Sights of Aleksandrov

Around Krasny Pereulok

Internationalist-Soldiers Monument

  • Ulitsa Institutskaya

The Internationalist-Soldiers Monument is dedicated to soldiers from Aleksandrov who died during the Soviet-Afghan war.  The statue depicts three soldiers and contains the names of local soldiers who fell in the war. Another plinth lists the names of local soldiers who died whilst serving during peacetime. It was unveiled in 1989 and is the centrepiece for memorials held on the anniversary of the Soviet pull-out from Afghanistan. Read more »

Marina and Anastasia Tsvetaeva Literature and Art Museum

  • 6 Voenny Pereulok

The Marina and Anastasia Literature and Art Museum was opened in 1991 around the wooden house where the poet Marina Tsetaeva lived with her sister Anastasia, who was also a writer, from 1915 and 1917.  Also included in the complex are another wooden house, a two-story stone building and a memorial garden.  The museum also holds the Marina Tsvetaeva Poetry Festival in the last full week of June. Read more »

Our Lady of Bogolyubovo Church

  • 2 Krasny Pereulok

Just behind the city market is the Our Lady of Bogolyubovo Church which was built in 1800 on the city's main graveyard.  However during the Soviet period the graveyard was closed down to make way for the current market.  The church was also closed and it was only reopened in the 1990s after it was heavily restored. Read more »

Around Muzeyny Proezd

Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda

  • 20 Muzeyny Proezd
  • http://www.kreml.alexandrov.ru/
  • winter: 10:00-18:00 (Fridays: 10:00-17:00), summer: 10:00-20:00. Closed on Mondays.

Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, which can be translated as Aleksandr's Settlement, is also often called the Aleksandrov Kremlin and was first developed at the turn of the 16th century when Grand Prince Vasili III established a provincial residence here. Between approximately 1508 and 1513, the Intercession Cathedral, the Trinity Church and the Dormition Church were built here, although later the Intercession Cathedral was re-consecrated as the Trinity Cathedral and the Trinity Church as… Read more »

Around Ploschad Lenina

1905 Revolution Monument

  • Ploschad Lenina

Just outside the Nativity of Christ Cathedral is a Soviet-style monument dedicated to the events of the 1905 Revolution.  It depicts a worker standing on top of a pillar flying a banner in the air.  In December 1905 thousands of local workers took part in the revolution by gathering and marching in the city, flying banners and singing the Marseillaise.  This then turned into an uprising and Aleksandrov was even declared a republic by the protesters.  However in less than a week a… Read more »

Aleksandr Nevsky Monument

  • Ploschad Lenina

A new monument which stands next to the 1905 Revolution Monument is a bronze statue of the mediaeval Russian hero Aleksandr Nevsky.  The statue was unveiled outside the Nativity of Christ Cathedral in 2013 to mark the 750th anniversary of the grand prince's death.  The reason behind erecting this statue in Aleksandrov is the belief that the city was named in honour of Aleksandr Nevsky. Read more »

Nativity of Christ Cathedral

  • Ploschad Lenina

The main cathedral of the city is the Nativity of Christ Cathedral which is situated on Ploschad Lenina, which is also known as Sobornaya Ploschad (Cathedral Square).  The first stone cathedral to stand here was built in 1696 replacing two earlier wooden churches which were part of a monastery.  Between 1829 and 1831 the cathedral was extensively reconstructed in the empire style and a new bell tower was added.  The bell tower stood for 100 years - it was demolished in 1929 during… Read more »

Vladimir Lenin Monument

  • Ploschad Lenina

Aleksandrov's main square is Ploschad Lenina and so of course it comes as no surprise that there is a statue of Vladimir Lenin here, standing in his usual pose in front of the local administration building.  Before Lenin the square was known as Sobornaya Ploschad (Cathedral Square) as its other dominant feature is the Nativity of Christ Cathedral.  Today the square is often also referred to using its old name, leading to some confusion. Read more »

Around Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya

St Serafim of Sarov's Church

  • Ulitsa OKtyabrskaya
  • http://www.xramserafima.ru/

Immediately next to the war memorial and Aleksandrov-1 Railway Station is St Serafim of Sarov's Church.  The church was completed in 1904 and became one of the first church dedicated to St Serafim who was only canonised in the previous year.  However the church was closed in 1928 and virtually destroyed.  Only in 2007 was the church reopened after undergoing extensive restoration work.  Although it now looks undeniably new, it is nevertheless rather pretty. Read more »

War Memorial and Eternal Flame

  • Ulitsa OKtyabrskaya

On the small square immediately outside Aleksandrov-1 Railway Station is a nice Soviet-style war memorial which consists of statue depicting two Soviet soldiers running with their coats blowing behind them.  One of the men is holding his gun in the air.  In front of the statue is an eternal flame and the inscription "Eternal Memory to the Fallen of Aleksandrov". Read more »