Текст Sights of Tambov
материал по английскому языку (7 класс)

TAMBOV

Now I`d like to pay your attention to some architectural ensembles which are very much worth seeing in our town. They date back to the 18th-20th centuries. Most of them are in the old residential area.

You`d better start sightseeing with the Cathedral Square, the birthplace of Tambov. Preobrazhensky Cathedrale was founded in 1694 by bishop Pitirim on the very place where the first wooden church of the fortress used to be situated. The Cathedrale was added to in 1839-1840.

The Eternal Flame burns in the centre of Cathedral Square. This architectural ensemble was created in 1970 by architect Kulikov and sculptors Lebedev and Malofeyev to commemorate the glorious victory in 1945 and the names of those who gave their lives for the sake of people. There are memorial blocks under which the soil from Hero Cities lies.

Going along Sovetskaya Street you can`t miss our Town Department Store. It used to be Gostiny Dvor (Shopping Centre) built in 1836-1837 on request of Tambov merchants. The main façade of the building has survived almost unchanged.

Going further you`ll reach Moskovskaya Street. Here you`ll see the monument Tank. The monument was placed here in 1949. During the first years of the Great Patriotic War Tambov farmers gave their savings (40 mln. roubles) to create tank column. The whole country supported their patriotic initiative. One of those tanks, the legendary «34», is now placed on the massive pedestal. The author of the project of this monument is architect Samorodov.  

On your left you can see a building of the old reading room, then it was a library and now it is the art gallery. There is a beautiful collection of sculptures and paintings of the first-class European and Russian painters of the 16-20 centuries.Most of the paintings were collected in the estates of noble families of Tambov province.

Next to it there is the first building of Tambov State University named after Derzhavin. Before the Revolution it was Alexandrinski Institute for the poor noblemen’s daughters. It was built to the design of Russian architect Brullov. Later it was rebuilt and added to, but the planning, the entrance hall with columns and the central staircase have survived unchanged. Opposite it there is a building of the first gymnasium in our town.

There are 2 main streets in the central part of the town: Sovetskaya and Internatsionalnaya Streets. In Internatsionalnaya Street you can see a large shopping centre: Jewellery, Gifts and Souvenirs, Photographic Goods, Radio and TV sets, Books, Clothes. There`s a Wedding Palace in this street.

Going along Internatsionalnaya Street you`ll reach Lenin Square. On the left you can see the Drama Theatre. First it was the Nobility Gathering built in 1897 to the design of the architect Svirchevski. Then it was rebuilt for the theatre.

Right in front of you there is our Concert Hall.

This modern building is known by everybody in Tambov. It is the Pushkin Library. Our library is rich enough. It has many different departments: the departments of foreign and Russian literature, of technical literature, history. You can find many interesting English books there. It has a large light reading-hall.

Not far away there`s a red-white building. It`s our musical institute  named after Rakhmaninov. It was built in 1903. The history of our musical institute is closely connected with the names of well-known composers and musicians.

Behind the monument to Z. Kosmodemyanskaya, a girl-soldier, died during the World War ỊỊ, there is a former men`s Kazan cloister founded  in the 17th . It has been restored recently and now it is a church.

On the corner of Sovetskaya and Gorky Streets there is a two-storey wooden house which Lermontov, a great Russian poet, described in his poem «Tambovskaya Kaznacheisha (Treasurer)».

Now we are in Naberezhnaya Street. It is one of the most beautiful streets in Tambov. The church of Intercession in Naberezhnaya Street is worth seeing. It was founded in 1763.

On the bank of the river there is a real palace of the manufacturer Aseyev. It was built in 1903-1906 by architects Minz and Kugushev in modern Italian style. It was made of bronze, marble and best kinds of wood. The building was surrounded with a beautiful park and a forged fence. There were 365 kinds of different plants in the park according to the number of the days of the year. There were a lot of exotic plants. On the first floor there was a winter garden. As for the fence it was broken in 1936, we can see only some parts of it. Now the Aseyev`s Mansion is the Cordial Sanatorium.

There are different museums in our town: the Chicherin Memorial Museum, the Museum of Medicine, the Local History Museum (the Museum of Regional Studies). Visiting our Local History Museum you`ll know a lot about the history of our town. Besides you`ll find there a rare collection of folk costumes, unique exhibits.

There are many hotels, cafes, restaurants, cinemas, shops in Tambov.

There are some memorial places in and round our region, Ivanovka, for instance. It is worth visiting in the suburbs. It`s famous for annual musical festivals in memory of S.V. Rakhmaninov. Ivanovka used to be Satin`s estate. The estate was damaged after the October Revolution but the workers of the museum do their best to restore it. In the Rakhmaninov Home Museum they display some personal things, books, manuscripts, photos which belonged to the Rakhmaninovs.

Going around the region the visitors are deeply impressed by our picturesque suburbs: wonderful nature, vast fields, thick woods, rivers and ponds.