History
SightsSights of Tula
Around Prospekt Lenina
All Saints Eparchial Cathedral and Vsekhsvyatskoe Cemetery
- 79 Ulitsa Lva Tolstogo
After Catherine the Great banned burials in city centres, the Vsekhsvyatskoe Cemetery was founded in 1771 on what was then the outskirts of the city. The All Saints Cathedral was built for this cemetery between 1773 and 1776 in the classical style. A tall three-tiered bell tower was added in 1825. The church remained opened throughout the whole Soviet era, although from 1923 to 1943 it was part of the Renovationist Church. Since 1944 it has been an eparchial cathedral and is now… Read more »
Belousov Central Park
- between Ulitsa Pervomaiskaya and Prospekt Lenina
- http://tulskieparki.ru/czentralnyij-park
Tula's central park of culture and rest is named after the doctor Pyotr Belousov who was born and lived in the Tula Governorate. It is one of the largest parks in Europe. The park is popular among locals and has several cafes, amusements and sporting venues, plus a small beach and a small zoo. In addition there are also several monuments here, including war memorials, busts of Pyotr Belousov and Sergey Yesenin and a statue of Vikenti Veresaev, another local doctor, which stands… Read more »
Hero City Monument
- Ploschad Pobedy (next to 96 Ulitsa Lenina)
In 1976 Tula was awarded the title of Hero City of the Soviet Union for the heroism shown during the Second World War. Tula's position mean that the city was vital for the defence of Moscow and reinforcements were able to be brought into the capital in time due to the fact that Tula managed to hold out against the Nazi attack. In recognition of this title a monument was established depicting two soldiers standing in front of three tall shards. Also included is an eternal flame and… Read more »
Lev Tolstoy Monument
- between 74 and 76 Prospekt Lenina
The great novelist Lev Tolstoy was born in 1828 at his family estate of Yasnaya Polyana which is located just outside Tula. This monument to Tolstoy was unveiled in 1973 and, as is fitting for the giant of Russian literature, this monument towers over you even though it stands on a low pedestal. The statue is located outside the main entrance to the Belousov Central Park. Read more »
Nikolai Beloborodov Memorial Museum
- 16 Prospekt Lenina
- 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and the last Wednesday of the month.
Nikolai Beloborodov was born in Tula in 1912 and was an accordion player who went on to develop a special type of garmon (a Russian button accordion), which became known as the Tula garmon, and to organise the world's first orchestra of garmon players. The memorial museum was opened in 1995 in the late 18th century house where Beloborodov once lived. Some of the instruments owned by Beloborodov are displayed there. The museum is part of the Tula Regional Historical, Architectural… Read more »
Ss Peter and Paul's Church
- 30A Ulitsa Lenina
Ss Peter and Paul's Church was built between 1833 and 1838 to replace an earlier version of the church. In form it is slightly unusual as instead of the usual cube-building it comprises a dome with 12 windows on top of a rotunda. A bell tower was later added to this in 1913. The church was closed in the 1930s and its rotunda collapsed as it was hit in a Luftwaffe bombing raid during the Second World War. The church was later restored in 1947 due to its architectural value but only… Read more »
Ss Peter and Paul’s Roman Catholic Church
- 85k2 Ulitsa Lva Tolstogo
Tula's Roman Catholic Church is dedicated to St Peter and to St Paul. The initiative to build a Catholic church came from Tula's small Catholic population, mainly immigrants from Poland and the Baltic. Permission was granted to build the church in 1893 and work on it started in 1894. The church was closed in 1932 and was used for various means, including as a publishing office and a laboratory. In 2004 the church was returned to Tula's Catholic community and is now part of the… Read more »
Tula Regional Museum of Art
- 64 Ulitsa Fridrikha Engelsa
- http://museumart.tula-oblast.ru/
- 10:00 – 18:00. Closed on Mondays and the last Friday of the month.
The Tula Regional Museum of Art was opened in 1919 and is one of the largest art galleries in Russia outside Moscow and St Petersburg. Originally its collection came from the Chamber of Antiquities which was started in 1884. In 1964 the museum moved to its present location. The museum exhibits works of both Western European and Russian masters. It also has a collection of decorative applied art. Read more »
Vikenti Veresaev House-Museum
- 82 Ulitsa Gogolevskaya
- 10:00 – 17:00. Closed on Sundays.
The Vikenti Veresaev House-Museum is located in the house where Veresaev was born and spent his childhood. Vikenti Veresaev was born as Vikenty Smidovich in Tula in 1867 and was a renowned Russian/Soviet writer and doctor. Veresaev served as a doctor during the Russo-Japan war and later wrote about his experiences. For his work he was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1943. The house-museum has information on Veresaev’s life as a doctor, translator and writer and has on display his… Read more »
Around Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya
Ascension Church
- 12 Ulitsa Gertsena
A church dedicated to the Ascension of Christ has stood in this spot since at least 1646, the original version being made out of wood. The current version was built between 1755 and 1787. The church has two stories with the upper floor being dedicated to the Presentation of Virgin Mary. The top of the church features a large hexagonal tholobate and dome which is in turn topped with a small golden onion dome. The church was closed during the Soviet period and used as a store room… Read more »
Nativity of Virgin Mary Church
- 56A Ulitsa Demidovskaya
The Nativity of Virgin Mary Church was built in the late 18th century and early 19th century replacing an older church that stood here. The single domed church was built in the classical style using red-bricks and its façade is decorated with a pediment and columns. In the 1930s the church was closed but has since been returned to the Orthodox Church, restored and reopened. Read more »
Nikita Demidov Monument
- 12 Oruzheyny Pereulok
In 1996 a monument was erected outside St Nicholas Zaretskaya's Church dedicated to Nikita Demidov, whose son had the church built. Nikita Demidov was the founder of the famous arms manufacturing dynasty and the statue depicts him bear-chested with swords and a canon. Read more »
Saviour Church and Spasskoe Cemetery
- 1 Ulitsa Puzakova (Spasskoe Cemetery)
In 1772 the Spasskoe Cemetery was opened on the outskirts of the city due to an outbreak of plague and a wooden church was erected here at the same time. In 1807 this wooden church was replaced by the present-day stone version. It was built in the standard style of the time with a single-domed main building attached via a closed vestibule to a bell tower. Closed during the Soviet period, the church has since been reopened. Read more »
St Nicholas Zaretskaya’s Church
- 12 Oruzheyny Pereulok
St Nicholas Zaretskaya’s Church, which is also known as the Resurrection of Christ Church, was built between 1730 and 1734 in the St Petersburg baroque style. The construction was funded by the industrialist Akinfi Demidov as several years earlier his father, the famous arms manufacturer Nikita Demidov, was interred in the wooden church which previously stood here. Read more »
St Sergius of Radonezh' Church
- 78 Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya
St Sergius of Radonezh’s Church was consecrated in 1898 using the funds of the metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomenskoe. It was built in the Byzantine Revival style with a large central dome. In 1930 the church was closed and its bell tower was knocked down. During this period it was used by a youth theatre. It was eventually returned to the Orthodox Church in 1991. Read more »
Tula Exotarium
- 26 Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya
- http://www.tulazoo.ru
- 10:00 - 20:00 May-September, 10:00 - 18:00 October-April; Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
The Tula Exotarium is a zoo for exotic animals, mainly amphibians, tortoises, crocodiles, lizards and snakes but also some insects, birds and mammals too. It was opened in 1987 and has since gathered one of the largest collections of snakes in the world and has had some success in breeding programmes. Outside the exotarium there is a statue of a tyrannosaurus rex. Read more »
Tula Pryanik Museum
- 45A Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya
- 09:00 - 17:00
Another product for which Tula is famous is the pryanik spiced-bread which usually contains a sweet filling. This museum dedicated to the treat was opened in 1996 in a building which was once owned by the Lyalin family of arms and samovar manufacturers and now is used to make pryaniks. The museum has exhibitions on how the pryaniks are made here and displays examples of pryaniks in a wide range of forms made especially for various events. The museum also has a shop where you can… Read more »
Tula State Museum of Weapons (New Building)
- 2 Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya
- http://www.museum-arms.ru/
- 10:00 - 18:00 (10:00 - 19:00 on Fridays and Saturdays). Closed on the last Monday of the month.
The Tula State Museum of Weapons, which itself was founded in 1724 upon the orders of Emperor Peter the Great to exhibit ancient and rare examples of weapons and in 1984 it was moved to the Epiphany Cathedral inside the Tula Kremlin. After the fall of the Soviet Union there were claims to return the cathedral to the Orthodox Church and plans were developed to find a new home for the museum. Work began on a new building which was designed in the shape of a mediaeval Russian helmet… Read more »
Around Ulitsa Sovetskaya
Annunciation Church
- 1 Blagoveschenskaya Ulitsa
The Annunciation Church is the oldest surviving church in the city and dates from 1692 when it was built using donations including from Tsars Ivan V and Peter the Great. In form it is a 'ship-like' church with the main building, topped with five green domes and decorated with kokoshniks, attached to bell tower via a closed vestibule. On the top of the bell tower there is a small tent-dome. The church was closed in 1932 and used as a storeroom for vegetables before being returned to… Read more »
Emperor Peter the Great Monument
- Ulitsa Sovetskaya (just before bridge across the Ula)
This monument to Emperor Peter the Great was unveiled in 1912 to mark the 200th anniversary of Peter the Great issuing his edict to establish an arms factory in Tula for the production of weapons. The statue stands outside the administration of the Tula Arsenal (known as TOZ after its Russian initialism), which was founded in response to Peter's edict. Read more »
Former Uspensky Convent
- 15 Ulitsa Mendeleevskaya
Just outside the kremlin is the former Uspensky Convent and although it was dissolved as a convent during the Soviet era, its cathedral and church are still open for worship. Dormition Cathedral The main building of the former convent is the Dormition Cathedral, which is now an Eparchial Cathedral for the Tula Metropolitanate. It was built between 1898 and 1902 in the Russian revival style out of red brick. It comprises two storeys and is topped with five black domes. In the… Read more »
Levsha Monument
- Ulitsa Sovetskaya (just before bridge across the Ula)
This interesting monument was unveiled in 2007 and depicts the hero of Nikolai Leskov's The Tale of Cross-Eyed Levsha from Tula and the Steel Flea. In this story Levsha (meaning left-handed) is one of the gunsmiths ordered by Emperor Nicholas I to create something more impressive that a clockwork steel flea made by the British. At first the Emperor is not impressed with the results, thinking that they have broken the flea as it now dances differently. However Levsha explains to him… Read more »
Regional Museum
- 68 Ulitsa Sovetskaya
- 10:00 – 17:00 (10:00 – 14:00 on Saturdays). Closed on Sundays and the last Wednesday of the month.
Tula’s Regional Museum was opened in 1919 from the collection of the Chamber of Antiquities and then increased with items confiscated from estates. It includes displays on archaeology, palaeontology, coins and the history and nature of Tula lands. It also exhibits documents and items connected with famous Tula citizens. The museum is part of the Tula Regional Historical, Architectural and Literary Museum. Read more »
Sergei Mosin Monument
- Skver Tulskogo Oruzheynogo Zavoda (intersection of Ulitsa Sovetskaya and Ulitsa Metallistov)
Sergei Mosin was a 19th century military engineer who upon graduating from the Mikhailov Military Artillery Academy in 1875 moved to Tula to work in its arsenal. Mosin worked in Tula up until 1894 and it was here he earned his name as a developer of rifles. This monument to him was unveiled in the park of Skver Tulskogo Oruzheynogo Zavoda (Tula Arsenal Square) in 1958 and is the work of the famous sculptor Vera Mukhin. Read more »
Ss Florus and Laurus' Church
- 1 Ulitsa Mosina
Where the Ss Florus and Laurus' Church now stands there used to be a wooden church which had workers from the armaments factory as its parishioners. Construction of the current church was started in 1772 and it was consecrated in 1796. It is an example of the baroque style. Inside it holds icons which are considered miracle working for saving worshipers from the plague in 1771. The church was closed during the Soviet period and only reopened in the 1990s. Read more »
St Elijah the Prophet’s Church
- 6 Ulitsa Kominterna
St Elijah the Prophet’s Church was built from 1739 to 1760 to replace an older church which once stood here. It comprises a two storey building topped with a small dome and a prominent facade in the Russian revival style. Between 1924 and 1943 it served as the eparchial cathedral of the Tula Eparchy until it itself was closed and used as workshop. It was only reopened for worship in 2006. Read more »
St Nicholas' Church on the Rzhavets
- 6B Ulitsa Revolyutsi
This church dedicated to St Nicholas is called 'on the Rzhavets' after the name of a stream which flowed here before the area dried up. The church dates from 1749 when it was built in stone to replace an older wooden version. It comprised a small cube building topped with a single gold dome and attached to a bell tower. The church was closed by the Bolsheviks and later used as a shoe factory. Eventually it was returned to the Orthodox Church in 1992 and underwent restoration work. … Read more »
Tula Kremlin
- 8 Ulitsa Mendeleevskaya
- http://www.arms-museum.tula.ru/
- Kremlin: 09:00 – 17:00. Closed Mondays and the last Tuesday of the month.
- 10:00 - 18:00 (10:00 - 19:00 on weekends). Closed on Mondays and the last Tuesday of the month.
Undoubtedly the most famous sight in Tula is its 16th century Kremlin which is located in the very centre of the city. In 1507 Grand Prince Vasili III of Rus set about strengthening the city's defences as the increasing number of Tatar raids from the south made Tula important for the defence of Moscow. Therefore Vasili III ordered a wooden fortress be built on the left bank of the River Ula and this was completed in 1509. In 1514 the grand prince ordered that a stone kremlin be… Read more »
Tula Samovar Museum
- 8A Ulitsa Mendeleevskaya
- 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Mondays, Tuesday and the last Wednesday of the month.
The Tula Samovar Museum was opened in 1990 to celebrate Tula's association with the samovar - the famous Russian water boiler for tea. The museum is housed in an early 20th century building close to the kremlin and consists of three halls. The first has exhibitions on samovar production in Tula in the 18th-19th centuries whereas the second hall is dedicated to the 19th-20th centuries, including gifts given by Emperor Nicholas II to his children and Soviet-themed samovars. The third… Read more »
Vladimir Lenin Monument
- Ploschad Lenina
Tula's Central Square is Ploschad Lenina (Lenin Square) which stands outside the kremlin in between Ulitsa Mendeleevskaya and Ulitsa Sovetskaya. It is here that the city's main events and celebrations are held and of course the square is decorated with a statue of Vladimir Lenin. Lenin stands in front of the massive Soviet-style Tula Region Administrative Building which is also locally known as the White House. Read more »
East of the River Tupitsa
Porfiri Krylov Museum
- 10 Ulitsa Kutuzova
- 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Sundays.
Porfiri Krylov was a Soviet artist who was born in the Tula Governorate in 1902. This museum was opened in 1995 in a converted cinema and displays over 250 paintings and watercolours by Krylov. Krylov was especially known for his illustrations and caricatures and was awarded the title of a People's Artist of the USSR in 1958. The museum also serves as a centre for children's aesthetic education. Read more »
St Demetrius of Saloniki's Church and Chulkovskoe Cemetery
- 1 Ulitsa Bakunina (Chulkovskoe Cemetery)
St Demetrius of Saloniki's Church was built between 1795 and 1801 to serve as the cemetery church of the Chulkovskoe Cemetery. Originally it was to be dedicated to the Holy Spirit but this was reconsidered to avoid the church being associated with the revelries which took place on Holy Spirit Day (Whit Monday). In the 1820s a vestibule and a bell tower were added. The church remained open during the Soviet period. Read more »
St Theodosius of Chernigov's Church
- 34A Ulitsa Kalinina
In 1894 a wooden church was built and dedicated to St Theodosius of Chernigov. In 1903 work started on replacing this church was a stone version, however all work was stopped in 1914 upon the outbreak of war. During the Soviet period the unfinished church was used as a storeroom. In 1990 the building was transferred to the Orthodox Church and, after reconstruction work was performed, it was finally consecrated. Read more »
Svyato-Bogorodichny Scheglovsky Monastery
- 1 Ulitsa Lizy Chakinoy
- http://obitel-tula.narod.ru
The Svyato-Bogorodichny Scheglovsky Monastery was founded in 1859 using the funds of a Moscow merchant on the outskirts of Tula at the location of the archbishop's summer residence. Walls were built around the monastery which incorporated the monastery's first church - the Dormition Church - which was completed in 1863. The monastery's main cathedral - the Nursing Madonna Icon Cathedral - was consecrated in 1864 and this was later joined by St Nicander of Pskov's Church in 1889. By… Read more »
In Yasnaya Polyana
Lev Tolstoy Yasnaya Polyana Museum-Estate
- Yasnaya Polyana, Schyokino District
- http://www.ypmuseum.ru/
- Grounds: 09:00 - 21:00 (until 18:00 in winter)
The estate of Yasnaya Polyana is the place most connected with the great Russian author Lev Tolstoy who was born here, wrote most of his work here, died here and is buried here. It is of course an essential place to visit for fans of Tolstoy, but even if you are not it is worth visiting just to see the estate's beautiful natural surroundings and to learn about the giant of Russian literature and about life on a 19th century estate in general. The estate, whose name can be… Read more »
Vladimir Lenin Monument ("Stalenin")
- outside 17 Ulitsa Shkolnaya
On the side of Posolskaya Doroga opposite to the museum-estate, just behind the car park, is a school and outside this school there is what at first you might mistake for a bog-standard Lenin statue. However it is actually worth looking at as upon closer inspection you might notice that there is something out of the ordinary. Originally the statue was of Stalin, but due to policies of de-Stalinisation it was decided to re-work it which has resulted in a unique Stalin-Lenin hybrid… Read more »