Torzhok - An Old Town with Excellent Riverside Views

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The visit to Torzhok is my final day trip from Moscow. I am leaving to St. Petersburg, if nothing goes wrong, next Friday on October 31. After that, I intend to go to my native town for a couple of days. For the next few months I will be working freelance and stay in St. Petersburg.

Torzhok presents some difficulty from the transportation point of view, but the problem is solved easily with the help of a commuter train to Tver and a bus from there. The commuter train takes about two hours and the bus – about an hour. Tver, I supposed, need not be included in the list of must-sees for a foreigner in Russia, but as such it is an interesting city and it meets my own sightseeing criteria (I’ve been there in 2011).

Well, I awoke at five in the morning and found out I didn’t switch off the TV-set. Then I fell asleep again and awoke later at 7. The sound of alarm clock is one of the most annoying things in the world sometimes, is it not? At first, I thought the hell I go nowhere and just sleep and rest, but then I forced myself to get up. I had breakfast and went to the nearby elektrichka station, Petrovsko-Razumovskoye, about 15 minutes from the hotel. The train to Tver came at 8-30. My ticket on the train was checked three times.

I arrived in Tver at 11 o’clock and went to Karusel Shopping Mall. On bus schedule website, I found that buses to Torzhok depart from there; it is a very short distance from the train station. There is also an official bus station not far away. The ticket office is located inside the shopping mall in a small booth. There was a queue and passports had to be presented (apparently for security purposes). I guess this particular sales outlet sells mainly minibus tickets, but the arrangement is wholly official and convenient. We boarded the minibus and were soon driving to Torzhok. Several people boarded the bus at other locations within Tver. While driving, I saw a lot of interesting buildings and even monuments which I hadn’t seen during my previous visit. I had read that this highway, connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg, leaves much to be desired, with all kinds of traffic troubles, particularly jams because the capacity of the highway is about thrice less than it should be. It’s a wonder for me why two largest cities in Russia are not still linked by a high-speed road (I read it is being constructed).

Torzhok was first mentioned in the chronicles in 1139, originating and developing as a trading settlement. ‘Torg-’ means trade, or ‘related to trade’. The town ranks third in Russia according to the number of found birchbark records (after Novgorod and Staraya Russa – these are very important historic documents). It is included in the list of Russia’s historic towns and features many architectural monuments of the XVII-XIX centuries, such as: the wooden Vozneseniya Church, XVII century, Borisoglebsky monastery complex, Voskresensky monastery, and many residential houses of classicism style. One really has to check up that list, with about forty places, many of them will be unknown even to the statistical Russian.

The minibus took us to Ilyinskaya Square in Torzhok, where I saw a cathedral. I did not know where to go, so I simply followed the same main road. There were no sights in view for a long time, and I even thought there was nothing to see, but then it all changed, when I took another road, seeing church spires in the distance.

If I compare Torzhok’s views with my latest European destination, be it Porvoo or Rauma, Torzhok undoubtedly does not look in any degree as neat as the former. It is Russia at its best and worst at the same time – whilst the town boasts of a lot of interesting old buildings and churches, excellent riverside views, and historic importance, the roads look uncared-for and decay is conspicuous almost everywhere. I cannot imagine how it will look to a foreigner - horrible, perhaps.

I reached the bank of Tvertsa River. The view before my eyes was certainly one of the best riverside settings. I think I already got too accustomed to the big city life and that’s why I’m always so happy at seeing rural-like landscapes. On the other bank was the monastery; it looked deserted and in great need of renovation, but nevertheless the feel of fairy-tale accompanied me throughout the whole walk. There were some palace-like private houses behind tall fences. Small pieces of ice floated in the river on its whole length. I followed the embankment, and reached a pedestrian bridge and saw several nice buildings, ascended a stairway to a dilapidated church, situated on a hill affording a panoramic view of a part of the town.

Then I returned to Ilyinskaya Square and was thinking about the return bus to Tver. I was unsure whether it would depart from the same place, so I decided to go to the bus station. It was not far away, and I soon entered the small timber building to buy a ticket. The bus was already there. I nearly forgot my passport – when I took my seat, the ticket agent got on the bus and, thankfully, returned my passport. However, other people boarded the bus at other locations throughout the way, without proving their identity!

I couldn’t help thinking that I didn’t enjoy the town as thoroughly as one should enjoy it, because my stay had been too short and hasty. I had forty minutes before the departure of commuter train to Moscow, and went to the nearby McDonalds. This time the train journey was longer, because it had to let pass the high-speed trains (three Sapsans and a couple of other passenger trains).

My next story will be, I hope, from rather a far place deep in Russia, also a single-day trip. I will also try to make several short trips to the nearby states before my visa expires.

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