The city of Vyazma is located 175 km northeast of Smolensk in the Smolensk region on the banks of the Vyazma River.
The first mention of Vyazma dates back to 1239. At that time, the fortress built here was the center of the Vyazemsky specific principality, which belonged to Prince Andrei Vladimirovich Dolgaya Ruka. Later, the Vyazemsky lands were annexed to the Principality of Smolensk, and the fortress became one of its main outposts. In 1403, the Lithuanians captured the principality, only in 1493 it was recaptured and annexed to the Grand Duchy of Moscow. During the Time of Troubles, the city was repeatedly attacked by the Poles, in connection with this, in 1632 in Vyazma a powerful fortress was erected, known as the Great Lower City. In 1654-1655, Vyazma temporarily became the residence of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who waited out the epidemic that broke out in Moscow here. A royal palace was built for him in Vyazma. In 1776, Vyazma became a county town of the Smolensk province. She stood on the Smolensk road, which connected Moscow with Europe, in connection with which Vyazma became a major trading center. In October 1812, near Vyazma, Russian troops dealt a crushing blow to the retreating army of Napoleon. Today Vyazma is a quiet regional town surrounded by picturesque nature.
On the territory of the ancient Of the big lower city of Vyazma, where the city’s Kremlin once stood, only the Spasskaya Tower (end of the 17th century) has survived. The stone Kremlin, which has not survived to this day, was erected in 1632 under Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. In the 1670s, on the hill of the Upper small town of Vyazma, the Trinity Church was built on the site of the old ruined cathedral. Now it is the main cathedral of the city. Inside it, the remains of fresco painting and a carved iconostasis with the icon of the patroness of the city – the Iberian Mother of God, have been preserved. In Vyazma, it is also worth going to the convent of John the Baptist. The original buildings were erected here in the early 16th century.
According to AREACODESEXPLORER, the most ancient of the architectural monuments of the monastery, and Vyazma, is Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Hodegetria”. This three-hipped church was built in 1638 from figured bricks. In addition to the church, the monastery complex includes the Church of the Ascension with a refectory, the abbot’s chambers and a bell tower. Other religious buildings of the city are also interesting – the Church of Peter and Paul (St. Vyazemsky Museum of Local History. The museum occupies eight halls, which present collections on archeology, peasant clothes of the late 19th – early 20th centuries, various samovars, medals and coins, documents from the times of the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Great Patriotic War. Several monuments to the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812 have been erected in the city – this is the monument to the “Valiant Ancestors” near the Transfiguration Church and the monument to the Pernovsky Regiment near the Mother of God Church. The monument to Lieutenant General M.G. reminds of the events of the Great Patriotic War. Efremov.
35 km northwest of Vyazma is the State Historical, Cultural and Natural Museum-Reserve of A.S. Griboyedov “Khmelita”. It was created in 1990 on the basis of the museum-estate of Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov. The childhood and youth years of the famous playwright, poet and diplomat passed in this estate, most of his comedy “Woe from Wit” was written here. The museum-reserve includes the villages of Khmelita, Nikolskoye, Grigoryevskoye, Bogoroditskoye, Gorodok, Kostkino, ancient settlements and burial mounds, as well as Semenovskoye and Translivskoye swamps and the source of the Dnieper River.
Gagarin, Smolensk region (Russia)
Gagarin is located in the north-east of the Smolensk region, 239 km from Smolensk, on the banks of the Gzhat River.
At the beginning of the 18th century, there was a trading village here. In 1718, under Catherine II, a transshipment pier was formed on the site of the village, and in 1776 it received the status of a city, which was named Gzhatsk. In 1968, the city was renamed Gagarin in honor of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who was born in the nearby village of Klushino in 1934.
The main attraction of Gagarin is the united memorial museum of YA Gagarin. This is the only museum of its kind dedicated to the first cosmonaut and the history of the region. It unites the house of Yu.A. Gagarin, house-museum of Yu.A. Gagarin, the house-museum of the Gagarin family, the Annunciation Cathedral of the late 19th century, built in the neo-Russian style, the Church of the Sorrowful Mother of God of the mid-18th century, the Tikhvin Church of the mid-19th century and a dugout in the village of Klushino. The museum funds include unique materials from the archive of the Gagarin family (documents, photographs, letters, personal belongings of Yu.A. Gagarin), objects on the history and ethnography of the area and works of painting, graphics, sculpture and decorative and applied arts for space and local history theme. The most valuable collections of the museum are a collection of objects from the personal archive of Yu.A. Gagarin, a collection of objects of the first head of the Cosmonaut Training Center E.A. Karpov, collection of objects of the first head of the construction of the Baikonur Cosmodrome G.M. Shubnikov, a collection of objects of one of the chiefs of the construction of the Baikonur Cosmodrome I.M. Gurovich, a collection of documents from the Cosmonaut Training Center. Yu.A. Gagarin and the atmosphere of the office of Academician N.A. Pilyugin. Also at the museum there is a center of folk crafts, where folklore holidays are held annually.
The city keeps the memory of the famous countryman – in 1971, a monument to Yu.A. Gagarin.
25 km north of Gagarin in the village of Samuilovo is the former estate of Prince A.A. Golitsyn, late 18th century. The palace and outbuildings have been restored in the estate.
