The Archbishop's Court was established within the Vologda Kremlin between 1671 and 1675 to serve as the residence and administrative centre. Since the walls of the Vologda Kremlin no longer survive many people actually mistake the Archbishop's Court for the kremlin itself as the court is surrounded by monastery walls. Inside the court you can find some of the oldest surviving stone buildings of the city dating from the mid-17th century. A second wave of construction took place in the mid-18th century on the orders of Archbishop Iosif the Golden, which gave the court its present-day appearance. In 1923 the court was nationalised and it became the base of the Vologda State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve, which it remains to this day. The court's buildings are now used to hold exhibitions on various themes.

Resurrection Cathedral (Art Gallery)

Standing in the north-eastern corner of the court is the Resurrection Church, which was built between 1772 and 1776 to serve as a heated winter church as opposed to the cold summer church of St Sophia's Cathedral. The cathedral is baroque in style and oval in form which a large central dome surrounded by four smaller ones. The cathedral was closed in 1923 and used to hold the museum-reserve's Art Gallery.

Simonovsky Building and the Nativity of Christ Church (Nature and History Departments)

In the north-western corner you will find the Simovsky Building which incorporates the Nativity of Christ Church. The complex was built between 1669 and 1670 and consists of a large three-story building which accommodated the bishop and monks who lived at the residence. Today the complex holds the nature-reserve's Nature and History Departments.

Iosifovsky Building

The Iosifovsky Builing is named after Archbishop Iosif the Golden who oversaw much of the construction work at the court in the mid-17th century. The Iosifovsky Building was built between 1764 and 1769 and its exterior has survived almost in its original form. The building served as the residence of the bishop and inside several traditional Russian ovens have survived which are beautifully decorated with tiles. The building also has a gallery displaying portraits of archbishops of Vologda.

Three-Storied Building (Art Departments)

The long building running along the eastern wall to the south of the Resurrection Cathedral is known as the Three-Storied Building, which once held a Slavic-Latin school and residential quarters. Today it houses three art departments: Ancient Culture which displays icons from the 16th to 18th century, Vologda Art and Crafts which details the various forms of handicraft for which Vologda is known and Folk Art which has examples of traditional clothes and items of the people of the Russian North.