Tarusa is a quiet provincial town 140 kilometers southwest of Moscow at the confluence of Tarusa and Oka rivers in the Kaluga region. It remains a rare place untouched by industrialization which allows it to preserve its natural landscape and artistic spirit.
Named after the river Tarusa, or Taruska, the town is a remarkable cultural centre of Russia associated with a number of outstanding people. The city has inspired major Russian poets, writers and artists who were fascinated by its peacefulness and surrounding nature. The beauty of the landscape attracted major Russian painters like Vasily Vatagin, Vasily Polenov and Viktor Borisov-Musatov to the area who immortalized the peaceful splendor of surrounding fields and riverside.
