The Financial Times: The Hidillical Gorodka Ples, who loved Medvedev, is more and more like an American resort

The idyllic town of Ples in the Ivanovo region is rapidly turning into a Russian analogue of the American resort Hamptons, writes The Financial Times , referring to several villages on Long Island-a place where the villas of many wealthy and famous New York residents are located.

Journalist Claire Rathall shares his impressions of Ples: “The presence of the military on the far coast of the Volga and two police motorcons on the river obviously testified that Prime Minister Medvedev lives in his country house,” Inopressa.ru quoted it.

The ex-mayor of Ples Alexei Shevtsov showed a correspondent of the House of Rich and famous people in Ples: there are a summer residence of the “Leading Moscow Lawyer”, “Petersburg Governor”, ​​“The former Ambassador of Russia to the United States” and “Capitalists” (as Shevtsov himself, the ex-owner of the Ormeto-UMZ concern).

The author continues: "Perhaps in your imagination an image of pompous, carefully guarded rural palaces arose, but in reality everything looks different." True, the residence of Medvedev is protected, but otherwise the Ples is a charming town without unnecessary pathos, the journalist explains. Dome onion of churches, wooden houses with elaborate platbands, painted in bright colors, no boutiques and western brands. "Here no one goes in heels, and jewelry remain in the safe: something like Bridgehampton for Muscovites, if I may say so."

Most vacationers in Ples themselves own real estate there, either rent it, or go to visit friends. Shevtsov offers another option - "Dacha -Hotel" (one of several houses where the hotel style service is provided). The journalist lists: a magnificent mansion in the style of "Ar-Nuvo", one-room wooden buildings, unexpectedly reminiscent of "gingerbread houses", which can be seen on caribs, there are also traditional IZBA. Shevtsov wants Russia to be born a new approach to tourism - "conscious, which does not give excessive importance to comfort or standardization."

“Undoubtedly, Ples is full of nostalgia for pre -revolutionary times,” the author writes. Shevtsov’s clients are representatives of the “wealthy but longing Russian elite” who are eager to live in this Russia and restore connections with their own roots.

It is curious that Shevtsov himself compares the Ples with the American city: “The total area of ​​the city with the sleeping area is equal to the area of ​​the New York Central Park: three with a small square kilometer. When the region refused the initial concept of a tourist cluster, federal money began to look for use on this Piglet,” he said earlier in an interview with Novaya Gazeta .

It is believed that Medvedev’s interest in Ples was attracted in 2008 by the Ivanovo governor Mikhail Men. Since then, then the president, and now the prime minister is regularly in Ples with his wife. Federal money went to the city on the program for the development of domestic and entry tourism. Medvedev restored the ancient estate of Mercu, which is now informally considered his "cottage".

According to Shevtsov, after federal money flowed into the city, a "series of fantasy projects" went. In particular, the idea of ​​Ples as a ski resort began to gain momentum, but it is specified that Medvedev did not approve of this idea, and the locals generally were horrified from it and began to write letters with complaints. As a result, the project "Non -Khudshavel" stalled.

At the same time, in Ples for the third time, in recent years, they decided to re -reset the embankment. Twice was covered with asphalt, then with ceramic tiles. Now it is announced that there will be a stone. Previously, bloggers have already noted that due to such transformations, the city-reserve is turning into asphalt jungle and trash .

Also, local residents and tourists noted with dissatisfaction that the famous birch groves were cut down next to the "landlord" house, immortalized in the paintings of the great Russian landscape painter Levitan - Ilya, the son of Dmitry Medvedev, an allergy to the pollen of birch. The second case in the city closed the oldest tuberculosis dispensary in Russia. 450 people lost their work - every fifth able -bodied Plesovets.

"Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev really fell in love with Ples and really helps the Ivanovo region and this city. With the support of the prime minister, the restoration of two temples in Ples is ending, the landscape museum is being reconstructed. With the support of Medvedev, the construction of Levitan Hall is completed. He participates in the fate of the noble estate of the Chernevniye, which was brilliant, which was brilliantly brilliant It is restored.