anythinglily: A Traditional Village, A Modern City

Monday 28 November 2016

A Traditional Village, A Modern City

Though St Petersburg is steeped in history with centuries old monuments dotting its entire city, it is in actuality as modern as can be. It has adopted high tech facilities for its society like an efficient and well connected subway system, easy accessibility to WiFi in public areas, state of the art architecture, etc, etc. There are however things that are kept traditional, like the Shuvalovka Russian Village that I visited on the way to Peterhoff.

Shuvalovska Village which was originally owned by Count Ivan Shuvalov ceased to exist after the Russian revolution. In the 1990s a project was started to restore this village to its original form. The houses built are replicas of the 19th century peasant houses of the Novgorod region in Northern Russia.

Today Shuvalovska Village has become a tourist park and a place where one can experience traditional Russian customs and culture. We received a rousing welcome upon arrival by a couple clad in traditional costumes. The lady belted out in vibrancy a welcome song accompanied by the tambourine and the accordion. She sang and led us all the way to a traditional peasant house where more entertainment were in store for us. By the way the lady with a scarf is Irene, our St Petersburg tour guide. She was also our translater as the couple do not speak English.

There were more songs, entertainment, a treat to a cake loaf, and dancing in the house, while the bubbly lady expounded the custom of a traditional wedding. Everyone had fun.

Some traditional gadgets in the house.

We were free to explore the place after the entertainment was over. The village spans an area of 8.5 hectares on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and we didn't tour the entire ground due to time constrain