Verkhoturye. A walk along the streets of one of the oldest Ural towns · 30 pics

As the title of the post says, Verkhoturye is one of the oldest Ural towns. The name is pronounced ver-kho-tour-yae — I checked this using two online translators. :)

Verkhoturye was founded as a fortress in 1598 and, first, is interesting for its numerous monuments of architecture, churches and monasteries. This town is even called the Spiritual capital of the Urals, but today my story is not about that. Today we will take a little walk here and see what is happening on the streets. However, it is unlikely that you will see beautiful pictures in my article, because — I must say this — such is the Russian reality.

But just look at these incredible domes! This is the first thing you see when entering Verkhoturye.

Anyway, it was not a tourist trip.

In December 2011, a friend of mine asked me (because I have a car) to go to Verkhoturye to a man who had been living in one of the local monasteries for quite some time. We left my hometown early in the morning and arrived in Verkhoturye in the middle of the day, driving just over 500 kilometers. I had about two hours of free time, so I took my camera and walked around the town.

Verkhoturye is located on the high banks of the Tura river, hence the name, literally meaning «over Tura». On one side of the river is the center of the town, churches and monasteries, and on the other side are simple village houses.

I started my walk from the bridge over the river.

On the river, I saw a lone angler. He caught a few fish (see the third photo) and seemed was not very happy with the fishing. I mentally wished good luck to him and moved on.

 
A few blocks later, at the site of the local stadium, I found an abandoned playground. Apparently, it was a kind of summer amusement park and for some reason it was not removed before the onset of winter.

The inscription on the banner reads: «Greetings to participants of competitions!» :)

Out of curiosity, I looked into the courtyard of the monastery. The courtyard was clean and quiet.

Opposite the monastery, I saw an old ruined church and the gates of an abandoned house.

Beware of dog! Literally — be careful, evil dog here. Maybe once in Verkhoturye there were evil dogs but I never met even one for the entire walk.

On the territory of the ruined church, I noticed two abandoned Soviet-era cars. The first is UAZ-452, an off-road vehicle, which was popularly called «loaf» (because it looked like a loaf of bread in the form of a briquette). These vehicles were most often used as ambulances.

The second car is the GAZ-3309; it was this model that was used as a mobile tank carrying dairy products.

I came to the center of the town. It is sad that advertising boards and signs are visible everywhere on buildings.

For example, the photo below shows a historic building! The first thing that catches your eye is advertising signs. Then you notice the pigeons occupying the eaves of every floor. Later, you will notice a small dark sign (in the center of the picture) that says that this building is an architectural and historical monument of the town.

It seems that this building has all the commercial organizations of Verkhoturye: clothing and shoe shops, a travel and real estate agency, a notary's office and even a jewelry workshop. There is also an Alco market. So what? It is very convenient! :) This is the Russian reality.

Modern buildings will also not surprise you with architectural delights.

Somewhere there on the wall white paint is written: «Olga and Helen are friends».

Appeal to the inhabitants: «Verkhoturians! Our common duty is to make the town more beautiful!»

It is true — Verkhoturye is very beautiful in some places! All these monasteries and golden domes of churches towering above streets create a special, Old Russian color. There are about 60 (!) monuments of cultural heritage of the 17th and 18th centuries. Verkhoturye can be called an open-air museum.

Verkhoturye, Ural, Russia.
December, 2011.
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