Yaroslavl

A thousand-year-old city on the Volga whose historic center is a World Heritage Site, packed with frescoed churches and monasteries, with an easy side trip to the Kremlin of Rostov Veliky.

Yaroslavl lies about 260 km northeast of Moscow, where the Kotorosl River flows into the Volga. Legend says it was founded around 1010 by Yaroslav the Wise, and it is the largest of the Golden Ring towns. In the 17th century merchants funded churches here in great numbers, leaving a wealth of brick, multi-domed churches covered in frescoes, and the historic center was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2005. The sights are concentrated in the old town at the confluence of the two rivers: the Volga Embankment, Strelka Park and the Dormition Cathedral at the confluence, the Church of Elijah the Prophet, the Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Savior, the Governor's House art museum, and the private "Music and Time" museum; you can cover the main sights on foot in a day. Slightly farther out, the Church of St. John the Baptist at Tolchkovo, the Korovniki ensemble and the Tolga Convent make a good second day by car or bus. There are two classic day trips: Rostov Veliky, about 55 km southwest (the Kremlin, the Spaso-Yakovlevsky Monastery and Lake Nero), and the small Volga town of Tutayev, about 35 km northwest. Getting there: the Lastochka express from Moscow's Yaroslavsky Station takes about 3 hours, and the city is a regular stop for Volga river cruises. The best season is May–Sep; many frescoed churches open only in summer and may close temporarily in rain or high humidity; winters are cold but the snow scenes are beautiful. Allow 2–3 days.

Top sights

• Church of Elijah the Prophet – A five-domed church built in the 17th century with donations from wealthy merchants. Its walls are covered in well-preserved murals, making…
• Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery – A white-walled monastery founded in the 12th century, where the manuscript of The Tale of Igor's Campaign was discovered. You can see the w…
• Volga Embankment – A 19th-century embankment on the high bank of the Volga, lined with gazebos, the governor's residence, and historic churches. It is the mai…
• Rostov Kremlin – A 17th-century residence of the metropolitan on the shore of Lake Nero, with white walls, towers, painted churches, and 13 famous bells. It…
• Strelka Park – A headland park at the confluence of the Kotorosl and Volga rivers. According to legend, Prince Yaroslav founded the city here, and a mille…
• Church of St John the Baptist at Tolchkovo – A red-brick church with fifteen domes that once appeared on the back of the 1,000-ruble banknote. It has the largest wall paintings of any…
• Yaroslavl Art Museum (Governor's House) – Housed in a neoclassical governor's house on the Volga riverbank, it holds Russian paintings from the 18th to 20th centuries, and the back…
• Spaso-Yakovlevsky Monastery – A monastery on the shore of Lake Nero in Rostov, with green domes reflected in the water. It is a classic photo spot in Rostov.
• Resurrection Cathedral, Tutayev – A 17th-century cathedral on the banks of the Volga, with richly decorated exterior walls and a large Savior icon about 3 meters tall inside.
• Dormition Cathedral – A white cathedral on Strelka, originally built in 1215, destroyed by Soviet authorities in 1937, and rebuilt on the original site in 2010 t…
• Church of St Nicholas Nadein – The first stone church in Yaroslavl built by merchants, constructed in the 1620s. It preserves 17th-century murals and a carved, gilded ico…
• Church of the Epiphany – A 17th-century church with red-brick walls inlaid with green glazed tiles, located directly across from the gate of the Transfiguration Mon…
• Metropolitan's Chambers – A 17th-century residence in Yaroslavl used by the Metropolitan of Rostov, now a museum of ancient icons and early Russian art.
• Music and Time Museum – A private museum founded by a magician, with music boxes, gramophones, antique clocks, and bells. Guides give live demonstrations during to…
• Volkov Theatre – Russia's first professional theater, founded in 1750 by Fyodor Volkov. The current theater building was completed in 1911.
• Korovniki Ensemble – A group of 17th-century churches on the Volga riverbank, with a 38-meter tent-roofed bell tower known as the 'Candle of Yaroslavl.'
• Tolga Monastery – A women's monastery on the left bank of the Volga, founded in 1314, with colorful domes set against the river views and an ancient oak grov…
• Vlasyevskaya (Znamenskaya) Tower – A 17th-century tower and surviving piece of the old town's defensive works, standing beside Volkov Square in the city centre as one of Yaro…
• Karabikha (Nekrasov Estate) – The summer estate of the poet Nekrasov, with an 18th-century noble mansion, gardens and a memorial house, about 15 km south of the city.
• Yaroslavl Zoo – A large landscape-style zoo in Russia, with animals kept in enclosures among woodland and ponds, well suited to families with children.
• Uglich Kremlin (Church of St. Dmitry on the Blood) – A fortress in the Golden Ring town of Uglich on the Volga, where the red-walled, blue-domed Church of St. Dmitry on the Blood stands on the…

Where to eat

• Sobranie – A restaurant-museum located within the Music and Time Museum complex on the Volga embankment, recreating old recipes us…
• Skazka. Eda i Vino – A modern Russian restaurant on Svobody Street, where most dishes are prepared in a Russian oven or on a charcoal grill…
• Mamuka – A highly rated Georgian restaurant on Pervomaysky Boulevard with its own bakery and cheese dairy, often requiring reser…
• Ioann Vasilevich – A hotel restaurant themed after the Soviet comedy film "Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future," serving home-style Russi…
• Brugge – A Belgian-style brasserie on the second floor of Sobinova Street, famous for its mussels, waffles, and craft beers.

Itineraries

• Golden Ring & Volga River Loop Tour – Charter a car to travel counter-clockwise around the Golden Ring, connecting monasteries, Volga River towns, and white-…