Cultural tourism in Russia > Kirov region > Sovetsk

Sovetsk

Sovetsk , the center of the Sovetsk are of the Kirov region, is located in the south part of the region on the Pizhma River. The distance to Kirov is 140 km. The population is about 18 thousand persons.

The town was known as a village of Kukarka before 1918. Sovetsk is included into the list of Russia's historical sites.

The village of Kukarka was founded in the 16th century at the site of a Mari settlement. A lot of crafts and mechanical arts were developed here.

The village was famous for its lacemakers. The beginnings of this art date back to the 18th century. The legend tells that in the times of Peter the First, a former ship carpenter with his Dutch wife settled down in Kukarka. His wife trained local women in lace-making. That hobby became very popular late in the 19th century: about 2,000 lacemakers worked in the village. The local zemstvo opened a lace-making school. Orders for the articles of lacework were received from St. Petersburg, Vilna, and Warsaw. Late in the 19th century, the articles of Vyatka lacemakers were awarded with golden medals at the fairs in the USA and Belgium.

A vocational school №28 located in Sovetsk trains lacemakers and hand-embroidery and golden needlework craftswomen.

The most interesting natural monuments are located on the territory of the Sovetsk area along the Nemda River. Thanks to them, the region is spoken of as "Vyatka Switzerland."

The Sovetsk area has resources for promotion of cultural, sports, health-improving and recreation tourism.