Village Totma

Totma is included in the list of 45 particularly valuable historical settlements of federal significance, approved by the Russian Ministry of Culture. It is also a member of the Association of the Most Beautiful Villages and Towns of Russia, the Association of Salt Towns, and the Union of Russian Hanseatic Cities. This is undoubtedly due to the glorious historical past of the ancient city, its unique appearance, which has preserved and revitalized cultural heritage sites and wooden architecture monuments.

Totma is the only city in the Vologda Oblast with churches of rare beauty in the unique architectural style of "Totma Baroque," built with funds from merchant seafarers. When speaking of this unique style, the first thing that comes to mind is the so-called cartouches, which are the symbol of the city.

Totma – "the salt of the Russian land" – is a proud title that has been firmly established as a trademark. The city of Totma is one of the ancient centers of salt production in the Russian North. The origins of salt production in the Totma region date back to the 14th and 15th centuries.

The traveler Yuri Senkevich called Totma "a land-based seaport." In its time, Totma was not only one of the most prosperous Russian cities, but also a true "metropolis of Russian America." It was Totma merchants who assembled 20 expeditions heading to the Far East and the shores of the distant American continent to harvest valuable furs. Totma residents discovered the Aleutian Islands and developed the western coast of Alaska. The glorious odyssey of local seafarers was magnificently completed by Ivan Kuskov, who became the founder and first ruler of the famous fortress of Fort Ross – the southernmost point of "Russian America."

Totma is a city celebrated in the verses of the Russian lyric poet and singer of northern beauty, Nikolai Mikhailovich Rubtsov. One of the favorite places for admirers of Rubtsov's work is the monument to the poet in Rubtsovsky Square near the former pier.

The Totma region gave the world one of two saints officially canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in the eighteenth century. The miraculous relics of St. Theodosius of Totma are housed in the ancient Spaso-Sumorin Monastery, now being restored.

What to see:

ARCHITECTURE

• Trinity Church in the Zelensky fishing village, 1768-1788.
• Church of the Entry into Jerusalem, 1738-1740
• Church of the Nativity (Church of the Nativity of Christ), 1745
• Church of St. John the Baptist, 1738
• Church of the Assumption (cold) with a bell tower, 1755, 1800-1808
• Kholodilova Estate (Prison Castle), 18th-19th centuries (Treasury and Police Headquarters complex)
• Church of the Joy of All Who Sorrow
• Prison building
• Boundary wall
• City Hall building, mid-18th century, 6 Sovetskaya Street

MUSEUMS:
Totma is a city of museums, home to five museums and one museum and exhibition center. This is a fascinating local history museum with amazing exhibits telling the story of Totma's rich history; A museum of church antiquities with excellent examples of wooden church sculpture, common in the north. The Museum of Seafarers and the Ivan Kuskov House Museum are fully integrated into the city's main brand, introducing visitors to the odyssey of the "Russian Columbuses." The "Open Storage of Collections" Museum is famous for its "spinning wheel room" and numerous artifacts from the everyday life of the inhabitants of the Russian North. The museum is located on the grounds of the Spaso-Sumorin Monastery, which is currently being restored and houses the miraculous relics of St. Theodosius of Totma. The building of the museum and exhibition center "Na Bolshaya Sadovaya" houses the youth creative space "AntreSOL," which has become an exhibition space, a leisure center, a venue for unusual ideas and unconventional projects, and a museum of the history of the salt industry.
· Local History Museum
· Ivan Aleksandrovich Kuskov House Museum
· Open Storage Museum
· Museum and Exhibition Center "On Bolshaya Sadovaya" and the "Moroshka" Interactive Program Center
· Museum of Seafarers
· Museum of Church Antiquities

LINKS:
Where to go http://tourizm-totma.ru/kuda-shodit
About museums http://tourizm-totma.ru/museum
Where to stay http://tourizm-totma.ru/gde-ostanovit-sya
Where to eat http://tourizm-totma.ru/kafe-medvedevo/gde-poest
The events calendar is available at Website
http://tourizm-totma.ru/sobytijnyj-turizm/sobytijnyj-kalendar
Official website of the Totemsky Municipal District Administration
https://35totemskij.gosuslugi.ru/
Tourism website of the Totemsky Municipal District Administration
http://tourizm-totma.ru/
http://tourizm-totma.ru/zachem-exat-v-totmu
http://tourizm-totma.ru/suveniry
Popular videos about the town of Totma and the Totemsky District https://itogi.totma-region.ru/films

© Photos by Tatyana Mishurinskaya