Ivan the Terrible's Northern Capital

10 points2 km2.5 hours

A route about Ivan the Terrible's activities in Vologda, the start of the kremlin's construction and the city's development. In the 16th century Vologda held a unique place in Ivan IV's geopolitical plans. The tsar saw the city not just as a regional center but as a strategic “gateway” to the White Sea, the lands beyond the Urals and Europe. When the northern lands were made part of the Oprichnina in 1565, Vologda's status as the state's second, reserve capital was sealed.

Route author

Vologda Tourism

Things to do

📜 Learn the city's history
🗺️🎒 Themed route
🏰🕵️‍♂️ Discover a legend

Route points (10)

Mira Street in Vologda

Point on route “Ivan the Terrible's Northern Capital”

Point 1

Mira Street

📜 Historic site

The Start of the Kremlin's Construction

The history of Mira Street began in the mid-16th century. In 1565–1566, on Ivan the Terrible's orders, large-scale construction in stone and earth got under way in Vologda: the tsar had decided to make the city his northern Oprichnina capital. In 1564–1565, as the fortress was being built, the Zolotukha River was deepened on Ivan the Terrible's orders and turned into a defensive moat, along which the first wooden houses appeared. As building went on, the old lane stretched south along the riverbank and became known as Zolotushnaya Street. In 1676 the Church of St. Nicholas on Glinka was built in the Rassylnichya Sloboda, where a canal joined the Zolotukha with the Shogrash River. Later it was from this church that Glinkovskaya Street started, running south toward what was then empty land.