Day-Tripping in Land of Fish & Flight
By Yevgenia Borisova

Day-Tripping in Land of Fish & Flight By Yevgenia Borisova Residents of Moscow who have already done their share of sightseeing along the traditional routes might enjoy a trip to an offbeat town that has so far gone undiscovered by the local tourist trade.

Yegoryevsk, an 18th-century town 100 kilometers from Moscow's city center, is a city of varied appeal, offering visitors everything from an art museum (which is home to unique artifacts like an icon made of mammoth bone) and an Old Believers' church, to waterways amenable to fishing and airspace set aside for sky-diving or even flying lessons. In addition to all of this, Yegoryevsk is surrounded by the Meshchera Lowlands, a natural habitat for nightingales and cranes.

Despite the natural beauty of its surroundings, however, the buildings of Yegoryevsk itself are not well-maintained, to say nothing of its Khrushchev-era suburbs. Linger, therefore, not near the tangles of apartment houses or the wooden buildings sinking into the ground, tarry instead outside the grander structures that were built during the town's heyday in the late 19th century, or at its beautiful churches.

Any journey to Yegoryevsk ought to begin with a visit to the spot where the famous Soviet aviator Valery Chkalov prepared for his legendary flight across the North Pole to the United States in 1937. Surprisingly, the historical locale that was home to Chkalov's studies isn't a flight school, but rather a church, the gorgeous Holy Trinity Church of the Moscow Patriarchy, which was used as an aviation institute during the Soviet era.

While student pilots no longer populate the Holy Trinity, the church has always been the site of a rather unusual roster of events. Until a few months ago, for example, its main hall was still used as a discotheque by night, while religious services were conducted in its left wing. Carpenters are now busy restoring the church, which is still open to visitors. In fact, the reconstruction makes for a more interesting visit: What a thrill to witness the discovery of 19th-century icons heretofore buried in the church's walls, as they are freed from under layers of oil paint!

Also of great interest to historians and religious buffs is Russia's largest Old Believers' church. Like the Holy Trinity, this church too was used for purposes other than worship during the Soviet era, fell into disrepair during the Soviet era and is currently being restored. Already, however, it is home to an icon that parishioners claim has healing properties - for both people and animals.

Yegoryevsk's superbly preserved old city is home to a museum that is unique among other provincial museums in its grandeur: A palace-style staircase, for example, awaits visitors at its entranceway. Furthermore, the museum's collection dates back to the 19th century, when local merchants, famous throughout Russia for their textiles, began travelling to Europe and returning with very valuable works of art. Among these are several that have since become the property of national galleries in Moscow and St. Petersburg, including Pierre Renoir's famous "Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary" (1878), which now hangs in the State Hermitage in the northern capital.

The museum also provides a detailed look at life in Yegoryevsk during the 18th and 19th centuries. In addition to all manner of crystal, crockery and sculpture, its collection also includes such peculiar items from everyday life as a contraption used by 18th-century Yegoryevsk women to rid themselves of lice: Just fill the device with a drop of blood, fasten it around the neck and wait for the insects, attracted by the smell of blood, to file inside, where they become stuck by virtue of the gadget's swinging trap door.

The collection also includes some 19th-century naive art illustrating scenes from life in the village at the time, as well as several Old Believer icons, one of which enumerates a list of sins that is considerably larger than most religions allow for: This icon catalogues 24 sins, including flirting, despair, drunkenness, bestiality and masturbation.

"An American friend was very impressed with the political correctness of the icon," said our guide, and head of the local tourism board Alexei Markov. "It doesn't list homosexuality as a sin."

Beyond its cultural attractions, Yegoryevsk is also unique in that it provides visiting anglers with single-day fishing licenses (whereas at the great majority of Russian lakes and rivers, fishing is unregulated). In Yegoryevsk, for just 600 rubles, hopeful fisherman can become the proud owners of a one-day license to fish the waters of the Tsna River and, if they're lucky, take home a perfectly legal carp (for details, call 240-571-47).

Visitors who seek a pastime a few rungs higher on the exhilaration meter might try skydiving at the airfield just outside Yegoryevsk in the village of Shuvoye. One dive costs 390 rubles, or, for the same price, stay inside the aircraft for a heart-pounding session of aerobatics (call 491-86-77).

Finally, travelers looking for something a bit longer than a day-trip will note that Yegoryevsk is also an ideal starting point for a trip to Kolomna, where one cathedral dates to the 14th century and the local kremlin is home to several private residences. And don't miss a visit to the Kolomenskaya Bashnya, or tower, which was once prison to Marina Mniszek, wife of the first False Dmitry, after her husband was murdered in 1606.

Yegoryevsk's only hotel is located in the city center at 126 Sovietskaya Ulitsa. While the hotel is clean and cockroach-free, be warned that its staff still honor the old Soviet-era tradition of treating guests as a nuisance. Foreign hotel guests will also be asked to complete a questionnaire and register their visas at the local police department a few blocks from the hotel. Single rooms cost 240 rubles a night. Reservations are not required, even during the summer months.

The restaurant at the Yegoryevsk hotel offers pleasant Russian fare at very reasonable prices (lunch without alcohol for one is unlikely to cost more than 100 rubles). The wait staff is eager to please - they'll prepare your Greek Salad with olives instead of canned peas and even turn down the very loud music if you ask them three or four times - but beware the bottled beer: Check the expiration date before imbibing.

The train to Yegoryevsk leaves Kazansky station every day at 6.50 a.m. A bus leaves Vykhino metro every 30 minutes during the morning hours. Roundtrip tickets on train or bus cost just under 100 rubles.

Egorievsk District Administration. Department of Culture.

9 Ryazanskaya st, Egorievsk, Moscow Region, Russia 140300
Phone: +7 09640 32306, Fax: +7 09640 43114