An open-air museum is always an unusual place, with a special atmosphere. Here you can merge with it, become part of it. This is exactly the museum-reserve "Divnogorie" - a real pearl of the Voronezh region. This place is unique in that the territory of 1100 hectares combines natural, historical, cultural and architectural monuments. This is a very special world, fully consistent with its name. The local beauty is mentioned in the peculiar travel notes of Metropolitan Pimen, who traveled along the Don to the Sea of Azov in 1389.
Divnogorie Nature Reserve
Voronezh Region is located in the central part of the Russian Federation. The amazing landscape sets off the beauty of what is called the historical and cultural heritage. The Divnogorie reserve includes parts of the Don and Quiet Pine river valleys. In addition, a section of the Central Russian Upland ends with a sharp ledge to flood meadows. The symbol of the reserve is the Big and Small Divas, which gave it the name - chalk remnants.
It was they who were mentioned in his notes by Metropolitan Pimen as white, surprisingly beautiful stone pillars standing over the Pine River. No less unique is such a natural object as a chalk canyon with steep ledges. The Voronezh region, located in the European part of Russia, is extremely beautiful, the Divnogorye nature reserve confirms this.
Flora
The local flora is so diverse and rich in relic plants that, with the light hand of one well-known scientist, Divnogorye, together with the territories adjacent to it, is called the "botanical Mecca".
It is believed that at least once in a lifetime, every self-respecting connoisseur of the plant world must visit these lands. These places are also interesting for entomologists, because 25 species of rare insects are found here.
Such a beautiful land could not leave our ancestors indifferent, it was not for nothing that many tribes lived in these parts, replacing each other. One of the evidence of this is the Mayatskoe settlement, the main archaeological site of the reserve, the appearance of which dates back to the 9th-10th century AD.
Being here, it's hard to believe that this is the modern Voronezh region - the reserve seems to take you back many centuries.
During the times that replaced those when the Mayatsky settlement appeared, monks settled here, building caves in the chalk slopes. Now here is a place of pilgrimage for those who are not indifferent to Orthodoxy, to the history of its formation in Russia.
Directly on the territory of the museum-The reserve is located the active male Holy Assumption Monastery. And in the immediate vicinity of the Mayatsky settlement, next to the Divnogorye farm, there is a cave church of the Sicilian Icon of the Mother of God of the 17th century.
Voronezh Region: Grafsky Nature Reserve
For the purpose of nature conservation back in 1927, a state natural biosphere reserve was created in these places. Work began even before the revolution with a hunting menagerie located in the Usman forest, where several red deer were brought from Germany, and European beavers from Belarus, who very quickly escaped to freedom. Animals survived and formed a small colony here. First of all, it was to preserve this endangered species - the river beaver - that the reserve was subsequently created.
But its functions, of course, are not limited to this. Since 1934, a museum of nature has been operating here, the exposition area of which today is more than 800 square meters. Dioramas are presented in its five halls, thanks to which you can get acquainted with the local flora and fauna, see soil monoliths, various models, an entomological collection and much more. The Grafsky Reserve of the Voronezh Region with its unique sights will interest not only those who have devoted their lives to the natural sciences, but also any person who is not indifferent to nature.
What to see?
Museum employees conduct excursions not only directly in it, but also in localecological routes, as well as along its central estate. And there really is something to see and something to be surprised. No one is left indifferent by the three-hundred-year-old, so-called "Petrovsky" oak, demonstration enclosures with animals, an arboretum, a zoo corner … And, of course, the only experimental beaver nursery in the Russian Federation.
If you are attracted by the Voronezh region, you should definitely visit the reserve, and devote as much time as possible to getting to know it.
Conclusion
Tourists are not attracted here by souvenirs and exotic products. What is really worth bringing from there is the impressions and mood. And their best "guardians" are, of course, pictures. Having visited the reserves, you must take a photo. Because you can look at them later, remembering this amazing beauty.
