Volokolamsk, Moscow region

What makes it famous? Volokolamsk is frequently mentioned in connection with the German offensive in the fall of 1941. Presently it has a reputation of a successful community, and is very rarely mentioned in criminal news.

Where is Volokolamks? On the Moscow to Riga highway, 120 or so kilometers (80 miles) from Moscow. Located half way between Moscow and Staritsa, it is makes a good stopover point.

Accommodation

  • My favourite is the hotel at the bus station. Its telephone numbers are ............. Attendants ................, while not speaking a word of English, will welcome you with more sincerity that any of their 5-star colleagues. The price of 260 roubles ($8-9) is named right after you open the door. Foreigners are not allowed officially but will not be turned away either.

The room itself. 260 roubles gets you a bed but circumstances permitting you get the whole room. Be prepared for the contingency that someone else will burst in and take the other bed.

Funny that hotels of extra cheap class never use artificial flowers. This is the corridor what also acts as a common hall.

bus station photos attendants

 

Places of interest near Volokolamsk

Yaropolets used to be writers' and artists' hangout. After the Bolshevik revolution  it became famous for the first rural hydroelectric station. The station was built under Lenin's direct patronage, and the People's Museum of Yaropolets is largely dedicated to the early Soviet "electrification" drive. Museums director: Tatiana Viktorovna Kozlova, tel. 8-236-36-156. No hotel in Yaropolets as far as I know but you can stay in the local "House of Rest", tel. 8-236-63110 or 8-236-63134. Yuri Alexandrovich Golubev is its director.

[Lotoshino] is the last Moscow region town you are travelling north-west.

Stepurinskaya Zona is the first Tver region district on your way. Neglect reins in and around Stepurino, and connoisseurs of decay are advised are invited for a slow and thoughtful drive through this "zone". Some photos from the area are here.

Safety

I don't recall ever hearing Volokolamsk mentioned in criminal news while most Moscow region cities figure there prominently. It also feels safe and quiet. Relax. Save your worries for Moscow, St. Petersburg and, of small cities, perhaps Ryazan.

 

 

 

[Sketch of Volokolamsk, showing the places mentioned]

Report prepared .......  Updated ..................

 

From our in-house historian

Gorod poyavilsja na tom meste, gde srednevejkovye kupci peretaskivali (volokli) iz reki v reku svoi lodki i korabli. Gorod izvesten uzhe v XIII veke pod imenem Volok Lamskij (Lama - nazvanie reki). V konce XV veka zdes byl osnovan monastyr, gde upravljal Sv. Iosif Volockij - russkij Torkvemada. Etot igumen sovetoval velikomu knjazju Moskovskomu Vasiliju III "szhech vseh eretikov i teh, kto vlastjam protivitsja". V primer Iosif privodil ispanskogo korolja Ferdinanda. Posle Iosifa ego monastyr ispolzovalsja kak mesto zatochenia dissidentov. V gody World War II pod Volokolamskom u Dubosekovo  28 soldat s butylkami benzina v rukah ("Molotov cocktail") ostanovili 50 germanskih tankov.

Comment supplied by the famous Vovchik of Ryazan