From an Ancient Settlement to the City of Vologda

15 points2 km4 hours

This route takes you deep into the city's history, from the first settlements to the heyday of merchant Vologda. Along the way, layer after layer of the city's past is revealed: traces of fortifications, the sites of former squares, and corners with carefully preserved wooden houses and carved front gardens that tell of the everyday life and tastes of Vologda's people through the ages.

Route author

Vologda Tourism

Things to do

📜 Learn the city's history
🌆🌿 Soak up the atmosphere
🍲🎶 Local culture

Route points (15)

Kremlin Garden in Vologda

Point on route “From an Ancient Settlement to the City of Vologda”

Point 9

Kremlin Garden

🌳 Botanical garden • 🌿 Public garden or park

Historical Background

Vologda's Kremlin Garden is one of the city's oldest parks, with a history closely tied to the Vologda Kremlin and stretching back several centuries. The place has gone through many transformations — from an apple orchard to a botanical garden and factory grounds — and today it is once again a favorite place for locals to relax. In the 16th century the kremlin wall and moat stood here, built on the orders of Ivan the Terrible, who wanted to make Vologda the capital of the northern Oprichnina lands. The fortress was twice the size of the Moscow Kremlin. A garden was laid out beyond the fortress wall no later than 1688, belonging to the bishop's residence. At first apple trees were grown here, but they took root poorly and bore almost no fruit. In 1771 some of the apple trees were cut down and lindens were planted in their place. At the same time the moats were filled in and the remains of the Vologda fortress were dismantled. The last tower, the Powder Tower, was demolished in 1823.

A Reminder of a Grand Plan

The remains of the moat were not filled in but turned into ponds, which kept changing shape. In the 18th century, when the fortress walls began to crumble, the Bishop's Garden appeared on the site of the fortifications, with fruit trees and swans, but ordinary townspeople were not allowed in. After the 1917 revolution the grounds changed considerably. In 1924 a 4-hectare botanical garden was founded here. It grew more than 80% of the plant species found in Vologda Governorate, plus another 20% of the flora typical of the Northern Region. But already in 1925 three quarters of the garden were handed over to the transport workshops of the local branch of the Northern Railway. The greenery partly survived thanks to a condition set by the provincial authorities: the new tenant was forbidden to touch the trees and shrubs. In the late 1920s the garden was handed over to the railcar repair plant and became known as VRZ Park (the culture and recreation park of the Vologda locomotive repair plant). Many locals still call it that. The park got its current name, the Kremlin Garden, in 2013.