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)

Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos in Totma

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

Point 13

Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos

История • Храмы

History

The original Dormition Church was built in 1749–1755, but because its masonry was unsound it had to be almost completely dismantled as early as 1800, and 8 years later it was rebuilt, this time in the new Classical style. On the south and west walls of the building you can see how simple oval window surrounds laid in the early 19th century cover older cartouches. It is an example of the gradual fading of Totma Baroque…

Fun Facts About the Building

From 1937 to 1962 the church housed a food-industry workshop, and then a confectionery workshop. From the early 1960s to 1973 the northern annex adjoining the bell tower housed a shop selling kerosene, nails, and work tools. Until the early 1990s the eastern part housed the film-checking room of the Totma film distribution office.

Today

Today the Dormition Church is one of the few happy examples of a good, comprehensive restoration. Inside is a museum of church antiquities. But perhaps the most interesting thing is to climb to the bell tower's viewing platform and look out over the town, the Sukhona, and the endless forests on the far bank.