There are a lot of places all over the world to visit, to live in, to like. But only one to LOVE. We call this place Motherland. Our town is a very nice place for living and recreation. And we are going to tell you about Semenov with deep inner love towards our small Motherland for you to adore it as much as we do.

Semenov is the centre of Semenovsky municipal district. The population of the district is about 50 thousand people (25 000 of them in the town). Our town is situated on the left bank of the river Kerzhenets, a left tributary of the great Russian river Volga.

The district has quite a remarkable history. The first settlers of it were Christian Old-believers persecuted by the official church. Dense forests of the Kerzhenets sheltered the runaways, who feeling themselves quite safe there decided to settle down and live in the territory of the contemporary district. Old believers were severe people with long beards. They were much devoted to their religion and did their best to keep it. Their women wore long dresses and shawls of dark colours, there children were being brought up in the strict religious atmosphere and all the way of life was very strict and traditional.

The old ruins of former old-believers’ monasteries may still be seen near deserted villages. And nowadays there are two churches in the town: one for old-believers, the other one for the orthodox Christians.

The geographical position of the district is rather an advantageous one. Semenovsky district is crossed by 2 federal autoroutes and a railway. Semenov is surrounded by dense forests, mostly coniferous, they give much raw materials for wood processing industry, which is widely developed in the North of our region.

There are several plants and factories in our town. One of the largest is “SEMAR”

Another big factory is “KHOKHLOMA PAINTING FACTORY”. The factory produces wooden utensils, decorated with Golden Khokhloma painting, and Russian souvenir doll Matryoshka.

The Foundry Plant is rather important too.

Rather a notional part of the local industry is small business. Many spheres of human activity are involved in it.

Due to the local industry developing at a high rate, the Government of the district faces the task of providing it with workers, which are in demand now.

And the great advantage is that the youngsters have the ability to get education in their native town.

There are 5 secondary schools in Semenov, a technical school, where technicians of wood-processing industry are taught, a professional school for builders, house-painters and cooks, and an art college, where future Khokhloma painters and turners study. There are also 5 branches of the institutions of higher education, a musical school and a drawing school.

Day after day Semenov goes on growing and developing. A great amount of money from the local budget is spent to make the town clean, pleasant and convenient to live in. The town has recently been gasificated, the pond in the center of the town has been cleaned and the fountain in the middle of the pond has been restored, and it is only the beginning. Much is to be done.

Semenov takes part in some National projects. A new museum called “Golden Khokhloma”, a physical-training complex and a contemporary maternity hospital are to be open soon. A house-building plant is being built now and a plant for production of pressed fuel is going to be built.

And there is also a number of so-called “grey” (with some constructions) and “green” (without any constructions) investment grounds for being used by potential investors.

Our town is one of Russian cultural centres. The Festival of Golden Khokhloma is held here every year: it is a chain of two or three bright and festive days of great cultural value when tourists from Russia and other countries come to Semenov to see our masterpieces of folk art, to visit different exhibitions, concerts, to have interesting excursions, etc. In a word the Festival provides a deep insight into the friendly and relaxed atmosphere of traditional and joyful folk art. It is really worth being visited!

We must confess that we are extremely fond of our town. And we are eager to show you all its advantages. That is why we would like to invite you to our place to breath in its fresh air, to enjoy its magnificent looks. It is lovely, isn’t it? And we consider our small Motherland to be the best of all possible worlds.