Yaroslavl region

• Yaroslavl region was founded in 1936

• Regional centre – city of Yaroslavl

• Region's area – 36,400 sq. km (0,21% of Russia's total area).

• Region's population (c. 1.01.2000) – 1,426,000 people.

• Density of population – 39,9 p/sq.km

• Administrative regions – 17

• Cities of regional subordination – 6

• Population of the largest cities: Yaroslavl – 623,000; Ribinsk – 247,400; Tutaev – 46,000.

History and Culture

One of the region’s great advantages is its closeness to Moscow and, hence, easy access by air, rail and road. You can get here by road along the M8 motorway from Moscow to Arkhangelsk and by rail from Moscow's Yaroslavskiy Railway Station . There is also a water way along the Volga river in summer.

Yaroslavl was founded in the beginning of the 11 century by Prince Yaroslav the Wise as a fortress on the right bank of the Volga River. According to legend, the Prince subdued the inhabitants by killing their sacred bear.

In 1612 it turned out to be the place of forming of the popular army by Minin and Pozharsky. It was a temporary capital (for about six months) of the Russian State, from where the army moved to Moscow.

The 17th century was the Golden Age in the history of Yaroslavl. It was a time of rapid economic growth, “flourishing” of culture, the creation of a certain style (Yaroslavl School) in architecture and painting. The first Russian professional theatre started its performances in Yaroslavl in 1750.

The names of many great people are inseparably connected with Yaroslavl: the founder of the first Russian theatre Fyodor Volkov, Russian poet Nikolai Nekrasov, opera singer Leonid Sobinov and the first woman-cosmonaut in the world, Valentina Tereshkova.

Sights

Spasso-Preobrazhensky Monastery (of the Transfiguration of the Saviour), founded in the second half of the 12th century, later became the Bishop's house and since 1959 the Yaroslavl Historic-Architectural Museum-preserve.

The Transfiguration of the Saviour Cathedral (1506-1516, decorated with wall-paintings in 1563-1564), the Holy Gate (1516), the Bell Tower, the Refectory and the Cross (Nativity) Church were built after a fire. In a rich library an original old Russian epic “The Lay of Igor's Host” was found in the 1780s.

The Tolgsky Monastery Ensemble (17-19 c.c.) is situated on the left bank of the Volga River. The Tolgsky Monastery was founded at the beginning of the 14 c. on the occasion of the appearance of the icon of the Holy Virgin. As the legend has it, in 1553 Ivan the Terrible was cured there. Right before the Millenium of the Christening of Russ in 1987 the revival of the cloister as a nunnery started there.

Remarkable in its beauty the church ensemble in Korovniki (middle of the 17th-18th centuries) embellished the Korovnitskaya Sloboda (settlement), at the mouth of the Kotorosl River. The oldest building of the complex is the Winter Church of St. John the Chrysostom. Between the two churches there is a 37m high bell tower (1680s). For its height and slender shape the citizens called it the “Yaroslavl candle”.

Yaroslavl Historic-Architectural Museum-Reserve, founded in 1895, possesses rich collections (more than 250,000 exhibits). There are expositions of Ancient Russian Paintings (the 1st half of the 16th century), luxurious cloths (the end of the 16th century beginning of the 20th century). There is a vast collection of church-plates of precious metals (works of Russian jewellers of 14-20th centuries) Of the most interest is the exposition of “Lay of Igor's Host”, open since 1980.

In 1997 the Yaroslavl Art Museum was announced “the best museum of the year” in the Russian provinces. The gems of the collection of the Old Russian Art of the 18-19th centuries in the Metropolitan's Chambers are such famous icons of the Yaroslavl school as “Saviour” (18th centuriy), “Virgin of Tolga” (1314). The pride of the collection of Russian paintings of the museum is the collection of Korovin’s works, Yaroslavl portrait of the first half of the 19th century. A unique peculiarity of the Governor's House is the park-museum “Governor's Garden”, where modern sculpture is represented, flower exhibitions are organized and music is often heard.

In the first private museum of Russia “Music and Time”, owned by G.Mostoslavsky, a unique collection of old clocks, musical instruments, bells and domestic utensils is presented.

The Literature-Memorial Museum-Rreserve of N.A.Nekrasov “Karabikha” is located in the estate of a great Russian poet in the old settlement of Karabikha. The estate in Karabikha is a beautiful architectural ensemble in the classical style well-preserved by now. One of the attractions of the museum is the park. Every summer there is the Nekrasov Festival of Poetry in Karabikha.

Rostov Veliky
Rostov, which has had its name Veliky since time immemorial is the oldest town of North-East Russ (862). It had been for a long time the capital of an independent principality on the territory of which there arose the small settlement of Moscow.

The real flourishing of the town, which determined its outlook for centuries ever after and brought it the glory of its architectural gems, occured in the 17 c. during the times of the metropolitan Iona Sysoyevitch.

The town was also a sacred centre of Russia. Here, in the birthplace of Saint Sergiy Radonezhsky, a world-wide fame came to the Rostov “finift” — the handicraft of miniature painting on enamel which had been developing in Rostov since the middle of the 18 century.

The Rostov chimes are known all over Russia. The German composer G.Berlioz and the Russian singer F.Shalyapin admired them. It is thought that the action of the famous Russian fairy-tale “The Pike’s Wish” took place right in Rostov.

The architectural ensemble of the Rostov Metropolitan's House, known as the Rostov Kremlin, is a pearl of Old Russian architecture.

The complex of buildings of the Bishop's Yard was formed between 1670 and 1690. The building of the residence started with the erection of the Holy Gate leading to the Cathedral of the Assumption, with the Over-the-Gate Church of the Resurrection (1670). In the Church the iconostasis is totally painted with frescoes. Two round towers add power and smartness to the whole ensemble.

The State Museum-Reserve “The Rostov Kremlin” was founded in 1883. Visitors can walk along its walls, which one can recollect from the famous film “Ivan Vasiljevitch changes his job”.

St. Jacob's Monastery of our Saviour, situated on the bank of Lake Nero, catches the eye of those travelling along the motorway which goes from Moscow to Yaroslavl. The first stone chapel, the Source Cathedral, was built in 1686. In 1709 St. Dimitry was buried in this chapel.

On the other end of the town overlooking the lake there is St.Avraamy's Monastery — one of the oldest in North-East Russ. It was founded at the end of the 11th century — beginning of the 12th century. The main monastery church — the Cathedral of the Epiphany (1553) — was built by the tsar Ivan the Terrible in honour of the capture of Kazan.

18 km away there is Sts. Boris and Gleb Monastery founded in the 14th century on the blessing of St. Sergiy Radonezhsky. The famous French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartr, who visited Borisoglebsk in 1961, commented on it thus: “Nowhere in the world have I seen a cloister of the kind. It is greater than the Roman monasteries of France. Nowhere in the world have I met such a whole blending of human being and nature”. The combination of the monastery-fortress and a tiny town around is truly fascinating.

The wooden Church of St. John the Divine (80s of XVII c.) is situated at the old crossing over the River Ishnya. It is the only wooden church left in the Yaroslavl Region and is located 3 km from Rostov.

Pereslavl-Zalessky
The town was founded in 1152 by the order of Prince Yury Dolgoruky, not far from the old Slav settlement Kletschino. The most famous of the Pereslavl Princes was Alexander Nevsky, who was born here and later moved to the Novgorod principality.

Ivan the Terrible liked to stay here and according the legend, his son Fyodor was born in the outskitrs of Pereslavl. On the banks of Lake Pleshcheyevo Peter the Great, together with Russian ship-wrights, developed the first Russian “poteshny” (amusement) flotilla, which was the basis of the subsequent Russian Navy.

Places of Interest
One of the main sights, Lake Pleshcheyevo, is well-known and is famous for its clean waters. In its waters there is still to be found the famous Pereslavl herring - “Tsar’s fish”, which was served to the Prince's and Tsar' tables. Quite unique in its way is Pereslavl National Park.

An Archeological monument “Kleshchin Complex” is 2 km north-west from the town. The centre of the complex is the Pereslavl fore-runner - Kleshchin, with its ancient ramparts of the 12 c. At the foot of the hill there is a pagan cult object — “The Blue Stone”, a huge grey-blue boulder weighing 12 tons.

The ramparts surrounding the historic centre of the town are the oldest witnesses of the foundation of Pereslavl. These huge (up to 9 metres high!) constructions are among the best in the old Russian cities in their preservation.

The Boat of Peter the Great Museum-Estate (branch of the museum-reserve) opened in 1803 on the bank of Lake Pleshcheyevo, when a separate building for the boat “Fortuna” was erected. Out of the whole flotilla only the boat “Fortuna” is left and it is kept in a separate building in the museum.

The St. Nicetas Monastery is the oldest in Pereslavl. It is supposed to have been founded in the 12th century. In the Supervisor's chambers of the monastery Peter the Great used to stay.

As legend has it, the St. Fyodor Monastery arose at the beginning of the XIV century. It was built by Ivan the Terrible. The Chapel “Cross” (17th century) belonging to the monastery is on the highway Moscow — Yaroslavl, not far from the place where a son, tsarevitch Fyodor, was born to Ivan the Terrible.

Dendrological garden, laid in 1956, has more than 1,000 plants, many of which are exotic.

HOTELS
¹ Hotel Address Tel./Fax/Web site/E-mail
1 Volga (**) Yaroslavl, Kirova St., 10 Tel.: (0852) 30-81-31
2 Volga (***) Rybinsk, 50 Let Oktyabrya Av., 32-a Tel.: (0855) 59-72-48
3 Dom Na Pogrebah Rostov, The Kremlin Tel.: (08536) 3-12-44
4 Zapadnaya Pereslavl-Zalessky, Plescheyevskaya St., 1-a Tel.: (08535) 3-43-78, 3-43-79
Tel./fax: (08535) 3-49-95
Web site: www.westhotel.ru
E-mail: info@westhotel.ru
5 Kosmos Yaroslavl, Gagarina St., 11 Tel.: (0852) 48-08-17
6 Kotorosl (***) Yaroslavl, Bolshaya Oktyabrskaya St., 87 Tel.: (0852) 21-24-15
7 Lesnaya Skazka, complex Pereslavl Region, place Krest Tel.: (08535) 2-08-63
8 Medvezhii ugol Yaroslavl, Sverdlova St., 16 Tel.: (0852) 30-35-85
9 Jubileinaya (***) Yaroslavl, Kotoroslnaya Emb., 11-a Tel.: (0852) 30-92-59, 72-65-65
Web site: www.yubil.yar.ru
E-mail: yubil@yaroslavl.ru
10 Pereslavl Pereslavl-Zalessky, Rostovskaya St., 27 Tel.: (08535) 2-15-59
11 Riverside Rostov Region, Semibratovo, Krasnodarskaya St., 1-a Tel.: (08536) 5-33-00, 5-31-55
12 Rybinsk (**) Rybinsk, Krestovaya St., 120 Tel.: (0855) 52-47-88
13 Sport Yaroslavl, Maijorov St., 8 Tel.: (0852) 27-33-98
14 Tourist (**) Yaroslavl, Lenin Av., 2 Tel.: (0852) 72-86-15
15 Uglich Uglich, Yaroslavskaya St. 50 Tel.: (08532) 5-03-70
16 Usad'ba Pleshanova Rostov, Leninskaya St. 34 Tel.: (08536) 3-74-41
17 Yutah Yaroslavl, Respublikanskaya St., 79 Tel.: (0852) 21-97-93
18 Yaroslavia Tutaev, Lunacharsky St., 40 Tel.: (08533) 2-17-76
19 Chaika Uglich, Zavodskoi proezd, 1-a Tel.: (08532) 9-75-93
20 Chaika Prospect Oktyabrya, 87a Tel.: (08532) 25-73-13
21 Yaroslavl Yaroslavl, Ushinsky St. 40/2 Tel.: (0852) 30-50-75


TRAVEL AGENCIES
¹ Agency Address Tel./Fax
1 Administration Department for Culture and Tourism Yaroslavl, Revolutsionnaya St., 9/4 Tel.: (0852) 30-52-29
Fax: (0852) 30-43-46
2 Tourism Committee Sovetskaya Sq., 1/19 Tel.: (0852) 30-41-35
Tel./Fax: (0852) 30-56-42
Web site: tourism.adm.yar.ru
E-mail: koptev@adm.yar.ru
3 Mayor's Office of the City of Yaroslavl Department
of International Relations and Tourism 		Yaroslavl, Andropova St., 6 Tel.: (0852) 30-23-78
Tel./Fax: (0852) 30-50-29
4 Rybinsk Municipal Administration Department for Culture,
Sports and Tourism 		Rybinsk, Rabochaya St., 1 Tel.: (0855) 52-30-65
Tel./Fax: (0855) 52-27-93
5 Pereslavl Zalessky Administration Department for Culture,
Youth, Sports and Tourism 		Pereslavl Zalessky, Narodnaya Sq., 1 Tel.: (08535) 2-17-68
6 Rostov Municipal Administration Culture, Sports and Youth Committee Rostov, Sovetskaya Sq., 15 Tel.: (08536) 3-37-60
7 Uglich Municipal Administration Department for Economics and Forecasting Uglich, Communa Sq., 2 Tel.: (08532) 2-07-69
8 Tutaev Municipal Administration Department for Culture and Tourism Tutaev, Kirova St., 35 Tel.: (08533) 3-04-93
9 Myshkin Municipal Administration Department for Culture,
Tourism, Sports and Youth 		Myshkin, Komarova Sq., 2 Tel.: (08544) 2-16-44


DEPARTMENT FOR TOURISM OF
YAROSLAVL REGION
Tel.: (0852) 30-41-35, 30-36-75
Fax: (0852) 30-56-2