The city of samovars, gunsmiths, accordions and gingerbread, the birthplace of lefties - the Russian land of craftsmen. All this is the city of Tula, whose museums and sights are located in its historical center. The city is extremely convenient for travelers: it is located three hours from the capital and stands on the railway and road routes of the southern direction of Russia.
Where to start learning
Tula is big enough by today's standards. Nevertheless, its main attractions can be seen in just one day. It is better to start acquaintance with the city from the Tula Kremlin. After that, you can walk along the ancient streets, which have weapons names. And of course, you should definitely see the three most unique sights: the museum of Tula gingerbread, samovars and weapons.
For lovers of history and literature, there are many interesting places in the city. The local history house-museum of Veresaev and other state museums of Tula, and simply ancient buildings of the 18th-19th centuries - merchant and profitable houses, official buildings and noble estates will attract the attention of visitors.
Tourists are a mustwalk along the "wooden" Tula, along the old streets, living out their last days. Despite the fact that many of the houses are not very well preserved, among them you can see real masterpieces of carving masters.
Tula Kremlin
It is somewhat different from other Russian similar buildings. The Kremlin stands not behind the river, but in front of it. It's hard to say that its architecture is amazing.
However, being part of the city's fortification system, it was one of the most powerful Russian fortresses. In the entire history of its existence, the Tula Kremlin was not taken by enemies even once. Even during the years of the Bolotnikov uprising, only by flooding it, it was possible to force the rebels out of the city.
The shape of the Kremlin is quite simple. It is built in the shape of a quadrangle. The foundation with the lower part is made of white stone, and the top is made of brick. The length of the walls is a little more than one kilometer, and the height is ten meters. The Kremlin stands on a foundation made of oak piles. They have a foundation that goes eight meters deep. Today, all nine towers of the fortress have survived, of which four are round, and the rest are square.
Museum of Weapons
In 1989, in the building of the former local cathedral, it was decided to place the collection, the exhibits for which had been collected by the Tula Arms Plant for many years. It is interesting that Peter the Great ordered this, even issuing a decree about it. Today, thanks to this wise decision, tourists have the opportunity to see the most interesting examples created by gunsmiths, from the time of Peter the Great toour days.
It is believed that it is in Tula that the most complete collection in our country is put on public display. In the museum you can trace the evolution of Russian weapons.
However, not only samples of Tula masters are presented here. The museum also has firearms, which were created in England, Japan, France, Iran, Turkey, Belgium, Germany and other countries. The exhibits from the Tsar's Guns collection are of particular admiration.
The microscope is a huge hit with visitors. Everyone can look into it to see a flea, which was shod by the famous Tula master. A ticket to the museum costs 80 rubles for adults, 100 rubles - with permission to take pictures.
Assumption Cathedral
It was erected in the center of the Kremlin from stone. Its foundation dates back to 1628-1629. Initially, the Assumption Cathedral was built as a summer church. Currently, this building is of interest not only from the point of view of architecture, but also for its artistic value. Among the paintings here you can see rare paintings depicting the Ecumenical Councils. In 2012, restoration work began on the bell tower of the Assumption Cathedral. It was decided to completely restore the belfry, which once rose up to seventy meters. And it was decorated with twenty-two bells.
Epiphany Cathedral
If services were held in the Assumption Cathedral only in the summer, then in this church they were performed year-round. It was built much later - in 1865 inmemory of the soldiers who died in World War II. In 1892, it was considered unique, because water heating was carried out in it, which was a rarity for Russia in those years. But then, in the Soviet years, the Cathedral of the Epiphany was given to the disposal of the flying club, and after that - to athletes.
Tula gingerbread
This delicacy is extremely popular in Tula. Who refuses to drink a cup of tea with a honey cake? For many centuries, Tula gingerbread has been pleasing with its amazing taste and quality. And more recently, he also acquired his own museum, in which every visitor can admire a variety of "delicious" exhibits. And it all started a long time ago…
How Tula gingerbread was prepared
No one will undertake to say who and when first made it. The first mention of the Tula gingerbread is stored in the museum's cadastral book of 1685. To our times, special boards have still been preserved, by which contemporaries can judge the variety of gingerbread. They were carved from birch or pear. The tree must be at least thirty years old. For the gingerbread board, only the lower part of the trunk was used, which was cut into pieces about five centimeters thick and dried for almost twenty years.
The edges of the board for durability, the craftsmen smeared with wax or resin. After the tree was ready, the carver-artist began to apply the drawing. Such boards, in essence, were the form on which the Tula gingerbread was baked.
Description
The first gingerbread in Russia was called "honey bread". They were broughtto the Russian land by the Vikings. It happened in the IX century. It was then that in Russia they also learned what yeast pancakes and dried fruit broths are. At that time, gingerbread was a dough made from rye flour, mixed with berry juice and honey, with the latter ingredient accounting for almost half of the total volume.
Later, roots and forest herbs were added to honey bread. And already in the XII-XIII centuries, when various exotic spices were brought to the Russian land from the Middle East and India, the gingerbread, having received its current name, almost completely formed into that amazing delicacy that everyone knows today.
Taste variety depended on the dough, its composition, method of preparation and baking. A significant role was played by spices and additives, which in the old days were called "dry spirits". Among the most popular were lemon, black pepper, mint, Italian dill, vanilla, orange peel, as well as ginger, cumin, anise, nutmeg and cloves.
By the end of the 18th century, Tula gingerbread was already known in Perm and Arkhangelsk, in Kursk and Kharkov, in Kaluga, Novgorod, etc. Gradually, they began to establish their own production of delicious gingerbread here. Tver gingerbread had stores in Paris, Berlin and London.
Creating a museum
The idea to open an exposition was born in 1994. And two years later, on October 10, 1996, the Tula Gingerbread Museum (address: 45a Oktyabrskaya St.) was solemnly opened. It is located in the District, quite far from the historical center. UnderMuseum of Tula gingerbread was allocated a complex of the XIX century. These were the former wings of the Lyalin brothers, gunsmiths and samovar makers. In the immediate vicinity there is also a workshop where gingerbread is baked, as well as a company store where tourists can buy both fresh delicacies and various souvenirs.
Museum Tour
Visitors can see gingerbreads of the most incredible sizes and shapes, ranging from tiny, having the size of a penny, and up to a pood. All of them were made in connection with some special occasion. The collection of the gingerbread museum contains historical gingerbread, honorary, congratulatory, nominal and many others.
Those who are lucky can become participants in an interesting event, a tea party with gingerbread, which is organized by the Tula Gingerbread Museum. Prices for the tour start from one hundred rubles for ten minutes, and delicious delicacies with different flavors will pleasantly surprise visitors. But the gingerbreads themselves, baked in the neighboring shop, are served piping hot and have an amazing and unique aroma of honey and butter. All this procedure is very popular with visitors. Maybe that's why the Tula Gingerbread Museum has become very popular in an unexpectedly short time. It turns out that in order to get into it and walk through the halls accompanied by a guide, you need to sign up almost a month in advance.
Exhibits
"History of the Russian State" - this is the name of the exposition belonging to the local confectionery factory "Old Tula". This company has a long history and experiencemaking traditional printed gingerbread in the old-fashioned way, namely by hand and using only wooden molds.
The most interesting exhibit of the museum and this exposition is a huge carpet measuring one meter by a meter. On it is written a wish of he alth, success and happiness from the Staraya Tula CF. And literally next to it is the smallest gingerbread, which weighs only fifty grams.
The Tula Gingerbread Museum is one of the youngest in the city of Tula. For almost two decades of work, he has gained popularity not only in Tula, but also in Kaluga, Chekhov and even in Moscow. Here is the history of a truly Russian old delicacy that has come down to us from time immemorial. The gingerbread industry has experienced its ups and downs: there have been losses and a revival.
Visitors will be told about all the ancient rituals and traditions associated with a unique rug. They can see and compare how it is created in modern conditions and how those samples that were made on old forms look like.
Here are presented both the smallest, a little larger than an ordinary fifty dollars, gingerbread, and the largest - pood, which is the only one in our country.
