Tarusa is located on the left bank of the Oka River. At this point, the river makes a bend, so it is very wide. The length of the Tarusa Embankment is small, only 130 meters, however, a walk along the paths of the hilly bank of the Oka River will be a great pleasure. Walking routes in Tarusa stretch along the banks of the Oka River for 1.7 kilometers.
Both banks of the Oka River are hilly in these parts, and this makes the landscapes very beautiful. Creative people loved to come here to walk among the hills by the river. This atmosphere is conducive to a relaxing holiday, contemplation of the beautiful nature of the central Russia.
A well-maintained Tarusa Embankment has been created in the historical center of the city on the banks of the Oka River. There are monuments to Marina Tsvetaeva, Bella Akhmadulina and Konstantin Paustovsky. Next to the embankment on the banks of the Oka River, there is a monument to the fallen soldiers in WWII and in local conflicts.
From the monument, you can walk downstream of the Oka River to the small Tarusa River. It flows into the Oka 350 meters from the monument. There are always a lot of fishermen on the riverbank, and sometimes you can see artists here.
The main route for walking along the banks of the Oka River in Tarusa runs upstream from the Embankment to the House of Writers. At this point, the path runs along the ravines. On a high hill, you can see the domes of the Resurrection Church, the oldest stone building in Tarusa that has survived to the present day. In the depths of Igumnov ravine near the church there is a Bogolyubov chapel and a Holy Spring.
Not far from the Resurrection Church on the banks of the Oka River, there is a Cenotaph of Marina Tsvetaeva. This is a stone from the Tarusa dolomite, where is written " Marina Tsvetaeva wanted to lie here". While in exile, the great Russian poetess often recalled Tarusa. She was saying: "Here in France, my shadow will not remain. Tarusa, Koktebel, and the Czech villages are the places of my soul."
Further upstream is the main sandy beach of Tarusa, where tourists and locals swim in summer. On the high shore above the beach there is the House of Writers and the Silver Age Hotel. There was once a Pesochnoye Estate there. The Tsvetaev family rented a house with an attic in this estate every summer at the end of the 19th century.
If you walk another kilometer upstream of the Oka River from the House of Writers, you can reach the Pochuyevskaya Valley, which Marina Tsvetaeva called the Valley of Dreams. This is a fairly deep ravine of the Sandy Stream, which flows in a picturesque area. Marina Tsvetaeva often walked here with her sister Anastasia. Now you can see artists and tourists who come to the valley to feel the atmosphere that inspired Marina Tsvetaeva.
