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Students of Vyoshenskaya Study the History of Tula Country

An interactive class “Ancient Fortress of Yepifan” was held at the Excursion and Exhibition Centre “People’s House” at the exhibition “The Sovereign’s Guards” presented by the Military Historical and Natural Museum-Reserve “Kulikovo Pole”. The classes were joined by the children resting on health grounds of the Sholokhov District schools.

The children took a virtual journey to the past. The magic thread led them five centuries back into the history of Tula country and a small frontier town of Yepifan. The children learned that Yepifan, as well as Stanitsa Vyoshenskaya, was situated on the left bank of the River Don and was mapped on “Moscovia” chart in the XVII century by Isaac Massa, a Holland merchant traveller.

The Yepifan fortress played a very important role in defending the Russian boundaries. It was a guarding point which prevented from the movement of the Crimean and Nogai Tatars to Tula, the smithy of Russian weapons, and to Moscow, the capital of Rus. The children got to know about the fortress defence system, the military garrison consisting mainly of archers, gunners and Cossacks with their equipment, items of weapon and everyday life of that time.

The exhibition materials were used in the tasks for the children, who did them with great interest: they “tried on” the costumes of archers, gunners and Cossacks, painted drawings and answered the questions of the quiz. They got interested in the story about straw and hay, which helped the soldiers in march training. In order for the former peasants to remember which leg to begin moving with, the recruit’s left leg was tied with a tuft of hay, and the right leg – with a tuft of straw. There went a command: “Hay–straw! Hay–straw!” And the company was marching clearly.

The class was ended with showing fragments of the film about the fortress of Yepifan.

Svetlana Usova