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 Square in Vologda

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

Point 10

Kremlin Square

⛲ Square • 📜 Historic site

Historical Background

Kremlin Square is one of the oldest squares in Vologda, next to the Bishop's Court (the Little Kremlin and Cathedral Hill). Its history is closely tied to the development of the kremlin ensemble and of the city as a whole. In the 16th century Tsar Ivan the Terrible decided to make Vologda the capital of the northern Oprichnina lands and ordered a fortress twice the size of the Moscow Kremlin to be built here. The terrain of the old settlement made this impossible, so on the tsar's orders the city center was moved downstream — to where Kremlin Square is today. In the time of Ivan the Terrible the central square was called Cathedral Square. It held St. Sophia Cathedral, the bishop's palace and the tsar's palace. In 1947, for the city's 800th anniversary, the old wooden pavement on Kremlin Square was replaced with stone. In 1957 the pavement was covered with asphalt. In the mid-1970s traffic through the square was closed, and it became pedestrian. Today Kremlin Square is home to St. Sophia and Resurrection Cathedrals, the St. Sophia bell tower, the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky, the monument to K. N. Batyushkov, the Lace Museum and other sights. The kremlin buildings house the Vologda Museum-Reserve.