a phenomenon to be discovered at almost every turn.
Leaving Uglich, we depart for our final destination, Moscow. But not until a mini-crisis had been diverted. One couple missed the boat and as we were pulling away from the dock, they ran down the path waving frantically. We had to dock again, allow them to board and again depart. We were glad that they weren't from our group.
As we drew nearer to our next stop, Moscow, we went through the locks of the Moscow canal. It and the adjoining lake were constructed under order from Stalin and the labor cost the lives of thousands of workers and prisoners.
On the outskirts of Moscow we saw some homes (some of which were very nice) along the banks and were told that they were the summer homes of Moscow residents. Many of these had been handed down through the generations and were treasured by the families for the opportunity they afforded them to escape from Moscow's crowds and pollution.
To our final leg, Moscow
Back to Russia Homepage
