Church of the Epiphany. Museum of local lore

The Toropetsky Museum of Local Lore was opened in 1924, and since 1962 it has been located in the building of the Epiphany Church (18th century), located on an island that Toropa wraps around in two branches during its transition from Lake Solomeno (also called Solomennoye) to Lake Zalikovye ( Zalikovskoe). In the XVI century. the whole island was arranged like a Kremlin, which was called the New City, or the Red Wall.

Alexandra and Alexander
On the island of Krasny Val not far from the Epiphany Church, which now houses the Toropetsky Museum of Local Lore, there is a functioning Korsun Cathedral (1676). In the cathedral there was a miraculous image of the Korsun Mother of God, presented to the city by Princess Alexandra of Polotsk in honor of her wedding in Toropets with the holy noble Prince Alexander Nevsky.

History reference
Of particular interest are archaeological finds from the territory of Toropets and Toropetsky district, which testify to the culture and life of the population of the Stone, Bronze and Early Iron Ages, as well as the Old Russian time. The exposition was made in a very professional manner, reflecting the life of the people of Toropa - townspeople and rural residents - and the manor culture of the 18th - early 20th centuries. Museum visitors are greatly interested in the model of a fragment of the partisan headquarters in the form of a peasant hut, where real tactical exercises are conducted using a walkie-talkie, military ammunition and visual aids.

A masterpiece of Toropets architecture
The Church of the Epiphany of the Lord, which currently houses the Toropetsky Museum of Local Lore, was built in the Baroque style and consecrated in 1766, stone, three-altar: the Thrones of the Epiphany (main), the Meeting of the Lord, Theodore Tiron. Funds for the construction of the temple were allocated by the Toropets merchant Fyodor Gundorov. The temple is considered the best creation of the Toropets architectural school. The architect applied an interesting constructive technique: he built the temple and the refectory as two identical fours, above one of which the octagon of the temple itself rises, and above the other - an octagonal bell tower. This made it possible to collect all the forms into a single compact volume, where the final, upper, parts of the building became equivalent. Three facades of the church - north, south and west - with high pediments. To give the church visual stability, two porches on creeping arches were attached to the sides of the refectory, resembling in their shapes the porch-lockers of residential buildings of the late 17th century. From the eastern facade overlooking the lake, when the porch is not visible at all and the bell tower is almost hidden behind the octagon of the temple, the silhouette of the church looks like a high bell tower. The decor is especially beautiful. Repeating the forms widespread for its time, it remains typically Toropetsky. This is achieved mainly by the plasticity of the forms themselves, their volume.

How to get there
The building that houses the museum is located in the historic center of the city.