Sights of Oryol

East of River Oka

Eagle Monument

  • Privokzalnaya Ploschad

Located on Privokzalnaya Ploschad (Railway Station Square) on a roundabout outside the railway station is an excellent modern sculpture of a giant eagle. Oryol is the Russian word for eagle and so there is some logic behind the unusual sculpture. The wicker sculpture is made from straw woven onto a wire base making the bird look quite realistic. Read more »

Our Lady of Iveron Church

  • 9 Ulitsa Privokzalnaya

The first stones of the beautiful Our Lady of Iveron Church were laid in 1899 to commemorate the coronation of Emperor Nicholas II. Its main altar was consecrated in 1902 and its side altars in 1903 and 1907 with Emperor Nicholas II himself donating money to complete the construction. The church is built in the Russian-style and its main structure is topped with nine domes on three levels, attached to the front is a small bell tower. In 1923 the church was closed and was… Read more »

Our Lady of Okhtyrka Eparchial Cathedral

  • 18 Ulitsa 5 Avgusta
  • http://www.ahtir-orel.orthodox.ru

This cathedral was originally a church and was completed in 1775 upon the initiative of a local merchant who claimed to have been healed by the Our Lady of Okhtyrka Icon. The church was enlarged in 1775 and again in 1803. In 1823 its most striking feature was added - the four-tier bell tower - which was built on to the church via a closed vestibule in 1870. The church was closed after the revolution, but reopened in 1942 during the Nazi occupation of Oryol after which it remained… Read more »

Resurrection Church

  • 93 Ulitsa 1-ya Kurskaya (Afansievskoe Cemetery)

The modern Resurrection Church was consecrated in 2001 and is located in the Afansievskoe Cemetery which was founded in 1887 as the cemetery of the Svyato-Vvedensky Convent. The present-day church was built to replace an earlier wooden version which was built as the cemetery church in 1895. This wooden version stood here until it was burned to the ground in 1996. Read more »

Svyato-Vvedensky Convent

  • 92 Ulitsa 1-ya Kurskaya
  • http://orel.vinchi.ru

The Svyato-Vvedensky Convent is considered to have been founded in 1686 when the construction of its first church was begun. Disaster struck in 1843 when the convent burned to the ground. In 1848 the convent was re-founded in its present location. In 1865 the Our Lady of Tikhvin Church was completed and this was followed in 1886 by the smaller Resurrection Church. In 1923 the convent was closed and subsequently used as workshops, while its monastic cells were given over for… Read more »

Vladimir Rusanov House-Museum

  • 43 Ulitsa Rusanova
  • 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Vladimir Rusanov was born in 1875 in Oryol and went on to become a talented geologist and a famous arctic explorer. In 1912 he set off from Novaya Zemlya in an attempt to reach the Pacific Ocean via the Northern Sea Route and was never seen again, although parts of his boat were found in 1937. This museum was opened in 1982 in the house where Rusanov spent his childhood and displays materials on his life and work. The museum is run as a branch of the Regional Museum. Read more »

North of the Rivers Orlik and Oka

City of Military Glory Obelisk

  • Bulvar Pobedy

The pedestrian Bulvar Pobedy (Victory Boulevard) runs from outside the back of the administration building of the Oryol Region on Ulitsa Saltykova-Schedrina up to Ulitsa Leskova.  At the beginning of the boulevard is a standard City of Military Glory Obelisk to commemorate Oryol being awarded the status as a city of Military Glory in 2007.  A few metres up there is also a bust of General Aleksandr Gorbatov. Read more »

Dvoryanskoe Gnezdo Park

  • beginning of Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya

Next to the Nikolai Leskov House-Museum at the beginning of Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya is the park known as Dvoryanskoe Gnezdo which is Russian name of Turgenev's novel translated as Home of the Gentry, although  literally it translates as Nest of the Gentry.  The park is now a little run down, but it is still worth visiting for the views of the River Orlik enjoyed from here.  Also in the park is a bust of Turgenev, a gazebo and a house known as the House of Liza Kalitina - a character in… Read more »

Feliks Dzerzhinsky Monument

  • intersection of Ulitsa Polesskaya and Ulitsa Saltykova-Schedrina

Despite other cities, notably Moscow, removing their statues of the leader of the feared Cheka secret police organisation, Oryol still has its. The statue depicts Feliks Dzershinsky sat comfortably in a chair outside the Oryol headquarters of the FSB, the Cheka's modern day successor. Dzerzhinsky has a link with Oryol as he was an inmate at Oryol Central Prison from 1915 to 1916. Read more »

General-Mayor Leonti Gurtiev Monument

  • Skver Gurtieva (off Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya)

Leonti Gurtiev was general-major of the Red Army and a hero of the Soviet Union who died in battle in 1943 during the liberation of Oryol. This statue of him was originally unveiled in 1954 at the location where he was buried outside the city's Ivan Bunin Public Library, but it was moved to this small park which now bears his name in 1976 after his remains were transferred to the city's Troitskoe Cemetery. Read more »

Heroes of the Civil War Monument

  • intersection of Ulitsa Turgeneva and Ulitsa Brestskaya Ulitsa

This Soviet-style monument is dedicated to the heroes of the Russian Civil War and depicts a girl in military uniform standing on top of a tall granite pedestal and holding in the air a rifle in one hand and flowers in the other. On the inscription on the base there is a quote by Vladimir Lenin: "There was never a more bloody and fierce battle than the one outside of Oryol". Read more »

Ivan Bunin Monument

  • Ulitsa Proletarskaya Gora

Standing on Proletarskaya Hill is a statue of the author and poet Ivan Bunin who lived in Oryol for several years and began his literary career here working for a local newspaper. In 1933 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. This monument depicts Bunin at full height and was unveiled in 1995. It is the work of the renowned Russian sculptor Vyacheslav Klykov. Read more »

Ivan Bunin Museum

  • 1 Oktyabrsky Pereulok (next to 9 + 11 Ulitsa Turgeneva)
  • http://www.museum.ru/museum/lit_oryol
  • 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Fridays.

The famous author Ivan Bunin moved to Oryol in 1889 where he worked writing for a local newspaper. In 1991 a museum dedicated to the author was opened in one of the city's old mansions. The museum details Bunin's work in both Oryol and abroad and includes some personal belongings. The museum also features a recreation of Bunin's Paris study. The museum is run as part of the Ivan Turgenev State Literary Museum. Read more »

Ivan Turgenev Monument

  • City Park of Culture and Rest

Located within the city's park of culture and rest is a monument to the author Ivan Turgenev. Ivan Turgenev was born in Oryol in 1818 and his family owned the Spasskoe-Lutovinovo estate just outside the nearby city of Mtsensk, therefore it is not surprising to find a statue of him in Oryol. This monument to him depicts the giant of Russian literature sat down on a plinth of black marble. Read more »

Ivan Turgenev State Literary Museum

  • 11 Ulitsa Turgeneva
  • http://www.museum.ru/museum/lit_oryol
  • 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Fridays.

The Ivan Turgenev State Literary Museum is one of the oldest literary museums in Russia having been founded in 1918 on the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great Russian author in Oryol. It is housed in a late-19th century mansion and details the work and life of Turgenev, including his life abroad and his love for the French singer Pauline Viardot. Also on display are personal belongings of Turgenev. Read more »

Mikhail Bakhtin Museum

  • 23 Ulitsa Maksima Gorkogo

Mikhail Bakhtin was a Russian philosopher and linguist who was born in Oyrol in 1895. In 2005 a museum dedicated to the life and work of Mikhail Bakhtin was opened on the site where the estate of Bakhtin's family once stood and where Bakhtin was born. The museum displays personal items of the philosopher as well as photographs of him and of Oryol at that time. Read more »

Museum of Applied Art

  • 29 Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya
  • 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Fridays.

Oyrol's Museum of Applied Art was founded in 1957 as the Oryol Art Gallery. It is now located in the former House of Political Enlightenment which was built in 1959. The museum has in its collection over 4,000 works of art including paintings, graphical works, sculptures and items of decorative applied art ranging from the 17th century up to modern time and including both foreign and Russian work. Read more »

Museum of Writers from Oryol

  • 13 Ulitsa Turgeneva
  • http://www.museum.ru/museum/lit_oryol
  • 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Fridays.

Located in an old wooden house is a museum dedicated to Oryol's literary connections. The museum's seven halls are dedicated to the lives and works of the poet Afanasi Fet, the playwright and novelist Leonid Andreev, the prose writer Boris Zaitsev, and the authors Mikhail Prishvin and Ivan Novikov, all of whom were born in either Oryol itself or the Oryol Governorate. The museum is run as part of the Ivan Turgenev State Literary Museum. Read more »

Nikolai Leskov House-Museum

  • 9 Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya
  • http://www.museum.ru/museum/lit_oryol
  • 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Fridays.

In 1974 the wooden mansion where the famous 19th-century Russian author Nikolai Leskov spent his childhood was turned into the Nikolai Leskov House-Museum. The museum follows the creative journey of Leskov's writing and includes many items of the author himself. On display are Leskov's manuscripts, photographs and letters as well as his writing desk and library. The museum is run as part of the Ivan Turgenev State Literary Museum. Read more »

Svyato-Uspensky Monastery

  • 13A Ulitsa Yermolova
  • http://www.uspenskiy-orel.ru

The Svyato-Uspensky Monastery was founded on Yamskaya Hill in 1673 after the Bogoyavlensky Monastery burned to the ground and it was decided not to rebuild it but to build a new monastery in a new location. In 1688 the Dormition Church was completed and this was joined in 1879 by the Trinity Cathedral. However in the 1920s the monastery was closed and the Trinity Cathedral was blown up in 1930 and the Dormition Church was destroyed in 1980. In 1992 the territory of the former… Read more »

Timofey Granovsky House-Museum

  • 24 Ulitsa 7-go Noyabrya
  • http://www.museum.ru/museum/lit_oryol

Timofey Granovsky was a historian specialising in the mediaeval era and was born in Oryol in 1813. The wooden mansion where he was born has since become the Timofey Granovsky House-Museum which details the work of the prominent historian and his views as a leading Westerniser. The museum is run as part of the Ivan Turgenev State Literary Museum. Read more »

Trinity Church

  • 17 Ulitsa Leskova (Troitskoe Cemetery)
  • http://www.orel-trinity.ru

The Trinity Church was built between 1823 and 1828 in the Troitskoe Cemetery which dates from 1778. Although the church itself is rather standard, it is of extra interest as the church's southern altar contains the family crypt of the Yermolov family. Interred here alongside his father and son is General Aleksey Yermolov, a hero of the 1812 Patriotic War against Napoleon. Read more »

Vladimir Lenin Monument

  • Ploschad Lenina

Like most Russian cities, Oryol has a monument to Vladimir Lenin. Unsurprisingly Lenin can be found standing on Ploschad Lenina (Lenin Square) just outside the Oryol Region Administration building. The statue was originally unveiled in 1949 on Ploschad Karla Marksa (Karl Marx Square), replacing an earlier version that was destroyed during the war. It has stood in its current location since 1961. Read more »

South of River Orlik

"Oryol Offensive Operation" Museum-Diorama

  • 1 Ulitsa Normandia-Neman
  • 10:00 - 18:00. Closed on Mondays.

This museum was opened in 1983 on the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Oryol and is dedicated to the Oryol Offensive Operation of the Second World War which is also known as the Kutuzov Operation. The most striking feature of the museum is its 9 by 33 metre diorama which depicts the events of a battle on 12 July 1943 when the Soviets began to break the Nazi defences which would eventually result in the liberation of several Soviet cities including Oryol. The museum is run as a… Read more »

Aleksey Yermolov Monument

  • Ploschad Yermolova

Aleksey Yermolov was a Russian general who participated in the Napoleonic War and as commander-in-chief during the Caucasus War.  Although he was born and died in Moscow his family owned an estate near Oryol and he spent much time there in his later life.  Yermolov is also buried in Oryol's Trinity Church in the family crypt.  This four-metre tall monument, which depicts Yermolov on horseback, was unveiled in 2012 on the square which bears his name. Read more »

Archangel Michael's Cathedral

  • 20 Mikhailo-Arkhangelsky Pereulok

Located in the centre of Oryol close to the bank of the River Orlik is Archangel Michael's Cathedral which was built between 1801 and 1817 in the classical style. Emperor Alexander I worshiped here in 1823 and in 1826 his body was briefly laid to rest here on its return to St Petersburg from Taganrog. In the 1920s the cathedral was closed and used to house an anti-religious museum. In 1989 it was returned to the Orthodox Church and re-consecrated in 1990. Read more »

Epiphany Cathedral

  • 1 Bogoyavlenskaya Ploschad
  • http://www.sbs-orel.ru

The first version of this cathedral was built out of wood between 1642 and 1646 as part of the Bogoyavlensky Monastery which was established during the re-establishment of Oryol after its sacking by Polish interventionists in 1615. The present stone building was constructed in 1684 after the monastery was destroyed by fire. After the revolution the cathedral remained open but its bell tower was demolished. In the Second World War it was heavily damaged but later restored as a… Read more »

Hero-Komsomols Monument

  • Komsomolskaya Ploschad

Located on Komsomolskaya Ploschad (Komsomol Square) is a monument to Hero-Komsomols - members of the youth division of the Communist Party who died in the Second World War. The monument was unveiled in 1972 and is unsurprising Soviet in style. It depicts two komsomols - one of them holding aloft a banner whilst supporting his comrade who is falling with a rifle in his hand. Read more »

Leonid Andreev House-Museum

  • 41 Ulitsa 2-ya Pushkarnaya
  • http://www.museum.ru/museum/lit_oryol
  • 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Fridays.

The playwright and novelist Leonid Andreev was born in Oryol in 1871 and the family house where he spent his childhood has been turned into the Leonid Andreev House-Museum. The house itself is the main exhibit and it has been preserved as it would have looked when Andreev lived there. Also on display are photographs of the playwright and materials on his work. The museum is run as part of the Ivan Turgenev State Literary Museum. Read more »

Nikolai Leskov Monument

  • outside 20 Mikhailo-Arkhangelsky Pereulok

The famous Russian author Nikolai Leskov was born in 1831 in the village of Gorokhovo in what was then the Oryol Governorate. This monument to him was unveiled in 1981 in the small park outside Archangel Michael's Cathedral. It depicts the author sat on a bench and an additional lovely touch is that he is surrounded by smaller statues of characters from five of his most-loved stories. Read more »

Our Lady of Smolensk Cathedral

  • 27A Ulitsa Normadia-Neman

The largest cathedral in Oryol is the Our Lady of Smolensk Cathedral which was built between 1857 and 1895. In 1908 a 52-metre five-tier bell tower was added. The cathedral comprises a four-tier structure pink in colour with five golden domes. In 1938 the cathedral was closed and it was used as a bomb shelter during the Second World War. In 1951 its damaged bell tower was completely demolished. The building was then used as a bread factory until 1995 when it was restored and… Read more »

Regional Museum of the Oryol Region

  • 2 Ulitsa Gostinaya
  • http://www.museum.ru/museum/lit_oryol
  • 10:00 - 18:00. Closed on Mondays and the last Thursday of the month.

Located in the city's Trading Rows that date from 1782 is the Regional Museum of the Oryol Museum which was founded in 1897. The museum details the history of the region in ancient times, the times of the Russian Empire, the Russian Revolution, the Second World War and in modern times. It also has a department dedicated to the flora and fauna found in the Oryol Region, which includes as its prize specimen a giant stuffed pig! Read more »

St John the Baptist's Church

  • 97A Ulitsa Karachevskaya (Krestitelskoe Cemetery)

St John the Baptist's Church was built between 1774 and 1777 on the south-western outskirts of the city in the Krestitelskoe Cemetery which was opened in 1772. In the 1930s the church was closed, but briefly reopened again between 1942 and 1944. It was once again opened for good in 1960. Also located in the cemetery is a mass grave of Soviet soldiers who died liberating Oryol in 1943. Read more »

St Nicholas' Church

  • 73 Ulitsa Normadia-Neman
  • http://www.nikolanapeskah.ru/

This church was built between 1775 and 1790 and is dedicated to both St Nicholas and Elijah the Prophet. In Russian it is often called St Nicholas on the Sand (Nikola na Peskakh) as the ground was said to be sandy here. In form it comprised a standard five-domed structure attached to a bell tower. In the 1930s the church was closed and used as a sewing workshop. It was eventually returned to the Orthodox Church in 1995 and subsequently restored. Read more »

Strelka of the Oka and Orlik

  • confluence of the Rivers Orlik and Oka

The headland formed by the River Orlik flowing into the River Oka is known as the Strelka in Russian.  At the end of the Strelka is a monument to the 400th anniversary of the city as it was here that the Oryol fortress was established in 1566. The monument takes the form of a 27 metre granite plinth.  Next to this monument is a war memorial dedicated to the liberation of Oryol, comprising Victory personified and two soldiers.  It is a favourite spot for newly-weds. Read more »