The town of Donskoy in Tula Region and its sights are associated with the Counts Bobrinsky. The first representative of this dynasty was the illegitimate son of Catherine the Great by Count Orlov. In order to give her beloved but illegitimate offspring a future, the Empress allocated land for him near the Bobrik River and entered him into the nobility lists under the name of Bobrinsky. Since then, representatives of the Count’s dynasty had taken care of the welfare of Russia until the revolution. The Bobrinskys gave the State large sugar industrialists, archaeologists, one of the first women pilots, musicians, officials, founders of educational institutions, travelers, and other remarkable people.
One of the surviving sights of the town of Donskoy in Tula Region are the wings of the palace on Bobrik Mountain. Nowadays one of them houses a local history museum with many exhibits related to the life of the mining town and the eminent noble family. In the 18–19th centuries, there was a huge palace here, but the Bobrinskys dismantled it as unnecessary and built several houses in Yepifan and a sugar factory in Bogoroditsk using the materials.
Of the landmarks in Donskoy, Tula Region, one can highlight the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior. The temple stands in a picturesque spot on Bobrik Mountain between the Don and Bobrik Rivers. Taking a photo here is a wise decision, because local nature is lovely and the restored church looks majestic and trim. In Soviet times, the bell tower of the temple was destroyed, and a planetarium was established in the church. The first service took place here only in 1991. All the equipment of the planetarium is now stored in the storerooms of the local history museum, awaiting new premises for an astronomy museum.
This page presents Donskoy District tourist sites that you can visit; all you need to do is keep their addresses and check their opening hours.
