Description of the attraction
The blacksmith yard was formed in Pskov on July 26, 2008, is part of the Pskov Museum-Reserve, located in the chambers near the Sokolya Tower (the former house of Ksendz). The blacksmith yard is a creative team of blacksmiths, created with the aim of reviving the blacksmith's craft in the city. The blacksmith's artel, headed by Evgeny Vagin, consists of the following masters: Vladimir Bezhenar, Alexander Vishnevsky, Alexander Isaev, Sergey Vinogradov, Vladimir and Anatoly Vetrovs, Nikolai Belousov and others. The opening of the museum was attended by the famous cultural figure, restorer Yamshchikov Savva Vasilyevich, who was glad that blacksmithing in the city was not only carefully preserved, but also continued in the person of Pskov blacksmiths.
Blacksmith's yard has become one of the tourist brands of Pskov. It is interesting that it is located near Kuznetskaya Street, where a blacksmith settlement once existed. There are two smithies on the territory of the museum. In the first one, the old spirit of blacksmithing has been restored; real furs of the 19th century even work here. This smithy is visited by guests of the city, tourists, schoolchildren. Here you can learn a lot of new and interesting, but the most attractive thing is that here you can be a blacksmith yourself. Small master classes are organized for those who wish.
For newlyweds, a wedding ceremony is held here. The master makes two forged hearts, a woman's and a man's, fasten them with a rivet and wicks it in the spring water. After such actions, as the blacksmith says, "there is no return."
In the second smithy, visitors can get to know more about blacksmithing, learn its basics, work "hot", create an unpretentious souvenir for themselves. In the future, it is planned to establish a blacksmith's museum, which will display not only archaeological finds, but also the work of modern blacksmiths.
Pskov craftsmen take an active part in blacksmith festivals in other cities, in addition, various events and holidays are constantly held on the territory of the Blacksmith yard. For example, on a January night, Blacksmith Christmas Carols take place, which have grown into a city-wide holiday, All-Russian Maslenitsa, Izborsk Festival “Iron City”, children's “Blacksmith's Christmas Tree”, and permanent visiting master classes. To top it off, the Pskov blacksmiths make prizes for the musicians of the international festival "Crescendo", souvenirs for directors and actors of the theatrical Pushkin festival, held annually, the main forged prize for the winner of the international festival of balloonists in the city of Velikiye Luki.
In addition to holidays and author's gifts, the Pskov Forge Yard is famous for the hard everyday work of the masters. The purpose of their work: the revival and preservation of the forged decoration of unique city historical monuments and the creation of new works of authorship. Blacksmiths forged the foremen of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery, the gates and gratings of the Trinity Cathedral in the Kremlin, and others. In addition, in many city and regional churches and monasteries (more than 20), forged decoration was restored, and many churches found lost crosses on their domes.
The famous Kuznechny Dvor in Pskov is visited by a large number of tourists and guests of the city, taking with them a forged souvenir.
