Tula - a city in Russia, the administrative center
of the Tula region and the city district of Tula. Hero City (since
1976). Tula is located in the north of the Central Russian Upland on
the bank of the Upa River, 193 km south of Moscow. The length of the
city from north to south is 30 km, from west to east - 25 km.
According to the results of the All-Russian competition for the
title of “The most comfortable urban (rural) settlement of Russia”
held in 2014, Tula ranked third in the category “Urban settlements
(urban districts), which are administrative centers (capitals) of
the subjects of the Russian Federation”.
Tula is first
mentioned in the Nikon chronicle of the XVI century under the year
1146. The cultural heritage sites located on the territory of the
city are of great value and are an integral part of the world
cultural heritage. On the territory of Tula there are more than 300
objects of cultural heritage: these are monuments of architecture
and town planning, history, works of monumental art, archeology. In
the tourism sector, Tula is known in three directions, rooted in the
history of the city: arms, samovar and gingerbread. Each of them is
represented in the city by the Museum of Weapons, one of the largest
in Russia, the Museum of samovars and the Museum of Tula
gingerbread. Also the hallmark of the city is the Tula Kremlin, the
oldest building of the city, a monument of architecture of the XVI
century. The house-museum of Leo Tolstoy
Yasnaya
Polyana is located
14 km south-west of Tula. It is a unique center of historical and
cultural life in Russia, associated with the name of the greatest
writer and thinker of the 19th — 20th centuries.
Historically, Tula was divided into the Center - the left bank of the
Upa River, as well as Zarechye and Chulkovo - areas of handicraft
settlements lying on the right bank of the Upa and separated from each
other by the Tulitsa River. Now Zarechye, connected to the center by the
Zarechensky bridge, has grown significantly along the road to Moscow
(Oktyabrskaya streets) and forms the Zarechensky district. Chulkovo is
connected to the center by the Proletarian Bridge and, having swallowed
up many suburban settlements, forms the Proletarian District of Tula.
The central part of the city on the left bank of the Upa has a
traditional fan-shaped structure, which turns into a rectangular one on
the outskirts. The area around the Kremlin, surrounded by Sovetskaya
Street, forms the historical center and is shaped like a bowl with a
diameter of about 1.5 km. From the semicircular Sovetskaya Street, the
main city highways diverge in different directions, the main of which is
Leninsky Prospekt, which then passes into the highway to Orel.
Administratively, the left-bank part of Tula is divided into the
Central, Sovetsky and Railway Station districts, but these borders are
not noticeable to the guests of the city.
Tourist Information
Center (TIC). Excursion services, consultations on "what to see", "where
to go", "where to stay" in Tula. Sale of souvenirs, including popular
gastronomic brands and products of local craftsmen. Also here you can
get a free map of the center of Tula.
1 Trading stalls of the Tula
Kremlin. ☎ +7 (4872) 52-08-98. 9:15–19:00.
2 st. Demonstrations,
1A. ☎ +7 (800) 201-71-00. 10:00–20:00.
A stone fortress appeared in Tula in 1514-20, almost immediately
after the city was annexed to the Moscow principality. The Tula Kremlin
is only a few years younger than the Moscow one and was apparently built
by the same Italian masters, so the walls are crowned with “dovetails”
familiar from Moscow, and the towers amaze with a variety of shapes and
stone decor, which distinguishes the Kremlin in Tula from the
neighboring Zaraysk one, which is purely utilitarian buildings, the
decor on which is not in principle. The Kremlin is relatively small, but
powerful and, unlike other medieval fortresses, is located in a lowland
- to protect the strategic ford on the former Muravsky Way. By analogy
with the Moscow Kremlin, it is built of red brick, but the foundations
of the walls and towers are made of white stone. The perimeter of the
walls is a little over a kilometer, their thickness is about 3 m. The
walls and towers are well preserved, but seem unnaturally low, because
they either sank in the swampy terrain, or were specially “cut” at the
end of the 18th century; at the same time, wooden roofs appeared over
the towers. The territory inside the walls changed several times, in
Soviet times there was even a stadium here. Now the Kremlin is well
landscaped, although rather deserted: two churches survived from the
historical buildings, adjoining the northwestern Naugolnaya tower
"shopping arcade" (1837-41) and strongly rebuilt into a modern museum
and exhibition complex with a restaurant "old power plant" ( 1908).
Everything else is occupied by squares and gradually emerging modern art
objects.
1 Tula Kremlin. 10:00–22:00. The Kremlin belongs to the
museum-reserve of the same name, but they are allowed to enter the
territory completely freely, except that the gates are closed at night.
Unlike most of its counterparts, the Tula Kremlin is very symmetrical:
it has four round corner towers and one square travel tower along each
of the walls. The symmetry is broken only at the northeastern wall
facing the river, where the ninth and last tower "On the cellar" is
located - square in cross section, but not through. All the towers have
retained their original appearance, with the exception of the Odoevsky
Gate tower overlooking Lenin Square, which, during the reconstruction of
the 1780s. acquired a rather ugly, albeit well-recognized top with a
dome. You can enter and leave the Kremlin from any of the four
directions: from Lenin Square, Metallistov pedestrian street, the
Kremlin embankment and the Kremlin garden.
2 Assumption Cathedral of
the Tula Kremlin , st. Mendeleevskaya, 8/2. Built in 1762-66. on the
site of the former stone cathedral, dismantled for dilapidation. The
Assumption Cathedral seems older than its age and is very reminiscent of
the five-domed Russian churches of pre-Petrine Rus'. The main thing in
it, however, is not the form, but the details - bewitching stone
decorations, distant echoes of the Stroganov Baroque, rethought under
the Western influence of the 18th century. In the 1770s, just a few
years after the completion of construction, a bell tower was added to
the cathedral - this time a quite ordinary monument of classicism. It
was dismantled in 1937 after a fire, but in 2014 it was rebuilt, and at
the same time the cathedral was repainted in a somewhat unusual and
completely incompatible with the red-brick Kremlin walls, gray-blue.
Services are held in the new church, which is located in the lower tier
of the bell tower. The cathedral itself is in a state of sluggish
restoration. Inside, the carved iconostasis and frescoes painted by
Yaroslavl masters were to be preserved, but all this will be available
for inspection no earlier than 2024.
3 Epiphany Cathedral. In the red
angular building with a clumsy dome, it is difficult to see the once
majestic cathedral in the Ton style, a local version of the Moscow
Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The cathedral was built in 1855-58. like
a warm winter temple. In Soviet times, four small domes were demolished,
and the cathedral was eventually converted into a museum of weapons,
breaking through the altar wall for this and building an ugly two-story
extension in its place. In 2012, the weapon museum moved to a new
building, and now the cathedral is slowly being restored, although it is
unlikely to return to its pre-revolutionary appearance.
The historical center of Tula is located on the left bank of the Upa
River and encloses the Kremlin in a closely built-up semicircle within
the boundaries of modern Sovetskaya Street from Zarechensky to
Proletarsky bridges. Here, by the end of the 16th century, a settlement
was formed, which was soon surrounded by a wooden prison and earthen
ramparts. After the loss of military significance by Tula, these
fortifications were demolished. According to Catherine's plan of 1779,
the core of the city was formed in the historical center with offices
and institutions, only stone construction from two floors and above was
allowed here. Despite the fact that Tula was badly damaged in 1941 and
was rebuilt during the Soviet era, a significant part of the city's
pre-revolutionary architecture has been preserved here. You can clearly
see and even feel the ancient streets and buildings of the 1913 model at
the sculptural composition "Historical Center of the City of Tula",
located in a small square in front of house 8 on Sovetskaya Street.
Metallistov Street Wikidata item (west of the Kremlin). Pedestrian
street, which opened after a large-scale reconstruction in 2018, was
known as Pyatnitskaya before the revolution. Almost all the buildings on
it are merchant mansions, architectural monuments of the 18th-19th
centuries. The street starts right from the walls of the Kremlin, where
you can admire the musical fountain and the sculpture of the policeman.
On the corner of house 7 is the eclectic Chapel of the Intercession
Church of 1878. The 18th-century Intercession Church itself is 30 meters
away - it, along with the bell tower, was restored almost from ruins in
2020. The restored pre-revolutionary buildings are gradually filled with
life, turning into cafes, hotels and museums. The street ends at the
square of the Tula Arms Plant, where the 8th monument to the designer
S.I. Mosin, the creator of the famous three-line rifle, who worked at a
local arms factory.
Church of the Annunciation, st.
Blagoveshchenskaya, 4. ☎ +7 (4872) 56-56-53. 8:00–18:00. The oldest
temple in Tula, the only surviving architectural monument of the 17th
century, which has survived to this day almost unchanged. It was erected
in 1692 at the expense of the priest from the merchant class Feofilakt
Fedorov, as evidenced by a limestone slab with an inscription embedded
in the wall. Architecturally, it is a five-domed church of the Moscow
type, common in Rus' in the 17th century. From the northwest, a high
hipped bell tower adjoins the temple, which dominates against the
background of the small size of the church itself. In the stone floor of
the refectory, one can see an example of an old figured cast-iron
casting.
Kazanskaya embankment (Kremlin embankment). The
embankment got its name in honor of the most beautiful Kazan temple that
stood here until 1929. Now it is a modern pedestrian space for one
kilometer along the Upa River. In the middle part, the embankment
borders on the Kremlin wall. The Kremlin and the embankment are
connected by a passage in the Water Gate tower. On the other side of the
river is the famous Tula Arms Plant. Several of its historical buildings
with renovated facades are visible through a deaf high factory fence.
The steep descent to the river made it possible to lay footpaths at two
levels in height. In the middle part of the embankment there is also a
system of bridges from which a magnificent view of the Kremlin opens.
The embankment boasts quite original art objects, viewing and children's
playgrounds. Interestingly, before the revolution, there was a market on
the embankment in front of the Kremlin wall. Now here you can find a
couple of summer cafes and several kiosks.
Kremlin Garden
(Kremlin Square). Founded in 1837 near the eastern wall of the Kremlin
on the site of the Sennaya Square destroyed by fire, trees and flowers
were planted here. The grand opening was attended by the future Emperor
Alexander II, therefore, before the revolution, the garden, as in
Moscow, was called Alexandrovsky. Now the territory of the garden with
landscaped lawns, alleys, children's and sports grounds starts from the
tower of the Odoevsky Gates and, passing along part of the southern and
eastern walls of the Kremlin, smoothly passes into the Kazan embankment.
Here you can find many sculptures of different years. The bust of Karl
Marx was erected in the early years of Soviet power, in 1925, and a
quote from Lenin made in pre-revolutionary font was preserved on it. In
the neighborhood there is a modern sculpture "Tula alphabet", where each
letter of the alphabet corresponds to something characteristic of Tula:
Demidovs, Gingerbread, Samovar and so on.
The building of the
City Duma (Palace of Children and Youth Creativity), st. Revolutions, 2.
A monumental semicircular building that combines two pre-revolutionary
mansions. On the side of Denisovsky Lane, there was the estate of the
former Tula head I. Liventsev, built in the 1760s. The Baroque Lomovsky
Gate, which is now not in the best condition and is made in the style of
Bartolomeo Rastrelli, adjoins the estate. At the end of the 19th
century, the house of the fisherman Platonov was built on the side of
Revolution Street, in which his fish shop worked on the first floor, and
the city Duma was located on the second. In Soviet times, neighboring
mansions were merged, a third floor was built on, and since 1937 the
Palace of Pioneers has been working here, which has now been transformed
into the Palace of Children and Youth Creativity.
New malls, st.
Soviet, 13A. The shopping malls were built in 1895-1897. Moscow merchant
Stepanov. They got the name “new” because on Krestovozdvizhenskaya
Square near the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin there were already old
shopping arcades that have not reached us. A long red-green building of
the late 19th century with turrets and carved architraves stands out
against the general background of modern Sovetskaya Street. Inside there
is now a military prosecutor's office, but on the facade you can see the
restored names of old shops.
Lenin Square. The main city square,
for the sake of which two blocks on the main streets were demolished in
the 1970s. At the same time, the building of the regional administration
(“white house”) was built, designed according to the type of the
Assyro-Babylonian temple, and, together with the monument to Lenin
standing next to it, is regularly offered for demolition by local
residents. In the 1990s, the composition of the square was expanded due
to the restored Assumption Cathedral and the Church of the
Transfiguration. From the square begins the main city highway - Lenin
Avenue, right there is the Samovar Museum and the main entrance to the
Kremlin. In 2014, a monument to Tula gingerbread with a diameter of 2.7
meters was erected on the square in front of the registry office
building (landmark - large letters "Tula - Hero City"). The sculpture
greets guests with the inscription "For good luck" and is a popular
subject for photos. Now Lenin Square is the main venue for mass city
events. In winter, a skating rink is poured here and a New Year tree is
put up, and in May a military parade is held. However, most of the year
the area is simply empty.
Assumption Cathedral, st.
Mendeleevskaya, 13, building 1. ☎ +7 (4872) 31-24-70. 7:30–19:00. The
main temple of the Assumption Convent that once existed in front of the
Tula Kremlin. The monastery was abolished after the revolution, but two
large cathedrals remained from it. Uspensky was built in 1899-1902. in
pseudo-Russian style and stands out for the quality of the brickwork and
its bright dark red color, echoing the Kremlin walls. The artists of
Vasnetsov and Nesterov's school worked on the interior, and without
thinking twice, they copied Vasnetsov's murals from St. Volodymyr's
Cathedral in Kyiv. In Soviet times, the Assumption Cathedral was closed,
they tried to destroy it, but the strong brick walls of the temple
successfully withstood the explosion. The building was badly damaged and
was used as an archive. The reconstruction of the late 1980s returned
the temple to its former appearance with new domes, in spite of Lenin,
who was standing on the opposite side of the central square. Now it,
along with All Saints, is one of the two existing cathedrals in the
city.
Church of the Transfiguration, st. Mendeleevskaya, 13. The
second surviving church of the former Assumption Monastery is smaller
and built in a different era. The monumental five-domed church in the
style of Russian classicism was erected in 1842. It was designed by
Vasily Fedoseev, a student of the famous Carlo Rossi, who had a hand in
such iconic buildings as the General Staff building on Palace Square in
St. Petersburg. In the early 1830s, for some reason, Fedoseev moved to
Tula, bringing with him fresh trends in the capital's architecture,
which largely determined the appearance of the Tula center. The temple
has a strict, almost symmetrical shape; the facades of the building are
decorated with powerful Doric columns. The bell tower adjacent to the
eastern facade was lost during the Soviet era.
Monument to Peter
I (Tsar-smith). Pre-revolutionary monument to Peter I by the famous St.
Petersburg sculptor Robert Bach, installed at the expense of the
employees of the Tula Arms Plant in honor of his 200th anniversary in
1912. The sculpture of the emperor, by whose decree the factory was
founded, depicts the king in an atypical image of a blacksmith, in a
simple working apron with a hammer at the anvil. The monument to the
tsar on Finnish red granite successfully endured the years of Soviet
power, although it lay for some time in a pile of scrap metal in the
yard of the plant. But in 1962, in the year of the next major
anniversary of the enterprise, it was reinstalled in the square in front
of the plant management for everyone to see.
21 Church of Saints Florus and Laurus (Bogolyubskaya
Church) , st. Mosina, 1. ☎ +7 (4872) 36-55-65. 7:00–19:00. An elegant
temple of the end of the 18th century, which simultaneously combines the
styles of late baroque and Russian classicism. A faceted dome with
baroque decorations is placed above the strict columned porticos. The
inner space of the temple does not have load-bearing columns, and the
entire load is transferred to the vault, which makes the church more
spacious. The main shrine of the temple is the ancient Bogolyubskaya
icon, which for a long time saved the city from various epidemics: from
the plague to COVID-19.
22 Church of St. Nicholas on Rzhavets (St.
Nicholas Church) , st. Revolution, 6B. ☎ +7 (4872) 36-92-87.
7:00–19:00. It got its name from the wooden church of the 17th century,
set on a swampy area with the Rzhavets River, the water in which was of
a reddish hue. By now, the soil has dried up, the river has disappeared,
and the unusual name has been preserved. The wooden church also fell
into disrepair, and in its place in 1770 a modern stone church was
consecrated. The author of the project is the architect of the
Assumption Cathedral of the Tula Kremlin, which makes these two temples
similar in style. The temple was closed during the Soviet era and
repainted in 2004-2005. modeled on the famous frescoes of Dionysius and
Andrei Rublev.
23 Peter and Paul Church, st. Lenina, 28. ☎ +7 (4872)
56-95-71. 7:30–18:00. In its present form, it was built in 1838 by the
architect Vasily Fedoseev in the form of a rotunda, rare for Tula, on
the site of an older church. Now the temple has been completely
restored, and a clock has been installed on the restored bell tower. The
architectural monument stands out among the nine-story buildings and has
a significant adjacent territory with a square in memory of the
soldiers-internationalists.
24 Monument to Levsha. Installed at the
Zarechensky bridge next to the Tulamashzavod, which dates back to 1879
and occupies a vast territory in the former Frolovskaya Sloboda. The
sculpture is dedicated to the character of Leskov's story of the same
name as a symbol of the skill of Tula workers. The literary hero
examines the microscopic flea shod by him in his hand, for which the
sculpture is sometimes called a "monument to the salary." Next to Levsha
is the Upa embankment with a rotunda and a “horseshoe of happiness”. And
from the side of the plant in 2009, a small wooden temple with ringing
bells in honor of Prince Vladimir was opened - it is fenced with a
lattice made according to the sketches of the fence of the Summer Garden
of St. Petersburg. Near the church there is a fountain and a monument to
Prince Vladimir, and at the entrance of the Tulamashzavod there is a
three-figure sculptural composition depicting its workers in different
poses.
The former Armory Sloboda, formed on the right bank of
the Upa River, regardless of the fan-shaped plan of the central part of
the city, became the historical core of the District. The area was built
mainly along the high road to Moscow, the modern Oktyabrskaya Street
(formerly Millionnaya) - now its territory has increased significantly
and the Zarechensky district of Tula is located here.
Nikolo-Zaretsky Church of the Nativity of Christ (Demidov Church) , Arms
lane, 12 (next to the new building of the Museum of Weapons). ☎ +7
(4872) 34-57-40. 7:00–18:00. One of the oldest and most beautiful
churches in Tula was erected in the 1730s on the territory of the former
Kuznechnaya Sloboda, across the Upa River, at the expense of the owners
of the Tula arms and Ural metallurgical plants, the Demidov family -
their tomb is located in the church. The two-storey church in the
Petrine Baroque style with a high middle part and a four-sided curved
dome is similar in shape to a pistachio-colored palace, but rather
modestly decorated. Its lower part is consecrated in honor of Nicholas
the Wonderworker, and the upper one is dedicated to the feast of the
Nativity of Christ, which explains the double name. The free-standing
octagonal bell tower was first located on the opposite side, but after a
sudden collapse in 1730, it was rebuilt in a new location. In Soviet
times, the temple was looted, and the current bright porcelain interior
with iconostases appeared in 2010. Near the church there is a small
museum that tells the story of the Demidov family. And in front of the
entrance to the territory in 1996, a monument to Nikita Demidov was
erected, the remains of which rest in the temple. The sculpture of the
founder of the industrial dynasty has much in common with the
pre-revolutionary monument to Peter I, located on the opposite bank of
the river.
Ascension Church, st. Herzen, 12. ☎ +7 (4872)
34-17-98. 7:00–19:00. An elegant one-domed church with a plastic faceted
dome was built from 1754 to 1787 and during this time managed to get a
combination of classicism facade forms with baroque completion. And on
the pediment of the western facade of the temple, you can see the
bas-relief of the all-seeing eye, which causes conflicting associations
among the parishioners. The church suffered from fires more than once
before the revolution, and in Soviet times it lost its bell tower. Since
1992, the temple has been operating again, although with updated murals.
Annunciation Old Believer Church, st. Demidovskaya, 37. Built in
1912-1914. in a rare Art Nouveau style for Tula, an Old Believer church.
Like many other churches, in Soviet times the church was closed, and the
bell tower was dismantled. Now it attracts the attention of those
walking along Demidovskaya Street with its unusual appearance, but
inside there is an office of Tulagorsvet, and the security of the
enterprise does not really like tourists.
Church of Sergius of
Radonezh, st. October, 78. ☎ +7 (4872) 47-42-22. 8:00–19:00. The
majestic red-brick temple in the pseudo-Byzantine style was erected at
the Moscow Gate in 1898. Next to the temple was the highest bell tower
in the District, destroyed in Soviet times. After the temple was closed,
it was re-consecrated in the year of its century, and the frescoes of
the end of the 19th century were restored inside. Now the temple greets
visitors with a renovated fence with gates, and to the north of it is
Oktyabrsky Square, which attracts the attention of passers-by with the
sculpture “Tula Tea Party”. The bronze composition depicts a man sitting
at a table with an accordion and a woman listening to him, and on the
table is a samovar with Tula gingerbread. The third chair is left free
for visitors.
Church of the Savior (Savior on the Mountain), st.
Puzakova, 151A (Spasskoe cemetery). ☎ +7 (4872) 47-42-99. 8:00–19:00. A
small church in the forms of early classicism, built in 1807 on the old
Spassky cemetery, which was opened after the plague of 1771 on the
outskirts of the city. Now the cemetery is closed for new burials, a
number of famous Tula merchants are buried here. The temple in Soviet
times on the front line survived the heroic defense of Tula in 1941 and
after the war was no longer closed. Inside you can see the marble
iconostasis.
Monument to V.F. Rudnev, Rudnev Square (next to
Komsomolsky Park). Monument to the commander of the legendary cruiser
"Varyag", who heroically fought with a squadron of Japanese ships in the
Korean port of Chemulpo on February 9, 1904 and then flooded so that the
enemy would not get it. Vselovod Fedorovich came from a family of Tula
nobles and, after leaving the service, lived in his estate in the
village of Myshenki of the modern Zaoksky district of the Tula region.
In 1913, Rear Admiral was buried in the neighboring village of Savino,
where the Rudnev Museum is now located. The monument with the commander
of the Varyag standing on the captain's bridge with binoculars in his
hands was opened at the entrance to Komsomolsky Park in 1956. In 2012, a
memorial sign "Guys of the Varyag cruiser" was erected - a copy of the
original flag from the bow of the legendary ship.
Bogoroditse-Nativity Monastery, Burners, st. Mirnaya, 17 b. ☎ +7 (4872)
50-80-94. 8:00–18:00. A small convent, formed in 2000 at the Church of
the Nativity of the Virgin in the village of Gorelki, is the northern
microdistrict of modern Tula. The stone Nativity Church was erected in
1781, now it has been well restored and is functioning again. In
addition to the Nativity Church, the rest of the territory of the
monastery is closed to the public, but there is a small spring nearby
where you can draw water.
Memorial complex "Defenders of the sky of
the Fatherland" (at the exit from Tula along the Moscow highway). A
large-scale memorial 27 meters high was opened in 2015 in honor of the
pilots who defended the sky over Tula during the Great Patriotic War.
The sculptural composition depicts the victory of the Soviet La-5FN
fighter over the German FW-189 reconnaissance aircraft. The planes are
made in full size, and the battle is based on a real air battle of the
Soviet pilot I.A. Vishnyakova. In the central part of the complex, an
eternal flame in the form of an airplane propeller burns. On the facade
of the memorial there are plaques with the names of more than 2,000 hero
pilots of the Soviet Union and the countries of the anti-fascist
coalition. There is convenient parking next to the complex.
The southwestern highway of the city, the former Kyiv
street, starts from the Kremlin and smoothly passes into the road to
Yasnaya Polyana and further to Orel. According to the master plan of the
18th century, the first four quarters of Kievskaya Street were intended
for the nobility, only stone construction from two floors and above was
allowed here. The territories to the west of Kievskaya Street were
reserved for merchants and townspeople, to the east - for civil
servants. In Soviet times, the main city street and its surroundings
were significantly rebuilt, but quite a lot of pre-revolutionary
buildings have been preserved here.
House of the Noble Assembly,
ave. Lenina, 44. One of the most important civil buildings in Tula,
opened in 1856 and since then has played a special role in the cultural
life of the city. The three-story brick corner house was originally
designed by V.F. Fedoseev, but then the project was changed by local
architects. Despite the strict external forms, inside the building has
luxurious interiors with a cast-iron staircase and a columned hall with
stucco and antique chandeliers. The Hall of Columns has excellent
acoustics: Chaliapin, Utyosov and other famous artists and poets
performed here - now it is the second concert venue of the Tula
Philharmonic. The building of the Noble Assembly hosts classical music
concerts, forums, performances, exhibitions of Tula artists. There is
also a boutique hotel "Noble Assembly" with rooms named after famous
people who visited this building: Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Turgenev, Vladimir
Mayakovsky, Nicholas II, etc.
Church of Alexander Nevsky, pl.
Alexander Nevsky, 1. ☎ +7 (4872) 21-13-00 7:00–20:00. The first temple
of Tula, erected in the neo-Byzantine style (1881-1886), while before
that the city was dominated mainly by classicist and baroque churches.
It stands out among the sleeping area with its bright appearance and a
large drum with a helmet-shaped completion. In Soviet times, the church
became a hotbed of counter-revolution and was converted into a bakery.
In 2005, the temple restored its appearance, close to pre-revolutionary,
but the interior paintings were completely lost. Now it is a
well-restored temple, popular among the military and the Tula Cossacks.
On the square in front of the entrance to the church there is a bust of
Alexander Nevsky.
Catholic Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and
Paul, st. Leo Tolstoy, 85. ☎ +7 (4872) 70-12-31. Thu–Sat 15:00–19:00,
Sun 10:00–17:00. The only Catholic church in Tula, built of red brick in
pseudo-Gothic style in 1896. In Soviet times, the building housed the
editorial office of the Tula Kommunar newspaper, the interior painting
and statues of the apostles were lost. But the single-nave church itself
with a high spire is relatively well preserved. In 2006-2007, the temple
was reconstructed, and its interiors were painted in a modern style. In
2012, an organ was installed in the church, and now organ music concerts
are held here from time to time. The church is hidden in the courtyards
of residential buildings along Lev Tolstov Street and Lenin Avenue, in
addition, in Tula there is also an Orthodox church of Peter and Paul,
which is located just a kilometer from the Catholic one.
All Saints
Cathedral, st. Leo Tolstoy, 79. ☎ +7 (4872) 36-41-01. 8:00–18:00. The
temple is located on a hill at the entrance to the ancient All Saints
cemetery. The cemetery appeared on the southern borders of the then Tula
after the plague of 1771, now it is the largest city necropolis with
more than 4000 tombstones of the 18th-19th centuries. The first stone
church was built here in 1776, later the second floor was built on and,
after all the changes of the 19th century, a high temple was built in
the style of Russian classicism with baroque elements. The three-tier
82-meter bell tower was built by Vasily Fedoseev already in 1825: it is
decorated with four figures of angels, and the high spire is visible
even from the outskirts of the city. In Soviet times, after the closing
of the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin, the temple became a
cathedral and was never closed. The frescoes on biblical themes inside
the temple were made by Moscow artists in 1955-1960. Around the cemetery
on the territory of 34 hectares, a stone fence from the beginning of the
20th century has been preserved.
Temple of the Twelve Apostles, st.
Oboronnaya, 94 (near the Vostochnaya bus station). ☎ +7 (4872) 37-09-14.
7:30–19:00. It was erected in stone form in 1903-1908. on the southern,
Voronezh outskirts of Tula near Horse Square at the expense of the local
confectioner V.E. Serikov, whose ashes lie at the southern wall of the
temple. The five-domed church is connected by a refectory with a low
hipped bell tower - built in the familiar Russian style of "ship". The
walls are painted with copies of paintings on religious themes by famous
artists. In Soviet times, the temple was not closed and has been
operating for more than a hundred years.
Monument to L.N. Tolstoy
Wikidata item (on Lenina Prospekt not far from Belousov Central Park).
The classic of Russian literature and the most famous writer of the Tula
region was born and lived in the Yasnaya Polyana estate, 10 km from
Tula, where he wrote most of his works. A six-meter bronze monument to
Tolstoy in the regional center appeared only in 1973, although the idea
had been there before, but because of financial difficulties, they were
waiting for the onset of communism. The famous writer is depicted as a
thoughtfully walking wanderer and, according to the sculptor's plan, he
should be barefoot, which made him closer to the people and corresponded
to the real habits of Lev Nikolayevich. But the party leadership decided
that it was better to put Tolstoy in boots. For a long time, on the
opposite side of Lenin Avenue, there was an old distillery, which has
now been transformed into the Likerka-Loft art cluster, so Tula students
often call the monument “Tolstoy goes for vodka.” Around the monument,
Tolstovsky Square is laid out with fountains and black slabs (“stones of
truth”), on which quotes from the famous writer are engraved.
Art
object "Taming the English flea by the Tula Lefty" (in the courtyard of
the Likerka-loft shopping center). The original sculpture in the
steampunk style was opened in May 2016, on the occasion of the 135th
anniversary of the release of Leskov's story "The Tale of the Tula
Oblique Lefty and the Steel Flea". In contrast to the literary version,
the cyborg flea is made in the size of 1200:1 and is clearly larger than
the shoemaker. From the outside, it looks like a battle between a man
and a 3.5-meter armed mechanical monster. The left-hander is of ordinary
human height and looks more like a shadow - anyone can take his place
for spectacular photos. In addition to sculpture, you can visit the
atmospheric Likerka Loft art space, which was organized on the territory
of the former old distillery.
Sculpture "Student tail". A miniature
sculpture next to the second building of the Tula State University is
dedicated to student tails, or rather their absence. The 29 cm lizard
with a record book, looking at its missing tail, was smelted from copper
nickels, which students put under their heels to pass exams. And on the
white column, on top of which she stands, the inscription “Tails net” is
applied in a circle.
Monument to the defenders of Tula ("Three
bayonets"), Victory Square (next to the bus station). A memorial in
honor of the participants in the heroic defense of Tula in 1941 was
installed on the front line of hostilities, the modern Victory Square.
The sculpture of a soldier and a militia, standing shoulder to shoulder
next to the eternal flame, is complemented by high steel bayonets,
symbolizing the power of the Tula weapon.
The modern Proletarian district of Tula, which grew on
the right bank of the Upa from the former Chulkovskaya settlement, which
was adjacent to the Armory, and most of its inhabitants were also
artisans. Now it is quite a large, but the least interesting part of the
city, which includes many nearby villages.
Church of Theodosius
of Chernigov (Pokrovsky Church), st. Kalinina, 10A. 7:00–19:00. The
church was founded in honor of St. Theodosius of Chernigov for residents
of the outskirts of the Chulkovskaya Sloboda in 1903 and was originally
supposed to have five domes. A year later, the walls of the building in
the neo-Russian style were brought to the cornices, but due to financial
difficulties, it was decided to build only one large dome. Further lack
of money, the First World War, and then the revolution prevented the
construction from being completed. In Soviet times, the building was
used as a warehouse. In 1991, an octagonal wide drum was completed, and
now it is one of the most beautiful churches in the Proletarian district
of Tula.
Bogorodichny Shcheglovsky Monastery, st. Lisa Chaikina, 1. ☎
+7 (4872) 41-30-24. The monastery on the northeastern outskirts of the
city (Shcheglovskaya notch) was founded in 1859, now there are two
churches and a bell tower on its territory. The five-domed cathedral
church in the Russian style was consecrated in honor of the icon of the
Mother of God "Mammal-giver" - there are no more churches dedicated to
this icon in Russia. The Nikandorovsky church of the monastery with a
single dome was built in 1886. The territory of the monastery is well
landscaped, there is a private park and a monastery hotel for pilgrims.
Weapon Museum , st. October, 2. ☎ +7 (4872) 31-10-04.
Sun–Thursday 10:00–18:00, Fri–Sat 10:00–21:00. 500 rub. adults, children
under 14 - free of charge. The largest and most famous museum in the
city, which tells the history of weapons production in Tula and clearly
demonstrates the evolution of small arms and edged weapons from the 14th
century to the present. A unique collection of weapons began to form in
the bowels of the Tula Arms Plant in the first quarter of the 18th
century, but the museum was opened to the general public only in 1873.
In Soviet times, the museum moved from the factory to the city center,
and since 1989 the exhibitions have been housed in the building of the
reconstructed Epiphany Cathedral in the Kremlin - the "old building".
Since 2012, the museum has moved to a new building on the right bank of
the Upa River, built in the form of a helmet of an ancient Russian
warrior. In 2017, work was completed on the creation of a new permanent
exhibition “The History of small arms and edged weapons from the 14th
century to the present”, which occupies several floors and is
complemented by interactive complexes with electronic scoreboards and
virtual storytellers. A close inspection of the entire collection can
take a whole day, and for an additional fee, you can take a virtual
helicopter flight or shoot at a shooting range on the basement floor. On
the ground floor of the museum there is a cafe and a souvenir shop.
Around the helmet building there is a free exhibition of military
equipment: tanks, multiple launch rocket systems, air defense. And in
front of the entrance there is an alley of glory with busts of the
famous weapons designers of Tula.
Museum "Tula Samovars" , st.
Mendeleevskaya, 8 (to the left of the main entrance to the Kremlin). ☎
+7 (4872) 31-23-33. Sun–Thursday 10:00–18:00, Fri–Sat 10:00–21:00. 350
rub. The second most popular museum in Tula is located in a classic
building with columns at the Odoevsky Gate of the Kremlin. Before the
revolution, the House of Educational Institutions named after Emperor
Alexander II was located here. The museum presents a unique collection
of samovars of various shapes and sizes: from tiny - three drops of
water to buffet - 70 liters. Here you can also learn about the history
of samovar craft in Tula from the end of the 18th century to the
present. The exhibits are located in two halls: the first contains
masterpieces of the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries, in the
second - samovars of the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries.
Photography is included in the ticket price.
Museum "Tula
Gingerbread", st. October, 45A. ☎ +7 (4872) 34-70-70. Wed-Sun:
9:00–17:00, break from 14:00 to 15:00. 100 rub. A small museum at the
Staraya Tula confectionery factory. It consists of two halls, where
gingerbreads of various shapes are presented. There is also a store
where you can immediately buy gingerbread. For additional money, you can
order a tour with a tasting (by appointment by phone).
Museum "Tula
Kremlin" (Cashier next to the tower of the Odoevsky Gates). ☎ +7 (4872)
77-49-34. Sun–Thursday 10:00–18:00, Fri–Sat 10:00–20:00. Complex ticket
for exhibitions of the Kremlin 300 rubles. Entrance to the territory of
the Tula Kremlin is free, but in the museum you can order sightseeing
tours of it, take a walk along the battle route, as well as visit the
siege yards, the archaeological window and exhibition halls, which show
a small copy of the Tula Kremlin of the 17th century on a scale of
1:130. The archaeological window is a glass pavilion with a mothballed
archaeological excavation three meters deep between the Assumption and
Epiphany Cathedrals. It was at this place that the first stone
Assumption Cathedral of the 17th century was located, the model of which
was recreated on a scale of 1:120. Here you can see the cleaned
foundation of this temple. Through the glass, you can see all this for
free, they are allowed inside the pavilion only with a guided tour.
Siege courtyards - a complex of huts recreated in 2020, in which the
inhabitants of the Tula Kremlin took refuge from enemy raids in the 17th
century - at that time there were 129 siege courtyards in the Tula
Kremlin.
Tula Regional Museum of Local Lore, st. Sovetskaya, 68. ☎ +7
(4872) 30-79-75. Tue-Thursday, Sun: 10:00–18:00, Fri–Sat 10:00–20:00,
Mon – day off. 200 rub. About 150,000 exhibits dedicated to the history
of the Tula land from prehistoric times to the Great Patriotic War are
presented in ten thematic halls: archaeological finds, stuffed animals,
household items, products of Tula craftsmen, folk costumes, weapons,
etc.
Tula Museum of Fine Arts (Art Museum) , st. Engels, 64 (near
the Belousov park). ☎ +7 (4872) 35-40-53. Sun–Thursday 10:00–18:00,
Fri–Sat 10:00–20:00, Mon – day off. 300 rub. The museum was opened in
1919 on the basis of works of art nationalized from the noble estates of
the Tula province (Bobrinsky, Olsufiev, Gagarin, Obolensky, Urusov,
etc.), and the fund of the Chamber of Antiquities (since 1902). Now it
is located in a building erected according to the project of the Tula
architect P. M. Zaitsev in 1964. Of the more than 23 thousand works of
art stored in the museum, paintings by famous Russian artists S.
Ushakov, V. Borovikovsky, I. Levitan, V. Surikov, I. Shishkin, K.
Korovin, V. Polenov, V. Serov, as well as such representatives of the
avant-garde as K. Malevich, D. Shterenberg, A. Rodchenko, V.
Rozhdestvensky. Among the foreign masters are the French E. Lesueur, G.
Robert, K. Vernet, the Dutch J. Vonk, J. Janson, K. Molenar, G. Flink,
the Italians D. Fetti, L. Giordano, L. Bassano. In addition to
paintings, the permanent exhibition includes sculptures, glassware and
porcelain.
Historical and Memorial Museum of the Demidovs (Necropolis
of the Demidovs), st. Demidovskaya, 9 (next to the Nikolo-Zaretskaya
Church). ☎ +7 (4872) 39-37-74. Tue-Thursday, Sun: 10:00–18:00, Fri–Sat
10:00–20:00, Mon – day off. 150 rub. In the museum, opened in 1996 on
the occasion of the 340th anniversary of the birth of the Tula gunsmith
Nikita Demidov, one can get acquainted with unique items from the
archaeological excavations of the tomb of the Demidov family, samples of
the early Tula weapons production of the 16th-18th centuries, Ural-made
copper utensils, rare images of representatives of this dynasty of
talented mining entrepreneurs. The family tomb of the Demidovs is
located nearby, in the Nikolo-Zaretskaya church.
Museum of
Decorative, Applied and Folk Art, st. Metallistov, 12. ☎ +7 (4872)
77-04-20. Sun–Thursday 10:00–18:00, Fri–Sat 10:00–20:00. 150 rub. The
museum fund contains authentic antiquities of the mid-18th-early 20th
centuries. - all this is located in two rooms. The first hall presents
the life of Tula peasants with original handicraft items. In the second
hall, the contrast is the life of wealthy citizens with manufactory
high-tech products, objects of European and Russian art. The museum
building is located on the pedestrian Metallistov Street in a
pre-revolutionary petty-bourgeois mansion.
Exhibition hall ,
Krasnoarmeisky prospekt, 16. ☎ +7 (4872) 56-09-92. Tue-Thursday, Sun:
10:00–18:00, Fri–Sat 10:00–20:00, Mon – day off. 150 rub. Another art
museum that focuses on contemporary art, but there are also exhibitions
of classical Russian and European painting. In addition to exhibitions,
meetings with artists, various master classes are held, the purpose of
which is proclaimed to be to bring art closer to the people. Across the
road, diagonally from the Exhibition Hall, you can see a small sculpture
of the dog Aifka, who holds the Arguments and Facts newspaper in his
mouth.
Military History Museum (Museum and Exhibition Complex of
the Tula Kremlin). ☎ +7 (4872) 77-49-36. Sun–Thursday 10:00–18:00,
Fri–Sat 10:00–20:00. 350 rub. Tells about the military history of the
Tula region from the Battle of Kulikovo to the Great Patriotic War and
Afghanistan. There are not so many genuine unique exhibits, since the
museum is new (it has been operating since 2017), but there are many
interactive zones, installations and reconstructions.
Armored train
No. 13 "Tula worker" (on the first platform of the Moscow railway
station). ☎ +7 (953) 955-18-21. 🕑 Wed–Sun 11:00–19:00. Excursion 300
rubles per person An armored train restored in 2015 that took part in
the defense of Tula in the late autumn of 1941. Outside, the armored
train can be viewed directly from the first platform of the Moscow
railway station for free. Inside there are historical documents telling
about the battle path of the armored train. Of greatest interest is the
reconstruction of the environment of the headquarters and liaison cars,
the bakery car, as well as places for sleeping and resting the personnel
of the armored train.
Memorial Museum of N. I. Beloborodov, ave.
Lenina, 16. ☎ +7 (4872) 36-18-85. Tue-Thursday, Sun: 10:00–18:00,
Fri–Sat 10:00–20:00, Mon – day off. 150 rub. Dedicated to Nikolai
Ivanovich Beloborodov, creator of the two-row chromatic hand harmonica
and organizer of the world's first harmonica orchestra. Located in a
two-story mansion built by his grandfather. The most important exhibit
of the museum is the chromatic harmonica invented by Beloborodov in the
1870s. The building also hosts musical and creative evenings.
House-Museum of V.V. Veresaeva Wikidata Element , st. Gogolevskaya,
82. ☎ +7 (4872) 56-77-31. Tue-Thursday, Sun: 10:00–18:00, Fri–Sat
10:00–20:00, Mon – day off. 150 rub. It was opened in honor of the
writer, translator, Pushkinist and literary critic Vikenty Vikentyevich
Veresaev in a wooden house of the middle of the 19th century, which
belonged to his parents, the Smidovich family. In Tula, Veresaev spent
his childhood and youth, his father was V.I. Smidovich, a well-known
Tula doctor. The basis of the exposition, in addition to antique
furniture, is books and documents by V.V. Veresaev and his parents.
Museum of P.N. Krylova, st. Kutuzova, 10. ☎ +7 (4872) 41-04-60.
Sun–Thursday 10:00–18:00, Fri–Sat 10:00–20:00. 150 rub. The museum is
dedicated to the life and work of Porfiry Nikitich Krylov, People's
Artist of the USSR, who was a member of the Kukryniksy team. The
exhibits are paintings, drawings and archival documents of the artist,
donated to the museum by his son.
Museum and Exhibition Center "Tula
Antiquities" , ave. Lenina, 47. ☎ +7 (4872) 36-16-63. 10:00–18:00. The
museum has two expositions. The first is located in a mansion built at
the beginning of the 20th century in the Art Nouveau style by the
merchant Ermolaev-Zverev - here are exhibits dedicated to the Battle of
Kulikovo, including armor and weapons of the battle participants. The
second exposition is located in the reconstructed hut of the Tula
craftsman and is dedicated to the life and traditions of the Tula
masters.
Tula Defense Museum, st. Ryazanskaya, 25. ☎ +7 (4872)
26-82-20. Sun–Thursday 11:00–18:00, Fri–Sat 11:00–19:00. 350 rub. Tula
analogue of the Patriot park near Moscow on the eastern outskirts of the
city. The exposition is dedicated to the heroic defense of Tula in 1941
and occupies about 3,000 square meters. meters. Here you can see old and
new military equipment, recreated scenes of military operations, a
monument to "polite people", there is a cafe with the same name.
Central Park of Culture and Leisure. P.P. Belousov.
The largest park in Tula, covering an area of 143 hectares, was designed
like the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. It was opened in 1893 on the site of
a former landfill on the initiative of the Tula sanitary doctor Pyotr
Belousov, after whom it was named. Now it is a natural monument with 90
species of trees and shrubs, on the territory of which there is a
forest, three ponds and a recreational area. There is a beach on the
shore of the middle pond in summer. The park is aimed at a wide category
of visitors: there are rides with a Ferris wheel, a cafe, a zoo, a
fountain, sports and playgrounds, ecological trails, smooth asphalt
paths for walking and cycling. On a vast territory you can find
monuments to the founder of the park P.P. Belousov, poet S.A. Yesenin,
writer V.V. Veresaev and many other modern sculptures and art objects.
Batashevsky garden. The park was founded in the 18th century by
representatives of the Tula industrial dynasty, the gunsmiths Batashevs.
It is located in the northern part of the city on both banks of the
Tulitsa River, connected by a pedestrian bridge. The park has many
trees, paved paths, sports and playgrounds.
Komsomolsky park. A
well-maintained park in the District with rental points, cafes,
children's and sports grounds, there is an artificial pond with ducks
and a spring. The main alley leads to the territory of the former
Klokovo airfield. In front of the entrance to the park there is a
monument to the captain of the Varyag cruiser V.V. Rudnev.
Rogozhinsky park. Opened in Soviet times in the south-east of the city,
next to the ravines near the Rogozhnya River. In 1941, the front line of
the city's defense passed here - at the site of the death of one of the
creators of the Tula people's militia, G.A. Ageev erected a monument. In
addition to the amenities traditional for other parks, the only ice
arena in Tula "Tropic" stands out, where skates are rented.
Proletarian Park. One of the youngest parks in Tula, covering an area of
33 hectares on the northeastern outskirts of the city, was created on
the basis of birch plantations of the 1950s. Many sports fields with
football fields and tennis courts.
Tula Academic Drama Theatre, prosp. Lenina, 34A. ☎ +7
(4872) 31-11-69.10:00–20:00. It has been leading its history since 1777,
after 11 years it was visited by Empress Catherine II. The actor M.S.
performed here. Shchepkin, works by L.N. Tolstoy with the personal
presence of the author. It is located in a spacious building built in
1970 with classic interiors and with the sculptural composition "Muses"
on the facade, nearby in 2008 a square with fountains was opened. The
repertoire of the theater combines classical and modern productions.
Tula Regional Theater for Young Spectators, st. Comintern, 2. ☎ +7
(4872) 56–97–66. Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00. A variety of children's
performances, puppet shows, has been operating since 1931.
Chamber
Drama Theatre, st. Dzerzhinsky, 8. ☎ +7 (4872) 30–45–96. The first
private professional theater in Tula, founded in 1999. Since 2005 he has
been working in a permanent building with a hall for 45 people. There
are few scenery, the repertoire is small, but the actors are trying.
Tula Exotarium. The local zoo, which turned out to be
specialized - more than 2,000 species of reptiles and amphibians live
here. Rare birds and mammals are also represented. It is located in two
buildings in different parts of the city.
New exotarium exposition,
st. Pervomaiskaya 13A, bldg. 10 (TsPKiO named after P.P. Belousov). ☎ +7
(4872) 77-01-18. Tue–Sun 10:00–20:00. 300 rub. Tropical atmosphere with
branchy trees and enclosures where you can see more than 100 species of
exotic animals: lizards, meerkats, raccoons, snakes, piranhas.
Old
exotarium exposition, st. October, 26. ☎ +7 (4872) 47-53-92. Wed–Sun
10:00–20:00. 200 rub. It is housed in a historic mansion, where at the
entrance visitors are greeted by a sculpture of the "Tula dinosaur".
Inside a fairly small building, snakes, turtles, frogs, parrots, monitor
lizards and a number of other representatives of the fauna are
represented. Animal feeding demonstrations are held.
Tula State
Circus, st. Sovetskaya, 96. ☎ +7 (4872) 31-12-98. 10:00–19:00. One of
the oldest circuses in Russia, operating since 1870. The modern building
of the circus was renovated in 2015 and now has a capacity of 2,500
spectators. In addition to traditional circus programs, there are ice
shows and water performances. There is a buffet and photo zones with
clowns.
Tula Regional Philharmonic, ave. Lenina, 51. ☎ +7 (4872)
36-77-96. 10:00–19:00. The building of the Philharmonic, built at the
beginning of the 20th century, combines the styles of neoclassicism and
modernity, was opened in 1912 as the Noble Club, after the revolution it
housed a drama theater. The Philharmonic, which appeared in Tula in
1937, moved to a modern building already in the 1970s, its second stage
is located in the house of the Noble Assembly. Now the Tula Symphony
Orchestra performs here, various artists conduct tours, and ballet
performances are organized.
Dolina X Active Leisure Center ,
Shchekinskoe shosse, 6. ☎ +7 (960) 615–00–70. Mon–Fri 12:00–22:00,
Sat–Sun 11:00–23:00. A wide range of entertainment for winter and summer
outdoor recreation: ski slopes, snowboarding, tubing, rope park,
trampoline, paintball. You can rent all the necessary equipment. In
summer, festivals and banquets are held in "Valley X", for this there is
a cafe with a dance floor. Located on the southern outskirts of the
city, public transport to the stop "Kosogorsky bridge".
"City Day" (second weekend of September) - the city
administration usually puts on a parade and musical programs throughout
the city. In the evening, a concert of Russian pop stars takes place on
Lenin Square, ending with colorful fireworks.
"Theatre Yard" - a
carnival procession, performances of street theaters, musical and circus
performances on the city streets, in parks and squares.
Tula Wings is
an annual festival of aircraft modeling. Demonstration performances with
the performance of aerobatics, drone races.
"Smile, Russia" is an
annual film festival for viewing musical and comedy films.
Gingerbread Day is an annual festival dedicated to the main Tula
delicacy.
The nearest passenger airport to Tula is located in Kaluga, from where there are not very frequent flights to St. Petersburg, Sochi, Mineralnye Vody and Yerevan. But it is convenient, first of all, for Tula residents, who can comfortably drive 100 km along an unloaded road in their own car and leave it there in a guarded parking lot. It is more convenient for guests of Tula to fly to Moscow, from where it is easy to get to Tula by train or bus. In the north of Tula, there is its own Klokovo airport, which has not been operating for a long time, and there are no plans to restore it for civil aviation.
Trains and electric trains run from Moscow to Tula, they
can depart from different stations.
From the Kursk railway
station: the most convenient daytime "Lastochki" to Kursk and Belgorod,
reaching Tula in 2 hours and 15 minutes. Twice a day, in the morning and
in the evening, the Moscow-Tula express train runs, the carriages of
which look like an ordinary electric train, but tickets are sold with
seats and are slightly cheaper than for Lastochka; on the way 2 h 40
min. Finally, the cheapest option is a classic train (however, equipped
with air conditioning and Wi-Fi), which takes 3.5 hours to Tula with all
stops.
Long-distance trains run from Vostochny Station, mostly
transit from St. Petersburg, on the way 2.5-3 hours. Tickets for
reserved seats are comparable in price to Lastochka. The train St.
Petersburg - Belgorod with inexpensive seated cars is especially
convenient. The rest of the long-distance trains go mainly to resorts
and therefore have a seasonal character. It is not worth going to Tula
from the Kievsky railway station, unless you want to make a big train
journey with a stop in Kaluga, the journey takes from 5.5 hours
In the direction of Orel, one electric train per day. It consists of old
wagons without air conditioning and slowly drags for 3.5 hours, so it’s
more convenient to go by “Swallow” or a long-distance train, which will
take about 2 hours.
The main Moscow-Kursk railway intersects in
Tula with chord lines, on which there are relatively few trains. Diesels
go to Novomoskovsk (2 hours), Aleksin (1.5 hours) and Suvorov (2 hours).
There are long-distance trains to Kaluga (often at inconvenient times),
and commuter diesels (3-3.5 hours) do not run every day, and most likely
you will go by bus.
There are two stations in Tula: the main
Moscow and the auxiliary Ryazhsky. Most likely, you will arrive at
Moskovsky Station, although some exotic trains arrive at Ryazhsky.
Moscow railway station (Tula-1-Kurskaya), st. Puteyskaya, 2. Around
the clock. The main Tula railway station is located 3 km from the
center, the Kremlin is 35-40 minutes on foot or 5-6 stops by public
transport. It is best to sit down at the beginning of Krasnoarmeisky
Prospekt, from where almost all transport goes to the station. Trams
also drive up to the station, but their stop is 300 m to the north
(towards Moscow). The building was repeatedly rebuilt and acquired its
modern look in 1953-56. - This is an atypical monument of post-war
classicism with frescoes on a communist theme. Directly in front of the
station is a rather expressive monument to “Tulyak gunsmiths and
soldiers of the First World War”, right on the platform there is a
military memorial, and on the tracks there is an armored train turned
into a museum. Also at the station there is a memorial plaque announcing
the friendly meeting of L.N. Tolstoy and Turgenev: the importance of
this event is that a few years before, two great Russian writers had
quarreled to death and even planned to arrange a duel.
Of the
useful things at the station, there are toilets, a waiting room, a
buffet and left-luggage offices, as well as long-term rest rooms. There
are dozens of stalls with gingerbread in front of the station. Located
behind the Moskva Hotel, the Sarafan shopping center has a Lenta
supermarket, a souvenir shop and a couple of cafes.
Ryazhsky
railway station (Tula-Vyazemskaya), st. Ryazhskaya, 10. Around the
clock. A small station on a non-mainline non-electrified line. Diesel
engines to Uzlovaya and Novomoskovsk stop here, as well as those rare
long-distance trains that for some reason turn there. There are
long-distance commuter trains passing Tula in transit and stopping only
at the Ryazhsky railway station, but trains with the final in Tula
always depart from the Moscow railway station. There is nothing else in
the building except for the ticket office and the waiting room. From
here, about a kilometer to the Museum of Weapons and 2 km to the
Kremlin. The nearest stop is Arsenalnaya on Oktyabrskaya Street.
Buses run from Moscow to Tula from the Novoyasenevskaya bus
station to the Tula bus station, as well as minibuses of several
companies, including MPP (Orekhovo bus station in Moscow - Severnaya bus
station in Tula). Departure from morning to late evening, travel time -
2.5-3 hours, accurate to Moscow traffic jams. There may be additional
minibuses from the Moscow railway station, the Tula bus station and the
Severnaya bus station to almost any metro station in the south of
Moscow, but they run less frequently and on an unpredictable schedule.
From other cities, buses often run to Tula only from Kaluga, on
average every hour, the journey takes 2.5 hours. From Orel, buses run
rarely and take a long time (3.5 hours) - choose the train. There are 5
buses a day from Ryazan, the journey takes 4 hours. There are also daily
buses to the Tula bus station from Lipetsk, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk and
Smolensk.
Bus station, Lenin Ave., 94. ☎ +7 (4872) 33-25-45.
around the clock. The main bus station of Tula is located in the
southern part of the city (bus station bus stop), almost at the very end
of Lenin Avenue, 4 km from the Kremlin. Most buses depart from here,
both interregional and regional. There are fast food and communication
points in the bus station building and around it, the Tula Hotel is
located nearby.
Bus station "Northern", st. October, 297A. ☎ +7
(4872) 76-02-04. 3:00–00:45. A new bus station opened in January 2021 at
the exit from Tula towards the capital. There is a waiting room, a cafe
and a comfortable toilet. By city public transport, you need to go to
the stop "Geroya Karpov Street". Buses and minibuses depart from here to
Moscow, Aleksin and Yasnogorsk.
Vostochnaya bus station, Oboronnaya
st., 83. ☎ +7 (4872) 76-03-18. 5:30–21:30. Another bus station in a new
building, opened in January 2021 in the southeastern part of the city.
Inside there is an inexpensive canteen, a pharmacy, a Tula gingerbread
and souvenir shop, a comfortable toilet and a waiting room. Stop urban
public transport - "Street Oboronnaya". Departure of flights to Venev
and other eastern settlements of the region.
From
Moscow along the M2E105 highway (Simferopol highway), the distance from
the Moscow Ring Road is 160 km. On most of the route, the speed limit is
110 km / h, this is a motorway without a single traffic light, bypassing
settlements and with at least two lanes in each direction.
The
M4E115 Don toll road can serve as an alternative road from Moscow. Near
Venev, turn onto the P132 Venevskoe highway, the distance in this case
will be 190 km.
Buses, trolleybuses, trams and private minibuses run in Tula. The
tram network is extensive and quite large, but the cars themselves are
relatively old, the buses and trolleybuses are newer. Travel by any type
of municipal transport: 25 rubles. in cash, 21 rubles. – by contactless
bank card (2022). You can also use the Troika card, including the Moscow
card, which has a minimum fare of 19 rubles in 2022. In Tula, "Troika"
is sold at suburban ticket offices of railway stations and at all bus
stations.
In minibuses, the fare is 25 rubles, regardless of the
method of payment; everywhere there are terminals for bank cards.
Minibuses in Tula run more often than municipal transport, and are not
inferior to it in terms of comfort. All cars are equipped with automatic
doors, the old Gazelles and PAZs are no more. Payment for all modes of
transport - at the entrance (usually to the driver, but sometimes there
are conductors). At the central stops there are electronic boards with
information about arrival. Also, city transport is displayed in real
time in Yandex maps.
There are paid car parks in the city center,
tow trucks are actively working, monitoring the situation from cameras.
Do not leave the car under prohibition signs. Parking is paid on
weekdays from 9:00 to 19:00, the cost is 40 rubles. per hour (parking
information).
The city is also trying to create a network of bike
lanes, but the city is ill-suited to cycling due to high curbstones and
narrow pitted sidewalks. Tula residents love to ride along the bike
paths in Central Park, where there is also a bike rental service. With
scooters, it turned out much more successfully - they can be easily
found and rented almost anywhere in the city center, where the roads are
better.
During the summer navigation along the Upa River, a
pleasure river tram runs from the pier near the Proletarian Bridge.
The most popular local souvenir is Tula gingerbread, which has become
a well-known brand throughout the country. The gingerbread has a flat
shape, and, due to the presence of honey in the dough, it can bend and
not break, and also does not get stale for a long time. The fillings can
be different: from condensed milk to various fruit additives, but the
dough is quite dry and hard. The Tula gingerbread has its official
history since 1685 and became very popular in the Russian Empire, but
after the revolution, the original recipe was practically lost. In 1954,
they tried to restore it, and now two largest factories produce
gingerbread in Tula: Yasnaya Polyana and Staraya Tula - in the first one
you can sign up for a production tour, in the second there is a museum
in the city center. Gingerbread in Tula is also baked by small bakeries,
the number of which is growing.
Modern recipes are far from
pre-revolutionary: there is less honey and preservatives have appeared,
but the gingerbread is still quite tasty. Gingerbreads from the Yasnaya
Polyana factory are stored for 2.5 months and are considered tastier
than Staraya Tula products, which are not afraid of even half a year.
But it is better to buy gingerbread baked no later than 20 days ago.
Tula gingerbread has a different shape: from the usual rectangular ones,
which can be found in chain stores throughout Russia, to gift original
shapes and large sizes, which are a pity to eat. Buying gingerbread in
Tula is not a problem: they are sold in the Kremlin's Trading Rows, at
the collapse near the Moscow railway station, in several gingerbread
museums, on highways, as well as in Tula Gingerbread stores, where there
is a larger assortment, but also higher prices.
As a souvenir in
Tula, you can buy a real or stylized samovar, as well as a Tula whistle.
Shopping as such is concentrated in the center in the area of Sovetskaya
Street and on the outskirts in the area of the Eastern bypass. In good
weather, souvenirs are sold in front of the entrance to the Kremlin near
the building of the Museum of Samovars. A large selection of souvenirs
at good prices in the Trading Rows of the Tula Kremlin. There are also
specialized souvenir shops in Tula, some of which are located on the
main streets of the city, others - in shopping centers.
Gift and
souvenir shop "Tula Gingerbread". A local network of shops with a large
assortment of souvenirs (samovars, magnets, plates, etc.), Tula
gingerbread, Belyov pastila, Suvorov sweets are sold, but prices are
slightly higher than the average for the city.
1 Ave. Lenina, 30. ☎
+7 (4872) 71-00-03. 9:00–21:00.
2 st. October, 35. ☎ +7 (4872)
70-05-65. 9:00–21:00.
3 st. October, 99A. ☎ +7 (4872) 74-04-95.
9:00–21:00.
Shopping center "Gostiny Dvor" ("Gostinka"), st.
Sovetskaya, 47 (on Lenin Square). 10:00–22:00. A large shopping and
office center near the Kremlin. A large selection of shops, including
the Perekrestok supermarket, clothing, footwear, electronics stores,
etc. There are restaurants and cafes in the building, including Vkusno -
i dotka, KFC, Burger King, etc.
Shopping center "Sarafan", st.
Puteyskaya, 5. 10:00–21:00. Convenient shopping center near the Moscow
railway station. There is a Lenta supermarket, a large souvenir shop
with a good assortment, as well as clothing and footwear stores, Burger
King and several other cafes.
Mall "Maxi", st. Proletarskaya, 2.
10:00–21:00. The largest shopping and entertainment center in the Tula
region with the largest selection of stores of various profiles in the
city, including the OBI hypermarket, there are fast foods "Vkusno - i
dot" and Burger King. On the second floor there is a cinema "Cinema
Star", and in the spacious parking lot of the mall there is a Ferris
wheel and the museum "Inverted House" in sneakers.
Mall "Rio", st.
Proletarskaya, 22A. 10:00–21:00. A large shopping center in the
Proletarsky District with a large selection of chain stores, cafes and
the Cinema Park cinema.
SEC "Likerka-loft", st. Lenina 85, building
1. 10:00–21:00. The most original shopping center, which is positioned
as an art space. It occupies a converted brick building of a former
distillery. Here you can find trendy cafes, coffee houses, hookah bars,
vape shops, barbershops, craft beer shops, co-working spaces, Foggy’s
anti-cinema, clothing stores and other goods. Unlike other shopping
centers, most of the shops and cafes are non-chain. In the courtyard
there is an original sculpture of a cyborg flea.
Tula public catering is quite diverse and should satisfy most
tourists. Tula is proud of its gingerbread, Belyov apple marshmallows
and Suvorov chocolates. Tea can also be drunk from the Tula samovar.
You can start your gastronomic journey with tea from a Tula samovar
with Tula gingerbread. You can do this in the Gingerbread Museum on
Oktyabrskaya, which is located on the territory of the Staraya Tula
factory. But you need to sign up for the tour in advance. In the shop at
the factory you can buy souvenir gingerbread and sweets.
Cheap
1 Cafe "Traktir", st. Turgenevskaya, 69. ☎ +7 (4872) 36-35-43. Mon–Fri
10:00–17:00, Sat-Sun - day off. Lunch 200-300 rubles. Self-service
canteen with handouts and trays, very low prices, edible food and rude
service.
2 Cafe "Samarkand", Khlebnaya Square, 4/1 (next to the
Central Market). ☎ +7 (905) 117-71-76. Tue–Sun 8:00–20:00, Mon – day
off. Hearty lunch 350-400 rubles. A small cafe with traditional Uzbek
meat dishes, a modest interior, but large portions (you can take a half)
and nice prices. By evening, the assortment is greatly reduced.
Cafe
"Vkusnov". Business lunch 200 rub. A chain of self-service cafes, all of
which are combined with Spar supermarkets. Officially prohibited, but in
fact you can sit with the food you bought from Spar. Free WiFi. Business
lunches from 12:00 to 16:00.
3 Krasnoarmeisky prospect, 8.
9:00–22:00.
4 Lenin Avenue, 83B. 9:00–22:00.
Average cost
5 Pizzeria "Mama Mia", st. Demonstrations, 1A. ☎ +7 (4872) 55-58-88.
Mon–Sun 00:00–24:00. Hot from 400 rub. Cozy interior in French style,
children's play area, a good range of hot dishes. They praise pizza,
potato balls and milkshake, free Wi-Fi. There are several other similar
establishments in the center of Tula.
6 Restaurant "Vkusno - and the
point" (Former McDonald's), st. October, 40. ☎ +7 (4872) 47-63-79.
Mon–Sun 07:00–00:00. Hamburger "Big Special" 270 rubles Russian chain of
fast food restaurants with a focus on hamburgers, rolls and french
fries. There are several more establishments in the shopping centers of
Tula.
7 Pizzeria "Tomato", Lenina Avenue, 54A. ☎ +7 (4872) 52-34-68.
Sun–Thursday 11:00–22:00, Fri–Sat 11:00–23:00. Pizza 30 cm 500 rub. The
combination of a warm homely atmosphere with a pleasant interior is
focused on families and large groups of friends, there is a children's
play area. Ordinary pizza is served on a thin crust, mega-pizza is
served on a fluffy one. Free WiFi.
8 Metropol Restaurant , Lenina
Avenue, 40. ☎ +7 (4872) 77-01-14. Mon–Thu 11:00–23:00, Fri–Sun
12:00–00:00. Business lunch 300 rub. The menu is relatively small,
focused on banquets. Business lunch from 12:00 to 16:00.
Expensive
9 Restaurant "Spices & Joys" , st. Oktyabrskaya, 1D. ☎ +7
(4872) 77-30-07. Sun–Thursday 12:00–23:00, Fri–Sat 12:00–00:00. Hot from
800 rub. Restaurant of Georgian cuisine of the Ginza network, from the
summer veranda of which you can see the Museum of Weapons and the Upa
River. Best suited for large companies and romantic meetings. Open
kitchen, slow service, on the third floor the interior is more
comfortable than on the second. Served pkhali (cold appetizer of grape
leaves, beets, and spinach with nuts), pilaf, dorado (fish) on the
coals, lobio harkalia (beans with adjika), zgapari (chocolate honey
cake). Bar, free Wi-Fi.
10 Restaurant-brewery "Pyotr Petrovich", st.
Pervomaiskaya, 13A k15 (Central Park named after P.P. Belousov). ☎ +7
(4872) 71-74-00. Sun–Thursday 12:00–23:00, Fri–Sat 12:00–00:00,. Hot
from 600 rub. Named in honor of Dr. Belousov, on whose initiative a park
was laid out in 1893, on whose territory the institution is located. On
the second floor there is a balcony with a beautiful view of the park
alleys. There are only 3 floors, part of the first one is occupied by a
brewery, where dark, light, Viennese and wheat beers are brewed, craft
beers are also available. On weekends, it is better to book a table in
advance. Large portions of beef jerky, cheese patches, Polish soup, lamb
leg, mussels in shells, homemade yoghurt ice cream are served. Bar, free
Wi-Fi.
11 Restaurant PUBLIC , st. Demonstrations, 22. ☎ +7 (910)
557-77-11. 9:00–00:00. Hot from 700 rub. Eastern European cuisine and
pleasant atmosphere. "Public" has a good selection of dishes, including
traditional Serbian and Czech, the portions are average. In the open
kitchen, goulash soup in bread, splash, Karađorđev schnitzel, dolma,
risotto, tuna steak are prepared. On the open veranda you can hide with
a blanket. Bar, free Wi-Fi.
12 Gastronomic bar "Chek-in Bar", st.
Sovetskaya, 29 (Hotel "SK Royal", 1st floor). ☎ +7 (4872) 25-55-11.
12:00–02:00. Hot from 700 rub. A cozy gastropub with polite waiters and
friendly bartenders. Alcohol, including craft beer and cocktails, is
good, the usual dishes are a little worse than in a traditional
restaurant.
13 Restaurant-bar Kultura , Sovetskaya 11/4 (Urban
space Iskra). ☎ +7 (4872) 79-09-00. Sun–Thursday 12:00–23:00, Fri–Sat
12:00–4:00. Hot from 600 rub. A trendy restaurant and bar with a stylish
interior next to the pedestrian street Metallistov. Author's cuisine and
cocktails at the bar. From 12 to 16 business lunches for 500 rubles.
With the onset of darkness, it is good to walk around the territory
of the Kremlin, Sovetskaya Street and Lenin Avenue, admire the
illumination of buildings. Alcohol is sold in stores from 14:00 to
22:00, later you have to go to cafes, restaurants and clubs.
1
Night club Pyramida, st. Sovetskaya, 10. ☎ +7 (920) 755–88–99. Thu–Sun
12:00–5:00. A popular nightclub in the city center with a large bar.
2 Strip club "Lighter", st. Boldin, 45 (Business Center "Europe"). ☎ +7
(800) 333–88–68. 22:00–6:00. Polite staff. Face control. Prices are
above average.
Cheap
1 Hostel "At the Kremlin", st. Dzerzhinsky, 10. ☎ +7 (4872)
65-77-01. Bed from 500 rubles. Single accommodation - 1200 rubles.
Hostel 5 minutes from the Kremlin, rooms for up to 8 people, kitchen
with kettle and microwave. Free WiFi.
2 Hotel "Podvorye" , st.
Zhukovsky, 9 (center, 650 m to the Tula Kremlin). ☎ +7 (499) 677-52-88.
Single room from 2000 rubles, double room from 2200 rubles. Economy
class hotel. Located in the center, on a quiet street, just a 10-minute
walk from the Kremlin and Lenin Square. Comfortable rooms with a private
bathroom (shower, sink, toilet), free private parking (not reserved in
advance) and free Wi-Fi access. Breakfast 270 rub.
3 European Guest
House, st. Voykova, 39 (400 meters from the circus). ☎ +7 (4872)
36-19-91. Single room from 1900 rubles, double room from 2300 rubles. 37
rooms, restaurant, bar. Minus - narrow beds and ill-conceived interior
design. Free WiFi.
Average cost
4 Hotel Moscow, st.
Puteyskaya, 3 (Moscow station square). ☎ +7 (4872) 55-89-52. Single room
from 2500 rubles, double room from 3000 rubles. Large 8-storey hotel
with 180 rooms with not the newest furniture, cafe, bar, beauty salon.
The windows overlook the building of the Moscow railway station. Some
rooms do not have air conditioning. The price includes a modest
breakfast, which takes place in a small cafe. Part of the interiors has
not been overhauled since Soviet times. Free WiFi.
5 Guest house
"Imperator" , st. Bogucharovskaya, 2A. ☎ +7 (4872) 43-04-03. Single
room from 3200 rubles, double room from 3500 rubles. A hotel on the
northern outskirts of Tula with 44 rooms, a restaurant, a bar, a banquet
hall. The guest house is named in honor of Emperor Alexander II, a bust
has been erected on the territory of him. The claim to luxury is not
justified because of the proximity of "royal" and "Soviet". Focused on
business events and corporate parties, there is a restaurant. Free WiFi.
6 Sport Hotel, Lenina Avenue, 87 (entrance by car from Ageeva Street).
☎ +7 (4872) 52–77–33. Single room from 2600 rubles, double room - 3800
rubles. 26 air-conditioned rooms. The hotel is located under the stands
of the stadium, which is why most rooms have low and sloping ceilings.
Free WiFi. Breakfast is paid separately - 300 rubles.
7 Saturn
Hotel, st. Oktyabrskaya, 24 (across the street from the Exotarium). ☎ +7
(4872) 70-01-00. Double room from 3100 rubles. 13 rooms, restaurant,
bar, banquet hall, sauna. Free WiFi.
Expensive
8 Hotel «SK
Royal», st. Sovetskaya, 29 (across the road from the "White House"). ☎
+7 (800) 500-93-69. Double from 8000 rubles. The only five-star hotel in
Tula. 150 rooms, restaurant, bar, fitness center and spa area. Good
breakfast buffet. Free WiFi.
9 Hotel complex "Armenia", st.
Sovetskaya, 47 (shopping center "Gostiny Dvor", entrance opposite the
"White House"). ☎ +7 (4872) 25-06-00. Double room from 4000 rubles.
Four-star hotel with 128 rooms, restaurant, bar, sauna, free guarded
underground parking. There are rooms with a view of the Kremlin.
Breakfast buffet. Free WiFi.
Finding free Wi-Fi in Tula is not difficult: in addition to cafes,
restaurants and shopping malls, the city has a network of Beeline Wifi,
Dom.ru and Rostelecom hot spots. Federal cellular operators confidently
receive Internet at 4G speed.
3Main Post Office (Department No.
300000), ave. Lenina, 33. ☎ +7 (4872) 31-23-36, +7 (800) 200-58-88.
Mon–Fri 8:00–22:00, Sat–Sun 9:00–17:00. The central post office near the
Kremlin.
The surroundings of Tula are a picturesque forest-steppe, in which
there are objects for every taste. If you are interested in temple
architecture and wilderness, you should go to Venev, Belev or Odoev.
There are interesting estates in Bogoroditsk and Polenovo, the latter
built according to the designs of the artist himself, but the most
famous estate in the Tula region is Yasnaya Polyana, which belonged to
Leo Tolstoy, which is located just 10 km from Tula. A completely
different facet of the Tula land is industrial cities with ensembles of
Soviet architecture: Novomoskovsk, Uzlovaya, Lipki. The most beautiful
natural places are located southeast of Tula: the famous Kulikovo Field,
the Don Valley in the Epifan region and the Beautiful Sword in the
vicinity of Efremov.
Novomoskovsk can serve as a base for trips
to the eastern part of the Tula region. It is more convenient to view
the west of the Tula region from Tula, since the regional centers for
the most part do not have an acceptable infrastructure.
Having
examined Tula, you can also go to neighboring regions, for example, to
the exquisitely noble Kaluga or to Yelets, located in the north of the
Lipetsk region, the most historical city of the Central Black Earth
Region. Another obvious destination is Oryol, which recently received
the title of the literary capital of Russia, along the way the famous
estate of Turgenev, Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, is conveniently located.
1 "Bogucharovo" estate, Oktyabrsky, 1 (15 km north of Tula). ☎ +7
(4872) 72-67-41. Wed–Sun 10:00–17:00, break from 14:00 to 15:00. 100
rub. Museum-estate of the noble family of Khomyakov, to which Alexei
Stepanovich Khomyakov, a Russian philosopher and publicist, one of the
founders of Slavophilism, belonged. The manor house, outbuildings, the
remains of a park with ponds, as well as the building of the Sretensky
Church of 1840 in the classicist style, with an unusual bell tower,
repeating the San Marco campaign in Venice, have survived to our time.
2 Museum "Moto-Auto-Art" , Harino village, st. Orekhova, 1. ☎ +7 (905)
627-51-15. Tue–Sun 11:00–18:00. 500 rub. Private motorcycle museum next
to the Tula bypass road on the M2 highway. The exposition presents more
than 360 motorcycles and scooters of various brands and modifications,
starting from the 1930s, including the Mini motorcycle, produced in a
single copy. Most of the equipment of the museum is produced by
Tulamashzavod, but there are also captured German motorcycles of 1939.
The city was founded at the confluence of the Tula River (later
Tulka, Tulitsa) into the Upa. One of the early attempts to explain the
origin of the toponym was the hypothesis of Vladimir Dahl. In his
dictionary, he explained the word “Tula” as follows: “Tula is a
secretive, inaccessible place, a backwater, a backwater for protection,
shelter, or for imprisonment. The name of the city may have something to
do with this.” Max Vasmer also agrees with this hypothesis.
Since
the name of the river “Upa” is certainly Baltic (compare lit. ùpė, upìs,
upỹs, Latvian. upe “river, stream”), its tributary Tula may also be of
Baltic origin, as evidenced by a number of parallels in Lithuanian
toponymy: Tule river, swamp Tulis, Tulyte field, Tulejos meadow, Tulia
valley, etc. But at the same time, the hydronym “Tula” has similar
parallels in the Finno-Ugric north of Russia: the Tula River (Vyatka
basin), the Tuloksa River (Lake Ladoga basin), the Tula River and Lake
Tulos (Karelia), Tuloma River (Kola Peninsula). One can also see the
similarity of the hydronym “Tula” with the Turkic names: Tuv. tulaa
“swamp”, “swamp”, hack. tul "fish", hack. Tula “swamp hummock”, Shorsk.
Tula “to dam the water”, there is the Tula River (a tributary of the Ob,
in Novosibirsk), which has its source in swamps.
The history of
the syllable -*tul- (and its phonetic variants: syllables
-*tal-/-*tol-/-*tl-) is traced by philologist Eliza Fedorovna Molina
from the time of the Hittites, who had the word -*tul- - “well”. In the
language of the Sumerian civilization, the syllable -*tul- meant “sea”.
All of the above names from different language families, containing the
protosyllable -*tul- (and its phonetic variants), are united by one
common seme - “water” or some connection with water/liquid, that is, the
oldest sound base -*tl-, acoustically conveying the concept of water and
all related concepts.
Tula is one of the oldest cities in Russia. Since ancient times, this
region was inhabited by the Slavic tribes of the Vyatichi. This is
evidenced by the many mounds and settlements that have survived to this
day. The Vyatichi did the same thing as many of their contemporaries:
they cultivated the land, were engaged in crafts, and trade. During the
first centuries of its existence, Tula was no different from other
populated areas in this region. It was a small, fenced settlement - a
fort, located on an island at the confluence of the Upa and Tulitsa
rivers.
From the chronicle it follows that in the middle of the
12th century the settlement of Tula already existed. However, the date
of its actual foundation remains unknown. The year 1146, as the date of
the first mention of Tula in the Nikon Chronicle, was included in the
city charter, which was approved by a citywide referendum. This date was
also recognized by historians of the first half of the 19th century:
Ivan Sakharov, Ivan Afremov, and even a follower of the critical school
Nikolai Andreev. In 1996, Tula local historian Vyacheslav Bot also spoke
out in defense of this date.
Despite this, the Nikon Chronicle
was compiled in the 16th century and cannot serve as a complete basis
for reconstructing the events of the 12th century. According to a number
of historians, the mention of Tula under 1146 is a later insertion by a
16th-century chronicler, which is convincingly proven by the works of
Arseny Nasonov, Boris Kloss, Vadim Egorov, Nikolai Fomin. But they do
not deny the existence of some kind of settlement on the “old
settlement”, which is mentioned in the scribe books, at the confluence
of the Tulitsa River into the Upa. In his works, A. N. Nasonov assumed
that this insertion into the chronicle was made in the interests of the
Ryazan princes. However, Pavel Rusakov showed in his writings that in
the story of 1146 the Ryazan prince was mentioned only once in passing,
therefore, his interests could not be represented here. In addition, in
the 20s of the 16th century, when the Nikon Chronicle was created, there
were no longer independent Ryazan princes. Therefore, it most likely
seems that these insertions and editorial edits were intended to
substantiate with historical examples the claims of the Ryazan episcopal
see to own the cities and lands of the Tula region. The bishops of
Kolomna, as well as Sarsky and Podonsky laid claim to their possession.
The first reliable mention of Tula is contained in the contractual
document of 1381 between the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich and
the Grand Duke of Ryazan Oleg Ivanovich in connection with its belonging
to the domain of Queen Taidula, where it was called a “place”, that is,
a fairly large urban-type settlement, but without walls , that is,
without the “city” itself. The historical dependence of Tula on the
Ryazan principality makes it possible to assume that the foundation of
Tula was conceived precisely by the appanage Ryazan princes, who erected
an oak fort, or settlement, at the confluence of the Tulitsa with the
Upa River. The settlement was intended for military guards, as well as
for collecting tribute from the local Vyatichi, whose settlements were
lost in dense forests. According to a number of researchers, Tula of the
14th-15th centuries was located in the basin of the Sinetulitsa River,
where the Torkhov settlement is located. Many finds made there indicate
the existence of an ancient Russian city on this site in the 14th
century, which ceased to exist in the 15th century, and came to life
again in the 16th century. The “old settlement” of Tula, mentioned in
the chronicles, where the first wooden Kremlin was erected, is also
associated by a number of researchers with the Torkhov settlement.
The exceptionally important defensive significance of Tula was due to
its location on the southern outskirts of the then Russian state,
subject to raids by the Crimean Tatars. An important factor was the
proximity to the Upper Oka, where at that time the border with Lithuania
passed. This forced us to constantly worry about strengthening Tula as a
key point of defense.
In 1503, Tula was annexed to the Grand
Duchy of Moscow, and in 1514-1521, the “city of stones” was built there
- a Kremlin on the left bank of the Upa River, which became the core of
the developing city, the center of the abatis. In 1552, Tula withstood
the siege of the 30,000-strong army of the Crimean Khan Devlet I Giray,
who tried to prevent the troops of Tsar Ivan the Terrible from marching
on Kazan. The defense of the city was led by the Tula voivode, Prince
G.I. Temkin-Rostovsky.
In 1565, after Tsar Ivan the Terrible
divided the Russian state into oprichnina and zemshchina, the city
became part of the latter.
At the beginning of the 17th century,
the city found itself in the thick of turbulent events and upheavals of
the “Time of Troubles.” False Dmitry I, who captured Tula in 1605,
expected the fall of Moscow here. In 1606, the small serving nobility
rebelled against Tsar Vasily Shuisky in the city. In 1607, Tula was
swept by an uprising led by Ivan Bolotnikov, at the end of which it
became the main base of the rebels. In March 1607, they managed to
defeat the troops of Prince Ivan Vorotynsky near Tula, but some time
later a four-month siege of the city began (from June to October 1607).
The tsarist troops stormed the walls of the Kremlin twenty times, firing
at it from two sides, but, despite the superiority of forces, they were
never able to take Tula. To speed up the surrender of the city, it was
decided to create a flood by damming the Upa River. Hunger began in the
defenders' camp, and cold weather set in. Vasily Shuisky was unable to
suppress the uprising by force and resorted to deception, assuring Ivan
Bolotnikov that the lives of the rebels would be spared. However, the
tsar did not keep his promise; in March 1608, Bolotnikov was arrested
and later executed. In 1608, a new False Dmitry (“Tushino thief”)
appeared in Tula. In 1611-12, Tula people took part in the nationwide
struggle against the Poles, which ended with the liberation of Moscow.
By the middle of the 17th century, when the fortified border of the
Russian state moved south, Tula gradually transformed from a fortress
city into a commercial and industrial center. The development of the
city's traditional blacksmith craft was encouraged by Moscow sovereigns,
who needed their own iron-making and gun industries.
The
beginning of the state-owned gun business can be considered the year
1595, when Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, having freed the Tula “self-made”
blacksmiths from taxes and zemstvo duties, obliged them to produce
state-owned weapons. The first ironworks were built by the Dutchman A.D.
Vinius 15 versts from Tula, in the village of Torhovo on the Tulitsa
River. Subsequently, the partners of A. Vinius, P. Marcelius and F.
Akema opened new factories near Tula, producing not only military, but
also household metal products. From the end of the 17th century, iron
production in Tula passed into the hands of the enterprising and
skillful gunsmith Nikita Demidov. Following Demidov, the Batashevs,
Mosolovs and others created their own factories.
At the beginning
of the 18th century, handicraft production of weapons was replaced by
factory production. By decree of Peter I in 1712, the country's first
state arms factory was built in Tula. Tula became a recognized center
for the production of weapons and metal products, which were sold
throughout Russia. Since 1797, Tula has been the center of the province.
During the Patriotic War of 1812, Tula made a significant
contribution to the defeat of Napoleonic troops. It was determined not
only by the supply of weapons (in 1812-14, the city's gunsmiths supplied
the active army with 600 thousand guns), but also by active
participation in hostilities as part of the regular army and people's
militia. Tula militias fought across Europe, and entered Paris as part
of the Russian army in March 1814.
After the end of the war,
there was a decline in Tula arms factories, which led to the emergence
of new types of production. Samovars and accordions, created by the
hands of Tula craftsmen, quickly gained worldwide fame, and, along with
the manufacture of weapons, for a long time determined the special
specialization of Tula industry. Batashevsky samovars have become
synonymous with samovars of the highest class.
At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries, new large
enterprises of the metallurgical, metalworking, military and sugar
industries appeared in Tula, which, together with the arms factory
reconstructed in 1870-1873, stood on a par with the largest industrial
enterprises in Russia. Simultaneously with the large-scale industry,
handicraft industries also developed - hardware, samovar, harmonica,
gingerbread production. In the settlement of Bolshie Gonchary, pottery
was widespread in the production of Tula city toys. According to the
1912-1913 census, the number of samovar factories in Tula reached 50,
with an annual output of 660 thousand samovars.
In 1898, a Social
Democratic group arose in Tula, and in 1901, a committee of the RSDLP.
The overthrow of the tsarist government as a result of the February
Revolution occurred on March 3 (16), 1917, later than in Petrograd and
Moscow.
“Tula, 4-III - The popular uprising in Tula began
yesterday afternoon. Workers from the arms and ammunition factories
marched to the Kremlin with banners and songs, where a crowded rally
took place. Then the demonstrators, numbering 30,000 people, joined by
ordinary people and individual soldiers, went to the governor, where
they demanded the release of political prisoners. The latter were
released. The demand to release the soldiers from the guardhouse by the
head of the garrison, General Banderovsky, was rejected. The people
rushed to the barracks to raise the soldiers. Many military units
immediately joined the rebels, and the arrested soldiers from the
guardhouse were released. The capture of representatives of the old
government began. Arrested today are: the commander of the militia
corps, the head of the garrison, General Banderovsky, Governor
Troinitsky, Vice-Governor Shenshin, Chief of Police Davydov, the head of
the division, General Nikitin, and other commanders. The police are
disarmed. The detective department was destroyed. The bailiffs, their
assistants, the guards and many policemen were arrested and sent to the
guardhouse. A Provisional Executive Committee was formed from
representatives of workers, soldiers, cooperatives and other public
organizations. The Council of Workers' Deputies was formed. Colonel
Campioni was appointed head of the garrison. Almost all military units
voluntarily joined the rebels. The order is exemplary. There was not a
single shot, not a single casualty. The people's militia was organized.
The Council of Workers' Deputies decided to continue work with redoubled
energy and to suspend work only if events take a different turn."
Soviet power was established in Tula on December 7 (20), 1917.
During the Civil War, the city was the center of armament for the Red
Army.
During the Great Patriotic War, on October 25, 1941, German
troops of General Guderian's 2nd Tank Army broke through to the distant
approaches to Tula. From that day on, for 45 days, Tula was almost
completely surrounded by siege (Tula defensive operation), subjected to
artillery and mortar fire, and air raids by Nazi aircraft. The troops of
the 50th Army (Lieutenant General I.V. Boldin), with the assistance of
almost the entire population of Tula, heroically defended the city, and
not only defended it, but also made an outstanding contribution to the
victory in the Battle of Moscow, pinning down large enemy forces that
were supposed to attack Moscow from the south. In December 1941, during
the Tula offensive operation, under the blows of the Red Army, the enemy
retreated: on December 8-10, the roads and railways connecting Tula with
Moscow were cleared of Germans, and by the end of December 15, the last
German units were driven back from Tula by 20-30 kilometers; the siege
of Tula was lifted.
Already in December 1941, the restoration of
Tula arms factories began, and in 1942 Tula again became one of the
largest centers for the production of small arms for the Red Army.
On December 3, 1966, for the courage and fortitude shown by the
defenders of Tula during the heroic defense of the city, which played an
important role in the defeat of Nazi troops near Moscow during the Great
Patriotic War, and for the successes achieved in the development of the
national economy, the city of Tula was awarded the Order of Lenin. Ten
years later, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the
USSR dated December 7, 1976, Tula was awarded the honorary title “Hero
City” and awarded the “Gold Star” medal.
Nowadays, Tula is one of
the major centers of industry and trade. The leading industries include
ferrous metallurgy (NPO AK "Tulachermet", Kosogorsk Metallurgical
Plant), mechanical engineering and metalworking (Combine Plant, Arms
Plant, Instrument-Making Plant, Mining and Transport Engineering Plant,
"Stamp").
The main water artery of Tula is the Upa River, the right tributary of the Oka. On the territory of the city, three tributaries flow into it: Tulitsa, Voronka and Bezhka. All the vegetation of Tula is planted artificially; the trees are dominated by linden, poplar, birch, maple, ash, oak, chestnut and larch. In the suburbs there are large forested areas, which are the remains of fences planted in the 16th and 17th centuries for strategic purposes.
Tula is located in the MSC time zone (Moscow time). The applied time offset relative to UTC is +3:00. In accordance with the applied time and geographic longitude, average solar noon in Tula occurs at 12:30.
The climate of Tula is moderate continental, with clearly defined
seasons, characterized by warm, long summers and moderately cold winters
with frequent thaws. According to observational data in the period
1981-2010, the average temperature in July is +19.1°C, in February
-7.5°C. In recent decades, there has been a clearly visible trend
towards warmer and milder winters. The average annual temperature in the
city for the period 1981–2010 was +5.6°C. The annual precipitation rate
is 500–700 mm, of which about 220 mm falls in summer, about 160 mm in
autumn, and 120 and 110 mm in winter and spring, respectively. The main
wind directions are southern, western and southwestern. Due to climate
change prevailing throughout the world, the climate of Tula is also
changing towards warming (on average over 20 years by 0.5 degrees), as
can be seen in the tables below with climate norms. Normal atmospheric
pressure for the Tula region is 740-742 mmHg.
The absolute
temperature maximum was set in Tula on August 6, 2010, during a period
of abnormal heat in central Russia, and amounted to +39.2°C.
The
lowest temperature for the entire observation period was recorded in the
city on January 17, 1940, amounting to −42°C.