Borovsk

Эта страница на русском: Боровск

Object location	55° 12′ 27.19″ N, 36° 29′ 05.05″ E	View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap	55.207553; 36.484737

Borovsk, a town established in 1358, stands between Moscow and Kaluga. Current population is estimated at around 12 thousand.

Symbols[edit]

In 1610 a small company of soldiers led by prince Mikhailo Volkonsky, defended Borovsk from the Polish gangs of False Dmitriy II. The loyalists took their last stand in the Pafnutyev Monastery. According to the legend, Volkonsky (already wounded) was killed by Poles right inside the cathedral. The towns' coat of arms, granted by Catherine II in 1777, commemorates this episode. The heart charged with a cross is a symbol of purity in spirit.

Coat of arms
Flag
Last stand of Mikhailo Volkonsky

Geography[edit]

Protva River[edit]

Borovsk was founded on the steep right bank of the Protva River. The town developed primarily to the south of the old citadel. Isolated suburbs (slobodas) developed to the west (across the Tekizha Creek Ravine) and to the north and east, across the Protva.

The Protva near old citadel
The Protva near old citadel
One of many green islands on the Protva
The Protva in Borovsk
The Protva in Borovsk
Fish in the Protva

Tekizhe Creek[edit]

The small Tekizhe Creek flows into the Protva east of the old town, in a grand natural ravine. It forms the natural border of the city core, separating it from the eastern suburb.

Tekizhe Creek
View east across the ravine
View north along the ravine
View west across the ravine

Hills and valleys[edit]

Hills east of Borovsk
Fields west of Borovsk
Fields east of Borovsk
Woodland north of Borovsk
Valley of the Protva west of Borovsk
Valley of the Protva west of Borovsk

Borovsk Citadel[edit]

No traces of ancient fortresses survived to date. The old Kremlin Hill is scarcely built out, and most of these small buildings are occupied by the town hall and district court.

The top of the hill
City Hall
The (alleged) grave of Fedosiya Morozova
Painters on the crest of the hill
View west from the hill
View north-east from the hill

Main Square[edit]

Lenin Square, the former Market Square, stands immediately south-west of Kremlin Hill. To date, the square remains the shopping center of the town - there are no modern "shopping plazas" or big label supermarkets. The Square is also home to local museum and library. There are monuments to Lenin, philosopher Nikolay Fyodorov and a small World War Two memorial cemetery.

Old market, view from west
South-east corner
North-west corner
North-west corner
Old shop buildings
North side

Streets of the core town (west to east)[edit]

Western suburb[edit]

Uritskogo Street
Bernikova Street
Bernikova Street
Bernikova Street
Bernikova Street
Former prison

Southern suburb[edit]

Rabochaya Street
Rabochaya Street
Rabochaya Street
Kalinina Street
Kalinina Street
Mira Street

Eastern suburb[edit]

The church and the gardens
Tsiolkovskogo Street
Stepana Razina Street
Kolkhoznaya Street
Kommunisticheskaya Street
Kommunisticheskaya Street

Northern suburb[edit]

Engelsa Street
Engelsa Street
Engelsa Street
Engelsa Street
Municipal beach and footbridge to the Citadel
Municipal beach

Architecture[edit]

Churches[edit]

Historically, Borovsk was a town of die-hard Old Believers.

Cathedral of the Annunciation (Moscow Patriarchy)
Church of St. Boris and Gleb (Moscow Patriarchy)
Church of the Entry (former Old Believers, now Moscow Patriarchy)
Church of the Exaltation of the Cross (Moscow Patriarchy)
Church of the Intercession (Moscow Patriarchy)
Church of the Transfiguration (Moscow Patriarchy)

Cathedral of All Saints (former Old Believers, now secularized)
Cathedral of the Intercession (Old Believers)
Church of the Intercession (former Edinoverie, now secularized)

Pafnutyev Monastery[edit]

Setting
Entrance
Cathedral
Belltower
Fortifications

Museums[edit]

Local library and history museum
The Center of Arts in the former Cathedral of All Saints
Folk art commune in the former Shokin House
Tsiolkovsky Museum

Brick architecture[edit]

Wooden houses[edit]

Typical small single-family homes[edit]

Larger wooden houses on brick basements[edit]

Carved wooden windows[edit]

Murals[edit]

Borovsk has more murals than Belfast. Almost all of these murals were created in the 2000s by local artist Vladimir Ovchinnikov (http://vladiov.narod.ru/), mostly in grisaille. Freedom of panorama prohibits hosting of his artwork per se, but hopefully these examples pass de minimis exemption: