The first days of May are the time when everything blooms outside the window, the weather is sunny, and the city is full of bright colors and the smiles of passers-by. On days like these, you want to receive new impressions and positive emotions. Following this message, activists from the Council of Young Professionals of Moscow Metrostroy organizations, represented by Natalia Ermakova, Galina Matsyut and Vladislav Semenikhin, took part in the “Autoexcursion 2018” with great pleasure, which lasted from April 29 to May 1, 2018. The trip was also joined by specialists from such companies as JSC MFS-6, JSC Peak-Industry, JSC Transinzhstroy, JSC Mospromproekt, JSC Moselectronproekt and the State Autonomous Institution of the Moscow General Plan Institute. The organizer of the trip was the Council of Young Specialists of the Complex of Urban Development Policy and Construction of the City of Moscow.
This year the route of the auto excursion passed through Smolensk and its surroundings. This direction was not chosen by chance, because only a week remained before the celebration of the anniversary of the Great Victory. During the Great Patriotic War, Smolensk found itself on the path of the main attack of the Nazi troops on the way to Moscow, and during the entire occupation and battles the city suffered enormous damage. The Battle of Smolensk in 1941, which delayed the advance of Nazi troops on the capital for two months, became one of the reasons for the collapse of Hitler’s plan for a lightning war.
On the first day of the auto tour, we spent most of the time on the road. A major stop was the State Historical, Cultural and Natural Museum-Reserve A.S. Griboyedov - “Khmelita”. It was within the walls of this estate that the writer’s brilliant work “Woe from Wit” was born. The next stop was dedicated to an unusual place - an abandoned church in the village of Perstenki. This church was built in 1810 in the classicist style, at the expense of the Koltovsky landowners.
We started the second day of the trip from the historical center of Smolensk. Walking along the fortress wall, we felt the scale of this fortification, and in the distance on the cathedral hill the majestic Assumption Cathedral appeared before us. Thanks to the reports of the trip participants, we learned many important and interesting historical facts about the defense of the city during the Time of Troubles. The next point of visit was the museum “Smolensk Region during the Great Patriotic War”, which collected and presented original photographs and documents from the terrible period of occupation. An unscheduled but very significant place to visit was the remains of the Fortified Area, defended by the 200th separate naval artillery division of the Baltic Fleet. Afterwards we visited the historical and artistic reserve - the Talashkino estate.
But the journey did not end there either; at the end of the second day we left perhaps the most emotionally difficult place - the Katyn Memorial Complex. This is a memorial dedicated to the victims of political repression, which was erected in 2000 on the territory of a military cemetery in the Katyn Forest. The second day turned out to be truly eventful, and despite the fatigue, it brought us a lot of new knowledge and mixed emotions.
On the third day of the trip we visited the memorial museum-estate of M.I. Glinka. The house houses an exhibition telling about the life and creative work of the great composer.
What do we end up with? A convoy of 8 crews and 32 people who traveled together over 1000 kilometers in 3 days. In such a short time, we were able to at least touch a little on the history of our Motherland and walk through the places where great events took place many years ago.
I would like to thank all the participants for the friendly atmosphere, the crew drivers for safe and professional driving, and the Council of Young Professionals of the KSPS for the invitation to take part in this event. I would like to express special gratitude to the activist of the SMS KSPS, Alexander Bychkov, for a well-designed and interestingly compiled trip program.
I would like such events to become a tradition and be held as often as possible, gathering new participants so that everyone can open new pages of history together.
Galitsa Matsyuta,
Deputy Chairman of the Council of Young Professionals of Moscow Metrostroy Organizations