A Walk Along Millionnaya

16 points2 km0 hours

A. L. Konovalova, a student at the Tver College of Service and Tourism, together with the Tver Tourist Information Center, invites you for a walk along Millionnaya (“Millionaires' Street”), the old name of Tver's main street, to discover your hometown anew and be inspired by its rich history! We look forward to seeing you!

Route author

Tver Tourist Information Center

Things to do

📜 Learn the city's history
🔍🖼️ Spot interesting details
📸 Take photos

Route points (16)

Monument to Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver in Tver

Point on route “A Walk Along Millionnaya”

Point 2

Monument to Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver

📸 Take photos • 🗿 Monument

About the Sculpture

The monument to Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver (1271–1318), Grand Prince of Tver, was unveiled in the center of Tver in May 2008. The composition is the work of A. N. Kovalchuk, a People's Artist of Russia. The sculptor's interpretation of the prince is meant to embody greatness of spirit and to express the calm and confidence of a statesman. As Kovalchuk conceived it, the gesture of the prince, the heavenly protector of Tver, can be read at once 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. This spot is the starting point for walking and bus tours. In November 2024 two bronze bas-reliefs were installed on the pedestal of the monument to Mikhail of Tver. On December 5, 2024, the feast day of Mikhail of Tver, they were unveiled and consecrated. The bas-reliefs were made from sketches by the sculptor Andrei Kovalchuk, a People's Artist of Russia. They depict scenes from the life of Prince Mikhail of Tver: the building of the Transfiguration of the Savior Cathedral and the Battle of Bortenevo in 1317.

Historical Background

Mikhail of Tver was a nephew of Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky and the first to begin unifying Rus after the Mongol invasion. 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. Local historians believe this battle can be 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. After the khan's trial, the prince was clamped in stocks. After long abuse and torment, Mikhail of Tver was killed. 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.