Kolobok's Quest

8 points1 km1 hour

Hi! I'm Kolobok, a little round bun made of wheat flour. According to Vladimir Dahl's dictionary, I come from Simbirsk, because this is where they baked a round bread called kolebyatka. I know the most interesting places in town, and I'm opening a tourist quest in which I'll tell you about the famous people and sights of Simbirsk-Ulyanovsk. “Kolobok's Tourist Quest in Simbirsk-Ulyanovsk” was created by the Ulyanovsk city administration team under the municipal program “Tourism Development in the Municipality of the City of Ulyanovsk.”

Route author

Ulyanovsk – UNESCO City of Literature

Things to do

📜 Learn the city's history
🏞️ Enjoy the view
🏰🕵️‍♂️ Discover a legend

Route points (8)

Kolobok by the Bogdan Khitrovo Monument in Ulyanovsk

Point on route “Kolobok's Quest”

Point 7

Kolobok by the Bogdan Khitrovo Monument

🗿 Monument • 🔭 Viewpoint

Dmitry Nikolayevich Sadovnikov

Dmitry Nikolayevich Sadovnikov, a native of Simbirsk, was born in 1847. A writer and folklorist, he has his place in the history of Russian culture as the compiler of folklore collections, many of them recorded in Simbirsk: tales of buried treasure, of sorcerers, of Stenka Razin. Sadovnikov wrote the lyrics of the song “From Behind the Island to the Midstream,” which became a folk song. That's why this Kolobok is a Volga Cossack, holding spoon-oars, with a matryoshka beside him in the boat. In 1908 the song inspired the first Russian feature film, “Stenka Razin” (Ponizovaya Volnitsa). The QR code takes you to a website where you can see the film itself and listen to the song in Fyodor Chaliapin's famous performance, watch the cartoon “The Flying Ship,” and sing along with its characters.

Bogdan Khitrovo Monument

It was no accident that the figure was placed by the monument to Bogdan Khitrovo, the founder of Simbirsk. The stolnik (court official) Bogdan Matveyevich Khitrovo was a close associate of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and one of the most outstanding and enlightened figures of the era of the first Romanovs. Simbirsk was founded in 1648 as a fortress on the Volga to protect against nomad raids along the abatis defense line, which made it possible to settle our region in the mid-17th century. The city has many historic places and museums, and you can learn about them via the QR code and even plot routes to them.

Take a Close Look at Kolobok

Now for the secret signs. On the boat you'll find the letter S with an arrow. This special sign, located on the back of the figure, symbolizes Old Rus. The letter S begins both the name of the city, Simbirsk, and the surname Sadovnikov. The many letters symbolize the writer's craft, and the boat itself points the way to the Kolobok who tells about Ulyanovsk as a UNESCO City of Literature. But don't hurry off. First rub the boat with our heroes, and luck will surely smile on you, with an interesting journey ahead. [Additional Materials](https://ulyanovsk.travel/kol07.php)