Hurry to Tver

13 points4 km2.5 hours

This route introduces you to Tver's main sights, from cathedrals and monuments to a creative cluster and the embankments. Let's get going!

Route author

Tver Tourist Information Center

Things to do

📜 Learn the city's history
🏛️🕰️ Compare the eras

Route points (13)

Monument to Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver in Tver

Point on route “Hurry to Tver”

Point 2

Monument to Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver

🗿 Monument

About the Sculpture

The monument to Grand Prince Mikhail of Tver (1271–1318) was unveiled in May 2008. The composition is the work of Andrei Kovalchuk, a People's Artist of Russia. As the sculptor conceived it, the gesture of the prince, the heavenly protector of Tver, can be read as a farewell, a greeting, and a blessing. Around the pedestal runs a band of Slavic ornament on Orthodox themes. The pedestal is also crowned with a bronze shield, a symbol of the defense of the Tver land and of all Rus. The monument is 8.5 meters (28 feet) high.

Historical Background

Mikhail of Tver was a nephew of Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky. In December 1317 Mikhail was the first to meet the Horde khan's cavalry in open battle, at Bortenevo (now in the Staritsa district), forcing it to flee the battlefield. This clash is ranked alongside the Battle on the Ice and the Battle of Kulikovo. The Horde sentenced Mikhail of Tver to death. On learning of this, the prince, to prevent a new punitive campaign by the Horde against the Tver lands, went himself to Khan Uzbek in the North Caucasus, where he died a martyr's death. Only a year later was the coffin with his body brought to Tver. Prince Mikhail was buried on the bank of the Volga in the Transfiguration of the Savior Cathedral. In 1549 Prince Mikhail was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.