Guide to Yaroslavl

contents: facts - history - main sights - transportation - communication - accommodation

FACTS. Yaroslavl is quite big city 260 kilometers north of Moscow. There are 630 000 inhabitants in the city. The main industries are machinery and oil industry, there's one of the biggest oil companies 'Slavneft' working there, so the city is quite polluted.

HISTORY. Since the ancient times there were settlements of Finn-Ugor tribes assimilated with the Slavs at the junction of Volga and Kotorosl rivers. In the beginning of the 11th century Yaroslav Mudry ('Wise') founded a fortress here, which he called 'Yaroslavl'.
Because of its favourable location on the river, the town became an important trade center in the beginning of the 13th century. At the times of Tartar invasion (13th-14th centuries) Yaroslavl was burned and demolished, but in the 15th century it was mostly restored and rebuilt and became an important commercial center again, for a period of time it was the second richest and powerful city in Russia, after Moscow.

ORIENTATION. Yaroslavl is a big town, so probably you'll prefer public transport to walking to move around the city. However, it's better to walk around the old historical center. Svobody (Ô‰”‡”Šž) street goes from the main railway station to the centrum, and finishes between the Red square (¹¶ˆ–’ˆ§ •‘”�ˆŠŸ) and Spassky monastery (Ô•ˆ––��Ž “”’ˆ–˜ž¶Ÿ), which are about 1 kilometer apart. If you walk another 700 meters straight ahead, you'll come on the embankment of Volga river, there are many interesting old houses, churches and museums.

THE MAIN SIGHTS
Yaroslavl starts from the Spassky monastery (Saviour monastery), that was founded in the 12th century at the place where Kotorosl river meets Volga river. The main entrance to the monastery were the Saint gates (Svyatye vorota), that were built in 1516, but were changed since then (the decorations and the small church on top were added in 1621).
The monastery was surronded by powerful walls, parts of which you can see nowadays (they are almost 400 years old). The main church of the monastery is also the oldest building left in Yaroslavl: Spaso-Preoprazhensky cathedral (Savior Transfiguration cathedral), which is almost 500 years old (the foundation is 800 years old). It was built very skilfully in the best traditions of Russian architecture of the time. It was the idea of the creators, that the cathedral will be different, depending from which side you to look at it: the domes are put non-symmetrically, there are.different archs and various paintings on the different sides of the cathedral.
Nowadays, on the territory of the monastery there's also a museum of history of Yaroslav region, and an exhibition of ancient Russian paintings, crafts, old hand-written and printed books.
Spassky monastery: 25, Bogoyavlenskaya sq. Phones: (0852) 30-38-69. Open hours: 10.00-17.30, day off: monday.
Next to the monastery there's the richly decorated Epiphany church (Tserkov Bogoyavleniya). Built in the end of the 17th century, this church had more Moscovitan than Yaroslavl look.
If you walk from the monastery to the direction of Volga river you'll see the white Church of Ilia the Prophet (Tserkov Ilii Proroka) with five green domes. It was built in 1647-1650, and is considered to be one of the main sights in Yaroslavl. The main attraction are the fresoes made by Gury Nikitin and Sila Slavin – the famous masters from Kostroma, who decorated at least one church in every Golden Ring town in the 17th century. The frescoes depict the life of saints.
Along the embankment of the Volga river there are many old houses, churches, an art museum, and a history museum (17, Volzhskaya emb., phone: (0852) 30-41-75, opened: 10.00-17.00 ex. wed).


TRANSPORTATION. You can get to Yaroslavl by train, by bus, or by boat. See more information with bus, train, and boat schedules and prices in our Yaroslavl Transportation section.

COMMUNICATION. The phone code of Yaroslavl is 0852. Inside Yaroslavl you should just dial a local 6-digit number, without any codes.
The main post, phone and telegraph office is located on Bogoyavlenskaya (ß”‹”§‰‘Œ’–�ˆ§) square, next to the Spassky monastery. Opened daily from 8 until 19, except on sunday until 18.
The mobile phones of 'MTS' or 'BeeLine' companies are working in the whole Yaroslav region, a minute costs around $0.5 for local calls, and $0.8 for calls to Moscow. If you have roaming with the two companies, you can use your cellphone in Yaroslavl.

WHERE TO STAY IN YAROSLAVL. Here we list all hotels in Yaroslavl. The hotels are listed in the alphabetical order, the cheapest single will cost around $15 US, the cheapest double – around $20 US.

VOLGA HOTEL
Centrally located, next to Volkova square, close to Spassky monastery
Address: 10, Kirova (¹�¶”‰ˆ) ul. Phone: (0852) 30-18-31

KOLOS HOTEL
Located far from the centrum.
Address: 16, Silikatnoe (Ô�‘��ˆ˜’”Œ) shosse. Phone: (0852) 44-17-09

KOTOROSL HOTEL
Quite close (10 mins walking) to Yaroslavl Glavny train station, and a bit far from the center (about 2km).
Address: 87, Bolshaya Oktyabrskaya (ß. ³�˜§‡¶Ÿ–�ˆ§). Phone: (0852) 21-24-15

MEDVEZHY UGOL HOTEL ('Bear's Corner')
Centrally located, next to the Red Square, within 5 minute walk to Spassky monastery.
Address: 16, Sverdlova (Ô‰Œ¶Š‘”‰ˆ) ul. Phone: (0852) 30-35-85.

STARY GOROD HOTEL ('Old Town')
Close to the centrum, 10 minutes walk to Spassky monastery.
Address: 46, Svobody (Ô‰”‡”Šž) ul. Phone: (0852) 72-65-75

TURIST HOTEL
Further from the centrum, about 15-20 minutes walking.
Address: 2, Lenina (ÜŒ’�’ˆ) prospekt. Phone: (0852) 72-86-15

YAROSLAVL HOTEL
Centrally located, next to the Red Square, 5 minutes to Spassky monastery.
Address: 40/2, Ushinskogo (Ò¿�’–�”‹”) ul. Phone: (0852) 30-50-75

YUBILEINAYA HOTEL
Centrally located, closest to Spassky monastery.
Address: 11a, Kotoroslskaya (¹”˜”¶”–‘Ÿ–�ˆ§) embankment. Phone: (0852) 30-92-59

YUTA HOTEL
Centrally located, 5 minutes to Spassky monastery.
Address: 79, Respublikanskaya (°Œ–•—‡‘��ˆ’–�ˆ§) ul. Phone: (0852) 21-87-93