Merchant Totma: From Salt Works to Sea Discoveries

17 points7 km0 hours

This route introduces you to the unique salt-making trade that made Totma one of the richest towns of the Russian North. This old town of seafarers and explorers also preserves the memory of the Totma merchants who conquered Alaska and California. We'll begin the tour at “Totma Salt,” a cultural and historical landscape complex in the village of Varnitsy, Totma District, Vologda Region. It introduces the ancient salt-making trade, which played an important role in the town's development. Here you'll learn all about salt making and see open-air museum exhibits and the Kokorev Garden. The route was prepared as part of the “Vsyako Doyedem” (“We'll Get There Anyway”) project.

Route author

Yulia Drugashkova

Things to do

История
Парки
Ремесло

Route points (17)

“Patron's House” Cultural and Business Center in Totma

Point on route “Merchant Totma: From Salt Works to Sea Discoveries”

Point 3

“Patron's House” Cultural and Business Center

📜 Learn the city's history • 🏛️🕰️ Compare the eras • 🕵️ Urban legend

History

The center is housed in a restored building that in the early 20th century belonged to Nikolai Ilyich Tokarev, a well-known patron of Totma and Rostov. In the 19th century he financed the opening of the Petrovsky Crafts School for peasant children in Totma and later built a three-story brick building for it on the bank of the Sukhona, which still graces the town today.

A Century Later, Wonders Happened Here…

Two years ago, after its previous owners had died, the Nikolai Tokarev House was already shabby and dilapidated. It was put up for sale and would most likely have been demolished in the future. But the staff of the Totma Museum Association noticed it in time and dreamed of restoring it. At that time the property cost 1 million rubles. The activists decided to take a chance and posted an appeal on social media for a sponsor to buy the house. Just a few days later, the museum director received a message from a man who agreed to buy the house on one condition: that the merchant's mansion be restored and something interesting opened in it. The patron himself wished to remain anonymous. Soon after the purchase, he handed the Tokarev House over to the museum. Isn't that a miracle?

Restoration!

The house celebrated its second birth on June 12, 2024. An exhibition of Nikolai Tokarev's household items opened here, and part of the interior was re-created in its original form. A space was also launched that links past centuries with our own time. In the house you can hold an atmospheric photo shoot, run a conference in the coworking space, or simply watch a movie with friends.