!!!Golden Ring of Russia, Yaroslavl

by Sergey Shandin and Stas Sedov,
members of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

Yaroslavl has a very special place among other cities of the Golden Ring
of Russia. It is one of the first cities on the Volga River mentioned in
chronicles — as early as 1071. The most ancient settlements on the
territory of the city are dated the Neolithic age. Scientists found
different attributes on these lands: scandinavian weapon, runic
inscriptions and the biggest in the Northern Europe treasuries of arabic
coins. It means that being situated on the place of confluence of the
rivers Volga and Kotorosl, the settlement was on the main trade ways.
Over the succeeding years the settlement had fallen into decay, and was
reborn as a city later in the 10-12th centuries during the reign of
Yaroslav the Wise.

[{Image src='01_Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Saviour.jpg' caption='Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Saviour' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='349'}]

The foundation of the Yaroslavl Kremlin was laid on the place protected
from three sides by steep high banks of the Volga and Kotorosl rivers
and Medveditsky ravine. This Kremlin, sometimes referred as ‘Wooden
Town', is a triangle fortress situated directly on a river spit. It is
the actual heart of the city, that is where the history of Yaroslavl
began. However, sometimes the Monastery of the Transfiguration of the
Saviour is mistaken for the Yaroslavl Kremlin. So we shall start our
story with it.

[{Image src='02_Assumption Cathedral at night.jpg' caption='Assumption Cathedral at night' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='486'}]

This abode played a very important part in the history of Yaroslavl as
it was the religious, cultural and economic center for a long time.
Several architectural monuments of the 16th-19th centuries and
16th-century frescos remained on its territory. This is the place where
The Tale of Igor's Campaign, the greatest monument of the ancient
Russia, had been found.

The monastery was founded in the 12th century. It was situated outside
the city of that time near the ford of the river Kotorosol and occupied
angular position in the urban fortification system. The main Cathedral
bearing the same name was created as a part of the Monastery in 1224. In
the beginning of the 16th century the abode was dramatically damaged by
a fire and many buildings of the monastery had to be built anew. But the
Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Saviour has remained till
nowadays and presently is the most ancient building in Yaroslavl.

[{Image src='03_Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Saviour.jpg' caption='Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Saviour' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='656'}]

At the Time of Troubles (1598-1613) the monastery stood a siege, was
rebuilt and during the subsequent years continued to grow and
strengthen. By the end of the 17th century the walls of the Monastery of
the Transfiguration of the Saviour were 820 meters long, 10,5 meters
tall and 2,8-3 meters wide. The walls and towers of the monastery were
well armed: there were 15 big and 17 small arquebuses, 97 carabines and
14 barrels of gunpowder. The abode owned significant territories and had
an influence on social and domestic life of the city.

[{Image src='04_Church of St. John the Chrysostom.jpg' caption='Church of St. John the Chrysostom' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='656'}]

The present appearance of the monastic ensemble includes more than a
dozen monuments of historical importance. These are a gate, a belfry,
buildings for different purpose, towers and cathedrals. The most recent
monument of the complex is a funny one: it is the Monument of the Kopeck
of the year 1612 installed in 2013 which has the measure of more than
one meter in diameter. The aim of this monument is to preserve the
memory of the temporary mint that was issuing funds for civil defence
forces headed by Minin and Pozharsky.

[{Image src='05_Assumption Cathedral.jpg' caption='Assumption Cathedral' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='439'}]

Nowadays the territory of the Monastery is the base for the Yaroslavl
State Historical, Architectural and Cultural Museum-Preserve. And the
whole historic center is inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

So now we shall mention again the genuine Yaroslavl Kremlin, ‘Wooden
Town'. Naturally, its wooden buildings could not survive till nowadays.
In the end of the 17th century they were destroyed by a large fire
raging in the city. After that the ‘Wooden Town' was built anew out of
stone, but, unfortunately, it was out of luck again.

[{Image src='06_Monument to the 1000th anniversary of Yaroslavl.jpg' caption='Monument to the 1000th anniversary of Yaroslavl' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='509'}]

In the 18-19th centuries some of the cathedrals and buildings, that were
a part of the Kremlin, were demolished due to dilapidation. But the
greatest damage was yet to come as a result of revolution and the
following struggle against religious heritage. By the end of the 20th
century the historical ‘heart' of Yaroslavl, deprived of architectural
and semantic accents, was rather deserted. Only two of six cathedrals
remained on its territory: the Church of Nicolas Wooden and the Church
of Illya and Tikhon. But in 2004 reconstruction of this historical place
began and the Assumption Cathedral was built from scratch, though its
appearance turned out to be slightly different from its predecessor.

[{Image src='07_Church of Elijah the Prophet.jpg' caption='Church of Elijah the Prophet' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='549'}]

Catherine the Great played a very important part in the creation of
Yaroslavl's appearance: in the 18th century she carried out an extensive
town-planning reform guided by the rationalistic ideals of the age of
Enlightenment. As a result, Yaroslavl became a model of town-building
for other cities of the Russian Empire to follow.

[{Image src='08_Above the Sovetskaya Square.jpg' caption='Above the Sovetskaya Square' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='624'}]

Nowadays the historical center of Yaroslavl is an architectural ensemble
where monuments of different centuries are in harmony with each other
and untouched by the modern ‘boxes'. The International council for
saving monuments and sightseeings while recommending Yaroslavl to be
included into the list World's Heritage list, also noted the regularity
of the rhythm of the range-building plan. Two— and three-storey
buildings form wide and ‘green' streets which lead to spacious squares.
Numerous cathedrals and towers serve as visual and composition
dominants. The banks of the Kotorosl river and its islands remained
intact; the riverside station built in 1980ies does not interfere your
visual perception. Even in the ‘buffer area' the height of new buildings
does not exceed 14-17 meters making it possible to preserve carefully
all the architectural and historical complex of such an outstanding
Russian city as Yaroslavl, so you have an opportunity to make a
fascinating journey to this city right now.

\\ \\
[22 Panoramas of Yaroslav|Geography/Asia/Russia/Pictures/Panoramas_of_Golden_Ring_of_Russia_(Yaroslavl)]










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