Far from any railway line, on the very border of the Nizhny Novgorod Region with Mordovia, lies one of the region's most remote districts — Voznesenskiy District. The district center, the workers' settlement of Voznesenskoye, is situated 250 km from the regional capital. In ancient times these lands were inhabited by large Mordvinian tribes — the Erzya and the Moksha. In the 13th century they were ruled by the powerful prince Purgaz, who waged war against the Vladimir-Suzdal Rus and in 1229 attempted to destroy Nizhny Novgorod.
The main occupations of the local population were beekeeping, hunting, and farming. After the Mordvinian lands were incorporated into the Russian state, the chief town of the uyezd was Temnikov, which concentrated administrative authority as well as the centers of craft, culture, and trade.
In the 17th century the uyezd was shaken by social unrest. At the beginning of the century the peasants of this region supported the popular uprising led by Ivan Bolotnikov, and in 1670 they joined the peasant war led by Stepan Razin.
After suffering defeat near Arzamas, the rebels, under the leadership of Alyona Arzamasskaya, retreated southward to Temnikov, which was captured and made the main stronghold of the uprising.
Regular troops were sent to storm the town. The peasant-farmer detachments were routed and Temnikov was retaken. The reprisals against the rebels were merciless: near Arzamas alone, some 11,000 "Razinites" were executed. Alyona was burned alive in a tar-filled barrel in Temnikov's town square, accused not only of banditry and looting, but also of witchcraft. And among the people a beautiful legend was born — that a scarlet rose grew and bloomed on the spot where the peasant ataman had perished…
The defiant rebels of Polkh-Maydan, in memory of the brave Alyona, transferred that rose onto their wonderful toys — "tararushki." These toys, with their remarkably vivid painted decoration, brought fame to the village of Polkhovsky Maydan, or, as it is commonly known, Polkh-Maydan. There, as in other neighboring villages and hamlets, people had worked with wood from time immemorial: making barrels, sledges, and bast scrubbers. And when the first matryoshka dolls appeared in Russia at the end of the 19th century, the nimble craftsmen of Polkh-Maydan quickly mastered the production of these nesting ladies. Today the Polkh-Maydan tararushka — whether a matryoshka, a mushroom-shaped money box, or wooden tableware — enjoys enormous popularity. It delights not only children but also discerning people the world over. This remarkable craft is one of the youngest in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. It took root and flourished in Polkh-Maydan in the early 1920s, when local craftsman Pavel Nikitich Polin brought a wood-burning device from Sergiev Posad and began using it to decorate turned wooden tableware with "graphic patterns," which were later painted in vivid colors.
The craftsmen also "invented" their own matryoshka shape. Today's local matryoshkas have grown plumper and more charming.
Today in Polkh-Maydan every boy of ten knows how to work a lathe, and every girl knows how to paint.
The center of Voznesenskiy District is the workers' settlement of Voznesenskoye.
In former times, on this very spot stood the village of Oshpire, whose inhabitants took an active part in Ivan Bolotnikov's peasant war.
In 1614 a punitive detachment of Vasily Shuisky brutally dealt with the peasants. The village was left desolate, and only many years later did people return. They built a church in the name of the Ascension of the Lord and named the village Voznesenskoye.
Today Voznesenskoye is home to a center for folk crafts, whose museum carefully preserves the works produced by the masters of Polkh-Maydan painting in recent years.
Here one can see an elegant fifty-piece matryoshka, a finely crafted spinning wheel, ladies in traditional dress, and a Russian bogatyr (epic warrior). Many uniquely gifted craftsmen live in the area surrounding Voznesenskiy District.
If you ask any local resident in the village of Kurikha how to find "Kulibin," everyone will point you the way — Aleksandr Vasilyevich Shanin is known to all here. People come to Shanin from all corners of Russia to see the master's work. He creates remarkable things from wood: a crucifix richly decorated with carving, no bigger than a matchbox; a throne resembling a tsar's seat; various chairs, masks, animal figures, magnificent table lamps, and much more. And in the meadow in front of the master's house, a helicopter stands waiting for its maiden flight — one that Aleksandr Vasilyevich is building himself.
Few people know that five kilometers from Kurikha, deep in the forest, there was once a convent dedicated to the icon of the Mother of God "Znamiye" (of the Sign). It was founded in 1825, with the blessing of the Venerable Serafim Sarovskiy, by a peasant girl named Anastasia Logacheva. Today the convent is gone. But a footpath, winding among birches and larches, leads visitors to a small chapel and four holy springs where one can pray, drink clean water, and bathe in a baptismal pool. The remains of a cave have also survived — the cave where Anastasia, the convent's foundress, once lived alone.
A little to the side of the chapel you will see a large stone that has sunk into the mossy earth. According to tradition, Anastasia prayed on this stone for forty days, repeating — to the best of her ability — the spiritual feat of the Venerable Serafim Sarovskiy.
On the way back from Kurikha, you can descend into the Luktossky ravine, where three healing springs gush like fountains. Local residents believe the water has curative properties.