Spasskoye
Spasskoye district is located in the south of the region. You can come here for a day to visit all the Orthodox shrines, to get amazed by a hundred springs in one place and learn more about Tatar culture, and the village of Spasskoye is considered one of the oldest settlements in the region (the first mention of it dates back to 1399), so here you can still check out, for example, the preserved stone architecture.
A FEW FACTS
Established Twice
The village of Spasskoye is one of the oldest settlements in the region. The first mentions date back to 1399, but due to the raids of the Mongol-Tatars, the east of the region was desolate. This territory became safe only after Ivan the Terrible's march on Kazan, and in 1622 the village was founded anew. The village is named after the patronal feast, its other name is Spasovo Selishche.
Fair for the Whole Volga Region
The village hosted summer and autumn fairs, and it became widely known because of the trade development. For example, the autumn fair was considered the largest rural fair in the Nizhny Novgorod Volga region. Here you could buy tanned leather, wool, feather, horsehair, bristles, glue, honey, fabrics and handicrafts.
The Center of Tatar Culture
Spasskoye district is one of centers of the Tatar culture in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Tatars and Chuvash have long settled on the lands where the villages of Russkoye and Tatarskoye Maklakovo are now located. In the middle of the XVII century, the first wooden mosque was built in Tatarskoye Maklakovo, and now eight mosques function in the Spasskoye district.
Arzamas Region
The district was part of the Arzamas region, which existed from 1954 to 1957. The region was abolished on April 23, 1957 and all its territories were handed over to the Gorky region.
The Homeland of Crafts
Crafts were also actively developing in the village of Spasskoye. The village of Tubanaevka became the center of leather production, sheepskin workshops operated in the Monastyrsky Watras, potters lived in Yelkhovka; one of the largest flax spinning factories in the province was opened and in the village of Turbanka in 1912.
WHAT TO DO IN THE CITY
01
Stop by the Karashev Well
According to legend, the history of the village of Spasskoye began from this place, «karash» is the Chuvash name for a corncrake, a migratory bird. Now there is a sacred spring, a stone pillar chapel and an open font with a canopy.
02
Visit the National Historical Museum
In the two-storey mansion of merchant Danilov, you can get acquainted with the fauna of the Spasskoye district, learn about crafts, see stone battle axes and fragments of clay pots, and explore the «Room of Soviet Life».
03
Learn about the spinning manufactory
The «Testaments of Ilyich» country club established back in 1929 has a local library and the Local Historian club studying the history of Turbanka village. There is also a small exhibition where you can learn about the ancient spinning manufactory of the Sorokins known throughout Russia.
04
Visit the shrines of the Spasskoye district
The oldest preserved church of the district is the Church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour, built in 1750 in Maslovka. In addition, be sure to appreciate the masterpiece of wooden architecture in the Solonikha village as well as the Church of the Ascension of Christ with beautiful frescoes in Tubanaevka. Now, the Marovsky Holy Cross Monastery is being revived in Krasnye Mary, which was destroyed twice, at the end of the XVIII century and in the 1920s.
05
Get amazed by a hundred springs in one place
Klyuchevskoy Waterfall, which is located in the village of Klyuchishchi, is called so for a reason: the springs here spout from the middle of the hillside. Gradually joining, they turn into a large stream, and due to the strong noise that they create, the place was popularly called «waterfall».
06
Visit Tatarskoye Maklakovo
In the Tatar village of the Spasskoye district, every year in December, the festival «Father Christmas Visits Kysh Babai» takes place, where many New Year's characters gather and offer an entertainment program. During warm season of the year, visit the museum of local history, where you can see adornments of the Tatar hut, traditional clothes and household items, and learn about culture development in the area.
WHERE TO GO AND WHAT TO SEE
The Church of St. John the Evangelist
Vazyanka village
The functional stone church, built at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries in the Russian style, has a font and a neat garden.
The house of the industrialist Alexei Sorokin
Turbanka village, Nagornaya str.
The stone house of the founder of the Turbanka flax spinning factory was built in 1880. Now there is a medical center in this house.
Village Hall «Zavety Il’yicha»
Turbanka village, 21 Fabrichnaya str.
A wooden building from the 1930s houses the local library. You can check out a small exhibition about the Sorokins’ ancient spinning manufactory.
Working hours
Tuesday - Sunday - 13:20-17:20;
Monday is a day off.
The National Historical Museum
Spasskoye village, 48 Revolutsii sq.
The museum located in a merchant's mansion of the XIX century offers exposition about the crafts and life of Spasskoye residents before the revolution, about the Great Patriotic War, and the Soviet lifestyle.
Working hours
Monday - Friday - 08:00-16:00,
Saturday - Sunday - by appointment
Karashev Well spring
Spasskoye village, Rabochaya str.
The sacred spring, located between the hills, from where, according to legend, the history of the village of Spasskoye began.
Center for the Development of Folk Crafts and Tourism
Spasskoye village, 48 Revolutsii sq.
You can take various master classes held in the mansion of merchant Danilov, for example, in pottery, weaving and patchwork. Also, you can sign up for excursions to historical sites there.
Tataromaklakov Museum of Local History
Tatarskoye-Maklakovo village, Sovetskaya str.
A museum that displays exhibits of social life and traditions of the Tatar people of Spasskoye.
