Vyritsa, urban settlement

Subject / Topography/Urban settlements
VYRITSA, an urban settlement in Gatchina District. Population: 13,700. It is situated on the Oredezh River. The name evidently originates from the Russian word “vyr’” meaning “deep” or “whirlpool.” The largest dacha settlement in terms of area (abt. 50 sq. km.) It was formed in the early 20th century as a result of merging of the villages of Vyritsa and Novo-Petrovskoye and settlements of Knyazheskaya Dolina, Bor, Zarechye (Mikhailovka) and Posyolok. Burial mounds of the 11th and 12th cc. have survived in the western part of the settlement (surveyed in 1907 and 1974.) It is mentioned in the 1499/1500 scribe roll of Vodskaya Pyatina. Under the name of Wiritza, the village is indicated in a Swedish map of 1699. From the 1710s, it belonged to Tsarskoye Selo Uyezd of St. Petersburg Gubernia. In the mid-19th century, the village consisting of 16 farmsteads was owned by Gendarme General F. S. Rakeyev. In 1868, many lands on the banks of the Oredezh were purchased by Prince F. L. Wittgenstein. The settlement’s rapid development started in 1904 when V. was connected to St. Petersburg with a railroad; selling of dacha plots and development of quarters began, and a master plan of the settlement was issued. 13 versts of the highway and 8 versts of a horse-tramway railroad were constructed; five platforms were arranged on the railway. The settlement got its railway station house and cinema hall, and a town park was laid out. Telephone communication with the capital was established. The Church of SS Peter and Paul was built on the Siverskaya Highway in 1906-08, with a graveyard close to it; in 1914, the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God , in memory of the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov, was constructed. In the 1970s, Vyritsa achieved the status of a children’s resort; Young Pioneer camps and kindergarten dachas were built. Scientist and writer was born and lived in V. From 1906 till 1929, a community of abstainers headed by I. A. Churikov was active in V. (revived in 1989.) St. Seraphim of Vyritsa lived in the settlement in 1930-49. Artist E. E. Volkov, philosopher V. V. Rozanov, actor R. B. Apollonsky, academician D. S. Likhachov, and writer V. V. Bianchi sent their vacations in V. Some dachas built in the early 20th c., and the Wittgensteins’ hunting lodge castle on the bank of the Oredezh have survived. The Vyritsa settlement library named after I. A. Yefremov is active. Piryutko, Yuri Minayevich
Apollonsky, Roman Borisovich
Bianki, Vitaly Valentinovich
Churikov, Ivan Alekseyevich
Likhachev, Dmitry Sergeyevich
Rakeyev, Fyodor Spiridonovich
Rozanov, Vasily Vasilyevich
Serafim of Vyritsa (Vasily Nikolayevich Muravyev)
Volkov, Yefim Yefimovich
Wittgenstein, Fyodor Lvovich, Prince
Yefremov, Ivan Antonovich
Historical Toponyms/Bor, Village
Leningrad Oblast, the/Gatchina District
Historical Toponyms/Knyazheskaya Dolina, Village
Historical Toponyms/Novo-Petrovskoye, Village
Topographical landmarks/Oredezh River, the
Historical Toponyms/Poselok, Village
Historical Toponyms/Saint Petersburg Gubernia, the/Tsarskoye Selo Uyezd
Historical Toponyms/Novgorod Land/Vodskaya Pyatina ("Fifth") (The territory of Novgorod Land located between rivers the Luga and the Volkhov and on the shores of Ladoga Lake)
Leningrad Oblast, the/Gatchina District/Vyritsa Urban Settlement
Historical Toponyms/Zarechye (Mikhaylovka)
Бурлаков А. Туристские маршруты Гатчинского района. Южное направление. Гатчина, 2003., С.81-84, 108-112
История поселка Вырица. URL: http://vyritsa.narod.ru/history.htm, С.81-84, 108-112
The Church of Apostle Peter and Apostle Paul (Vyritsa Town, Gatchina District)
The Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (Vyritsa Town, Gatchina District)
Vuritsa Settlement Library named after I.A. Yefremov