A walking sightseeing tour in one of the oldest Russian cities
You’ll take a walk thru the town which was often compared with Kiev in ancient times because of its size and with London now because of its weather. You’ll learn about its role as a point on the famous ancient trade way “from the Varangians to the Greeks”, about the meaning of the town in different wars. You’ll dive into the today’s life of and try to guess what will happen in the future. The organizer of the excursion is a journalist from Smolensk who’s sure to know a lot of different stories about Smolensk and its citizens of past, present and future.
Things to see:
The 16-17th century stone fortress wall which survived five sieges but it’s still the longest fortress walls in Russia and one of the longest fortress walls in Europe. It inspired some directors to make a carton and a film about the Smolensk siege of 1609-1611.
Three churches of the 12th century that survived the Tartar invasion and unusual ruins of more than 20 other 12th century churches that are still waiting for their time to come.
Beautiful 18th century Assumption cathedral which is one of the biggest in Russia. Here you can see the famous icon of the Mother of God called “Hodigitria”
A lot of monument dedicated to the war of 1812 against Napoleon and the WWII
Important historical facts:
You’ll learn about more than 1000 Gnezdovo burial mounds, mysterious ancient hills which still keep secrets of the birth of ancient Russia in the 10th century AD. I’ll tell you traditional and most exotic versions of the origin of Smolensk. We’ll talk about the role of the town in the WWII. You’ll learn about the place where the first ever known in history inscription in Russian language was found, what kind of gingerbread traditional for Smolensk region was delivered to the British Queen and what was the meaning of the Smolensk icon of ‘Hodigitria’ for Moscow.
You’ll be inspired how only one region of Russia could give so many prominent people to the big country. They are the founder of the Russian classical music Mikhail Glinka, the first man in space Yuri Gagarin, the explorer of Asia Nikolai Przhevalsky, the writers Boris Vasilyev, Alexander Belyaev, Isaac Asimov, the actor Yuri Nikulin etc.
You’ll wonder what did Vikings do in Smolensk and why did the end of Napoleon’s war career began in Smolensk region.
As a result you’ll open the history of Smolensk, its meaning in the history of Russia for you, learn a lot of interesting facts which will help you to broaden your view of Russian history.
Trip details
It’s a walking tour, if you need transportation you have to order it additionally. The part of the route is a cross-country terrain so rational footwear and clothes are needed.
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