I would like to tell about a small village not far
from Alexandrov. You won’t easily find the village of Staraya Sloboda on the
map of our region, but in the 16-th century it was the residence of Russian
Princes. Alexander Nevsky visited this village when he was in our area.
The history of the village dates back to the 12-th century, when a wooden
church on the hill near the river the Seraya was built. At that time the place
was called Sloboda, which means "a settlement”.
In the first part of the 16-th century on the territory of the modern
town of Alexandrov was Novaya (New) Alexadrova Sloboda founded and the village got the name of
Staraya (Old) Sloboda.
In the summer of 1689 the village was the centre of public attention when the
Russian tsar Peter the Great came here to have military exercises of his
boy-soldiers regiment on the Nemetskie (German) mountains, situated nearby.
In 1696 – 1698 a stone church of The Virgin of Kasan was built in Stsraya
Sloboda. In the 19-th century a bell – tower was constructed. In 1930 they were
closed and partly demolished. The priest, Pavel Shutgurov, was arrested and
lately shot. The revival of the Christian life in the village started in 20-th
century. The church and the bell-tower were restored and opened.
Every year not far from Staraya Sloboda the tourist competition for teenagers
"The School of Survival” take place. The nature around the village is
picturesque. I and my classmates like to go there because we like to travel and
to learn more about the history of our region. 
Рябоконь Юрий Михайлович
МБОУ СОШ № 3 г. Александрова Владимирской области
Учащийся 9 «В» класса, учитель английского языка - Ведь Г. А.
2012 Статья опубликована на сайте "Просвещение" в разделе конкурса "Наша страна - наше наследие".
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