旅人る - Tabibito

 

Veliky Ustyug

 

 

The town on the very northeast of Vologda oblast. The number of historical monuments here is comparable to Suzdal or other famous towns of the Golden Ring. But Veliky Ustyug is too remote for tourists. Since the late 1990s, the town has been diligently promoting itself as the "homeland of Father Frost" (Russian or more precisely, Soviet Santa) but, fortunately, not very persistently.

 

In one of the hotels Father Frost even left an electric car charger for travelers. But I doubt that it is possible to get here in an electric car as the nearest charger will be in about 450 km.

 

The town is quite easy to explore. There is an embankment of the Sukhona River with temples and palaces.

 

Parallel to the embankment is a semi-pedestrian Sovetsky Avenue.

 

Next to the Sovetsky Avenue is Krasnaya street.

 

But let's go back to the embankment. Cathedral courtyard with the Assumption Cathedral (mid-17th century)

 

Remains of paintings in the zakomars of the Church of Procopius the Righteous.

 

Church of St. Nicholas Gostunsky (1685), with a painted bell tower.

 

The oldest surviving building in the city: Ascension Church (1648).

 

Baroque church of Simeon the Stylite (1765) located on the outskirts.

 

Churches of Savior and Candlemas (late 17th - early 18th centuries). They are occupied by the municipal archive.

 

There are very, very many tiles on the walls of one of them.

 

Michael the Archangel Monastery and its main gates.

 

Inside the monastery itself is empty and beautiful.

 

Сhurch of Elijah the Prophet (1745), with an angel on the bell tower spire.

 

Most of the tiles from its apse and other parts were scattered into souvenirs in 1990s.

 

Church of the Myrrh-Bearing Women (1722) with a museum of Christmas tree decorations inside.

 

Now to civil architecture. Presentable merchant mansions on the embankment next to the Cathedral Courtyard.

 

Funny lions on the gate of Buldakov's estate.

 

Other gates in the center.

 

An elegant post office on Oktyabrsky Lane.

 

A couple of very well-preserved estates built in the 1770s on Shilova Street.

 

There are elegant wooden houses, many of which are already abandoned.

 

Of course, most of the city's residents do not live in elegant houses, but in ordinary two-storied wooden barracks. Sometimes decorated with platbands, but more often without them.

 

But let's not talk about sad things. There are good cats in Veliky Ustyug.

 

And infrastructure for cats.

 

Local bus with a secondary route sign telling "via the Mountain".

 

Stars that were used to mark houses with living WWII veterans.

 

Amateur decorations in the courtyard.

 

Other details and views.

 

 

Across the river - the ensemble of churches in the village of Dymkovo, which is now part of the town. It's worth going there if possible.

 

Firstly, the two churches themselves are interesting: Demetrius of Thessalonica (1708) and Sergei of Radonezh (mid-18th century).

 

But the best thing about them is the beautiful views of the city center.

 

Getting in (as of August 2023): the train from Moscow takes 20 hours to get there. Sometimes there are also faster tourist trains. The local airport has a brand new landing strip but still not much flights from major cities. The nearest big city is Vologda, the drive will take more than 5 hours.

Where to stay: The HappyInn has a variety of small and big apartments.

What to eat: Bar Pogrebok.

 

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