Rostov the Great: Around the Town Center

7 points6 km6 hours

Rostov the Great is more than a thousand years old. Today it's a small town, but it was once a spiritual center of the country and a major trading post. Visit the local kremlin, which was never a fortress, and stroll down an old street lined with merchant buildings. Make the rounds of the local museums and find out how two famous heroes of Russian epic tales are connected with this place.

Route author

Susanin Team

Things to do

📜 Learn the city's history
🌆🌿 Soak up the atmosphere

Route points (7)

Kekin Estate in Rostov Veliky

Point on route “Rostov the Great: Around the Town Center”

Point 3

Kekin Estate

📜 Historic site • 🏟️ Architectural landmark

A Dynasty of Rostov Merchants

The Rostov merchant dynasty of the Kekins is first mentioned in 1615. Anikei Kekin, its first known member, was a humble shoemaker. His descendants were mainly traders, but they also went in for market gardening, a popular occupation in Rostov, and for a time even supplied hunting birds for the royal hunts. By the mid-18th century this was a dynasty of major entrepreneurs with businesses in St. Petersburg and Kazan Governorate. Its most famous heir was Alexei Leontyevich Kekin, born in 1838, who lived until 1897. Having inherited a fortune and the family's business acumen from his father, he was already running his own business at 16. In fifteen years he managed to increase his capital fivefold, and in his later years Alexei devoted himself mainly to charity, for which the people of Rostov still speak warmly of this merchant of the first guild.

A Great Rostov Philanthropist

For decades the Rostov Fair drew traders from all over Russia and involved almost the entire town. But the industrial revolution of the 19th century left it no chance. The fair ceased to exist, unable to compete with cheap goods from factories and mills delivered by the railroad built in 1870. So in 1878 Kekin founded the Rolma linen mill in the town. Remarkably, he built it not for commercial reasons but simply to create jobs and solve the town's unemployment problem after the fair had lost its importance! His further good deeds include building a water supply system, restoring the Rostov Kremlin, and opening the town's first public library. He continued his charity even after his death, bequeathing his entire fortune to the town. In accordance with his last wishes, his money was used to build a gymnasium (secondary school) named after him, which still serves its purpose today. You can see the school at 6 Moravskogo Street.

The Kekin Estate

Today the family estate houses the Museum of Rostov Merchants.