THE MUSEUM OF UCHMA VILLAGE

(The Museum of Faith and Labor)

The journey to this museum starts with a ferry ride to the other side of the Volga River and if you are up for a bit of easy hiking, a walk through some very beautiful places by the Volga, listen to the legends about Swiyazhsk, the wooden fort that was made here and moved down the Volga river to protect the Russian borders near Kazan. Our walk will even take us along the part of an old stone paved road that once connected Uglich and Rybinsk.

There is a village named Kiryanovo on the way to our final destination. Here, time stands still and baroque style Stalin sculptures of scouts with drums and trumpets or young athletes with oars greet you on the way to a Young Soviet Pioneers club that the village still has.

A little bit more walking and we are here, in Uchma village. The village got its name from the place where the Uchemka River merges with the Volga. In medieval times a Greek monk named Kassian started a holy shrine and a monastery. Unfortunately the holy shrine was ruined in 1930s and the beautiful monastery sank under the water when a dam on the Volga was finished.

The village is now a holy place for Orthdox believers and the village keeper Vasiliy Gurievich looks after the collection of giant mill stones and restores authentic wooden buildings. You will see a lot of beautiful outside window décor here.

The tour to Uchma can be just hiking and visiting interesting nature and historical sites or it can be devoted to faith and religion to include visits to working Russian Orthodox churches in the local area ( Maloye and Bolshoye Bogorodskoye). Please contact us for more information!