The Volga Zavolzhye: Kuzmino to Vozdvizhenye

Description

A one-day route along the Volga bank east of Kineshma: four stops in which Volga province speaks different languages — parish classicism, estate ruins, the earthen ramparts of an ancient hillfort and a village church at the edge of the Zavolzhye. About seventy kilometres by road; the last kilometres may be unpaved. The first point is Kuzmino in the Privolzhsky district: the stone church of St. Nicholas of 1831, a four-pillar quadrangle with a bell tower, notably large for a rural parish, with a cemetery by its walls. The road then brings you to Borshchevka and the ruins of the Kozlovskys’ estate — a large nineteenth-century Volga manor on the high bank. The volumes and the park are still readable, and the view of the Volga opens right from the ruins; inspect with care and do not enter under collapsing structures. The main historical anchor is Soldoga: a hillfort on the left bank of the Volga, where a settlement existed as early as the Early Iron Age, later growing into a medieval fortified centre with ramparts and a ditch. Nearby stands the stone Presentation church of 1792 — a single-domed temple with a refectory and bell tower; the white silhouette against the ramparts is a classic Volga view. Walk the ramparts from the southern side — the bank is steep. The final point is Vozdvizhenye in the Zavolzhsky district with the stone church of the Exaltation of the Cross of 1790 — the same Volga classicism, on the opposite side of the river. The route suits those who like to combine archaeology, architecture and simply a road along big water, without tourist infrastructure.