Мэгги Мэй в новом свете

I`m going to expand this page with little guide stories usable for tourists who come to Tyumen just for a couple of days. Comments are appreciated.

Chapter 1

Tyumen was founded in 1586 so it was the first Russian fortress in Siberia. A Tatar large and powerful city Chimgi-Tura had been here, but at the time Russian Cossacks came the Tartar city had been abandoned.

The wooden fortress was built on the hill between the Tura river and a smaller river, the Tyumenka (which by now has almost vanished) so it was a good location for a war settlement. Now it is an important place for citizens. Here is a monument devoted to the Great Patriotic War: the eternal fire, the pillar and the remarkable bas-relief with mythology characters: Motherland killing the Demon, a shiny group of saved people, a line of tiny armed soldiers, round portraits of the Heroes… You better see it yourself. Take a pic to show your friends this pure example of contemporary primitivism.

On the very cape there is a big stone symbolizing the first stone of the city. It is a good view from here to the churches and monastery. Just married couples traditionally come here with their wedding corteges after the registration, before the ceremonial dinner.

Next to the wall with the bas-relief there is a yellow building with columns and clock ? on the front, in 19^th century it was a city parliament in here. Now it`s a part of a 130 y.o. Museum of local history. Here you can find a mammoth skeleton, ancient shark`s teeth (billions of years ago there was a sea in this area), stuffed animals, birds and butterflies. Temporal exhibitions usually are on the ground floor.

On the opposite side of this roundish square there is a pedestrian bridge which was called “Lovers bridge” a couple of years ago. It was built in 1987. Now dozens of locks are hanging on its hand-rail – (just married) (newlyweds) come here to hang a lock with engraving and throw the key to the water as a sign of eternal love. It is the best view of the old Tyumen from this place. During the church holidays you can hear bell-ringing from St. Nicolas church.

Chapter 2

Take a little walk down and up the hill – from Lovers bridge along the river bank to the Crème&White palace of Architecture Academy. This nice house was built in 1910 as the first private Commercial college financed by merchants of Kolokolnikov`s family. The architect Oltorzhevskiy got a golden medal for a project of buildings for educational institutions at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1913.

Get closer to this building of Russian Classicism to see plenty of swallows’ nests under the corbels.

Now if you stand facing the Academy there is St. Nicolas`s church with a wonderful belfry on your left hand.

On the right there is a path to the Trinity Monastery. Now 5 domes of the central Trinity church are shining with gold, but for 300 years they were black. Now the Orthodox Church is becoming more powerful and it wants to shine brighter.

This male monastery was founded in 1616 by the metropolitan-missioner Phelophey Leshinskiy – you can see his statue in front of the gates. The monument was established in 2007: Northern native people and Cossacks are on both sides of the missioner illustrating the history of Russian colonization of Siberia.