Kovrov: Getting to Know the Town

11 points3 km1.5 hours

This route takes you through old Kovrov and introduces its history and architecture. You'll see the Nativity and Transfiguration cathedrals, the fire station, the Trading Rows and other landmarks of the 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as places tied to the town's development.

Route author

Susanin Team

Things to do

📜 Learn the city's history
🔍🖼️ Spot interesting details

Route points (11)

Dokukin Merchant House
🕵️ Urban legend · 🍽️ Cafés and restaurants
Dokukin Merchant House
Points will be available after purchasing the route
Sokolov Merchant House
📜 Historic site

Dokukin Merchant House in Kovrov

Point on route “Kovrov: Getting to Know the Town”

Point 1

Dokukin Merchant House

🕵️ Urban legend • 🍽️ Cafés and restaurants

Historical Background

The plot on the corner of what are now Abelmana and Oktyabrskaya streets was sold by the town duma to the Kovrov merchants Dokukin in 1872. The stone house itself was built in the late 1890s by Nikolai Ivanovich Dokukin, a descendant of peasants from the village of Staroye Shashovo. Unlike his ancestors, he did not go into trade: he took up politics, joined the Constitutional Democratic (Kadet) Party and rented the house out. From 1900 to 1917 the ground floor held a tavern run by A. Ya. Dobychin, a Moscow townsman, which was the best restaurant in town by the standards of the time. The second floor had guest rooms, and next door was a bakery owned by M. I. Khokhlova, a townswoman from Sudogda.

The Building in the 20th Century

After 1918 the house passed to the town. First a passenger waiting room and a hotel opened here, then a post and telegraph office that operated until 1964. After that the bus station moved in and stayed until 2006. Today the two-story white and yellow building houses a pizzeria. The house is on the list of cultural heritage sites and remains part of the architectural character of Kovrov's historic center.