Excursions

The unique monument of nature Kungur Ice Cave, full of the mysteries of static poetry of ice and stone, fascinates by the magic of underground lakes and gigantic grottos, carries the visitors away into the world of cold fantastic fairytale.

Scientists think, that the cave is 10-12 thousand years old. Kungur Ice Cave is known to science since 1703. The length of its all labyrinths is 5 km 700 m; the number of grottos is 48 (the largest one is the grotto of Geographers, which is 50 000 m?, the largest grotto of tourist route is Giant grotto, which is 45 000 m?; the number of lakes is 70 (the largest one is the Big underground lake, its area is 1460 m?); the average temperature of the cave is +5° С., in the first grotto, called Brilliant the summer temperature is : -2, -3 ° С, and the winter temperature is : -10, -15 ° С; humidity in the centre of the cave is - 100 %.

The length of the main “Central” route is 1300 m, and it takes 1 hour 20 minutes to cover it. During this period of time the tourists will see 20 grottos and pass through three seasons of the year : winter, spring, autumn and again winter in the last grotto called “Tower”. They are able to look at the snow crystals of the Brilliant grotto at the ice stalactites and stalagmites of the “Polar”, “Cross” and “Tower” grottos. They can also admire unfreezing lakes of the “Friendship of Peoples” and “Long” grottos. They can also appreciate the wonderful “work” of water, when the stones can seem to be a real tortoise, crocodile or other animal in the grotto “The Ruins of Pompeii”. You will be able to hear, how the cave was founded, who investigated it and interesting legends, connected with the cave.

45 km from Perm near village Khokhlovka on a high cape, surrounded with waters of the Kama water basin there is a wooden small town – Perm architectural-ethnographical museum-conservancy area under the open sky. Here visitors can see 19 monuments of wooden architecture of the Perm krai of the end of the XVII – beginning of the XX century. Many of them contain interiors and expositions, which are created by the stuff of the museum.

The creation of the museum of wooden sculpture was begun in 1969. The official opening of the architectural-ethnographical museum “Khokhlovka” was held on the 17th of September 1980 г.

Near Kama river in the most picturesque corner of the museum there is a unique architectural ensemble of industrial buildings, connected with the ancient business of our region – salt making. All the technological process of making salt is concentrated here: from deflation of salt water to loading. The complex, that was in the museum, was carried out from Ust-Borovinsk salt-making plant in Solikamsk on a barge.

In 1984 the plan of development of the architectural-ethnographical museum and the planning of Komi-Perm sector was discussed and accepted. It was worked out by the group of architectures-restaurateurs of “Specproectrestavracia” (“Special project restauration”) institution, run by E.U. Baranovskiy. According to the project, Komi-Perm sector is situated near the entrance, where now there is a village Gora. It consists of 5-6 bartons, including a barton of a rich peasant and a barton of the poor, winter house of a hunter and other objects.

Upper you can see the sector "North Prikamie" with unique wooden buildings, wonderful examples of the world architecture. The nuclear of the sector "The Southern Prikamie" is the bell-tower, brought from the village Syr, steeple-roofed pavilion, seen from far away, and Bogoroditsk church from the village Tokhtarevo (constructed 1694), that fascinates with its beauty and grace. In this part of the museum you can see handicrafts, you can see the reflection of the everyday not only of Russian people, but also of Tatars and other peoples.

St. Nichola’s orthodox-missionary man’s monastery is situated on the picturesque Ural mountains 120 km away from Perm. The White Mountain has always been a place for deliverance and praying. Since XVIII here there were cellas and hermitages, were escapees from plants and persecuted Old Believers found shelter. Why is the mountain in the dark forests called “White”? There are several explanation. First of all, snow melts here late.

Here the white limestone appear on the surface. And also, white is the colour of purity and sanity. Everyone, who has been here just once, knows this feeling, when the fuss and troubles blench. You feel peace inside. May be this is the main sense of reconstruction of the Belogorsk monastery. The sponsors, the government and the church do their best to help the monastery in order to revive the spirituality.

The only one in Russia museum of political repressions “Perm-36” includes the surviving and reconstructed buildings of lumber camp (correctional labor colony) for political prisoners, where in the years of Soviet power the dissidents, come-outers, fighters for human rights in Soviet Union and freedom of enslave peoples, enemies of the communist order, - politicians, writers and scientists were kept in awful conditions and perished.

In 1990s in the village Kuchino, not far from the city Chusovoi, on the base of abandoned correctional labor colony the memorial museum was constructed, the only one on the territory of Russia, made to eternalize the memory of those, who suffered and perished in the years of repressions. Camp “Perm 36” differs from other camps with the most strict order. To nowadays on its territory there are still unique buildings, that characterize the epoch of totalitarianism: barracks, poky, always locked wards, dungeon – the prison of the camp, the remains of the fence.

The yards for walking, padded with iron and covered with barbed wire and the towers were reconstructed. In the industrial part of the part of this camp, where prisoners worked, there still exist the buildings of the workshops, the smithy, the headrig, the steamshop, the house of management of the industrial zone, the building of the diesel power station, toilet, the curb of so-called a guard post – the checkpoint from residential zone to industrial zone, and also a building of the camp management. The most part of the buildings of both residential and industrial areas of the camp are dated to the epoch of the Stalin GULAG.

In this museum under the open sky there are exhibits, depicting old times in Russia. From different corners of Prikamie they’ve brought manorial small shops, theatre-museum of Russian wooden toys, children’s carrousels from fun-fairs, buckets, mill, well…. Inside the buildings you can see the pieces of Russian everyday life, clothes, instruments. Here you can touch everything, hold it in your hands. In ethnographical park you can also visit a museum of a legendary Sybir trailbreaker – the museum of Ermak.

In the south-western part of the Perm region there is a unique land, known for its beauty, historical events and talented people. On the bank of the Votkinsk water-storage reservoir there is its administrative centre, one of the oldest cities of Prikamie – Osa. It got its name from the insect “wasp”. The variety of the wasp spices, living in its forests caused the settlement to be called Osa.

Today the city is famous for historical events of the 18th century – the peasant rebellion under the leadership of Emelian Pugatchev. The canvas of museum-diorama “The Capture of the Fortress Osa by Pugatchev”. Also in the city there is a wonderful museum of nature, where there is the biggest in Russia diorama of nature, called “The Nature of Osa Prikamie”.

Town Solikamsk is one of the oldest cities of Urals. Here there is a unique museum of salt. In the architecture of the city we can see the features of the Moscow architecture of the middle of the 17th century, and local traditions, dating up to pagan’s times.

All the sightseeing of Chusovoy are grouper around Chusovaya river. The places, were the river flows, are connected with historical events, famouse people of Russian history (Ermak, the Stroganovs, the Demidovs, Emelian Pugatchev). On its way the river crosses some mountain ranges, that’s way on its banks we can see a lot of picturesque rocks, called stones. Part of them have a great historical meaning.

Such towns as Cherdyn and Usolie are rich in sightseeing. In Cherdyn you can find a collection of copper-bronze plastic arts (called Perm beast style) and the architecture of the XVII-XVIII century. And in Usolie you can find the unique monuments of architecture.