May 01, 2008

Torzhok: Ancient Crossroads

The Monastery of Boris and Gleb dominates the landscape

around the town of Torzhok.

Russia’s oldest Orthodox monastery is almost as old as Torzhok itself, and was reputedly founded in 1038, by a monk named Efrem, an equerry of the dukes of Kievan Rus’, Boris and Gleb, who were murdered in the internecine wars of 1015-1019.

Boris and Gleb (Borisoglebsky) Monastery was badly damaged during the Polish occupation and the Time of Troubles, and a new monastery cathedral was not built until 1785-1796, by the noted architect Nikolai Lvov, in the neoclassical style. Catherine the Great personally laid the cornerstone in 1775 for this imposing, elegant and solemn structure.

Situated high on the banks of the Tvertsa River, the cathedral today is a powerful and unifying backdrop, visible for miles around. The monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1999 and currently houses six monks.

The exact date of Torzhok’s founding is unknown, yet the area has been inhabited by Slavic tribes since at least the turn of the 10th century. The settlement was first mentioned in historical chronicles in 1015 (as Novy Torg), when the Christianization of territories around Novgorod began.

For the two centuries after its founding, Torzhok was the only large town on the upper reaches of the Volga River. This positioned it as an extremely important trade center on the Novgorod trade route. Yet this also placed it squarely in the path of the rampaging Mongol Horde.

Indeed, the little town played a key role in saving its bigger neighbor, Veliky (“Great”) Novgorod, from destruction by the Mongol army. For two weeks in the late winter of 1238, Torzhok desperately defended itself against a siege by Khan Batu, at the end of which the town was razed. By the time the prolonged battle was over, spring arrived and the roads became impassable for further Mongol conquests that year. Some still believe that, through its brave defense, Torzhok saved Veliky Novgorod and perhaps the Russian State.

During the 14th century, Torzhok was caught in the middle of several feudal wars, yet always seemed able to bounce back, thanks to the strategic and financial position reflected in its name – Torzhok is derived from the Russian word “torg,” meaning trade. In fact, by the 15th century Torzhok had coined its own silver money.

According to 14th century chronicles, medieval Torzhok was a rather large and lively city of 5,000 souls – sizeable even by comparison with European cities of that time. Yet after Torzhok joined the Moscow principality at the end of 15th century, its cultural, military and political significance began to wane. But it remained a strong center of commerce and trade. Situated on the key road from Moscow to Novgorod, Torzhok was visited often by tsars and foreign guests, who frequently mentioned its striking appearance. The abundance of churches and bell towers nestled among the green hills and along the picturesque Tvertsa River led many to call Torzhok a “beautiful” town, though the majority of Russian towns received such a “title” only after re-planning under the Catherine the Great.

In the 17th century, the imposing and elegant Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin was built. It is the oldest extant building of the monastery of Boris and Gleb. Torzhok’s wooden Church of the Ascension (page 32) was built around the same time, though the builder and exact date of its construction is uncertain. Standing about 100 feet tall, it appears very light, slim and harmonious. The interior space is open up to the base of the onion dome and remnants of ancient paintings are still visible. Outside, the dome is dressed in ash shingles. Well-designed proportions and diminishing circles illustrate the unknown builder’s talent. Strong and durable pine walls have withstood the test of time.

Nearby is the lovely Church of the Archangel Michael (front cover), built in 1742 and rebuilt in 1864 in a neo-Russian style. Initially situated on a high hill once surrounded by several streams, it is still a splendid and somber structure. Constructed of brick with a white-stone pedestal, it is crowned with five domes. It was the only functioning church in Torzhok for most of the Soviet period.

After the founding of St. Petersburg in 1703, Torzhok gained new strategic importance. Not only was the town on the main overland trakt between Moscow and St. Petersburg, it also was on the Tvertsa River. When, in the 18th and early 19th centuries, that river formed part of the main Volkhov-Ladoga-Neva waterway (also known as the Vyshnevolotsky system) between the two cities, Torzhok’s trading post status was enhanced.

Other than trade, some of the commercial activities which made the town prosperous were leathercrafts, shoemaking and ironworking. And silver and gold embroidery, which first appeared here in the 12th century, arriving from Byzantium. At first, real gold thread was used. Then the technology changed and embroidery was done with cotton thread wound in golden or silver wire. The same technique is in use today.

Tamara Ivanovna first came to Torzhok after World War II. As a young girl, she attended the town’s Gold Embroidery School and after graduation worked briefly in the South, in Grozny. She soon returned to Torzhok, however, working first as a teacher and later as the school’s director. “I think Torzhok truly deserves to become an important tourist destination,” Ivanovna said. “We live surrounded by a history that is a part of our everyday life, and I feel that we have a responsibility to protect and share it with everybody else. Taking tourists around the Museum of Gold Embroidery as a guide, I have heard people say many times, ‘Thank you for preserving this for us.’”

There is a legend – likely apocryphal – about Torzhok’s gold embroidery. The story goes that, when Catherine the Great saw examples of the town’s exquisite handiwork, she ordered 19 of Russia’s most beautiful young girls to Torzhok to learn the craft, saying that “Beautiful things should be made by beautiful people.” And that, locals will tell you, is why there are so many beautiful women in Torzhok.

Nineteen-year-old Natasha was born in Torzhok and is carrying on the tradition. A student at the Gold Embroidery College, she has been exposed to embroidery since she was a child – her mother is an instructor at the college. But, like many young people in provincial towns all across Russia, Natasha feels the pull of the city. After she finishes college, she hopes to enter an art school in St. Petersburg and become a designer. “I like living in this place, surrounded by ancient buildings, churches and monasteries everyday… I like the serenity and peacefulness of Torzhok,” she said, but she also wishes the town had more to offer younger residents.

The 18th century brought to Torzhok not merely commercial prosperity but also a cultural Renaissance. Under Catherine the Great, Torzhok, along with 400 other small Russian towns, underwent extensive architectural renovation. Unfortunately, however, some of the town’s oldest wooden buildings and churches were lost in a fire just prior to the reconstruction.

One of the most notable new buildings from this era was the Traveler’s Palace (Putevoy Dvorets), designed as a stopover palace for the tsar/tsarina and staff while traveling between Moscow and St. Petersburg. A plethora of churches and administrative buildings also date from this period.

But Torzhok was not just a favorite stopover for the head of state. By the mid-1800s, Torzhok had gained renown as one of Russia’s premier provincial towns. It attracted scores of famous writers and celebrities, including Gogol, Tolstoy, Aksakov, Radyshev, Belinsky and Pushkin. In fact, it was here, in the Pozharsky Hotel run by Daria Pozharsky, that Pushkin wrote the famous impromptu verse:

Yet Pushkin’s name is immortalized in Torzhok for another reason as well. One of his legendary muses, Anna Kern, is buried on the outskirts of town, in an old church cemetery in Prutnya.

To ***

I remember the wonderful moment:

You appeared before me

Like a fleeting vision,

Like a spirit of pure beauty.

As I wallowed in hopeless melancholy,

Amid the anxieties of the noisy world,

Your tender voice echoed long in

my mind,

And I dreamed of your beloved features.

The Savior’s Transfiguration Cathedral received a makeover from a famous architect during this period. Originally built in 1364, Savior’s was rebuilt in 1822 by Karl Rossi, the architect who created St. Petersburg’s remarkable Palace (Dvortsovaya) Square. Built in the classical style, the cathedral is square at its foundation and has five domes. Porticos decorate each of its four sides.

Around the middle of the 19th century, Torzhok’s commercial significance began to decline, chiefly because of a dropoff in trade moving along the Vyshnevolotsky waterway. By 1917, Torzhok was just a quiet, provincial trading town. But lack of prominence did not save it from the fate shared by most Russian provincial cities. The industrial and cultural revolution required the destruction of all religious objects. Churches and monasteries were closed or transformed into civil buildings, many religious items were destroyed or stolen, and church bells were melted down for their constituent metals. During the Great Patriotic War, Torzhok suffered massive air attacks and relentless looting, yet the Germans never took the town.

For nearly three decades, a team of passionate archaeologists has been at work in Torzhok, uncovering and documenting its rich history. Led by Natalia Sarafanova, groups of high school and university students carry out both historical and commercial excavations – the latter helping to sustain and fund the former.

Since 2002, the team has been excavating the defensive structures of Torzhok’s fortress. In 2005, a remarkable discovery turned up some 800 objects dating to 1340, including dozens of seals, books, furniture and jewelry belonging to Novgorod’s governor and dukes. Other important discoveries have been made on the grounds of Boris and Gleb Monastery.

And new discoveries are made all the time. As Sarafanova met with us, a fragment of an ancient ceramic bracelet was found on the site and subsequently dated to sometime between the 12th and 14th centuries.

Torzhok’s historical significance was recently recognized when it was selected as one of 116 Russian cities whose historical center will be preserved under a new federal program. Some 286 architectural objects in Torzhok are in need of reconstruction. And although some private investment has recently been put into renovations, major efforts will require outside help. Therefore, in 2006 an agreement was signed between the city’s administration and the management company Heritage to establish a not-for-profit trust. Heritage is a subsidiary of the recently established nonprofit, The National Heritage Trust Center (Natsionalny Tsentr Opeki Naslediya).

The Trust Center’s pilot project was the $10 million reconstruction of Putevoy Palace, nearly completed. Attention now turns toward developing Torzhok as a “brand,” as more than a one-day stopover for tourists between the two capitals. But this, in turn, will require infrastructure. The town lacks adequate tourist-class hotels to host a significant influx of visitors.

Meanwhile, several places of interest to tourists are situated not far from Torzhok. Vasilyovo Museum of Wood Architecture and Ethnography is located about seven kilometers outside town. Opened in 1977, it used to be an estate belonging to the duke of Lvov and was designed as a park with cascades of ponds, stone grottos, bridges and rotundas. Today the museum houses one of the best collections of wooden architecture of the 18th-20th centuries from the upper parts of the Volga River. But it is not all about wood. Architect Nikolai Lvov built an impressive, vaulted cobblestone bridge here in the 19th century. Locals call it “the devil’s bridge,” because no one can understand how its huge stones stay together, since they do not seem to be connected to one another.

Just 15 miles from Torzhok en route to Moscow is the estate of Rayok (“Little Paradise”). Built by Lvov, the main house has four wings, an oval courtyard surrounded by a colonnade, Znamenskaya church and a beautiful park. Unfortunately, time has taken its toll. In Soviet times, the estate housed a prison for juvenile criminals; later, it became a health center for local factory workers. The estate is under reconstruction and one of the wings is already operating as an upscale private hotel.

Time rushes on, but Torzhok remains a quiet, provincial town. While some of the lustre of its former beauty has faded from Soviet era neglect of local churches and monasteries, its prosaic and picturesque setting remain. “I like it here” says Yuri, a 42-year-old cab driver who has lived in the town since he was three. “I was in the Navy, had an opportunity to travel and see the world, but came back.” Asked if he will ever move away from the provincial town, he replied unequivocally: “No… we live in different times now. Life is different… some things got better, some worse… we have to make our life where we are.” RL

May 01, 2008

Torzhok: Ancient Crossroads

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