Vereya is located in the western part of the Moscow region, on the
banks of the Protva River, almost on the border with the Kaluga region.
A cozy and picturesque town with the smallest population in the
Moscow region is among the top popular places for a weekend trip from
Moscow. The rich history, military past, starting with the ancient
Russian principalities and ending with the invasion of Napoleon and
fascist troops, preserved civil and temple buildings on the steep bend
of the Protva form a small but amazingly significant ensemble of
attractions.
One day is enough to visit the city; there are no
crowds of tourists here, and this county town will surround and enchant
the traveler who loves Russian history.
Regular city and block planning arose in Vereya under the pressure of the well-known urban planning reforms of Catherine II. The main attractions are concentrated on the right high bank of the Protva near Leninskaya, 1st Sovetskaya and Krasnaya streets, and the core of the historical center is located around Sovetskaya Square. A pedestrian bridge leads to the opposite bank, to Zarechye, where private houses with carved platbands line the radial streets diverging from the Epiphany Church.
1 Fortified settlement “Vereisky Kremlin”.
2 Church of the Entry
of the Lord into Jerusalem , st. Lesnaya, 3. A monument of Moscow
architecture of the second half of the 17th century, one of the oldest
buildings in the city. The modern church building was built in
1677-1679. like the cathedral of the Spassko-Vkhodsky Vereisky
Monastery, which was abolished in 1764. The snow-white five-domed brick
church on the basement has two levels: the lower Church of the
Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, the upper - the Entry of the
Lord into Jerusalem. A hipped bell tower adjoins the church from the
north-west. A stone porch with lockers on jug-shaped pillars leads into
the temple. The church was partially destroyed during Soviet times, all
the paintings were destroyed. It was restored in the early 2010s. Now it
is one of the most beautiful temples in the city with landscaped
grounds. It is located in the northeastern part of Vereya, on the high
bank of the Protva River. There is an observation deck.
3 Vereisky
Museum of History and Local Lore, Sovetskaya Square, 18. entrance ticket
100 rub., excursions - 800 rub./person.
By plane
The nearest major passenger airport is Vnukovo; there are
no direct public transport flights. An alternative may be the Kaluga
International Airport (Grabtsevo), which is quite sparse in its route
network. K. E. Tsiolkovsky.
Plans to open for passenger traffic
and develop the Ermilovo airport, which is located near the city, have
been frozen.
By train
From Belorussky station to Dorokhovo
station or Mozhaisk station. Next, take a regular bus or taxi. It is
preferable to use Art. Dorokhovo, since it is closer to the city and
regular buses run more often
From Kievsky station to Naro-Fominsk
station, then by regular bus or taxi.
By car
Vereya is located
a hundred kilometers from Moscow, you can drive along the Minsk M3 or
the Kyiv highway M1. The Great Moscow Circle A108 runs not far from the
city. Parking in the central part of the city is located near the bus
station and the city administration building.
By bus
Buses
from Moscow and from nearby large cities arrive at the city bus station
quite often: Mozhaisk and Naro-Fominsk. Local service is available.
Comfortable buses on route No. 301 depart from Moscow (departure
from the Park Pobedy metro station) from 8.00 to 20.00, departure period
is 1.5-2 hours, travel time is about 2-2.5 hours. Tickets cost 321
rubles (2020); during the summer season, it is better to purchase
tickets in advance.
1 Bus station, Sovetskaya Square, 7.
Boarding house "Aquarelle".
The name of the city is a Slavic word meaning “posts on which gate towels are hung,” “jamb, post at the door and at the gate.” In terms of its location, the city fully corresponded to this name, being, as it were, the western “gate” of the Moscow principality. In the Code of Laws of 1497, the name of the city is written as “Vereteya” (not documented). According to other sources, the name of the city comes from the word verya, meaning in Russian the 11th-17th centuries. “a piece of land or forest”, in Russian dialect “a small wedge, a strip of meadow, field, forest”.
Vereya was first mentioned in 1371 in connection with the campaign of
the Lithuanian prince Olgerd against Moscow. At the end of the 14th
century, a fortified settlement with ramparts and a wooden fortress was
created, which retained its defensive significance until the 17th
century. In 1408 the city was sacked by the Tatars of Edigei. In
1389-1432 Vereya was part of the Mozhaisk Principality, and in
1432-1486. was the center of the Verei principality, in 1445 it was
ruined by the Lithuanians of Casimir. In 1486, Vereya became part of the
Grand Duchy of Moscow, and in 1519-1567. - was part of the Staritsa
appanage principality. In 1567 it became part of the Russian kingdom.
At the beginning of the 16th century, to the northeast of the city
in Krasnaya Sloboda on the high bank of the Protva, the Spassky
Monastery was founded, which existed until 1764. In 1610-1611,
Polish-Lithuanian troops ravaged Vereya several times, after which the
city remained desolate for a long time. In the 17th century, Vereya
gradually transformed from a fortified city into a trade and craft
center.
Vereya flourished in the 18th century, when the city became a major
center of crafts and trade. Vereian merchants concluded trade deals in
different cities of Western Europe. “The crafts in this city are
tannery, rawhide, shoemaking, blacksmithing, and in the best kindness
they knit nets and seines, for which this city is famous among others in
Russia.” Stone and wood construction is actively carried out in the
city.
Since 1782, Vereya has been a district town in the Moscow
province, and by the end of the century it had become one of the largest
district towns in the province in terms of population. The city receives
a regular layout, which has been preserved to this day: the main part of
the city is rectangular, and Zarechye is radial-circular. Vereisky
governor F.A. Polunin compiled the “Geographical Lexicon of the Russian
Empire,” published in 1773, and also translated some of Voltaire’s works
into Russian.
At the end of September 1812, after the capture of Moscow, the French
command (with the help of a sapper unit) built fortifications (palisade,
gates, engineering barriers, etc.) in Vereya, in the old Russian earthen
fortress, and stationed a battalion there to protect the Smolensk road
from the east and south. To create a threat to the rear and
communications of the patchwork, so-called “Great Army,” M. I. Kutuzov
ordered General I. S. Dorokhov to defeat the enemy garrison and destroy
the fortifications. On the night of September 28-29 (October 11), 1812,
the troops (army partisan detachment) of the chief of the Izyum Hussar
Regiment, Major General and Cavalier I. S. Dorokhov, with the help of
local residents, actually from the march from the city of Borovsk,
carried out an unexpected and decisive assault, with minimal losses for
yourself, at 05 o'clock. 30 minutes, Napoleonic troops (the Westphalian
battalion from the corps of General Andoche Junot) were knocked out of
Vereya, leveling their fortifications in the city and the old fortress
to the ground. The prisoners and wounded were given medical care and
sent to Kaluga. Around noon, they repulsed the advance of a large column
of Westphalian troops with artillery towards Vereya (from the direction
of Borisov and Mozhaisk), turning the enemy forces into a retreat.
Supplies of bread and more than 500 enemy rifles were distributed to
local peasants, organized by the Verei priest Archpriest Father John
(Ivan Nikiforovich Skobeev).
However, after some time, Vereya
again found herself in a war zone. On October 13 (25), 1812, Napoleon's
retreating army after the battle of Maloyaroslavets was forced to turn
north and soon passed through Vereya, where, during a short stop,
Napoleon met with the detachment of Marshal Mortier. Leaving Vereya, the
French burned the city.
In the 19th century, Vereya gradually lost its commercial importance
and in the second half of the century, remaining aloof from the
railways, it turned into a small county town. Residents were engaged in
trade, gardening and vegetable gardening. There was an Old Believer
community of priests in the city (continues to operate to this day). In
1865, archaeological excavations were carried out on the territory of
the Verei settlement. At the end of the 19th century, mineral springs
and limestone deposits were discovered near Vereya.
In 1913, in
connection with the celebration of the centenary of the victory in the
Patriotic War of 1812, in the presence of members of the royal family, a
monument to the first liberator of the city in 1812, General I.S.
Dorokhov (who was buried in this city), was unveiled. This monument to
the hero stood until 1918, when it was destroyed by the Red Army.
In 1929, Vereya became the center of the Vereya district. In the
1930s Holiday homes and pioneer camps appeared in the vicinity of
Vereya. At the end of the 1930s. Vegetable drying, dairy and brick
factories operated in Vereya.
During the Great Patriotic War, with German troops approaching Moscow in July-October 1941, the Mozhaisk defense line was created in the vicinity of Vereya. On October 18, 1941, during the attack on Moscow according to the Typhoon plan, units of the 20th Army Corps of the 4th Army of Army Group Center entered the city. During the occupation, the Germans captured and shot five Komsomol members. The German command turned Vereya into a defense hub. On January 19, 1942, during the Rzhev-Vyazemsk offensive operation, troops of the 222nd Infantry Division of the 33rd Army of the Western Front liberated Vereya. One of the streets of the city is named after the commander General Efremov.
In 1946-1947 A group of archaeologists from the Historical Museum
carried out excavations on the territory of the Verei settlement. Since
1954, a garment factory operated in the city. In 1959, as a result of
the consolidation of districts, the Vereya district was abolished, and
part of it, together with the city of Vereya, was transferred to the
Naro-Fominsk district.
By resolution of the Moscow Regional Duma
of April 28, 2016, the city was awarded the honorary title of the Moscow
Region “Settlement of Military Valor.”
From 2005 to 2017, the
city of Vereya was the administrative center of the municipal formation
of the urban settlement of Vereya, which was abolished in June 2017 when
the Naro-Fominsk municipal district was transformed into an urban
district.