Kimry Art Nouveau (Zarechye)

17 points1 km0 hours

Today we invite you to explore the sights of Zarechye, the part of Kimry across the river. In the village of Kimry, in Zarechye (that is, across the little Kimrka River), a church has stood since time immemorial. It is first mentioned in documents from 1635, and ever since then Zarechye has also been called the Ascension side. On this route you'll mostly see quirky wooden houses in the early 20th-century Art Nouveau style. Art Nouveau was the last major style of pre-revolutionary Russia, flourishing from the late 1880s to the early 1900s. Its hallmarks include fanciful roofs, rounded windows, little balconies and benches by the entrance, and rich carved decoration.

Route author

Susanin Team

Things to do

📜 Learn the city's history
👀 Watch city life

Route points (17)

Church of the Ascension in Kimry

Point on route “Kimry Art Nouveau (Zarechye)”

Point 1

Church of the Ascension

🕍 Place of worship • 📜 Historic site

A Federal Architectural Landmark

The Church of the Ascension is the oldest stone building in Kimry. It was built in 1813 to mark the end of the Patriotic War of 1812, on the site of an earlier wooden church. Construction was funded by the parishioners and by the Bashilov brothers, wealthy merchants. The bell tower and refectory were completed in 1829, mainly with money from the merchant Moshkin, who also paid for the interior decoration and the gilding of the crosses. After the October Revolution the church was confiscated and handed over for use to a newly formed religious community, and until 1941 it remained the only working church in town. After it closed, it housed an oil mill, a warehouse and a substation of the city heating network. In 1990 the church was returned to believers.