Return to Moscow and Inside the Kremlin

Tuesday, June 28

Today we left Yasnaya Polyana and traveled the rest of the way north to Moscow. We arrived in the late afternoon and spent time organizing our luggage in preparation for our departure on Thursday.

Tomorrow we will visit the Kremlin.

Our driver, Sergey drove us nearly 1000 miles on this trip!

Wednesday, June 29

This morning we took the metro with Vladimir and Svetlana down to the Kremlin. We had a wonderful tour guide, Katya, who first took us through The Armoury. This amazing museum displays some of the beautiful items made in the Kremlin and gifts from around the world. One of the standouts was the Fabergé egg collection. The clothing, crowns and carriages of the Russian royalty were also very impressive. 

Katya then walked us around Cathedral Square. We went inside the Assumption Cathedral, the main church of the Kremlin. This church was used for all the royal coronations. Nearby are the 11 cupolas of the Terem churches.

Cupolas of the Terem churches

 

Ivan the Great Bell tower with 21 bells, the tallest building in the Kremlin

Other interesting landmarks at the Kremlin include the Tsar Bell, constructed from 1733-1737. This bell weighs about 220 tons and is the largest in the world. It was cast in the ground, but in order to protect it from a fire in the Kremlin, water was poured on the hot metal, which cracked. A large piece fell out that weighs about 13 tons. The bell was commissioned by Empress Anna, but was never rung.

Tsar Bell

The Tsar Cannon was constructed in 1586. It was fired at least once, since some gunpowder was found inside. The cannonballs displayed in front are actually too large to fit in the barrel.

Tsar Cannon

We had lunch nearby, which included many toasts to our successful trip and thanks to our wonderful hosts. We bid farewell to Svetlana after lunch. Vladimir walked with us to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The building was destroyed in 1931 by order of Stalin and was rebuilt from 1995-2000.

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

View back toward the Kremlin from a bridge over the Moscow River

We also walked through the Fallen Monuments Park or Muzeon, which features Soviet-era sculptures and beautiful, informal plantings. 

Just after entering Muzeon

 Huge Soviet emblem

 The controversial Peter the Great statue is visible from the park

Statues of former Soviet leaders

We parted with Vladimir at our hotel. Later that night, we met Igor for dinner at a Georgian restaurant.

Appetizers

We leave tomorrow bright and early! Sergey will take us to the airport at 4 am. 

The trip was very successful and a wonderful experience. Svetlana and Vladimir were excellent hosts and created an interesting and well-planned itinerary. We were able to see many different environments and plants, while connecting with expert botanists. We also appreciated all the cultural and historical landmarks we were able to visit. Sergey was a very capable driver, whether merging in Moscow traffic or navigating rough country roads. We hope to meet all our new friends again, either in Russia or back in the US!

Спасибо большое! (Thank you very much!)

Kulikovo Pole Museums and Yasnaya Polyana

Monday, June 27

This morning we took a walk down to an overlook. It was very peaceful looking out over the confluence of the Rivers Don and Nepryadva, with a flock of sheep grazing across the water. After breakfast, we visited the Kulikovo Pole Museum that was built in an old school building in 2000. The Kulikovo Pole area is most famous for the battle against the Mongol army in 1380, but was also important during the War of 1812 against Napoleon and World War II. After the Russian victory in 1380, the people began to come together as a nation. The most interesting objects in the museum were artifacts found in the area from the battle and from daily life, such as a wood-fired oven to make pots.

 Overlook of the Rivers Don and Nepryadva

Detail of a fence around the museum

Artifacts from the battle of Kulikovo Pole found in the area

 

 

An exhibit on later wars showed a medal given on an orange and black-striped ribbon. I have noticed this ribbon tied onto cars and backpacks. Elena explained that today the colors are more a symbol of patriotism. Outside the museum, there is a church built in the 19^th century. Every day the bells ring somberly at 11 am to mark the beginning of the battle at Kulikovo Pole and ring in a more celebratory fashion at 2 pm to mark the end of the battle.

One of the monuments for towns that participated in the Kulikovo Pole battle

 

Next, we visited the monument that marks the place of the Mongolian camp. It is located on a high point in the landscape that allowed us to see all the main points of the battle. The most important point is the Green Oak forest, where the Russian reserve army waited to enter the battle at a critical moment and led to the Russian victory. Today, the Green Oak forest is reconstructed and part of the protected areas of the reserve.

Memorial column

 Elena on the large map at the overlook

 

Vladimir, Mariel, Svetlana, Ben

Our last stop at Kulikovo Pole was the new museum, which is scheduled to open in September 2016. We were lucky to get a sneak peak at the buildings and a few of the exhibits. The museum has a low profile, with most of the structure underground. The architecture is Russian post-modernism, with interesting historical features added to the outside walls. Both buildings have a green roof, with one planned to be a Stipa steppe slope.

 The building on the left represents the Mongolian army, the building on the right represents the Russian army

 

The outside wall has copies of coins from cities that participated in the battle, to the bottom are old foundation stones from the monument

We had lunch with Elena then left Kulikovo Pole. Our destination was Yasnaya Polyana, the estate of Leo Tolstoy, the famous Russian writer. The house today is a museum, kept as it was in the early 1900s. The grounds were designed by Prince Nikolai Volkonsky, who was Tolstoy’s grandfather. The 416 ha are a mix of natural and formal landscapes. Long allées stretch in all directions, perfect for strolling.

 A friendly welcome to the estate

Large pond near entrance

Tolstoy and his wife, Sofia, planted 174 ha of forest, using 22 species of trees. One of their daughters studied botany and kept detailed records of their gardens. These records allow the staff to create a very accurate representation of Tolstoy’s plantings. The vegetable garden is one of the best places to see the history. It was the site of a conservatory that burned down. A greenhouse was rebuilt in 1868 and is still standing today. The plants and style of the beds and paths are all accurate to his time. A nearby old apple orchard features some varieties that can no longer be found. Formal circle beds dot the paths outside the house.

Vegetable garden

 Currants

 

 Greenhouse from 1868

 

Old stones from the conservatory

 

Our guides Vladislav and Irina with one of the circle beds near the house

 

A circle bed with stock and calla lilies

New apple orchard

We enjoyed a cup of tea with our guides, Irina and Vladislav. Irina showed us some of the historical documents of the estate. Tolstoy kept a daily diary, with 90 volumes over his lifetime! We then went to our nearby hotel. We were lucky to visit the estate on Monday, when it is closed. Over the weekend, it is very busy and all the hotel rooms are booked!



Historical photo from the estate

Zadonski Monastery and Kulikovo Pole Steppe

Sunday, June 26

This morning we went to Zadonski monastery after breakfast. There were many visitors since it was a Sunday. Similar to the other monasteries, the gardens were very nice. Peonies had finished blooming, but there were many roses and a nice annual design. We both admired the ornamentation on the buildings and doors, including an intricate metalwork grapevine and stained glass. I also loved the bright blues, greens and teals on all parts of the buildings.

 Grapevine metalwork attached to an awning

 

 Metalwork

 

 Annual display at the monastery

 

 Ben on church steps

 

Colorful buildings and visitors

We traveled north to the State Museum-Reserve Kulikovo Pole. The Reserve is both a historical monument to the Battle of Kulikovo and a nature reserve. Here we met Elena Volkova, a botanist from Tula State University, who conducts research at Kulikovo Pole. She is interested in forest-steppe areas, one of the protected areas at the reserve, along with meadow steppe and forest. There are nine protected areas in total, with five established in the last two years.

 

The first area we visited was a 23 hectare steppe slope. We saw many species that were also present in the steppe at Galichya Gora. This slope had an additional noticeable grass species besides Stipa, Elytrigia intermedia. Allium rotundum, Lavatera thuringiaca and Arenaria (Eremogone) micradenia were some other species we hadn't seen previously. While much of the surrounding land has been used for agriculture, this slope is believed to be undisturbed. There are dips in the slope where people likely removed limestone boulders, but the soil is only 50 cm deep before reaching limestone. Researchers are looking at soil samples and analyzing the seeds to see if this area was planted with crops in the past. In general, this is believed to be an example of a natural community.

 

A fire burned the slope last fall. Steppe areas benefit from an occasional fire, which probably occurred on a 10-15 year cycle naturally. Last fall’s fire helped to control an aggressive shrub in this area, Chamaecytissus ruthenicus.

Galium verum and Allium rotundum

 

 Svetlana on the steppe

 

Lavatera thuringiaca enjoying the view

 

 Verbascum sp. with view of river

 

Elena with Phlomis tuberosa

 

Fields of bright yellow rapeseed grow in the area.

 



We also visited a steppe slope above a creek bed. This area had 31 protected species. We marveled at Orobanche alba, Echinops ritro just beginning to flower and the tiny white flowers of Asperula cynanchica. The slope transitioned into an oak forest. As we got closer, we noticed disturbed areas where wild boars had been digging for roots. Entering into the forest we saw Melampyrum sp., Carex montana and Lilium martagon in bud!

 

Orobanche alba

 

Echinops ritro

 

Inula brittanica and Dracocephalum ruyschiana

 

Lilium martagon in bud

 



 

 On the flat areas of the reserve, there are no examples of natural communities. Here the soil is deeper, moister and has been used for agriculture. The reserve has several experimental fields in this area where they are attempting to recreate steppe. The first plot used cut grass and seeds from a steppe environment and laid this material out fresh on the field. However, since the cut material was not dry the steppe plants did not establish well. The end result looked more like a meadow, though it has high plant diversity. Learning from that experiment, a more recent field used three cuttings of grass and seeds that were allowed to dry. This field has more steppe species present.

Early experimental plot with few steppe species present

 

One of the challenges in the experimental fields has been getting Stipa species to establish. In the wetter conditions of the flatlands, the grass does not compete well with other plants. Researches tried a few methods to increase the abundance of Stipa. One method was to transplant tussocks of Stipa from the steppe. However, the tussocks did not increase in size or compete successfully with weeds. Another method has been to plant rows of Stipa seeds, weed carefully until the plants establish and then plant steppe species in between the rows. This has been the most successful reproduction of steppe on the reserve. The oldest of these plots is almost 10 years old, but the lines of Stipa are still visible. The grass has not increased in size and by seed as quickly as hoped. One reason for this is the layer of vegetation is so thick in the plots that the Stipa seeds simply can’t get to the ground to germinate. Each fall, these plots are mowed and all the vegetation is removed to allow the fields to dry and create more desirable conditions for Stipa.

 

 

Lines of Stipa visible in experimental plot

 

 

Tomorrow we will learn more about the historical side of the reserve and visit the brand new museum. Then, we will travel to Yasnaya Polyana, the Museum-Estate of Leo Tolstoy.





Galichya Gora, Day 2: Limestone cliffs

Saturday, June 25

This morning we met our botanist guide, Larisa at the Galichya Gora headquarters. Our first visit was an overlook of the River Vargol. The area was covered by an ocean millions of years ago. These ancient seas deposited the limestone cliffs. The river used to be much higher, but as the water fell, plants survived their changing environment by growing in the limestone. Plants found in the Caucasus, Altai and in Siberia are present here in isolated populations. Limestone cliffs around the world harbor endemic and relict plants, which makes them so fascinating!

 River Vargol overlook, Shi Lei, Ben, Mariel, Larisa, Svetlana

 

 Andrey setting up the camera for a group shot

 

 

A nice patch of Asarum europaem

 

Today we saw many interesting plants growing in and near the limestone, including some ferns!

 

Thymus calcareous

 

Asplenium ruta-muraria 

 

 Campanula rotundifolia

 

 Fern garden

 

 Wild strawberry

 

Veronica spuria

 

Viola rupestris

 

 

Gymnocarpium robertianum, a rare fern

 

 

Though the Galichya Gora reserve areas are closed to the public, the areas adjacent to them are very popular for recreation. We saw a lot of rock climbers and even watched a paraglider launch off the cliffs! The public use of the surrounding areas makes taking care of the reserve areas more challenging.

Andrey and Shi Lei left our group after lunch to travel to Crimea for a conference. We were glad to have them along and hope to meet again in the future!

 

 







Lunch near a small waterfall

 

It’s our last night in Zadonsk. We have been enjoying evening walks in this small town each night. Our hotel is across the street from Zadonski monastery, which has given us picturesque evening views. The Tilia cordata trees are in full, fragrant bloom. There is a nice garden on the other side of the monastery and a long pedestrian street that ascends a hill. It was a busy weekend in Zadonsk. School has just finished and there were many weddings, so the restaurants in town were all booked on Friday and Saturday night! On Friday night, we had a picnic in the hotel room, but tonight we were able to get a small dining room and have dinner from the hotel restaurant.

Tomorrow we will explore Zadonski monastery after breakfast. Then we will head back north and stop at Kulikovo Pole.

 Zadonski monastery in evening light

Pedestrian street on one side of the monastery