←Ivan the Terrible's Northern Capital

Ivan the Terrible's Northern Capital

Photo of route “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)

  1. Mira Street — point on route “Ivan the Terrible's Northern Capital”

    Mira Street

    📜 Historic site

  2. Trading Rows on Mira Street — point on route “Ivan the Terrible's Northern Capital”

    Trading Rows on Mira Street

    📜 Historic site

  3. Stone Bridge — point on route “Ivan the Terrible's Northern Capital”

    Stone Bridge

    🌉 Bridge · 📜 Historic site

  4. Trading Rows on Pobedy Avenue — point on route “Ivan the Terrible's Northern Capital”

    Trading Rows on Pobedy Avenue

    📜 Historic site

  5. Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God — point on route “Ivan the Terrible's Northern Capital”

    Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

    🕍 Place of worship

  6. Kremlin Square — point on route “Ivan the Terrible's Northern Capital”

    Kremlin Square

    ⛲ Square

  7. St. Sophia Cathedral — point on route “Ivan the Terrible's Northern Capital”

    St. Sophia Cathedral

    🕍 Place of worship · 📜 Historic site · 🕵️ Urban legend

  8. St. Sophia Cathedral Bell Tower — point on route “Ivan the Terrible's Northern Capital”

    St. Sophia Cathedral Bell Tower

    🕍 Place of worship

  9. Monument to St. Gerasim of Vologda — point on route “Ivan the Terrible's Northern Capital”

    Monument to St. Gerasim of Vologda

    🗿 Monument

  10. Lazy Square — point on route “Ivan the Terrible's Northern Capital”

    Lazy Square

    🗿 Monument

St. Sophia Cathedral Bell Tower in Vologda

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

St. Sophia Cathedral Bell Tower — point on route “Ivan the Terrible's Northern Capital”

Point 8

St. Sophia Cathedral Bell Tower

🕍 Place of worship

Historical Background

The history of the St. Sophia Cathedral bell tower began at the end of the 16th century with a wooden structure that was destroyed by fire during the Polish-Swedish intervention on September 22, 1612. Over the following decades it was twice rebuilt in wood: the octagonal tent-roofed belfry of the 1620s, described in detail in the 1627 cadastral book, burned in 1636, and the one built in its place in 1642 was dismantled to make way for stone construction. In the mid-17th century (1654–1659) a monumental pillar-like octagon was built using stone left over from Ivan the Terrible's buildings. It was crowned with a stone tent roof and a small dome, and by 1863 the belfry had 14 bells and a tower clock. You can get an idea of what it looked like from the bell tower of the Vladimirskiye Churches, which was modeled on it. In the 1860s the bell tower's appearance changed dramatically: under Bishop Palladius the old tent roof was taken down. On the mighty lower tier, about 17 meters high, the architect V. N. Schildknecht built a new tall landmark in the Gothic Revival style in 1869–1870. It reached 78.5 meters, 32 meters taller than its predecessor. Since then it has been the tallest bell tower in the Vologda Diocese.