City of Mtsensk

Mtsensk - is the ancient center of the Vyatichi, the birthplace of Athanasius Fet, the small Homeland of Ivan Turgenev and Nikolai Leskov, sung by them in many works, letters and memoirs. Go through the scenes of "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk district", touch the revived ancient craft of Mtsensk lace, visit Mount Samorod, where once stood one of the most impregnable fortresses of Ancient Russia, feel inspired by Turgenev's estate "Spasskoye - Lutovinovo".

Turquoise Ring of Russia. Mtsensk.

Spasskoye-Lutovinovo
Museum-reserve of I. S. Turgenev

The Ivan Turgenev House Museum houses about 150 items that previously belonged to the great Russian writer and his ancestors, some of which are the rarest works of applied art.

On the territory of the museum-reserve there is the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior (1809), which gave the name to the village of Spasskoye.

A huge old park is a special reason to visit here. The park in Spasky-Lutovinovo was one of the best examples of Russian estate gardening art of the late XVIII-early XIX centuries. The paths will lead to the deep and very cold from the abundance of keys to the Great Spassky Pond and the Varnavitsky ravine.

On the shore — Ivan Sergeevich's favorite bench and a gazebo formed by a ring of lime trees ("Rudin"). An alley planted by the writer himself leads to another similar gazebo at the back of the park. From a bird's-eye view, the crosshairs of the lime alleys form the Roman numeral XIX. A two-hundred-year-old oak tree planted by young Turgenev spread its crown wide.

Turquoise Ring of Russia. Spasskoye-Lutovinovo.

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Turquoise Ring of Russia. Spasskoye Lutovinovo.

The Nugget

In the bend of the Zusha River near the majestic Samorod Mountain stands the city of Mtsensk – in the past one of the major centers of Vyatichi. Waywardness and adherence to the ancient way of life played an important role in the adoption of Christianity by the residents of the city among the last in Central Russia.

At the same time, the city is full of temples, standing on viewpoints and picturesque coastal hills. Mtsensk was destined to be the beginning of lace-making in Russia: Mtsensk lace is the oldest in our country.

The city is associated with the great Russian writers: Ivan Turgenev, Nikolai Leskov and the poet Afanasiy Fet. Another native of the Orel Region, Fyodor Tyutchev, wrote the lines of one of the two most famous Russian lyrical poems that have become classic romances…

"I met you - and all the past
In an obsolete heart, it revived;
I remembered the golden time -
And my heart felt so warm...»

Turquoise Ring of Russia. Mount Samorod.

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Turquoise Ring of Russia. The words of Ivan Turgenev about the Motherland.

Mtsensk lace – the oldest lace in Russia

Back in the XVIII century, the lady-in-waiting of Catherine II, the landowner Protasova, brought two craftsmen from Belgium and assigned local girls to them as students. Soon a whole lace manufactory was opened.

In the XIX century, not only women but also men wove lace in Mtsensk-immediately after the end of agricultural work. In the upheavals of the XX century, the craft almost died, and in the 1990s, its revival began.

The museum of Mtsensk Lace contains unique samples — tablecloths, napkins, capes and many other magnificent products of gold, black, silver, and white lace.

Turquoise ring of Russia Mtsensk lace