Syzran

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I finally finished all work in Moscow and returned to St. Petersburg. In a short while, I went to my home town, Birsk, where I stayed for eight days. I published my collection of folk tales on Amazon in electronic format and hope to become richer by that, and also by publishing an electronic book about travelling in Russia. I think Russia as a travel destination is hugely underestimated and needs reconsideration and reassessment in all aspects. I do not know what comes out of my efforts, but I will try and present this travel book in half a year, perhaps (I want to visit many more interesting places).

I wanted to go to an interesting city on my return journey to St. Petersburg. I had initially planned three small trips, one to Cologne, also to Murom and Arzamas, and to Verkhoturye Town. I cancelled all those but still we’ll hear about the three latter ones when time comes. The possibilities of train travelling in Russia are endless, so I studied a couple of train schedules. Finally, I decided to go to Syzran (which is not among any top lists to visit, but in any case it is quite an old town and has a couple of sights and for me it would be good to have half a day’s walk and, moreover, to split the long train journey into half).

I went by train from Ufa to Syzran, about 13 hours. The train station in Ufa has been renovated and now it is a big spacious modern building.

Syzran was founded in 1683 by voivode Grigory Kozlovsky by Tsar Peter’s order. During that time, Russia was expanding to the East and needed fortress towns for protection. Quite soon the military function lost importance and trade came to the forefront. The town became a large trading centre of the region in the XVIII century. The city still retains the appearance of a merchant Volga town of the XIX century.

I arrived in Syzran at seven in the morning, deposited my baggage and had a cup of coffee. I crossed the bridge running over the rail tracks and went to the city’s centre. The first interesting thing I saw was a mural depicting Soviet pioneers with red ties: two boys playing musical instruments and a short-skirted girl in the centre. Of course, on top of the picture were the image of Mr. Lenin and a start with an outline of flame, the predominant colour being RED. I should also mention that the yards of apartment buildings in Russia very often have a basketball playing ground, among all other things. The first monument I saw was dedicated to persons perished in the struggle for the Soviet power and the revolution. Such monuments and Soviet imagery do enliven one’s visit to a Russian town. I guess, all those might be quite shocking for a foreigner. This monument was located in a park but the park looked very gloomy and little cared-for. If you think of it, many public areas in Russia actually look godforsaken and in much need for renovation.

Across the park, I saw a Soviet building (the A.N. Tolstoy Drama Theater) and hoped that I reached the city’s centre, and indeed I have. The theater is located on a square; there I saw the inevitable Lenin monument and a monument honouring the city’s achievements. I saw an example of Soviet imagery with the words “Honour to the best production workers”. Near the square was another small park, undoubtedly designed for parents and children, because there were fairy-tale creatures, an elephant, rainbow-coloured benches, snake-like lamp-posts, a dragon (to me it looked something like a camel with three heads), and a playground.

From there, I followed the city’s main street, Sovetskaya, with a couple of short side walks. All the interesting buildings are centered along it. Here we can see specimens of such architectural styles as modern and eclecticism. The most interesting civil building of the whole street (and the whole city), I think, is the Sterlyadkin Private House.

At the beginning of the XX century rich people started building their luxurious private houses in Syzran. Sergey Sterlyadkin, one of them, was a millionaire’s son and built his house in 1915. The building’s ornamental finishing features male and female figures, a bas-relief image of the Abundance, a seashell-shaped balcony and semi-columns with Corinthian capitals. The female figures portray the seasons, the male ones support the balcony. ThebuildingnowistheCivilRegistryOffice.

As I was walking, I looked out for a café to have breakfast and warm myself up, but there seemed to be almost no cafes or they were yet closed (it was early morning). I entered a pizzeria but was told they were still closed. In a side street, just by the corner, I saw an excellent flower bed designed in the form of a butterfly, looking very unusual and beautiful, though it was autumn and no flowers were there.

My final sights were the Cathedral and the Kremlin Tower. Kazan Cathedral was built in 1866-1872 and is an imposing building with gold-coated domes. I was still intent on finding a café, but was unsuccessful.

The Kremlin’s Spasskaya Tower, built in 1683, is the only remaining tower and the city’s main attraction. It was this tower, basically, that made me vote for going to Syzran. In the vicinity (on the Kremlin hill near the confluence of rivers Volga, Syzranka and Krymza) there is the Nativity Church of built in 1717 and a memorial complex in honour of perished soldiers. From the hill I saw the frozen waters, the ice being quite transparent, and some people were walking on it. Far away were the domes of Voznesensky Monastery. An unpleasant sight was the waste land adjoining the Kremlin Hill.

Sightseeing being over, I walked back along Sovetskaya street in futile quest for a café. I finally found it and had two hot teas and a hot meat samsa (samsa is a triangular meat pie, very tasty if right from the oven). Warmed up, I decided to warm up and rest even more, and went to the previously noted pizzeria where I ordered a slice of pizza, tea and pelmeni in a casserole.

I took a bus back to the train station. I stayed in the ‘lounge’ (50 roubles an hour) with large soft armchairs where I charged my laptop (the use of electricity there costs 30 roubles – you have to pay for comfort) and read a book of Portuguese stories. My train to Moscow departed at 15.22.

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