The Ryazan Kremlin

14 points5 km4.5 hours

The Ryazan Kremlin is the best place to start getting to know Ryazan. On the “Kremlin route” you can see one of the largest Orthodox churches in Russia; find out where, legend has it, the great Prince Oleg of Ryazan hid his sword, which square in the city was called “Red,” and how the Diveevo convent is connected with the Ryazan Kremlin; take a photo at the city's most “iconic” selfie spot; and sip fragrant cardamom coffee like the one served on the biblical Via Dolorosa in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Route author

Susanin Team

Things to do

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

Route points (14)

“Island of Broken Dreams” in Ryazan

Point on route “The Ryazan Kremlin”

Point 12

“Island of Broken Dreams”

🕵️ Urban legend

Historical Background

The Ostrov (Island) settlement next to the Ryazan Kremlin appeared on the city map relatively recently, about 100 years ago. Before the revolution this was the bed of the Trubezh River. In the 1920s it was decided to build a harbor below the Kremlin walls where ships could spend the winter. Workers began digging a canal from the Trubezh to Lake Chirgin, and the earth left over from the work was used to create an artificial embankment. But the canal bed quickly silted up, so the harbor project had to be put on hold.

An Inhabited Island

In the 1950s the island was settled. River port workers lived in barracks-style wooden houses. For a long time the islanders' only link to the “mainland” was an old pontoon footbridge. Today there are two ways to get to the Island, where people still live: by a road built relatively recently, and by the traditional pontoon bridge from the Kremlin.

“Chronic” Bad Luck

At the start of the 21st century the island once again loomed large in ambitious redevelopment plans. There were plans to create the Ryazansky tourist and recreational cluster and to build a “Kremlin Posad” here. But again it didn't happen: the “Posad” remained a project on paper.

“Music Plays on the Riverboat”

From April, pleasure boats sail from the Kremlin pier opposite the Ostrov settlement. Accompanied by an audio guide, you can cruise from the Trubezh along the Oka to the Solotcha Bridge or the Shumashinsky Islands.