"The boy wants to go to Tambov": why is it worth discovering Central Russia?

Tambov does not appear among the popular and not so popular tourist routes. Why did I decide to write about him? Yes, because I grew up in the Tambov region, but every time I talked about it, I got the question: "Where is it?" And so I wanted to tell you a little bit not only about where it is, but also about what is there.

Tambov region is the most Central Russia. Somewhere between Lipetsk, Penza and Saratov regions. The place where Russia used to end and the nomadic steppes began. Where peas, buckwheat, wheat grow in endless fields, where bees buzz, collecting pollen from a smiling sunflower. Where the great St. Luke and the composer Rachmaninoff are remembered.

Fields, fields…

So, the fields... Perhaps you didn't know, but here is nothing less than the best black soil on planet Earth. Therefore, everything can grow effortlessly. It is only necessary to plant it. That's why the area is dotted with fields yielding so many crops. Of course, no one goes to the fields specifically to watch. But when I return home and drive along this beauty, changing colors and pleasing abundance, I look at it with no less delight than at the painting "Sunflowers" by Van Gogh at some exhibition.

Unique cathedral painting

Also, few people know that two temples – the Tambov Temple of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and the Novgorod Resurrection Cathedral – are the only Orthodox churches in the world painted in the grisaille technique. Grisaille is a technique in which a drawing is made in one color, and expressiveness is achieved due to its semitones. The Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was built by Catherine the Second in 1791 on the territory of the Holy Kazan Monastery of the Theotokos. Italian artists were invited to paint it. The bell tower of the Kazan Cathedral is the third tallest in Russia.

Zoya's homeland

The first woman who became a Hero of the Soviet Union and one of the symbols of the heroism of the Soviet people in the fight against fascism was born in the village of Osino-Guy, now Gavrilovsky district of the Tambov region. Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was born into a family of teachers who came from the clergy. The surname was written earlier as "Kozmodemyanskaya" from the name of the church of Kozma and Damian, where her ancestor served. No less famous is her brother Alexander, who went to the front at the age of 17 to avenge his sister, and fought on a tank with the inscription "For Zoya". And Alexander also became a hero of the Soviet Union, but he also died at the front. There is a monument to Zoya in Tambov.

Places of Saint Luke's exploits

Archbishop Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky), a professor of medicine and her great ascetic, canonized after his death, performed his medical feats, including here, in Tambov hospitals. In one of them, made of red brick, with huge windows, like in a church, still built by the tsar, the author of these lines once lay. The hospital now bears the name of this saint. Residents of Tambov region honor the memory of the great doctor who healed many people during the Great Patriotic War. He also saved my grandfather after he was wounded. The memory of this is sacredly kept in the family. The hospital has a Museum of the History of Medicine with a separate exhibition dedicated to St. Luke and a monument to him.

Noble estates

There were a lot of noble estates in the Tambov region. Some of them are perfectly preserved and are waiting for their guests, having long since become museums. Moreover, we know that often nothing authentic is preserved in such houses. Here, on the contrary, you can see very well-preserved manors. For example, the posh estate of the Aseevs. The Museum-Estate of merchants Aseev stands on a picturesque embankment, high above the Tsnoy River. The merchants of Aseev are the founders of the trading house "Brothers M. and V. Aseev". They owned wool-washing and distilleries, cloth factories, and lands almost all over the empire. The tour is interesting to talk about their activities, and the manor and the house are very beautiful.

Where the sound of music sounded…

The composer, who created his own unique style, a classic of Russian music, virtuoso pianist and conductor Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov was born in the Novgorod region, but descended from Tambov nobles. His father was from Tambov region. His grandfather performed piano concerts here, and his great-grandfather was an amateur musician and organizer of the choir and orchestra at his estate in Znamenskoye. Rachmaninov married N. A. Satina, whose parents owned the village of Ivanovka in the present-day Uvarovsky district of the region. For thirty years, the composer came here twice a year to relax in silence, breathe fruitful air and create. It was here that many of his works were born. And now there is a cozy Museum-reserve of S. V. Rachmaninov "Ivanovka", where musical and educational events are regularly held.

There are so many reasons to know where this Tambov region is, what it is famous for and why it is worth discovering it by visiting it or at least reading these lines.