Murom District

The Murom district is located in the south-east of the Vladimir region. The population of the district is 15,898 (2018).  The administrative center is the city of Murom (not part of the district), the third largest city in the Vladimir region with a population of 109,072 people (2018). Murom is located on the left bank of the Oka River, on the border with the Nizhny Novgorod region, and is a large railway junction on the Gorky Railway on the Moscow-Kazan line. A feature of the transport infrastructure of the district is the presence of a river port connecting the city directly with Nizhny Novgorod and Kasimov.

The Murom district was formed on April 10, 1929 as part of the Murom district of the Gorky region. On January 19, 1939, Murom was assigned to the category of cities of regional subordination, removed from the district, while remaining its center. On August 14, 1944, the Murom district was transferred to the newly formed Vladimir region. In December 2001, the Murom district and the city of Murom were merged into one municipality "Murom District". In May 2005, the district (without the city of Murom) as a municipal entity was endowed with the status of a municipal district.

Murom, founded in 862, is one of the oldest cities in Russia and the oldest in the Vladimir region. For a long time, Murom was one of the eastern outposts of Slavic lands. Information about the ancient Murom has been preserved in epics. Folk legend leads from the village of Karacharovo (today within the boundaries of Murom) the mighty hero Ilya of Murom, a key character in the old Russian epic. The names of Saints Peter and Fevronia, patrons of marriage and family, whose extraordinary love and fidelity to each other are sung in the "Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" (16th century), are associated with the Murom land. Thousands of pilgrims annually come to Murom to bow to their relics stored in the Holy Trinity Convent. In honor of Saints Peter and Fevronia, since July 8, 2008 the All-Russian Day of Family, Love and Fidelity has been celebrated in Murom. Murom legends and written sources of the 16th century connect the beginning of stone construction in Murom with the name of Ivan IV the Terrible: in honor of the Tsar’s victorious campaign to Kazan in 1552, on the path of which Murom was the last city.

From the 17th century Murom became an important craft center of Russia. Skilled leather craftsmen, shoemakers, blacksmiths, jewelers, tailors, etc. worked here. Since that time, the glory of the Murom kalachs depicted on the coat of arms of Murom and Murom district began.

The inventor of television V.K. Zvorykin (1889-1982) brought worldwide fame to the city. The former family mansion of merchants Zvorykins today houses the Murom Museum of History and Art.

Today, the Murom district and the city of Murom is a large industrial center of the Vladimir region. The leading place in the economy belongs to mechanical engineering, instrument making, the production of radio equipment and electrical equipment, including for the defense industry.

The areas of decorative and applied art and crafts, developing in the Murom district, are blacksmithing, woodcarving and painting, withy weaving, birch bark processing, making majolica and tiles, clay toys, folk costumes, weaving, embroidery, patchwork, etc. The main organizations that support and promote folk art are the House of Folk Art of the Murom district, rural houses of culture of the Murom district. The base collective of the House of Folk Art of the Murom district is a male folklore ensemble "Muroma", famous in the Vladimir region and beyond.

Crafts and trades
Pottery
Making of white clay products coated with colored contrast glaze.
Clay toy
Based on the study of materials about the ancient craft, factory masters were able to create a unique style of modern clay toys.
Blacksmith craft
Today, blacksmithing craftsmen are rare. But nevertheless, forges that are engaged in manual forging are preserved.
Wood carving
Argunovo carving. Morden masters of wood carving.
Birch-bark wares
Since ancient times, the manufacture of birch bark products was an important folk craft in Russia, where birch was one of the common tree species.
Art processing of leather
Weaving
Wood painting
Vladimir patterns is an original painting, when the paint is applied not with a brush, but with a foam rubber swab or just an artist’s finger, forming a light cloud.
Embroidery
Embroidery in the technique of " white satin-stitch ", "Vladimir seam".
Scrappy sewing
Today, craftswomen collect from rags and fashionable clothes, and rag dolls, and even paintings.
Russian folk costume
Women's folk costume of the Vladimir province was modest, practical chintz fabrics dominated.
Weaving of withy
In Vladimir land withy was an available material: willow thickets were abundant on the banks of the Klyazma, the Oka, etc.
Ceremonial dolls
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