Cultural and Educational Complex Ataman’s Hut

In the very center of the Azovskaya stanitsa in the Seversky district of Krasnodar Krai, there is a large ataman’s hut. The last pre-revolutionary ataman of the stanitsa, Grigory Kochubey, lived there. The homestead was built by a family of descendants of the one and only Azov Cossack Host, who founded the stanitsa some 160 years ago. Many findings tell what the Hut and its inhabitants have gone through during the years.

In 2017, Boris Kuznetsov who grew up in the Hut and knows its history, decided to restore it using traditional techniques and turn it into a living museum. It took his family five years of constant work and the help of their friends. He documented this process in 43 videos on his YouTube channel “Ataman’s Hut”.

In 2020, the Shkondin family bought the Hut so that it could continue working as a cultural and educational center. A century-old relic juniper grows near the hut, a living witness and participant in the history of the hut. There is a mysterious stone well that has been preserved to this day.

At the farmstead, you will learn about our ancestral traditions and way of life.

You can vividly imagine the way of life at the stanitsa, its thorough approach to everything: how they threshed wheat, cut and chopped firewood, harvested hay, raised cattle, cooked with natural foods on fire, lazed around on the stove, honored soldiers and women’s labor, sewed clothes, embroidered towels and shawls and “didn’t take a step without God”. Any corner of the farmstead is perfect for an original photo shoot.

In the stanitsa, you can visit a church, a chapel with a holy healing spring and a font, built by the Cossacks of the Azov Khutor Cossack Society.

The nature there is pristine and magnificent, it echoes the legends of Mount Sober-Oashkh and old songs in different languages. You can find mushrooms, wild fruit trees, berries, and nuts, enjoy the walk along the river in the mountain forest and even go for hikes of various difficulty levels from several hours to several days.

At the cultural and educational complex, you can learn about various guided tours about the Cossacks, generations of the Ataman’s Hut, historical sagas, ancient and modern local peoples, natural attractions, rituals, and cuisine. You can also purchase unique souvenirs of the Ataman’s Hut and literature on local history.

A folk band will perform Cossack songs or celebrate a seasonal holiday and perform a ritual, as it was done in the old times.

The museum offers workshops by recognized professionals on pottery, folk fabric toys, hand-knitting, embroidery, traditional cuisine, and experts will share with you secrets of growing a garden or a vegetable garden at the Kuban homestead.

And the Cossacks will cook dinner on a bonfire, show you the wonders of saber fencing and give you a ride on a good horse.

Every year the Azov rural settlement hosts popular festivals “Veselye Shkvarki” and “Nebesnaya Riviera”.

Come here, dear guests! It would be time well spent!