Torzhok is a city of Russian classicism and one of the most
interesting corners of Central Russia. It is located on the Tvertsa
River, 60 km northwest of Tver. In terms of its content and
significance, this is the same Suzdal, only from a different era and
not at all spoiled by tourists, which is why magnificent
architecture is combined here with emptiness and phenomenal
devastation. However, it is precisely this devastation that gives
the city its special charm: in few places you will find so many
ancient houses standing side by side, their crumbling columns with
shabby facades reminding of both the former greatness and the
inexorability of time. And this charm is complemented by the
picturesque hills of the banks of the Tvertsa with their lush wild
thickets. In the vicinity of the city there are several noble
estates, poetic in their neglect; the best of them had a hand in a
prominent representative of the Russian Enlightenment, architect
N.A. Lviv.
Torzhok was first mentioned in chronicles in 1139
as New Torg, although the local Boris and Gleb Monastery was founded
a century earlier, and the oldest wooden pavement in the local
Kremlin dates back to the turn of the 10th-11th centuries. The city
changed its name several times and was also known as Torg and
Torzhets. It is interesting that local residents still call
themselves Novotors after the very first name of Torzhok. However,
the Torzhkovtsy katoikonim, which is more understandable to
newcomers, is also in use.
In 1238, the city was burned by
the Mongols, but then it was rebuilt. At that time, Torzhok was
located on the only waterway from the rest of Rus' to Novgorod, due
to which it could control the grain flows going there. In this
capacity, Torzhok, founded by the Novgorodians and part of the
Novgorod Republic, was especially attractive to various kinds of
princes and was repeatedly raided. Actually, the first chronicle
mention is precisely due to the fact that the city was taken by the
troops of Yuri Dolgoruky; Subsequently, the Moscow and Tver princes
also distinguished themselves. In 1478, Torzhok, along with the
entire Novgorod principality, was annexed to Moscow. The city was
destroyed twice during the Time of Troubles, but did not lose its
commercial significance.
When the provinces were formed,
Torzhok became a district center and fell into St. Petersburg, then
from 1727 into the newly formed Novgorod province, and after
Catherine’s administrative reform of 1775, for the first time it
found itself subordinate to neighboring Tver. The heyday of the city
in the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries was due to the
convenient location of Torzhok on the road from St. Petersburg to
Moscow - both on the Vyshnevolotsk river route from Tvertsa to Tsna,
and on the postal route that preceded the current federal highway
M10. However, in 1851, the railway from St. Petersburg to Moscow,
laid almost along a line, bypassed Torzhok, after which the
development of the city slowed down. In Soviet times, it became a
regional center (first of the Moscow and then of the Tver/Kalinin
regions) and acquired industry, including a carriage-building plant
that produced, for example, the ET2, one of the classic models of
Russian electric trains. The factories were built on the outskirts,
so they did not affect the historical center, which seemed to be
stuck somewhere in the 19th century and since then has simply been
quietly deteriorating, which makes it look even more historical.
Torzhok has the status of an Urban Planning Monument and, not
without reason, claims to be a tourist center.
The
architectural appearance of Torzhok was determined by two Lvovs. The
famous Nikolai Aleksandrovich Lvov (1753-1803), a native of
Novotorzhsky district, stood at the origins of classicism in the
Tver province, where he built a lot of interesting things,
determining the development of local architecture for years to come.
He was one of the ideologists of Russian Palladianism, a movement
borrowed from Italy that introduced ancient forms into modern
buildings. Lviv was especially good at rotundas, symmetrical facades
and even colonnades that “penetrated” buildings. In Torzhok, at
least the cathedral of the Boris and Gleb Monastery and the rotunda
chapel belong to his authorship. The lesser-known Ivan Fedorovich
Lvov (1797–after 1864) held the position of provincial architect and
created countless high-quality empire-style buildings throughout the
district. In Torzhok he designed a travel palace and at least two
churches.
The Tvertsa River divides the city into two almost
equal parts: the western on the high right bank and the eastern on
the low left. The banks are connected by three bridges, two of which
are in the center. The main attractions are located near the river,
stretching along it for about three kilometers. You need to set
aside at least half a day to explore Torzhok, and you can drive
around the surrounding area even with a car all day - there are many
interesting churches and estates, including those built by N.A. Lvov
masterpieces.
1 Savior Transfiguration Cathedral (1822) , st. Mednikovykh, 5 /
Novgorodskaya embankment. 1. ☎ +7 904 350-56-79. The symbol of the city
is a huge cathedral in the Empire style, built in 1812-1822. presumably
based on the design of Karl Rossi by his student Ivan Moksheev. A wooden
church has stood on this site since the founding of the Novotorzhsky
Kremlin; it burned down in 1238 during the Mongol invasion and was
rebuilt in stone in 1364. Novgorod merchants sponsored the construction,
and it is believed that the church was similar to those in Novgorod, but
no images of it have survived, but we know about the tragedy of 1372,
when many townspeople suffocated in the smoke, hiding inside from the
army of Mikhail Tverskoy. By the beginning of the 19th century, the
church had fallen into disrepair and was dismantled, and the current
cathedral was built in its place. A little later, in 1842, the
single-domed Church of the Entry into Jerusalem, designed by I.F., was
erected next to it. Lvov. It was intended for winter services and
therefore has a more modest size.
2 Boris and Gleb Monastery. One of
the oldest monasteries in the country has not looked like one for a long
time, but in appearance it is very unusual and therefore recognizable,
replacing Torzhok the Kremlin, of which only the ramparts located nearby
have been preserved. The monastery was founded in 1038 by Ephraim of
Novotorzh, who built the first stone church here - the Boris and Gleb
Cathedral in memory of Saints Boris and Gleb, whose murder became a
personal tragedy for him, since Ephraim's brother, George, died at the
same time as Prince Boris. The monastery burned several times in
internecine wars; in 1237 it suffered from the Mongol-Tatars, then it
was ravaged by the Lithuanians. The revival of the monastery took place
in the second half of the 18th century. In 1785-1796, according to the
project of N.A. In Lvov, a new Boris and Gleb Cathedral was erected in
the style of classicism; in 1804, a gate bell tower appeared, the design
of which is also attributed to Lvov. The oldest surviving building of
the monastery is the Vvedenskaya Church with a hipped bell tower (1620),
and the most beautiful is the Candle or Rose Tower (1870s). There is now
an observation deck on the Candle Tower, which allows you to admire the
picturesque surroundings for 100 rubles.
3 St. Michael the Archangel
Church (Blagoveshchenskaya) , Respublikansky lane. 1. Once upon a time,
at the fork in the roads to Staritsa and Rzhev, there were two wooden
churches - the Annunciation and the Archangel Michael. During the Time
of Troubles, both of them were destroyed, then rebuilt, in 1742 they
were lost in a fire, in 1758 they were restored as one temple, then
rebuilt again - now in the Russian-Byzantine style. The bell tower was
erected in 1887. The church acquired particular fame in the 1930s, when
the relics of Ephraim and Arkady of Novotorzh, transferred here from the
Boris and Gleb Monastery, were kept there for several years. Later the
relics were lost, but the church remained the only one functioning in
the city until 1995. The iconostasis, which survived the Soviet era, is
considered one of the richest in the Tver region.
4 Wooden Old
Ascension Tikhvin Church , Gruzinskaya st. 29. 10:30–18:00. For free.
The wooden church dates back to 1653, when the foundation of the
building appeared in the form of a log house with a gable roof. In 1717,
the church was rebuilt, and this date is now considered the year of its
“birth”: it is believed that it was then that the church acquired its
unique silhouette of three octagons stacked on top of each other.
Inside, the upper tiers of the building have preserved 18th-century
paintings made with glue paints; the painting of the lower tiers is
younger (19th century). The church is open to visitors only in summer.
5 Church of St. George the Victorious, st. Civil, 2-4. In 1692, on the
site of a wooden church, first mentioned in 1625, a stone one was built
with two altars - the upper one of St. George the Victorious and the
lower one of Sergius of Radonezh. At the beginning of the 19th century
it was rebuilt, and in 1850 a gilded iconostasis was installed in the
temple. Remains of paintings from the same time have also been
preserved.
6 Magistrate, pl. January 9, 1. One of the most
interesting civil buildings in Torzhok was built in 1768 in the Baroque
style. The house became the first city building built according to the
master plan. According to documents from the 1770s-1780s, the estate
belonged to the Novotorzh merchant Ivan Yakovlevich Kutafyev, a large
tax farmer who made a fortune from collecting government duties,
including drinking taxes. This would not have been enough to build a
mansion in the city center, but Kutafiev was helped by his relationship
with the Morozov clan of merchants. In 1770, Kutafiev married Efimiya
Chernysheva - against the will of the church, which banned this marriage
due to the close relationship of the bride and groom. And soon after his
marriage, Kutafiev went bankrupt, and even ended up on trial. The estate
was put under the hammer, and after a ten-year trial, Kutafiev died in
prison. Already in 1783, the magistrate, as well as verbal and orphan
courts, were located in the former house of Kutafiev; after the
revolution, the house was occupied by the city government and the Duma.
In 1941, the house was damaged by bombing, but was restored after the
war.
7 Trading rows, st. Trading rows, 1-4. In Torzhok, five
buildings of shopping arcades, built in the mid-19th century in the
style of late classicism, have been preserved; Local architect Plokhov
took part in their construction. Some of the buildings of the complex
were destroyed during the Great Patriotic War and dismantled; a park is
now laid out in their place.
8 Krestovozdvizhenskaya chapel-rotunda,
pl. January 9, 4. A spectacular rotunda with 12 columns stands in the
historical place around which Torzhok grew. Here, at the confluence of
the Zdorovets stream into Tvertsa, in the 12th century there was a pier
for ships bringing Russian and overseas goods to the city, and visiting
merchants gathered around the pier in almost thousands. The author of
the rotunda is considered to be N.A. Lvov (1753-1804), whose monument
was erected next door. However, during Lvov there was an old stone
chapel on this site. The rotunda was built in 1814 after the death of
the architect. In 1906, an altar and a bell tower were added to it,
turning it into a church, but during the restoration of the 1970s,
everything was returned to its previous appearance.
✦ Lunacharsky Street. The former Klimentovskaya Street was named after
the Church of Clement, Pope of Rome, standing on it. The street goes
north from the central square of Ananyin and is incredibly beautiful
with its solid classicist buildings of the late 18th - early 19th
centuries. Here you can walk almost half a kilometer without
encountering a single building even from the beginning of the 20th
century. It is this cityscape that most people who have visited Torzhok
remember.
9 Church of Clement, Pope of Rome, st. Lunacharsky, 12.
The existing stone church was erected in 1685 at the expense of the
local merchant Mikhail Mishurin. In 1835, the building was rebuilt in
the classicist style, which can be seen in the facades with four-column
porticoes and triangular pediments. And the first stone church on this
site was mentioned in 1372 on the occasion of the defeat of Torzhok by
Prince Mikhail Tversky. Before the revolution, the church was
distinguished by its rich decoration, but in 1931 it was closed, after
which it became a hostel and an atelier. Now the church is not
functioning and needs restoration.
10 House of Magnetizer
(Dolgorukov’s Mansion), Novgorodskaya embankment. 3. A noticeable
mansion on the Novgorod embankment was built at the end of the 18th
century, and the gate and barn appeared under the new owner, Prince A.V.
Dolgoruky, and the magnetizer is exactly him. The prince was born in
Moscow; in 1833, against the will of his parents, he married the
daughter of the Novotorzh merchant A.Ya. Glazunova-Molchanova. However,
a year later the wife left the prince, leaving behind a one-month-old
daughter. In 1842, the prince entered into a second marriage, which was
later declared invalid, since the first wife was alive, although the
prince claimed that in 1839 he received news of her death. The prince
himself was a very educated man, and received the nickname “magnetizer”
for his books dedicated to “mesmerism”: he was one of the first in
Russia to use psychotherapy and hypnosis to treat patients, having
learned this in France. Now the magnetizer’s house is part of the
All-Russian Historical and Ethnographic Museum, where lectures and
master classes are held.
11 Church of St. John the Evangelist, st.
Volodarsky (3 km from the center). The cemetery church on the outskirts
of Torzhok was built in the Baroque style in 1782; it was erected on the
site of a monastery that was burned in 1606. Many famous people are
buried at the Ioanno-Theologian Cemetery, among whom, for example, P.I.
Wulf is a friend of A.S. Pushkin. The ancestral tombs of Novotorzh
merchants have also been preserved here. From 1939 to 1993 the church
was closed.
How to get there: from the city center (for example, from
the Transfiguration Cathedral) there are buses 13 and 310, the last stop
is the railway station.
12 Tveretskaya embankment. The central part of the embankment serves
as a ceremonial corner of the city, so the houses here have been well
restored, and the shore has been landscaped using advanced tiling
technologies. On sunny afternoons, good lighting turns the view of
merchant mansions into a postcard-worthy view. Actually, this view only
became like this in the late 1990s, when the central part of the
embankment underwent a major restructuring: it was then that
pseudo-classicist mansions were erected on the site of houses No. 26-29.
At the same time, the rest of the houses in the central part of the
embankment were restored, and now here you can admire the buildings of
the 19th century, among which is the house of the merchant Parichka,
lined with a “boar” (No. 22), included in the publication of the “World
History of Architecture” as a bright representative of provincial
modernism . The embankment itself was inhabited already in the 12th
century, and during archaeological excavations almost two dozen birch
bark letters were found on it.
13 Ilyinskaya Church, st. Krasnaya
Gora, 9. The Empire style church with a free-standing bell tower was
built in 1818-1822 on the site of an older one. It stands on Krasnaya
Gorka and serves as the architectural dominant of the Zatveretskaya
side, clearly visible from different points of the city. In the upper
part there is a summer church dedicated to Elijah the Prophet, and in
the lower part there is a winter church of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa. In 1929,
the temple was closed; the church drum and bell tower spire were
destroyed during the war. In the 1970s, the church was restored, and in
the 2000s it was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church.
14 Travel
Palace, st. Stepan Razin, 24. The stone palace was built by decree of
Empress Catherine II in 1776 on the site of a wooden palace; the
building is made in the style of early classicism. In 1827, the city
converted the palace into a hospital, but by 1830 it found another use,
placing the headquarters of the Vladimir Uhlan Regiment in it. In the
middle of the 19th century, the palace was rebuilt according to the
design of I.F. Lvov, after which they opened a three-year women's school
in the building, which over time turned first into a women's gymnasium,
and then into a Soviet school. Now the building is little different from
ruins, but this does not prevent it from being under the supervision of
private security, which makes it inaccessible to the general public.
15 Pozharskikh Hotel building, st. Dzerzhinsky, 48. The hotel owes its
fame to A.S. Pushkin and Daria Evdokimovna Pozharskaya. Pushkin, when
passing through Torzhok, often stayed at the hotel: however, at that
time it was a different building, built in the mid-18th century by
coachman Vasily Pozharsky and which became a hotel under his descendant
Evdokim Dmitrievich. Evdokim Pozharsky bequeathed his hotel to his
daughter Daria, who knew how to please any guest. On her initiative, in
1840 the old building was dismantled and a more spacious one was built
in its place. For the new hotel, the owner purchased expensive furniture
and utensils, and most of all the hotel became famous for its
“Pozharsky” cutlets and famous guests. The golden days ended in 1854,
when, after the death of Daria Evdokimovna, all the property went under
the hammer, and the railway that passed by Torzhok did not contribute to
the growth in the number of guests. The new owner rented out the
building as a merchant's club, preserving the tavern and several rooms
for guests. In 1917, the building was adapted for the councils of
workers' and soldiers' deputies, and then its fate completely went
downhill. Only in the 1990s did the hotel come under restoration, but in
July 2002 it almost completely burned down. It was restored again only
in the 2010s. Now it is part of the city museum; the building hosts
traveling exhibitions, concerts, and performances.
16 Resurrection
Monastery, st. Stepana Razin, 32, Red Town. The monastery appeared in
the 16th century, but, as in Borisoglebsky, only buildings from the
18th-19th centuries have reached us. The monastery has seen better
times; today it can hardly be called spectacular, although individual
churches are still expressive. The Resurrection Cathedral (1800) is
attached to an earlier bell tower (1766), and the most striking building
of the monastery is the rotunda church of the Beheading of John the
Baptist, built in 1840 according to the design of I.F. Lvov. Only
fragments of the fence from the 1780s have survived.
17 Church of
the Exaltation of the Cross, Stepan Razin Street, 32. The
awkward-looking structure dates back to at least the 17th century, when,
according to the Scribe Book of Torzhok for 1625, a wooden church stood
on this site. In 1750, due to its disrepair, it was dismantled, and
instead a stone church was built with a bell tower and two chapels - a
warm one and a cold one. During the reconstruction of the 1850s, the
church was surrounded by a stone fence with a wrought-iron lattice, now
lost. In 1929, the temple was closed and they tried to give it a less
religious appearance, depriving it of the bell tower and decorative
elements - this is how it remains to this day.
18 St. Nicholas
Church, Stepan Razin Street, 74. The one-domed church in the classicist
style was built in 1784 and expanded with the addition of a new chapel
in the mid-19th century. As is customary in Torzhok, some churches were
here before; one of them was called “the Church of Nicholas on the
rapids” because of its proximity to the rapids of Tvertsa. In the 1930s,
St. Nicholas Church was closed, but now it is operating again. From the
church, in the gaps between the houses, good views of the Boris and Gleb
Monastery unexpectedly open up.
All-Russian Historical and Ethnographic Museum (VIEM). 10:00–18:00
except Mon; Every last Thursday of the month is a sanitary day. Several
museum sites in Torzhok are united under this general and rather
pretentious name:
1 Novotorzhsky Kremlin , Staritskaya st. 1. An
open-air museum with a small pseudo-historical exhibition. The only
thing that has been preserved here from the ancient Kremlin is the
embankment. Everything else, including the wooden fence with a passing
tower and the siege equipment with other decorations, was, at best,
recreated according to ancient drawings.
2 House of Russia , st.
Lunacharsky, 3. First of all, this is a merchant mansion, where the
writer N.A. visited. Ostrovsky. Today, the building is used for
temporary exhibitions and lectures for schoolchildren.
3 Museum
Rows, pl. January 9, 2. Three permanent exhibitions dedicated to the
history of Torzhok are located in one of the buildings of the Trade
Rows.
4 Hospital House, Staritskaya st. 7. In one of the buildings
of the Boris and Gleb Monastery there are three more permanent
exhibitions. The first is dedicated to the history of the monastery, the
second - to the local celebrity, architect N.A. Lvov, and the third,
using the example of icons of the 19th-20th centuries, talks about the
features of the iconographic language.
5 Ethnographic Center , st.
Lunacharsky, 21. The permanent exhibition dedicated to peasant life is
housed in a former merchant mansion of the first half of the 19th
century. On church and other old holidays, festivities and revived
ancient rituals are held in the courtyard of the mansion.
6 Museum
of A. S. Pushkin , st. Dzerzhinsky, 71. ☎ +8 (48251) 9-20-60. Wed–Sat
10:00–18:00, Sun 10:00–17:00. 100 ₽. Opened in 1972, the museum occupies
a noble mansion from the late 18th century that belonged to the Olenin
family. The name of the Olenins is associated with A.S. Pushkin: in his
youth the poet visited the literary salon of A.N. Venison in St.
Petersburg. The estate was built on the site of the old Travel Palace,
where Catherine II stayed several times. Putting all this together, the
museum’s exhibition is dedicated to travel along the St.
Petersburg-Moscow highway, and the most valuable exhibits here are
copies of Pushkin’s autographs and letters telling about the role of
travel in the poet’s life. At the museum there is a park overlooking the
bank of the Tvertsa River, from where good views of the city open up.
7 Museum “Torzhok Gold Seamstresses”, Kalininskoye Shosse, 12. ✉ ☎ +7
(48251) 9-66-10. Mon–Fri 9:00–18:00, Sat 9:00–17:00. Museum at the
Torzhok gold embroidery factory. Local gold embroidery - hand embroidery
with metal gilded and silver threads - has been known since the 10th
century, exists to this day and is actively developing: along with
souvenir products, army insignia are made here and other government
orders are fulfilled. The museum contains the best examples of ancient
and modern embroidery; samples can be bought in a special store.
8 Helicopter Museum, st. Engels. ☎ +7 (48251) 5-58-26. If you find
yourself in Torzhok on a fine summer day, be sure to pay attention to
the helicopters circling over the city. They belong to the Army Aviation
Flight Training Center, and the center has a museum displaying more than
a dozen combat vehicles, starting with the Mi-1 helicopter. Viewing of
the exhibition is possible only as part of a guided tour, which can be
signed up for on the museum’s website. Children under 7th grade are not
allowed into the museum.
By train
Torzhok is located a little away from the Moscow-St.
Petersburg highway, on the local line in the direction of Rzhev. The
easiest way to get from Moscow is by approved Lastochka with a
convenient transfer in Tver. Tickets for the Lastochka from Tver to
Torzhok can be immediately purchased in Moscow at the Leningradsky
station or in the Russian Railways Passengers application; similarly,
tickets from Tver to Moscow are sold at the Torzhok station. This will
allow you, upon arrival in Tver, without crossing the turnstiles, to
simply move to another platform and after 10-40 minutes leave in the
desired direction.
You can also travel from St. Petersburg with a
transfer to Tver. In addition, there is a long-distance train from St.
Petersburg to Smolensk (3 times a week, 6 times a week in summer),
arriving in Torzhok at 4 am.
There are 7 trains a day from Tver
to Torzhok: these are the already mentioned Swallows and regular
electric trains, travel time: 1-1.5 hours. There is also a commuter
train from Rzhev via Staritsa twice a day, the journey takes 2.5 hours .
There is no passenger traffic towards Kuvshinovo and Ostashkov.
1 Railway station, Vokzalnaya st. (on the eastern outskirts of the
city). A typical station built in 1960 with a buffet and a waiting room.
Near the station building, in the parking lot there are kiosks with food
and essential goods. You can walk 1.5 km to the center or take a taxi:
taxi drivers gather at the Lastochka station at the station; travel
around the city costs no more than 100-120 rubles. City buses do not go
to the station, and commuter buses passing through the center occur no
more than a couple of times a day.
By car
The “old” highway
between Moscow and St. Petersburg (M10 “Russia”) runs along the eastern
outskirts of Torzhok. The new toll highway M11 runs further east,
intersecting with the old highway 25-30 km from the city. To Moscow 230
km, to St. Petersburg 470 km, to Tver 65 km towards Moscow, to Vyshny
Volochyok - 70 km towards St. Petersburg.
Local roads connect
Torzhok with Ostashkov (130 km) and Staritsa (110 km; unlike the
railway, the road does not go quite in a straight line).
By bus
From Tver, buses depart approximately once every 1-1.5 hours, the
journey is about the same (there are both large buses of the Upper Volga
Region Transport and “Autoexpress” minibuses). Some of them go further
to Vyshny Volochyok (1 hour), Ostashkov (1.5-2.5 hours) or other cities
in the north and west of the region. If you are coming from Ostashkov or
Volochok by minibus, be sure to warn the driver that you need to get off
in Torzhok, otherwise he may not stop anywhere in the city or may not
enter it at all. There are no direct buses to Staritsa, but you can try
to travel with a transfer to Bernovo (look for a bus in Torzhok to
Voropuni, 1-2 times a day).
Long-distance buses from Moscow and
St. Petersburg pass Torzhok along the bypass.
2 Stop on
Ilyinskaya Square, st. Krasnaya Gora, 26. The main stop of the city,
where commuter and city buses arrive. There is no bus station in Torzhok
now.
Public transport is represented by buses and minibuses; traffic patterns and schedules are available on the city administration website. Once you've reached the center, you probably won't need public transport to see the main attractions. For long trips, you can order a taxi, including through the Yandex application.
The exhibition hall of the Torzhok Gold Seamstresses museum is also a
company store. Along with goods from the local factory, you can purchase
products from other parts of Russia (Gzhel, Orenburg down scarves,
Zlatoust knives, etc.)
1 Market, st. Volodarsky. 8:00–16:00. An
ordinary small market in an average regional center: you can buy fresh
meat and vegetables.
2 Supermarket “Magnit”, st. Trading Rows, 1.
8:00–22:00. The most convenient option in the city center.
The pride of Torzhok is Pozharsky cutlets fried in breadcrumbs,
invented by local innkeeper Evgraf Pozharsky. They were highly
appreciated by Pushkin, who was passing through the city (At your
leisure, dine // at Pozharsky’s in Torzhok, // Try fried cutlets // And
go light), although cutlets owe their popularity in Russian cuisine to
Nicholas I, who also dined in Torzhok and either ordered then cook these
cutlets at court, or his retinue themselves noticed the dish the emperor
liked. It’s hard to say what cutlets were like before, but the current
Novotorzh recipe differs little from the Soviet mass standard, so don’t
expect anything special from them.
Another gastronomic brand of
the city is the recently invented Novotorzhskaya pastila. The creators
claim that this recipe for berry marshmallows rolled into small rolls
existed in the city before the revolution. The marshmallow looks very
impressive and is gradually penetrating into city cafes, although it is
expensive, much more expensive than the usual Belyovsky one.
Cheap
1 Cafe “Nadezhda”, st. Lunacharsky 29. 8:00–18:00. Average
check: 200-250 rub. Regular diner, good reviews.
2 Monastery
refectory, Staritskaya st. 9A. 8:00–18:00, Fri and Sat: until 19:00.
Average check: 200-300 rubles. A good option for a quick and cheap lunch
if you are walking around the Boris and Gleb Monastery. In addition, the
refectory is located in a historical building, so you can at the same
time examine it from the inside. They only accept cash.
3 Dining
room No. 1, Tveretskaya embankment, 22 (In the center near the
pedestrian bridge in a modern building). 9:30–17:00. This is not a
branch of the chain of the same name, but in all respects it is an
establishment of the same type: an ordinary canteen where you can eat
quickly and relatively tasty. Reviews are mostly positive.
4 Dining
room No. 2 , st. Dzerzhinsky, 72. 9:00–19:00. Average check: 300 rub.
The second establishment under the same sign: a good dining room where
both travelers who are always in a hurry somewhere and local residents
who often take food with them can dine.
Average cost
5 Cafe
“Five Stars”, Konnaya st. 16A. 11:00–22:00. Average bill: 300-800 rub.
It looks like a canteen, but in fact it is more of a cafe with service.
Conflicting reviews.
6 Cafe “Ambar” , Novgorodskaya embankment. 2A.
Mon–Thu 10:00–20:00, Fri–Sun 10:00–22:00. Another cafe with an antique
feel, this time in the style of a barn with brick walls. Stylish,
reasonable prices.
7 Cafe “Yurves”, st. Mira, 34. 12:00–22:00.
Average bill from 400 rub. In an ordinary ordinary district center this
would be a good restaurant, but in Torzhok it doesn’t quite stand up to
the competition.
8 Deep House Cafe, st. Trading Rows, 2. 9:00–23:00.
700-1000 rub. A cafe with a non-local name offers equally non-local
food: nicoise with tuna and syrniki with hazelnuts and caramel, although
Pozharsky cutlets are also available here. An interesting and healthy
snack is croissant-based sandwiches. Visitors are generally satisfied.
9 Restaurant “Onyx” , st. Mednikovykh, 4. Mon–Fri 7:00–23:00, Sat–Sun
8:00–23:00. Hot: from 400 ₽. Of all the restaurants in the city, this is
the most intimate, and here there is a higher probability that loud
music will not be played in the evening. The menu has a touch of Russian
cuisine, the sticker on the door confidently declares “Here are the best
Pozharsky cutlets in the city”; Moreover, there are even several types
of them - for example, with and without a side dish. In summer it is
nice to sit on the open terrace facing the courtyard. In the mornings,
the restaurant opens earlier than others and offers good breakfasts.
Coffee and sweets
10 Coffee house “U Pozharsky in Torzhok”, st.
Dzerzhinsky, 48. 10:00–20:00. Located in the famous Pozharsky hotel -
not the one where A.S. stayed. Pushkin, but to her direct heir. The
interior has an antique look. At one time they tried to open a
restaurant here, but now it’s just a coffee shop with a modest selection
of desserts and several types of tea and coffee. The entrance to the
cafe is preceded by a large room with Novotorzh majolica for sale.
11 Coffee house “Angelov” , st. Krasnaya Gora, 3. 10:00–22:00. Average
check: 200 rub. According to the creators, this is “the world’s first
fairytale where fairy tales are served for free, and coffee and cake are
just a pleasant addition to the amazing stories.” The interior is
original, visitors praise the meat and fish pies and are mostly
satisfied.
12 Cafe “Quicksand” , st. Krasnaya Gora, 24. 9:00–22:00.
Average check: 250 rub. Behind some non-local name hides a tiny coffee
shop, the creators of which claim that they make coffee from their own
roasted beans and offer a dozen types of sweets along with pies. There's
not much space inside; The establishment is more designed for those who
take coffee to go.
1 Night club “Trinity” , st. Krasnoarmeyskaya, 33. ☎ +7 (915) 749–55–50. Sun–Thu 12:00–23:00, Fri–Sat 12:00–4:00. The only nightclub in Torzhok with a dance floor and karaoke. The only alcoholic drink is beer. During the day it operates as a cafe with delivery throughout the city.
1 Hotel “Onix Torzhok”, st. Mednikovykh, 4. ✉ ☎ +7 (4822) 36-82-06.
Single/double: 3450/4100 RUR, more expensive on weekends. Located in the
historical center of the city within walking distance of the most
interesting attractions. The hotel building is a monument of history and
architecture of the 18th-19th centuries, which is not at all felt in the
rooms, which have everything you need. In the hotel lobby there is a
small museum exhibition consisting of household items and decorations
from the 12th-14th centuries, found by archaeologists at the site of the
restaurant. An impressive breakfast is included in the price. There is
Wi-Fi, but the signal is so-so.
2 Hotel “Okolitsa” , Leningradskoye
Shosse, 10A. By Torzhok standards, the hotel is located far from the
center and main attractions: the distance to any of them is from two to
three kilometers. Standard amenities, free WiFi, parking available.
3 Hotel “Torzhok”, st. Vokzalnaya, 6. ☎ +7 (915) 715-00-27. Double
room: 3000 ₽. A new, and by Torzhok standards, a large hotel a couple of
blocks from the station. Rooms of different categories, all with
amenities and Wi-Fi, which, however, does not work very well. The
cheapest rooms are quite livable, and online booking systems sometimes
call them rooms without windows, although in fact they do have windows.
Breakfast corresponds to its low price, but is quite tolerable, but the
hotel restaurant “Come il faut” leaves much to be desired and in the
evenings greets guests with deafeningly loud music.
4 Hotel
“Staroyamskaya”, Kalininskoye Shosse, 5 (behind the railway). ☎ +7
(48251) 9-60-40, +7 (910) 845-34-22. Double room: from 3400 ₽. It is
located a couple of kilometers from the center and is more reminiscent
of a country hotel, with all the entertainment provided inside: a gym,
billiards, a swimming pool and bowling alley. At the same time,
exploring Torzhok is not popular among hotel guests - more often people
come here to celebrate a birthday, wedding or something else, so it can
be noisy in the evening. On the other hand, here is one of the few
places in Torzhok with a level of comfort above average. The restaurant
serves good Russian cuisine, but in the evening there will almost
certainly be no seats if the hotel itself is full.
5 Sports and
fitness complex “Reef”, Leningradskoe shosse, 19u. ☎ +7 (920) 171-46-75.
Double room: from 2000 ₽. The sports and fitness complex is located in
an industrial zone; helicopters can fly nearby at night with all the
ensuing consequences. Guests are offered either wooden log cabins of
superior comfort, or cheaper two-story metal cabins of ordinary comfort,
all with amenities. On the territory there is a Russian bathhouse, a
two-story sauna, a restaurant and a sports bar; on weekends, life in all
these places is in full swing.
The city is quite safe, although you should avoid the square in front
of the Lenin monument, where at any time of the day you can meet the
drunken proletariat and empty bottles lying under your feet. The reason
for this phenomenon is the nearby 24-hour bar “Paradise”, which looks
more like a wine bar with the appropriate contingent. Local residents
usually avoid this square.
Some tourist locations in the city can
only accept cash, and there is only one Sberbank ATM in the center - on
January 9 Square. It is safer to come to the city with cash.
Torzhok is one of the oldest cities in Russia. The
exact date of its origin is not known. It is believed that the city
was founded by Novgorod merchants at the turn of the X-XI centuries.
This is evidenced by the results of archaeological excavations. The
very first reliable written mention of Torzhok was found in the
Novgorod Chronicle and dates back to 1139. It is dedicated to the
capture of the city by the Suzdal prince Yuri Dolgoruky.
Origin of name
The name of the city comes from the word
bargaining "place of trade, square, market". Since the XII century,
the names "New Torg" and "Torzhok" are found in the annals. The
latter was fixed in the language and became the official name of the
city. Despite this, in modern toponymy, along with the adjective
"Torzhok", the variant "Novotorzhsky" is also used, and the
self-name of the inhabitants of the city remains "Novotori" to this
day.
In the Novgorod Republic
From the time of its
foundation until the second half of the 15th century, Torzhok was
part of the Novgorod possessions. In the XII century, the city was
located on the southeastern border of the Novgorod Republic, heading
the Novotorzhskaya volost. The princes and mayors of the city were
appointed at the veche. A trade road from Novgorod to the southern
principalities ran along the Tvertsa River. The city was located at
the intersection of land and waterways and was a major place of
trade.
During the frequent strife of appanage princes and
clashes between Novgorodians and neighbors, Torzhok, being a border
town, first of all took on the blows of enemies. In 1139, Torzhok
was taken by the army of the Suzdal prince Yuri Dolgoruky, irritated
by the refusal of the Novgorodians to help him in the struggle
against prince Vsevolod Olgovich, who took the throne in Kiev.
Suffering incessant devastation of this kind, caused by the
internecine wars of the princes, the city also experienced invasions
of foreign enemies. In 1238, during Batu's campaign against Russia,
Torzhok for two weeks - from February 21 to March 5 - held back the
siege of the Mongol-Tatar troops. The city was taken, but with its
resistance prevented the Mongol campaign against Novgorod. Torzhok
was repeatedly attacked by Lithuanian troops. By the 15th century,
subject to sieges and devastation from different sides, it was
surrounded by wooden walls with stone towers, protected by an
earthen rampart and ditches and turned into a fortress. In 1333 and
1334, Torzhok was twice ruined by the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan
Kalita during the invasion of Novgorod for refusing to pay with
silver, which the Novgorodians obtained from trading with Siberia.
The city suffered extremely badly in 1372 from a raid under the
leadership of Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich of Tver. In particular,
during the defense of Torzhok, the famous Novgorod voivode, the
leader of the ushkuyniks, Alexander Abakunovich, the brother of the
mayor of Staraya Russa, was killed. Many of Torzhok's disasters,
which occurred as a result of Novgorod's enmity with the princes,
ceased only with the fall of the republic.
At the beginning
of the 15th century, the city minted its own silver coin -
"Novotorzhskaya money".
In the Russian state and the Russian
Empire
In 1478 Torzhok, like the entire Novgorod land, was
annexed by the army of Prince Ivan III to the Moscow principality.
In the Russian state, the city was headed by the Novotorzhsky
district.
In 1565, after Tsar Ivan the Terrible divided the
Russian state into oprichnina and zemstvo, the city became part of
the latter.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the city
was not spared by the Troubles. In 1609, in the battle near Torzhok,
the detachments of the Russian-Swedish army of Prince Mikhail
Skopin-Shuisky and Jacob Delagardie defeated the army of the
Polish-Lithuanian invaders who supported False Dmitry II. Despite
the victory, the city was severely ruined, churches and monasteries
were robbed, and many residents were killed. The ancient Vvedenskaya
church of the Borisoglebsk monastery burned down together with the
people.
In 1625, by decree of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, the
scribe book of Torzhok was compiled. The book contains a detailed
description of the city economy and everyday life. According to her,
in the 17th century, each of the two parts of the city, separated by
the river, was divided into "ends", named after the churches located
in them. On the right side there were twelve ends: Voznesensky,
Voskresensky, Pyatnitsky, Bogoyavlensky, Yegoryevsky, Znamensky,
Uspensky, Kozmodemyansky, Klimentovsky, Mironositsky, Ivanovsky and
Ipatsky, where, in addition, the Plotnitskaya Sloboda was located.
On the less populated left side there were five ends: Ilyinsky,
Vozdvizhensky, Vlasyevsky, Nikolsky and Dmitrovsky, where
Pishchalnaya Sloboda was located. In addition to those listed, there
were settlements in the city that belonged to six monasteries:
Rozhdestvensky, Voskresensky, Novodevichy, Pustynny, Vasilievsky and
Borisoglebsky.
In 1661 and 1674 Torzhok was visited by the Austrian diplomat
Augustin Meyerberg and the Swedish engineer Palmqvist, who was
traveling with the embassy to Moscow, who left notes about their
journey. After the construction of St. Petersburg in 1703, the city
became a major point on the way between the two capitals.
In
1708, the Novotorzhsky district was assigned to the Ingermanland
province, in 1719 - to the Tver province of the St. Petersburg
province, and in 1727 - to the Novgorod province. In 1775 Torzhok
became the district town of the Tver governorate, which was renamed
in 1796 as a province. In 1742, the remains of the wooden walls of
the fortress burned down, and the earthen rampart was torn down.
In 1780, Empress Catherine II approved the city coat of arms:
three gold and three silver flying doves on a blue field. The coat
of arms was created by the companion of the king of arms, Count
Franz Matveyevich Santi.
In 1897, Torzhok had about 13,000
inhabitants. There were 21 factories and plants in the city; the
most important were the steam mill (Torzhok conducted a significant
trade in bread) and eight tanneries. Handicraft industries were
developed: lace and so-called "Novotorzhskoe sewing" (gold, silver
and silks on morocco and velvet). The city had 29 churches, a
zemstvo hospital, 10 schools of various levels.
In Soviet
times
On October 27 (November 9), 1917, the Novotorzhsky Soviet
of Workers' Deputies created the Military Revolutionary Committee
and established Soviet power in Torzhok, which was established by
the end of November.
In 1929, the county division was
abolished. On July 12, 1929, the territory of the Novotorzhsky
district became part of the Tver district (abolished on July 30,
1930) of the Moscow region, and Torzhok became the center of the
newly formed Novotorzhsky district (in February 1963 it was renamed
the Torzhok district). On January 29, 1935, the city and the
district became part of the Kalinin region (in July 1990, it was
renamed into the Tver region).
In May 1941, Torzhok received
the status of a city of regional subordination.
On October
14, 1941, the formations of the German 3rd tank group immediately
after the capture of Kalinin (now Tver) tried to develop an
offensive on Torzhok and go to the rear of the troops of the
North-Western Front, but were rebuffed by the operational group of
the North-Western Front N.F. Vatutin.
Finds of birch bark
letters
As of 2016, 19 birch bark letters were found in Torzhok.
By the number of these finds, the city ranks third after Novgorod
and Staraya Russa.
There are many architectural monuments around Torzhok, even by the
standards of Central Russia, and the estates designed by N.A. are of
particular interest. Lvov - in the middle of nowhere, his creations look
even more impressive than in urban conditions. The further path may lie
in Tver, Staritsa, Ostashkov or Vyshny Volochyok - all these cities are
picturesquely located in their own way and experienced their heyday at
the same time as Torzhok, but are not similar to it or to each other.
There are also more unconventional destinations - the factory town of
Kuvshinovo with a couple of impressive modern buildings and, again, Lviv
estates in the surrounding area and Tver Karelia, where it is already
very difficult to find a living national flavor, but “organized”
folklore is actively developing, such as museums or crafts.
1 Architectural and Ethnographic Museum “Vasilevo”, village. Vasilevo
(north of the city, 8 km from the center of Torzhok). ✉ ☎ +7 (910)
932-72-00, +7 (910) 931-32-63. From May 1 to October 31: 10:30–19:00,
from November 1 to April 30: 10:00–17:00; Mon and Tue are always days
off. 200 rub. Museum of Wooden Architecture on the territory of an old
noble estate. It contains about two dozen objects, including two
churches and two chapels of the 18th-19th centuries, Central Russian and
North Russian peasant estates, including buildings of Tver Karelians,
and a fire station of the early 20th century. What has survived from the
noble buildings is the outbuilding and the magnificent boulder bridge
across the ravine, popularly nicknamed the Devil's Bridge. The five-span
arch bridge was designed in the 18th century by N.A. Lvov, he also had a
hand in the creation of a regular park, from which a luxurious linden
alley has been preserved. Near the entrance to the museum there are
several stone crosses from the 16th century.
How to get there: to the
village of Mitino, located 1 km from the museum, bus No. 319 runs from
Torzhok, but it rarely does so, so in good weather it’s easier to take
one of the many city buses to the Mitino stop on the northern outskirts
of Torzhok (city stop Mitino and the village of Mitino are different
places!), from where you walk about 3 km to the museum along a
picturesque forest road.
2 Mitino Estate (next to the Vasilevo
Museum). The Mitino estate appeared as a result of the division of the
Vasilevo estate, which was once located on both banks of the Tvertsa.
Both Mitino and Vasilevo belonged to distant relatives of N.A. Lvov, so
his participation in the construction was quite natural. In Mitino, farm
buildings and a park have been preserved from the “Lvov” time, and the
main house was built in the middle of the 19th century on the site of
the “Lvov” wooden mansion. The most original building by N.A. Lviv is
considered to be a wooden pyramid-cellar, from which, however, little
remains. Now the estate is occupied by a sanatorium.
3 Estate
“Znamenskoe-Raek” (20 km from the city towards Tver, 3 km from the M10
highway). ☎ +7 (919) 061-18-49. 9:00–21:00. One of the most famous
estates in the Tver region has preserved only the remnants of its former
luxury, although even in this form it impresses with its grandeur and
can rightfully be considered the brightest example of Palladianism in
Russia. The estate complex was designed by N.A. Lvov, local architect
F.I. helped implement the plan. Butsi. The customer of the construction
was Senator and Chief General F.I. Glebov (1734-1799), who arranged the
estate for his beautiful wife Elizaveta Streshneva (1751-1837). The best
buildings of the estate are the manor house and the circular colonnade
connecting the house with side wings for various purposes. The interior
decoration of the house has practically not been preserved, but it was
once absolutely grandiose. Behind the house there is an old park with
ponds, stretching to the bank of the Lagovezh River. And although all
the bridges, grottoes and gazebos have sunk into oblivion, the park has
not lost its charm, and on one of the ponds there is an island with a
lone pine tree, planted, according to legend, by F.I. himself. Glebov.
How to get there: from the stop on Ilyinskaya Square in Torzhok, take a
minibus towards Tver to the Dubrovka stop, then about 4 km on foot.
4 Chapel of Daniel the Stylite, village. Vasilyeva Gora (1.5 km south
of the Znamenskoe-Raek estate). The spectacular rotunda chapel was
erected according to the design of N.A. Lvov in 1792. It was built in a
new cemetery, created in place of the abolished graveyard in the village
of Rayok, which interfered with the construction of a luxurious estate.
The frescoes in the chapel appeared shortly after construction, their
author is unknown, but the paintings in a simplified form repeat the
frescoes of Raphael in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura, reproducing
all the details down to the Latin inscriptions. Partially preserved
external paintings were made at the end of the 19th century.
5 The
Poltoratsky estate in Gruziny (13 km from the city on the road to
Staritsa), the village of Gruziny. One of the largest estates in the
vicinity of Torzhok has a brilliant past and a deplorable present. At
the end of the 17th century, in these places there was the village of
Kuznechkovo, which was owned by the Shishkov family. In 1763, ownership
passed to Agathoklea Shishkova (1737-1822), who married M.F. at the age
of 15. Poltoratsky (1729-1795). One of the spouses’ ancestors brought
from military campaigns an icon of the Georgian Mother of God, for which
in 1746 a stone church that has not reached us was built, giving the
village a new name - Georgians. The baroque ensemble of the estate began
to take shape in the middle of the 18th century. The design of the manor
house belonged to Francesco Rastrelli himself, the author of the Winter
Palace, and at the end of the 18th century the owner invited N.A. to
work on it. Lvov. Lvov’s hand owns the preserved boulder bridge across
the Zhalenka River and the overgrown landscape park, once decorated with
all sorts of ideas. In the 1820s, the estate was occupied by a family
friend, the famous architect V.P. Stasov. He built wings and connected
them with the palace with galleries, and for the peasants he built
twenty stone houses, once covered with tiles. By the middle of the 19th
century, the estate had everything - a hospital, wind and water mills, a
dam, a forge, horse and cattle yards, a distillery and a linen factory.
After the death of K.M. Poltoratsky (1782-1858), the village of Gruziny
began to change owners and by the end of the 19th century it was finally
sold out. After the revolution, the manor house was chosen by an
agricultural school, and from the late 1930s it housed a
psychoneurological boarding school. Now no one lives in the main house,
although traces of former luxury can still be seen. You can also see
some of the estate's buildings in varying states of preservation.
How to get there: suburban bus No. 373 runs several times a day (you
need the Gruziny-2 stop, and in Torzhok the easiest way to catch it is
on Pushkinskaya Square). More distant, but rare options in the same
direction (316, 317, 320, 323, 542v), which depart from the railway
station and pass through Pushkinskaya Square, are also suitable.
6 Peter and Paul Church , Zagorye/Pereslegino. Another classicist
church in the vicinity of Torzhok was built in 1803, its design is also
attributed to N.A. Lvov. Despite its depressing condition, the church
with its six-column porticoes makes an indelible impression. It will
take some imagination to imagine the former splendor of the interior,
but the double dome on massive pylons is still beautiful today.
7 The Nikolskoye-Cherenchitsy estate Wikidata element, p. Nikolskoye
(20 km northwest of the city). The village of Nikolskoye is the
birthplace of Nikolai Alexandrovich Lvov (1753-1804). Construction in
N.A.’s own estate Lvov started working in the 1780s, by which time he
had already built several buildings, including in St. Petersburg. What
Lvov did in his estate is fully described by the modern term “smart
home”. He began with outbuildings - a woodshed and a barnyard, both with
porticoes; a pyramid-shaped cellar with an arched entrance and a
mystical interior, which revealed his passion for Freemasonry, and a
forge made of wild stone-boulder. Of the two dozen manor buildings, only
four have reached us: in addition to the mentioned pyramid and forge,
this is the western wing of the manor house and the Church of the
Resurrection. The house built by Lvov had a lot of all kinds of
household appliances that delighted his contemporaries. For example, it
contained a well with a water-lifting machine, ventilated fireplaces and
a kitchen, where steam was used for cooking, washing dishes, and even
rotating spits. The rotunda church was the last to be built, but its
finishing was done by the architect’s widow. Before the revolution, in
the lower tier of the church there was the tomb of the Lvovs, but after
1917 the church was destroyed, the crypt was opened, and the remains of
the architect and his wife were lost.
How to get there: suburban
bus No. 315 (from the railway station via Pushkinskaya Square) runs
twice a week, so it is useless on its own, although you can try
combining it with a taxi. The road is unpaved and not of the best
quality.
8 Kazan Church, Arpachevo (2 km from Nikolskoye along
the same road). Another creation by N.A. Lviv is a church with a
breathtaking bell tower, built in 1783-1791 on the site of a dilapidated
wooden church. It has some similarities with the Cathedral of the Boris
and Gleb Monastery (the same author), and its interior was painted by
Lvov’s friend, the famous artist V.L. Borovikovsky, and something from
these paintings has been preserved. In 1989, the restoration of the
church was carried out by the former Moscow actor G.F. Shaposhnikov. The
cylindrical bell tower, more like a lighthouse, was less fortunate, so
now Arpachevo has its own leaning bell tower, and the mystery of the
origin of its unusual shape has not yet been fully revealed.
How to
get there: similar to Nikolsky.