Museum Diorama The Great Standing on the Ugra River
The Museum-Diorama of the Great Standing on the Ugra River is located in the Vladimir Skete. It was founded in 2007 by the abbot of the monastery of St. Tikhon Deserts, which is located 3 kilometers from the bank of the Ugra River. In the museum you can see a huge canvas of a diorama. It recreates the events of October 1480, when the Russian and Horde army stood on the banks of the Ugra River.
In the Museum you can see an exhibition dedicated to one of the most important events in the history of Russia: liberation from the vassalage of the Russian principalities from the Golden Horde and their subsequent unification into a single strong state. In Russian history, this period is called the "Mongol-Tatar yoke".
The fragmented Russian principalities could not develop. They were forced to pay a large tribute to the Horde khans. This has been going on for 250 years. In 1380, Russian troops defeated the army of Khan Mamai on Kulikovo Field, but the campaign of Khan Toshtamysh that followed in 1382 restored Russia`s vassal dependence on the Horde. It was only in 1480 that Prince Ivan III was able to liberate Russia completely.
Ivan III, having become the Prince of Moscow, began the annexation of other principalities to Moscow. In 1476, he stopped paying tribute to the Golden Horde and Khan Akhmat decided to punish him for this. The Museum-Diorama of the Great Standing on the Ugra River describes these events in detail. In the spring of 1480, the army of Khan Akhmat set out on a campaign. It tried to cross the Oka River in order to reach Moscow by the shortest route. However, Ivan III installed armed cordon in all places on the Oka River. Khan Akhmat tried to cross in Kashira, but could not.
After that, Akhmat decided to go further west to Kaluga to bypass the wide Oka River. So he approached the Ugra River near the village of Dvortsy, where there were three fords across the river. Near Kaluga were the possessions of the Lithuanian state. Khan Akhmat counted on the help of Lithuanian Prince Casimir IV, but he refused.
Realizing that he would have to go to the territory of the Moscow Principality only with his army, Khan Akhmat hesitated for a long time. Throughout October 1480, the Russian and Horde troops stood on the banks of the Ugra River. As a result, he did not dare to fight and after the onset of cold weather went back to the Horde, where he was killed.
On the artistic canvas of the diorama in the Vladimir Skete, you can see how the troops stood opposite each other. The canvas has a size of 6.7 meters in height and 23 meters in width. It was painted by the artist Pavel Ryzhenko from the Studio of Military Artists of Grekov. The opening of the Museum-Diorama of the Great Standing on the Ugra River took place in 2012. The ceremony was attended by Patriarch of All Russia Alexy II. You can visit the diorama only with an excursion. Before visit it’s better to call to the museum and learn actual opening hours.
