In Ramon, a special cultural focus is placed on traditional folk games and crafts: the Biryulki Courtyard of Useful Amusements offers guided tours and interactive programs. These activities are available by prior arrangement, so be sure to arrange your visit in advance. Ramon is also home to the Museum of the Russian Bath, a museum dedicated to a distinctive cultural theme.
Culture in Ramon
The two places offer different ways to plan your trip: at Biryulki, games and crafts are at the heart of guided or interactive programs. The Museum of the Russian Bath adds another museum to the selection in Ramon.
Voronezh Oblast: Nature and Excursions
In the wider destination of Voronezh Oblast, the Khopyor Nature Reserve spans the administrative districts of Novokhopersky, Povorinsky, and Gribanovsky. The tours described there differ in both mode of travel and duration: the Legend of the Khopyor hiking excursion is five kilometres long and takes three hours. This route is closed during the spring floods. The Tour of the Khopyor cycling route covers 26 kilometres and takes four hours.
The nature museum at the Khopyor Reserve displays the reserve’s wildlife and habitats in two halls. Exhibition topics include beavers, Russian desmans, aquatic and predatory birds, as well as wild boar, elk, fallow deer, and red deer. A large relief map of the reserve is also on display. Check the museum’s visiting arrangements before your trip.
The Divnogorye Museum-Reserve offers a different kind of landscape: it is known for its chalk scenery, with unusual chalk cliffs on steep slopes and large, ridge-like chalk ravines. Divnogorsky Canyon is about one kilometre long and up to 200 metres wide. Six sacred caves and cave complexes lie in the chalk massif on the right bank of the Tikhaya Sosna and Don rivers; they extend for about 8.5 kilometres.
The cave churches also differ in their architectural features and visiting arrangements. The cave church dedicated to the Sicilian Icon of the Mother of God in Bolshiye Divy is carved into the base of a chalk cliff and has two levels connected by a staircase. A footpath across the museum-reserve grounds leads to the cave church of the Nativity of John the Baptist in Malyye Divy; the walk takes 30 to 40 minutes. Access to the church is arranged through the monastery’s pilgrimage service. The Stone Age is recreated at the Paleolithic Workshops, which also hold workshops on making stone tools.
Archaeology and Horse Breeding
The Kostenki Museum-Reserve brings together an archaeological museum and a Stone Age settlement site, which is entirely covered by the museum building. The site includes 25 protected zones with around 60 Upper Paleolithic sites; the museum-reserve covers nine hectares. These figures give an idea of how far the archaeological exhibits extend beyond the museum building itself.
The Khrenovskoy Stud Farm is regarded as the birthplace of the Orlov Trotter and as Russia’s oldest stud farm. Count Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov-Chesmensky founded it on 24 October 1776. Visitors can see the old stables and modern horse stalls and encounter Orlov Trotters. The Horse Breeding Museum traces the breed’s history through old breeding records and its pedigree. The collection also includes horse blankets, as well as trophies and medals won by the stud farm’s horses at racecourses in Russia and abroad. Guided tours take place daily but must be arranged in advance; check the visiting arrangements with the operator before your trip.
Discover more destinations: Plotovsky Kordon, Starozhivotinnoye, Ramon, Verkhnekhavsky District, Kantemirovsky District, Pavlovsky District, Nizhnedevitsky District, Povorinsky District.
Return to the main travel overview: Voronezh Oblast.
