Pochinok on the Khmara: Discover the City’s History

Pochinok lies on the right bank of the Khmara River. The city’s history comes to life in a variety of places: at the Pochinkovsky Historical and Local History Museum, at a merchant’s house, in the city park, and at memorial sites from more recent times. Anyone interested in local history can discover it here in exhibitions as well as in buildings and public spaces.

The Museum and Its Themes

The Pochinkovsky Historical and Local History Museum opened on June 21, 2000, to mark the 90th birthday of local poet Alexander Tvardovsky. Its exhibitions cover the history of the district from antiquity to the present day, as well as well-known people from the region. The museum’s focus thus extends from early historical events to people whose lives were connected with the area.

The museum has six halls: an exhibition hall and the halls “History of the District,” “Russian Everyday Life,” “The Postwar Period,” “Pioneers of Smolensk,” and “Famous Compatriots.” The last of these halls displays documents and personal belongings of the Tvardovsky family. The topics offer several ways to approach a visit: you can focus on the district’s development, everyday life, or individual biographies.

A Municipal Walking Tour

A municipal walking tour is intended for people with limited mobility and begins at the Pochinkovsky Historical and Local History Museum. It includes a tour of the museum rooms and is expected to take about two hours. The itinerary also includes an exterior view of the house of merchant S. Ya. Epstein and the renovated city park. In this way, the route described brings together museum themes, a historic building, and an outdoor location.

City History in Buildings and the Outdoors

The house of merchant S. Ya. Epstein is considered Pochinok’s first two-storey stone building. The walking tour includes an exterior view. The city park represents another part of the town’s history: local residents laid it out before the Second World War, and today it is described as renovated. These two places offer different points of focus—early stone architecture at one, and a park created by local residents at the other.

Memorial sites and buildings also point to different historical moments. A bust of the writer A. T. Tvardovsky was installed in 2010 to mark his 100th birthday; it was created by sculptor A. N. Kovalchuk. Also in 2010, the “Alley of Heroes” opened on the eve of the liberation of Smolensk Oblast from the Nazi occupiers. The stone Church of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Mother of God in Pochinok was built in 1999.

Another Destination Nearby

The A. T. Tvardovsky Memorial Museum and Estate, a monument of federal significance, is located in the village of Seltso in Pochinkovsky Municipal District. It is listed as 20 km from Pochinok. The estate museum complements the sites in town with a separate destination associated with Tvardovsky. When planning your trip, you can decide whether to focus your stay on the museum and memorial sites in Pochinok or also visit the memorial museum in Seltso.

Discover More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Monastyrshchina, Rudnya, Smolensk, Vyazma, Stepanovo, Baskakovo, Vysokoye, Svishchevo.

For the overview of the wider region: Smolensk Oblast.