Tula is an old Russian city about 190 km south of Moscow, founded in 1146. It is best known for three things: Tolstoy, samovars, and weapons — an unlikely combination that gives the city real character.
The main draw is Yasnaya Polyana, Leo Tolstoy's estate, just 10 km outside town. The house where he wrote War and Peace and Anna Karenina is preserved much as he left it, set in parkland and birch forest. It is one of the finest literary house-museums in Russia and worth the trip from Moscow on its own.
Tula has been a centre of arms manufacturing since the 16th century — Peter the Great established the first state armoury here. The Tula State Museum of Weapons, housed in a striking modern building shaped like a helmet, has an excellent collection. The same metalworking tradition gave rise to samovar production, and the Samovar Museum exhibits an absurd variety of them, from tiny tabletop models to room-sized contraptions.
The city's Kremlin, recently restored, is compact and handsome, with two cathedrals inside its walls. The surrounding streets have a mix of pre-revolutionary merchant houses and Soviet-era blocks. Tula pryaniki — spiced honey cakes stamped with decorative patterns — are the local speciality, celebrated in their own Pryanik Museum, and make a good edible souvenir.