Meet! This is the village of Chamerevo, in the Sudogodsky district Vladimir region. And it is the most beautiful rural settlement in the region. By at least, it was he who won the competition “The most beautiful village in the Vladimir region” and won 100 thousand rubles.
Going to Chamerevo, I kept wondering: what is so remarkable about this place? Fortunately, I found the answers.
By the way, local residents They already know what to spend the 100 thousand rubles they won on. For the last few years, the village has been active work on updating the monument to soldiers who fell during the Great Patriotic War. Now it looks like this. 
In the future, as she told me, the monument will be restored. New plaques will appear with the names of the fighters - not only the fallen, but also the survivors - those who drank through the hard times of war... Activists also expect to clean up and improve the area around the monument. The funds won will be used for these purposes.
Personally, I came to the conclusion that Chamerevo, like many other villages and hamlets, is strong because of its intelligentsia. Take, for example, the wonderful women who gave my colleague and me a short tour of the village. This is the head of the local library, Tatyana Ivanovna Runova, head of Chamerevsky rural house culture Tatyana Nikolaevna Andronova and employee of the local museum of crafts and life Olga Zacharias. It is felt that they not only root for their land with all their hearts, but are also ready to make efforts to make it better. 
For example, there are three choirs in the village, two of which have folk status. The local club previously participated in the competition for the best rural cultural center and took first place. The victory brought 100 thousand rubles, which were used to purchase modern equipment. In general, local residents dream of an extension to the club. 
In fact, our life has changed a lot best years eight ago, when they installed gas. This immediately gives a serious impetus: people begin to build, begin to develop. Eventually, they begin to smile more. Gas in the village gives a completely different quality of life, says Tatyana Runova. – And today we have several stores here, a first aid station, a post office, a patriotic sport Club named after Alexander Nevsky. Working kindergarten and the school - there are excellent teachers there! 
With the same success and delight, Tatyana Ivanovna talks about famous people who were born or have been in Chamerev. According to the woman, the family of Alexander Griboedov lived in these parts - the writer was very young in those years. Writer and journalist Viktor Poltoratsky has been here. Tsar Ivan the Terrible passed through these lands on a campaign. At the same time, the sovereign sought, as they say, to instill Orthodoxy in the masses, and therefore in many settlements his army erected “ordinary” churches. As I understand it, ordinary means delivered in one day.
“I can safely say that this is where Russia began,” Tatyana Runova proudly notes. - Our wonderful land, like a magnet, attracts wonderful people! And why - can you guess... 
The functioning temple is another “system-forming link” of Chamerev. 
However, he has a very difficult fate. In 1785, the church was consecrated in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Soviet authorities treated the temple without reverence. According to local residents, the abbot was forced to pay an exorbitant tax. Like, if you collect money from people, it’s okay. Only the people themselves were starving. The priest refused - and ended up in one of the camps in the north of the country. And then the temple fell into disrepair for years.
Only in the 90s did activists begin restoring the church - collecting signatures from residents and funds. Things went strained - after all, they needed a lot of money.
But gradually the dilapidated building was transformed. This is a great merit of the current rector of the church, Father Victor. He has been here since 2006.
- When I ended up in Chamerevo, there were essentially bare walls here. We restored the temple gradually,” says the priest. - But, what is much more important, we had to restore the parish. The fact is that out of more than seven hundred residents, 10-15 people went to church. Now we have about 70 people. I still believe that first of all we need to deal with souls. And the walls are a secondary matter. 
There is a holy spring of Alexander Nevsky in Chamerev. It is located in a place of stunning beauty - it will take your breath away. 
Inside the building I saw a font and this announcement. 
By the way, the interlocutors invited me to come and visit for Epiphany and, most importantly, Christmas. It is celebrated here from the heart.
Here are some of the local museum's exhibits. In several rooms - a little bit of everything. Interesting to see. 
A few more observations. The village is tidy, without spontaneous garbage dumps and destruction on the roadsides. There are enough flower beds with flowers that have survived to late autumn. 
The houses are also nice. I also saw palaces - mansions of Moscow summer residents. 
You can’t share all your impressions at once, so it’s not last post about Chamerev. In general, the settlement left a very favorable impression. This village is one of those that does not die, but develops. All that remains is to wish you good luck!
The results of the competition “The most beautiful village of the Vladimir region” were summed up today at the city “House of Youth Culture”. The winners were awarded diplomas, letters of gratitude and cash prizes. For the third time settlements 33 regions compete with each other in the improvement and attractiveness of their territories.
The number of participants is growing every year, last year only 37 settlements took part in the competition, and this year their number increased to 47. There were two categories in the competition: small villages - up to 1000 inhabitants and large villages - up to 3500. Deputy governor for agriculture Alexander Trutnev, on behalf of Svetlana Orlova, congratulated the participants:
- A village is alive as long as traditions are respected and people live in it who are not indifferent to the fate of the outback.
The Grand Prix winner received a cash prize of 100 thousand rubles. The prize will be used to improve the village. The settlements that took first place received 50 thousand rubles, for second place - 30 thousand rubles, for third place - 15 thousand rubles.
First, 11 villages numbering up to 3,500 people were awarded. In the first category “The most equipped village” the village of Rukav, Sobinsky district, won. Nomination "Most mysterious village» - village Omoforovo, Sobinsky district. “The most flourishing village” - p. Irkovo, Aleksandrovsky district, “The Most beautiful name» - village Maysky, Aleksandrovsky district.
Director of VGTRK - Vladimir - Andrey Filinov established the nomination “For the will to live”, in which the village of Karelskaya Slobodka, Yuryev-Polsky district, won. “In such villages there are very few inhabitants, there are no roads, but they strive for the best, create museums, restore churches,” noted Andrei Filinov.
In the nomination “The most cinematic village” - the village of Mordysh Suzdal region. "Rich cultural heritage» - village of Krutovo, Petushinsky district. “The most blessed village” is the village of Spas-Kupalische, Sudogodsky district. And the most promising village was the village of Likino, Sudogodsky district. The village of Novoe, Kovrovsky district, was named in the “promising village” category.
The most hospitable village was the village of Orekhovoye - Sobinsky district. The village of Markovo, Petushinsky district, took the lead in the nomination “For Fidelity to Traditions.” “The most caring village” - Serpovo, Vyaznikovsky district. “The most advanced village” - Dmitrievy Gory Melenkovsky. “The best farmstead” is the village of Kunitsino, Kameshkovsky district and the village of Gostets, Petushinsky district.
The most economic village is Cheganovo, Sobinsky district. And the kindest village, according to the jury, was the village of Lyakhi, Melenkovsky district.
The winners of the competition, numbering up to 1000 thousand residents, were:
1st place - Kunitsyno village, Kameshkovsky district;
2nd place - Matveevka village, Selivanovsky district;
3rd place - the village of Snegiryovo, Kolchuginsky district.
Points ranging from 1.5 to 3 thousand in number, the leaders here are:
1st place - the village of Turgenevo, Melenkovsky district;
2nd place - the village of Golovino, Sudogodsky district;
3rd place - Nebyloye village, Yuryev-Polsky district.
According to the organizers, the competition will help preserve rural historical and cultural heritage, and will also contribute to the development of rural tourism and increase the attractiveness of rural areas.
HISTORY OF GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES IN THE VLADIMIR REGION If you look at the physical map of the Vladimir region, you can immediately conditionally divide it into two unequal, historically established territories. Upper part occupies the so-called Opole. Lower - Meshchera. How did the names of these regions come about? Who called them that? There can be many versions here. The name Opole is of Slavic origin, there is no doubt about it. However, the etymological roots of the word “opole” are not entirely clear. Some believe that this means “edge of the field” (the outskirts of some large arable land). Others seek to connect the origin of this name for a vast fertile territory in the northeast of the Russian state with the word “palit” (burn). This statement is based on completely accurate facts: indeed, in order to develop land for grain farming, gardening and livestock farming, those who came here in IX-X centuries the Slavs burned down forests. There are other versions... As for the name “Meshchera”, it, being much more ancient than the name “Opolye”, does not raise doubts among local historians and scientists. Since time immemorial, this was the name given to the region in the middle Poochye, where tribes of the Meshchera people, related to the Magyars, lived. Russian chronicles and others tell about the Meshchers. historical sources up to the 16th century. Here on these two large areas Today there are over 2,600 villages, towns and villages that have their own geographical names, which are a generous source for studying folk art, life, beliefs. To trace how these or those names arose, let's follow the techniques of archaeologists. True, we will have to “dig” not “from above”, but “from below” - and thus establish historical layers. What do we find? The names of cities, villages, rivers and lakes such as Murom, Suzdal, Nerl, Peksha, Vorsha, Koloksha, Klyazma, Sudogda, Gza, Teza, Nerekhta, Suvoroshch, Kschara, Zhikhra, tell us that tribes of Finnish origin lived here - Muroma, Merya and all (although, according to generally accepted opinion, the names of water arteries are relatively older than the names of populated places, because it is believed that the names of the latter are more closely drawn into the historical struggle, depend on it and serve it more actively). But the Slavs are settling near Finnish villages. And, for example, near Kideksha the villages of Krasnoye, Dobrynskoye, Poretskoye, Lybid, Galich, Vyshgorye appear - the names are clearly Kyiv. The next historical layer is associated with the formation of feudal relations, when property began to play a special role. The accessory names appear. Toponymy has been flooded with names that answer the question “whose”? There are many such names on the territory of Vladimir land. As a rule, they end with the suffixes - ov (ev) and - in. The spread of feudal ownership of land became the main feature of the name of a place - who it belongs to. Hence such names as Karavaevo, Larionovo, Boldino. The cities were named after the princes: Vladimir, Yuryev-Polsky. Personal names at this time acquired particular significance when choosing names. Thus, names formed only from personal name Ivan, they meet 31 times. Then a layer appears, the origin of which is connected with the appearance of the Mongol-Tatars in the Russian lands. Names such as Baksheevo, Tatarinovo, Orda, Kurganikha, Tarkhanovo, Kibirevo, Baskakovo, Batyevo, Kobyaki speak for themselves. The names of such villages in the Melenkovsky district as Maly Priklon and Bolshoy Priklon are associated with the presence of Ivan the Terrible’s troops in these places, heading towards Kazan. Here they rested, stocked up on food and equipment. IN XIV-XVII centuries names appear that arose not as designations of the places themselves, but specifically of residents according to their occupation. Such places began to be called settlements (i.e. freedom), since the feudal lord provided the residents of settlements (blacksmiths, potters, etc.) with certain benefits. With the development of the coachman trade along the former “Vladimirka”, the notorious road along which convicts were driven beyond the Urals and into Siberia, settlements with the general name Dvoriki (Pavlovskie, Seninskie, Orlovskie, simply Dvoriki) appeared. In all these villages in the past there were inns located along the road. After the revolution, the territory of the Vladimir region literally turned red. Such names as Red October, Red Bogatyr, Red Echo, Zarya, Voskhod... Geographical names take pride of place among the most precious ones. historical monuments. They are eloquent witnesses of the past, a living voice of distant times. The names of rivulets and streams, ravines and groves, floodplains, forest valleys and springs, tracts, swamps, gullies - all this taken together adds up to a mysterious image of the Motherland, without which a person cannot live.
