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 Agrarian University in Ulyanovsk

Point on route “Kolobok's Quest”

Point 3

Kolobok by the Agrarian University

🏟️ Architectural landmark

A Hero and a Writer

We are next to one of the oldest surviving buildings in Simbirsk-Ulyanovsk. It was built in 1807 to a design by the outstanding architect Andreyan Zakharov, who designed the Main Admiralty in St. Petersburg. The government offices building has witnessed many historic events in the life of the city and of our country, the first of them the Patriotic War of 1812. Lieutenant General Denis Davydov, a hero of that war, became famous not only for his feats but also for his own poems and memoirs, in which he described the Russian army's victories over Napoleon. After retiring, Denis Vasilyevich received the village of Verkhnyaya Maza in Simbirsk Governorate in 1819 as part of the dowry of his wife, Sofia Nikolaevna. Here he found material comfort and family happiness, and here he spent the last years of his life, rich in literary work. In Simbirsk Governorate, Davydov's talent revealed itself in all its variety and earned him the right to stand alongside the finest representatives of Russian literature.

Kolobok the Hussar

You can learn many interesting things via the QR code next to the figure. But we'd like to draw your attention to the envelope that Kolobok the Hussar is holding. It is a message for his beloved. They say that if a girl wants success in her relationships, she should rub this little envelope and make a wish, and happiness in love will surely await her. Nearby stand the sculptural composition “Meeting Under the Clock,” or “Lovers' Square,” and Kolobok Olenka with the same kind of envelope, a “wish for love for young men.” Together these three sculptures form a romantic triangle. Feel the magic these lovely bronze creations work on Novy Venets. This figure has interesting secret signs you might not have guessed. On Kolobok the Hussar's shako is a button, and not an ordinary one: it is an impression of a real button from a 19th-century military uniform. On the saddlecloth, or shabraque, as the hussars called it, you'll see a design resembling the coat of arms of the 12th Akhtyrka Hussar Regiment, which General Denis Davydov commanded. It shows a monogram with the initials of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.

Next Stop

Next, following the direction the rider is heading, we walk toward the next Kolobok, devoted to the work of Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov. [Additional Materials](https://ulyanovsk.travel/kol03.php)