April 10-13, 2009: official municipal delegation from the city of Opatija, Republic of Croatia headed by Mayor Dr. Muzur made a 3-day visit to Taganrog. During the tour of the city, the visitors from Opatija visited the Chekhov Birth House, Chekhov Shop (Lavka), Taganrog Museum of City Development,
Chekhov Drama Theater, Chekhov Public Library, Alferaki Palace, and many other monuments and Chekhov places. The interest for Chekhov is also due to the fact that the name of our counryman is directly related to the resort city of Opatija, where Anton Chekhov stayed in 1894.
The name of
Anton Chekhov is well known in Croatia - as children from Croatia already participated in
the International Children's Art Competition "Anton Chekhov and Characters of his Works".
April 11, 2009 the Croatian delegation was received by Mayor Fedyanin at Mayor's Office and by Alexander Amerkhanov, President of the
Chamber of Commerce and Industry at TICCI headquarters. Mayor Fedyanin underlined that the common cultural heritage and the name of Chekhov brings together the two cities and no financial crisis will prevent us from communicating with each other. The municipalities are planning to continue the exchange and sign a partner city agreement in 2010.
The establishment of contacts between the two cities was initiated in 2008 by the former
Croatian Ambassador to Russia Bozo Kovacevic after his visit to Taganrog during the
the First International Ranevskaya Drama Festival "The Great Province" in Taganrog. The theater Zhar Ptitsa from Zagreb (Croatia) presented at the festival its one-person play "Lost Dreams" (based on Chekhov's play "The Cherry Orchard"). The play was staged at the historical building "The Chekhov Shop", where young
Anton Chekhov and his classmates produced the first "home" plays.
