Yaroslavl is one of the eight city's of Russia's Golden Ring, a group of touristic, historic towns around Moscow. Yaroslavl is situated on the north-eastern side of this 'ring' and is the largest city in its chain. Whilst the city is best known for its architectural merits, it also has a relatively large repertoire of cultural attractions.
A panoramic view of the area surrounding the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery (central Yaroslavl)
Many Orthodox shrines and monasteries lie along the banks of the Volga.
Church of Elijah the Prophet in Yaroslavl
Architecture
Despite the effects of the Russian Civil War and a number of air-raids during World War II, the city of Yaroslavl has managed to retain a great deal of its 17th, 18th and 19th century urban substance. This has helped make the city recognizable as a monument to the architectural development and style of the Russian Tsardom. The center of the city, which covers an area of around 600 hectares has around 140 individual federally-protected architectural monuments. Since 2005, this ensemble, along with the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery has been included on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Despite all this, there are a number of buildings of architectural merit which are located outside of the city center.
Old town
The old town is effectively triangular in shape; this triangle is formed by the natural border provided to the south and east by the Kotorosl andVolga rivers, and on the land side by the geometric pattern of the street plan, which dates from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Constructed in 1506�1516 on the foundations of the original edifice dating back to 1216�1224. In the 16th century, the first stone wall is built around the monastery. It is from this monastery that an army of volunteers led by Minin and Prince Pozharsky set out to liberate Moscow from Polish invaders. In 1787, the monastery was closed and converted into a
