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)

Museum of Seafarers in Totma

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

Point 6

Museum of Seafarers

История • 🏛️ Museum

History

The Museum of Seafarers opened in 1996, the year of the 300th anniversary of the Russian navy. It occupies the ground floor of the Church of the Entry into Jerusalem (the Church of the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem).

What's Interesting Here?

The Museum of Seafarers is devoted to Totma's “golden age,” the 18th and 19th centuries, when local merchant seafarers played a key role in the development of Russian America. Here you'll surely uncover the secret of why Totma is called a town of merchants and seafarers and how California is connected with it.

The Bell Tower

Open during museum hours from May 1 to November 1.