Shrines of the northern land. A trip to Veliky Ustyug

Breakfast. 

Visit the Museum of Ancient Art located in the Church of the Ascension.  The locally venerated Saints John and Mary are the Church of the Ascension, their resting place. There are 6 iconostases in the temple in the XV111 century. Unique works of Ustyug icon painting, face sewing and rare books. Interactive lesson "In the icon painting workshop", acquaintance in the interiors of the temple with the world of the ancient Russian icon, the main stages of its creation.

Transfer to the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk Monastery. Inspection of the monastery buildings.

Lunch. 

Visit to the Nature Museum. 

Interactive lessons "Riddles of northern nature" Sitting on birch stumps, our guests get acquainted with the life of northern nature in different seasons in an accessible playful way.

Inspection of the Church of the Myrrh-Bearing Women. Visit to the museum of New Year's and Christmas toys. 

Supper.

Breakfast.

Departure for an excursion to the Opoki Nature Reserve. 

About 70 kilometers from the city of Veliky Ustyug on the right bank of the Sukhona river there is the village of Opoki — which means "rocks" in Old Russian. It is these coastal cliffs, up to 70 m high, that represent an amazing place, a real Northern Wonder — OPOKI. Here, under the onslaught of the river, the Sukhonsky rocks were formed. On the opposite left bank of the Sukhona, near the uninhabited village of Bratskoye, there is another attractive place — a gushing spring. It has been rumbling here for decades: in 1941, quartz sand was searched near the village of Bratskoye, for which they drilled a well about 200 meters deep, but when drilling they came across artesian water. The reservoir waters here were under considerable pressure, which caused the water to erupt onto the surface of the earth like a fountain. The height of the geyser reached 10 meters, now the water supply in the aquifer has decreased, and the mouth of the geyser has expanded — and the fountain has become lower: 4-5 meters.

There is also a sad page in the history of Opok — "Opokstroy".

In 1940-1947, there was a GULAG camp area here. The prisoners of the Opoklag built a dam on Sukhona in order to raise the water level at the rift and provide water communication between the White Sea and the Mariinsky water system — Volgobalt. By the spring of 1947, the construction was completed. But already on April 25, during a flood, a wayward river demolished the dam. The camp was immediately liquidated.

Lunch. Check out of the hotel.