Historic Center of Ryazan

Photo of route “Historic Center of Ryazan” — 3

19 points5 km6 hours

Ryazan is an ancient city with a distinctive history. On this route you'll find out why Kolovrat's horse is rearing while Oleg of Ryazan's stands calmly; who keeps a close watch over the city; where the “Swan Princess” from Vrubel's painting lived; and how Hollywood is connected with an inconspicuous house. And you'll simply enjoy an unhurried stroll through the old streets of the historic center.

Route author

Susanin Team

Things to do

📜 Learn the city's history
🏛️🕰️ Compare the eras

Route points (19)

Summer Club of the Assembly of the Nobility in Ryazan

Point on route “Historic Center of Ryazan”

Point 17

Summer Club of the Assembly of the Nobility

📜 Historic site • 🏟️ Architectural landmark

Historical Background

Until the late 1880s the local nobility had no “pleasure establishment” of their own and rented private estates. Wandering from one rented place to another was “beneath their rank,” so they decided to get their own. Thus in 1888, on the site of the Loginov estate in the Lower Park, the first building of the Summer Club of the Noble Assembly appeared. Alas, it didn't last long: in 1902 it burned down. But less than three years later a new, more graceful openwork mansion stood on the site, a place “for the soul and conversation over sterlet.”

Architecture

The building of the Summer Club of the Assembly of the Nobility was designed by the governorate architect I. S. Tsekhansky in 1905. To save money, the new club was built on the foundations of the burned one. Under the roof of this Russian-style house with wooden columns, the local nobility amused themselves in style. Inside were a restaurant with an exquisite menu, a hall with card tables for the “gamblers,” a billiard room, and a “music” veranda. Despite the name “noble,” the club was open not only to the local gentry but to all “decently dressed townspeople.”

An Elegant Lady's Dress

The people of Ryazan call the Summer Club building the “carved house,” while visitors have bestowed more emotional epithets on the openwork mansion: “Ded Moroz's (Grandfather Frost's) tower,” “an elegant lady's dress,” “a Russian North–style log house,” or a villa in the “resort style” of the Baltic coast. But locals and tourists agree on one thing: Tsekhansky's creation makes a wonderful backdrop for souvenir photos from Ryazan. Today the building houses the Center for Folk Art.