11 points
4 km
4 hours
Historical Background
Sobornaya Gora (Cathedral Hill) is the pearl of Chekalin. The park's calling card is its entrance, and from the hill you get the best view of the Oka River in town. On the site of the medieval fortress, architects have recreated a wooden town. Today behind its walls are playgrounds, walking areas, a small chapel, and stylized gazebos. Artists and photographers come here too, because from the viewing platform the Oka floodplain with its picturesque bends lies spread out before you as if in the palm of your hand. More about its history: Like most Russian border towns, Likhvin had a cathedral church inside its fortress walls; in fact it had two, both wooden. There were also certain obligatory buildings: the office (prikaznaya izba) where the voivode (military governor) sat, held court, and dispensed justice, and in front of which defaulting debtors were publicly flogged; the gubnaya izba for criminal cases; the state cellar or storehouse for gunpowder and cannon supplies; the prison; the bishop's court; the voivode's residence; and siege yards belonging to neighboring landowners, where they moved during enemy invasions. Chekalin has a legend about underground passages linking the fortress with the St. Athanasius, St. Michael, and Pokrovsky Dobry monasteries. In fact there was a single underground passage, a secret tunnel from the fortress, through which the garrison was supplied with drinking water and made sorties into the enemy's rear during attacks. This unique 9th-century historical site, Sobornaya Gora, was given a second life after the program “Chekalin: A Little Center of Great Leisure” won the All-Russian Competition for the Best Projects for a Comfortable Urban Environment, initiated by President Vladimir Putin. The result is impressive: where there was once an overgrown wasteland, there now stands a park ensemble styled after the old days. Tourists come from all over the country to admire this gem of Russia's smallest town. The cozy park's calling card is its entrance gateway, and from the hill you get the best view of the Oka River in town.