We visited the city of Medyn in the Kaluga region: sights, emotions, photos

Hello!

The best remedy for familiar landscapes and “staying in one place” is a change of scenery, so next weekend we went with the whole family to the city of Medyn. From the Internet search results, we outlined a list of attractions and one hot summer day, without much preparation, we set off.

And since I’m studying to be a blogger, I decided to capture Medyn in photos and videos, to make a kind of trip report to convey to you my impressions in all the details and colors. And if you have not yet been to this glorious city with a long history, then after reading my story and watching the video, you can be transported there and visit it in absentia.

I’ll tell you where it is, how to get there, the history of the city, what are the main attractions of Medyn, what interesting things you can see, where you can eat, stay overnight, I’ll share our impressions of this city, what we remember and liked the most. So, let's go!

Medyn on the map

Medyn on the map

Medyn is a city in the Kaluga region founded in 1386. The population of Medyn as of 2021 is 8,370 people.

Previously, we were familiar with this locality only from the experience of ordering lumber from there, and the stores in our Dzerzhinsky district are supplied with dairy products from Medyn, which are famous for their excellent quality. We previously bought Medynskie curds and yoghurts, and we want to note that we liked them.

So, one hot summer day we got into the car and set off along the Milenki-Medyn route. The roads to the central highways, as always, are not of the best quality and we had to hit some potholes. At the entrance to Medyn, sometimes there were also uneven sections, but in general, the quality of the road surface was tolerable. It took about two hours to get to our destination.

If you are leaving Moscow by car, set your navigator to “Medyn Kaluga Region”. Your route will take from 2 to 3 hours (depending on traffic jams leaving the capital). The federal highway A130 (Moscow-Roslavl) passes through the city. If you go by public transport, then know that 15 km from Medyn there is a railway station on the Myatlevskaya line “Vyazma-Tula”, and about 62 km away is the railway station of the city of Kaluga. The bus schedule from Moscow to Medyn can be found here.

department for Medynsky district

______________________________Change date: 07/07/2021 08:26

Medyn city history

Historical photo of Medyn

It's always interesting to know the history of the place you visit. For Medyn, it all started back in 1386, at that time the city was traded by the wealthy Moscow boyar Fyodor Andreevich Koshka (a distant ancestor of the Romanovs) from the Smolensk boyars. And thanks to the efforts of Dmitry Donskoy, it went to the Principality of Moscow. The city often passed “from hand to hand”, it was the inheritance of the son of Dmitry Donskoy - Andrei, and Ivan Mozhaisky, then the son of Vasily the Dark - Yuri, and then was given to the princes of Glinsky.

Medyn often had to be at the center of military operations: in wars with the Cumans, Lithuanians and Poles. In the war against Napoleon, a French detachment was defeated near Medyn, and an obelisk was erected in memory of this event. Under Ivan the Terrible, Medyn was assigned to the oprichnina (under the personal administration of the tsar), and in 1480 the Annunciation Hermitage appeared here in memory of the overthrow of the Tatar-Mongol yoke; it was founded by Ivan III.

The settlement of Medyn officially became a district town of the Kaluga governorship in 1777.

With the advent of the Soviet system, the famous Zimin match factory in the city became part of the Chemical Department of the Supreme Economic Council of the RSFSR. Many Medyn merchants fall under dispossession, and their property is stolen by the Red Army. All this happens without the knowledge of the command! An investigation into this fact is subsequently carried out, the so-called “Medyn case”, which falls into the hands of Stalin, and generally becomes a common noun denoting the prohibition of arbitrary punitive operations.

During the Great Patriotic War, the city was occupied by the Nazis (from October 11, 1941 to January 14, 1942), and Medyn was severely destroyed. Here the forward detachment of the 6th company of the Podolsk Infantry School under the command of Art. Lieutenant L.A. Mamchich. In the post-war period, the liberated city of Medyn became the regional center of the Kaluga region.

Literature

• Vusovich A. M.
  [neb.rf/catalog/000199_000009_003326089/viewer/ Kaluga province. Homeland studies course] = Kaluga province. Motherland course. - Kaluga: Printing house of A. M. Mikhailov, 1886. - P. 87-88. — 95, 4 p., 1 l. maps with.
• [www.runivers.ru/maps/eiler/30/ Map of the Kaluga governorship] // [www.runivers.ru/lib/book3295/16672/ Russian atlas, consisting of forty-four maps and dividing the Empire into forty-two governorships] = Russian an atlas consisting of forty-four maps and dividing the Empire into forty-two governorships. - Atlas. - St. Petersburg: Sochin: engraving. and print. at the Mining School, 1792. - P. 29. - 47 p.
• Malinin D.I.
  Kaluga. Experience of a historical guide to Kaluga and the main centers of the province / Intro. Art. and comment: Larin A.K. and others... - Kaluga: Golden Alley, 1992. - 272 p. — 15,000 copies.

• Soimonov P. A.
  [docs.google.com/file/d/0B0K47JLp4QpaREpaVmctR2NCekk/edit?pref=2&pli=1 Topographical description of the Kaluga governorship] = Topographical description of the Kaluga governorship / The book is accompanied by an atlas of the Kaluga governorship, containing a general map of the province and district maps . - St. Petersburg: Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1785.
• Zelnitsky G.K.
  [neb.rf/catalog/000199_000009_002988309/ Description of the events of 1812 that occurred within the Kaluga province, or Image of memorable deeds, heroic deeds and domestic donations of the Kaluga nobility and all classes of this province, gleaned from reliable news from the court nal adviser, Doctor of Philosophy and Kaluga Gymnasium teacher of natural history, technology, etc. Grigory Zelnitsky] / Censor.: N.E. Cherepanov, May 14, 1815 - M.: In the printing house of S. Selivanovsky, 1815. - 4, II, 179, 7 p.
• Alexander Ilyushechkin, Maxim Mosyagin.
  Warsaw highway - at any cost. The tragedy of Zaitsevaya Mountain. 1942-1943 / Illustrator: I. Ozerov. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2014. - 280 p. — (On the front line. The truth about the war). — 2500 copies. — ISBN 978-5-227-05473-9.
• Smirnova O. N.
  [books.google.ru/books?id=OuDeBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT46&dq=in+Kirzhach&hl=ru&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=2#v=onepage&q=%D0%9C%D0%B5%D0%B4%D1%8B %D0%BD%D1%8C&f=false Medyn] // Encyclopedia of the holy places of the center of Russia. - Montreal: Accent Graphics communications, 2015. - 1220 p. — ISBN 9781507026144.
• Yakusheva T.I.
  Medyn: Historical-local history. feature article. - 2nd ed., additional. - Tula: Priokskoye Book Publishing House, 1986. - 157 p.
• THE USSR. Administrative-territorial division of the union republics on January 1, 1980 / Compiled by V. A. Dudarev, N. A. Evseeva. - M.: Publishing house "Izvestia of the Soviets of People's Deputies of the USSR", 1980. - 702 p. — P. 135.

Coat of arms of Medyn

Coat of arms of Medyn

We make our first stop at the entrance to the city, there is a stele “Medynsky district”, at the peak of which stands the city’s coat of arms with six large bees, a crown in the middle and sixteen more small bees. I would say conventional bees, they look more like the design of a royal robe around a crown. The fact is that previously, this district flourished in bee farming, that is, honey production.

A little lower on the stele: the motivating phrase “Glory to Labor!” and even the image of a hammer, a shovel and some kind of mechanism, everything suggests that the area is very hardworking. Well, shall we check it out?

Links

• (unavailable link). Honey portal Medyn (2014). Date accessed: March 31, 2021.
• . MR "Medynsky district" (2016). Access date: March 31, 2016.
• Kudryavtsev N.V.
  Medyn // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
• Medyn // Small Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 4 volumes - St. Petersburg, 1907-1909.
• Medyn // Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language by Vladimir Dahl.
• AutoTransInfo.
  . ATI.SU (2016). Date accessed: March 30, 2021.
• VIA.
  . www.otvoyna.ru. Date accessed: March 3, 2021.
• Guide “Monuments of Medyn and the region” on Wikivoyage

Dairy plant Medyn

Medyn dairy plant

The second stop at the entrance to the city is the previously mentioned, let’s not be afraid of this word, the famous Medynsky dairy plant - MosMedynagroprom with its main brand “Big Change”. And it is famous for its high-quality and tasty products: from milk, cheeses, fermented baked milk to various curd masses and drinking yoghurts. Medyn cheese “Kachotta” and chocolate curd mass are considered exclusive products.

We don’t know how they do it, but the products of this company are noticeably different from other products from the supermarket, the texture is very delicate, it just melts in your mouth, the flavor palette is rich and varied. In the company store on the territory of the plant you can buy a variety of “milk” at a wholesale price, for example, you can take the following set:

Dairy products "Big Change"

It should be noted that when shopping in the mentioned store, you need to have a good idea of ​​the products, since there are no display cases with price tags as such, and the line moves very quickly, people come and take boxes of goods, dashingly shouting out their order.

In the MosMedynAgroprom store

Therefore, you can be guided by our choice or, while standing in line, repeat after others☺. You can also find out the range of products here: Big change dairy products Medyn official website, by the way, there is an opportunity to order dairy products from production to home in Moscow.

Next to the store we noticed an interesting “Milk on tap” machine; you can bring your own container and fill it with fresh milk.

Milk vending machine

Industrial enterprises

• Agroholding OJSC "MosMedynagroprom"
• Dairy (trademark of “Big Change” products)
• LLC "Russian Ice Cream"
• OJSC "Medyn Furniture Factory"
• wood harvesting and processing enterprises.

Medyn attractions

Sights of Medyn

The city is old, centuries-old and, of course, first of all we wanted to explore and see the sights of Medyn! We decided to see everything in the city related to military glory, because many battles of different times took place here, to visit the parks, especially since it is a great idea on a hot afternoon, to photograph the monuments.

We had to give up visiting museums or other institutions, since our one-year-old daughter was traveling with us, and with a child in our arms we would hardly be able to calmly enjoy such excursions. Almost all the attractions in the city are within walking distance of each other and this is certainly very convenient!

Former printing house building

The building of a former printing house in Medyn

The building of the former printing house is made of red brick and clearly stands out among the general ensemble of the city. Decorated with thin columns at the corners, with large windows framed by patterned cornices, with stucco disks: all this takes us back to the distant times of 1893.

The building looks solid and, despite the fact that the building is more than 100 years old, there are no cracks on the facade. The customer of this project is the Medyn merchant B. Zhuravlev. The building was recently renovated and now houses a dairy store and cafe. Address: st. Kirova, 34.

We cross the road at a pedestrian crossing and find ourselves on Lunacharsky Street, 45. Here, on the right side of the stop in front of the district administration building, there are two interesting objects: a monument to the commissar and a monument to a bee.

Monument to the Commissar and the Unknown Revolutionary

Monument to Commissar Burovikov and the unknown revolutionary

The first we saw was a monument at the burial site of Commissar Mikhail Ivanovich Burovikov and an unknown revolutionary. On the memorial plaque there is a photograph, as it seemed to us, of the commissar himself, but many believe that the photo depicts an unknown revolutionary. Both of them died heroes in November 1918, as evidenced by the plaque.

At this time, in Medyn there was a spontaneous uprising of peasants who did not agree to join the Red Army, whose fighters took away their food and ravaged their villages. The uprising began with the murder of military commissar Burovikov, and the volost council was dispersed. 7-8 thousand people took part in the uprising, and as a result, after 4 days they went home, intimidated by the order “On sweeping White Guard villages off the face of the earth by artillery fire.”

Bee Monument

Bee Monument

The second object is located to the left of the monument to the commissar; it is the famous Medynskaya bee, buried in flowers and therefore not immediately noticeable, or rather, a monument to a bee. This monument was created in 2008, it consists of two large stones, on the first there is a bee perched on a honeycomb, and on the second there is a sign with the following words:

Dedicated to the bee, a symbol of hard work, the desire for order, frugality, mutual assistance, courage, immortality and rebirth.

We were especially pleased with this phrase, because we also really love the bees from our apiary and never cease to be amazed by these unique creatures.

Honor board and worker's monument

Worker's Monument

We cross the road towards the park and here our gaze is attracted by the honor board, on which, in addition to the usual wise faces of life, representatives of young people who have distinguished themselves in their studies and amateur activities are also depicted.

Next to the board we see an interesting monument to a working man. The worker carves himself out of a piece of raw granite, and on the pedestal there is an inscription:

Peace on earth is the basis of everything, life on earth is crowned by work.

After what I saw, I got the impression that for local residents, hard work comes first. And they try to convey this quality through different examples and images.

Central Park of Military and Labor Glory

Medyn Central Park

We enter the central park of Military and Labor Glory: it looks very neat and well-groomed, and multi-colored marigolds are densely planted on both sides of the paths. Perhaps such beauty is rarely seen in regional cities.

Monument to Medyn

In the center of the park there is a Walk of Fame, consisting of busts of Medyn heroes who distinguished themselves during the Second World War. In the middle of the alley there is another sculpture - now dedicated to the city of Medyn itself. On a large ball, St. George the Victorious, familiar to every Russian, pierces a serpent, and the ball itself is decorated with a coat of arms with sixteen bees.

Tank T-34

Monument Tank T-34

A little to the right, on a high granite pedestal, stands the T-34-76 tank. The names of the heroes of Medyn who fought in the Great Patriotic War are also inscribed on the pedestal. It is noteworthy that the tank itself belongs to an early series produced in 1941 and was made at the Stalingrad Tractor Plant.

There are not many such surviving copies now. It is clear that the vehicle took part in hostilities: one of the middle rollers (the support element of the caterpillar) is damaged. The tank sank in the Shan River during the war and was raised from the bottom in the 50s.

We, as true connoisseurs of nature, also really liked the small linden park right behind the tank: tall honey plants created a life-giving coolness, much needed on a hot July afternoon.

I'm standing in the shade of a linden tree

We wandered among the trees, discovered a mysterious area where linden trees were planted in a wide circle, rested and moved towards the next cultural value.

Cathedral of Constantine and Helena

Cathedral of Constantine and Helena

From the park you need to cross the road towards Kirova Street, 35. And immediately behind the tall white building with the sign “Magnit” and “Cafe” you will see a dilapidated red brick building, you should go there.

At first, the abandoned cathedral does not make much of an impression, but if you walk around it from the other side, a completely different view opens up. Here you can see the large main part of the building, the wide main entrance to the cathedral, and it becomes clear that it stands on a picturesque place - elevated above the valley of the Medynka River. The building is made in the style of early classicism: many columns and impressive windows. The forms of the temple are both elegant and simple.

Temple of Constantine and Helena

Previously, here was the famous Annunciation Hermitage, a men's monastery founded by order of Ivan III in 1480 in honor of the Great Stand on the Ugra River. After the monastery was destroyed by the Lithuanians during the Time of Troubles, a wooden Annunciation Cathedral was built here.

And then, destroyed by fire and time, in 1777 it comes back to life again in the form of the Cathedral of Constantine and Helena, where the significant icon of the Vladimir Mother of God, the altar Gospel and the cross, donated by Catherine II for the consecration of the temple, are kept. Now it is clear that the building is being restored very slowly. Almost all the windows are covered with wrought iron bars, there is one new roof and a cross.

Next, the brave travelers decided to relax in a small park not far from the intersection of Kirov Street and Lenin Avenue.

Square

WWII monument

It is shady, densely planted with larch and blue spruce and contains the following monuments:

• Afghan soldiers;
• fellow countrymen who died in the Second World War;
• prisoners of fascist concentration camps.

In the middle of the square there is a cozy round square with a nice fountain and benches.

City Clock Square

Construction of the City Clock Square

Now this area is already finished and is in excellent shape. At the time of our tour of the city of Medyn, it was not yet completed, which is clearly visible in the photo, but there was already a tower with the clock itself and a weather vane, giving the surroundings a slightly fabulous look.

Currently, a large modern stage stands opposite the new attraction, and the square itself is paved with yellow tiles. In its very center there is a wind rose with the cardinal directions. The chimes here strike every half hour.

Memorial in honor of the defeat of Napoleon's detachment

Memorial “In memory of October 13, 1812, Napoleon’s detachment under the command of Gr. Tyshkevich"

Tired and sun-weary, we got into the car and went in search of another cultural treasure. It is already located outside the city, namely 1 km from Medyn towards Vereya. Here stands a red-brick memorial “In memory of October 13, 1812, Napoleon’s detachment under the command of Gr. Tyshkevich."

It is located near the highway, we leave the car on the side of the road and walk along the tiled path to the obelisk. As if a tall pine tree covered him with a wing from the scorching sun. Young pines grow densely around. As a result of the battle in this very place, the French, defeated by Russian troops, suffered heavy losses and retreated.

Then we began to wander by car somewhere near the central streets of the city in search of a life-giving stream. In general, we wanted to swim. Although the surrounding area looked more like a well-groomed village than a city, as it turned out later, we wandered along Volodarsky Street, 24.

Not having a map at hand, we were somewhat surprised that instead of the reservoir we expected by our intuition, we came across a church. And this turned out to be one of the most important churches in Medyn - the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.

Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

The building was built in 1836 in the style of late classicism at the expense of S.S. Usova and parishioners. The brick church with a 25-meter bell tower (restored only in 2000) is now painted in an eye-pleasing shade of blue. The temple also contains chapels consecrated in honor of Michael the Archangel and Faith, Nadezhda and Lyubov and their mother Sophia.

A chapel is an extension to the main building to accommodate an additional altar with a throne for worship.

In the 1930s, the church was closed and partially destroyed. Ten years later it was reopened, but its original appearance was never restored.

We didn't manage to go shopping that day. We moved towards the Medynka River and its lake-like overflow, but we never found a ramp or a hole into the river, everything was thickly overgrown with grass, and the water did not seem attractive.

Among other attractions of Medyn, we also advise you to visit: the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Church of St. George the Victorious, the Medyn Local History Museum, the Vyatichi settlement. Extreme lovers may like the local Nikitskaya anomalous zone.

But we ourselves have not been to these places, so we will not describe them here, we will leave this pleasure to you. By the way, you can share your knowledge in the comments. This will be very interesting to us and will complement the note for others interested!

ATM in Medyn

Sberbank building in Medyn

We wanted to buy some water to cool ourselves down a bit and discovered that we didn't have any cash with us. By chance, along the route, passing our parking place, we came across an ATM on Lunacharsky Street, 53. So keep that in mind :). There is a Sberbank sign on the building - you can’t pass by. And the huge metal coat of arms of the USSR on the facade of the building does not leave the eye indifferent.

Medyn[edit]

Kirova streetedit

Lenin Avenuedirect

Lunacharsky streetedit

Miscellaneousedit

Medyn city of flowers

Flowers on the streets of Medyn

Along the same street, we couldn’t help but take a few pictures of the flower beds along the road. It is rare to find such rich and well-groomed flower beds in such a large quantity and variety; even large cities decorate some significant places with flower beds. And here in Medyn, pots of flowers hang along the highway, pedestrian paths are buried in petunia blossoms, ordinary kindergartens, schools and private houses are decorated with all kinds of flower beds.

This creates a special mood, as if we were on a holiday. By the way, City Day is celebrated here on August 11th. Perhaps this explains why the city was in such excellent condition when we arrived.

The population of the city of Medyn is 8370 people as of 2021. We did not encounter large crowds of people; on the contrary, we felt a certain emptiness on the streets. The parks also seemed deserted to us. But we noticed that throughout the city there were motivational signs with the following inscriptions, invented by local schoolchildren:

Motivational signs

Development

In the 19th century Medyn grew and improved. In 1820-21, a one-story hospital building for military invalids was built in the city.

As a result of the active economic development in the city, the demand for land has increased. In the 19th century, townspeople often engaged in carting. A significant part of the population left their homes and went to work in large cities. But crafts also developed within the district. M. Lavrov's pharmacy was located here. The first hospital with 30 beds began accepting patients in 1871. In 1875, a telegraph station was built in the city. At the end of 1907, the first public library opened here.

Where to eat in Medyn

We naturally got hungry, and since we ourselves prefer to eat raw plant foods in the summer, we went to check out the local market. And it is also located in the center on Lenin Avenue, inside between buildings number 6 and 4. There we bought melon, blueberries, grapes and, satisfied, went home.

But so that lovers of restaurants and cafes are not left with nothing, here’s where you can eat: cafe-bar “Bravo” on the street. Kirova, 33 - just across the road from the Park of Military and Labor Glory. We can’t advise anything further, because we haven’t looked for it ourselves, and the information on the Internet is very outdated. Only the above place actually works and we have seen it. There is a wide selection of menus (checked on their VKontakte page):

• grilled dishes;
• variety of pizzas;
• paste;
• burgers;
• hot dishes;
• soups;
• salads.

In general, everything is just like in a full-fledged restaurant. On holidays it is better to reserve a table in advance by phone.

Main conclusions

We were very pleased with our visit to this very “bee-loving” town of Medyn, Kaluga region. It is, of course, provincial, but this is its great charm. There was a place for feat, both military and labor. This city has a history that is rightfully worthy of respect! It's nice to see that Medyn is transforming, developing, drowning in flowers and slogans of goodness. We are happy for the city and its inhabitants, and we recommend visiting Medyn!

Many people strive to go abroad, which is of course not bad, travel develops their horizons, their understanding of the world... But if you turn your head around, you can easily take an exciting trip by car or by public transport to many places where you can not only have a good time, but and see with your own eyes the history of our beloved homeland.

What do you think? Did you like Medyn? If you are interested in our other similar trips and this story in general, then we will be glad to hear from you, and we will never refuse advice :).

PS Please write what was missing for you or what comments you have about the story, we will be happy to change for the better.

Etymology

There are two versions regarding the name of the city:

1. The city is named after the river ( modern.

Medynka).
According to linguist V.N. Toporov, the name of the river is Baltic in origin (cf. Lit. medė
“forest”,
medis
“tree”,
medynas
“tree stand”) and belongs to the heritage of the Baltic tribe Golyad, which was last mentioned in the chronicles in 1147 .

2. V.N. Toporov also mentions the word “honey” as a folk etymological explanation. The city's coat of arms depicts 16 bees.

The coat of arms of the city was “given” only in 1777, while Medyn

has been mentioned since the end of the 14th century, and has existed since ancient times.

For several centuries the city was famous for its honey production. Beekeeping in Medyn is still well developed. Among the famous beekeepers of Medyn, the former mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov stands out, who built an apiary in the suburbs of Medyn in the early 2000s.