Sights of Vologda

In Priluki

Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery

  • Priluki
  • http://spas-priluki.ru/

The Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery located in the village of Priluki which has since been incorporated into the city of Vologda is one of the finest surviving examples of a fortified monastery. The monastery was founded in 1371 by the monk Dmitry, a disciple of St Sergius of Radonezh, who left his monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky to found a new one in a more remote location with the support of Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy. Dmitry has since been canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church as… Read more »

In the Historical Centre (Vologda Kremlin)

Archbishop's Court

  • Ulitsa Sergeya Orlova
  • http://www.vologdamuseum.ru/
  • 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesdays.

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… Read more »

Church Ensemble on Torgovaya Ploschad

  • 5 Torgovaya Ploschad
  • http://www.vologda-pokrov.narod.ru/index.html

Torgovaya Ploschad (Trading Square) is located on the eastern side of the Vologda Kremlin and is so named as it was once home to the city's market and then trading rows. Two churches stand on the square, both of which are known as being located 'on the Torg'. Intercession Church on the Torg The Intercession Church on the Torg was built in the baroque between 1778 and 1780 replacing an earlier church which was built on the orders of Ivan the Terrible when he was in the city in the… Read more »

Konstantin Batyushkov Monument

  • Ulitsa Sergeya Orlova

Konstantin Batyushkov was a Russian poet who was born and died in Vologda. In recognition of this connection, in 1987, on the 200th anniversary of the poet's birth, a statue of Batyushkov was unveiled between Kremlyovskaya Ploschad and Vologda. The monument depicts Batyushkov standing next to a horse, which actually rather steals some of the attention from the poet. Nevertheless the statue has now become one of the symbols of the city and is usually surrounding by people having… Read more »

Lace Museum

  • 12 Kremlyovskaya Ploschad
  • http://www.vologdamuseum.ru/
  • 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Vologda and the neighbouring region is famed for its production of lace and situated in a grand mid-19th century building on city's main square is a museum dedicated to this fine material. The first hall is dedicated to the production of lace in Europe and includes examples of lace made with golden and silver thread. However the main part of the exhibition is devoted to Vologda lace and the history of its production. There is also a shop located at the museum selling examples of… Read more »

St Aleksandr Nevsky's Church

  • 10 Ulitsa Sergeya Orlova

St Aleksandr Nevsky's Church stands at the northern end of Kremlyovskaya Ploshad (Kremlin Square). Originally a wooden church stood here dedicated to St Nicholas to mark the creation of a copy of the revered Velikaya River Icon of St Nicholas, which passed through Vologda in 1556 when returning from Moscow to Vyatka. The current version of the church dates from the end of the 18th century when the old wooden church was replaced in stone. In 1869, after an attempt on the life of… Read more »

St Sophia's Cathedral and Bell Tower

  • 15 Ulitsa Sergeya Orlova
  • http://www.vologdamuseum.ru/
  • 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesdays.

St Sophia's Cathedral is the major landmark in Vologda and the oldest surviving building in the city. Construction of the white stone building was began in 1568 during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. However all construction work was unexpectedly halted in 1571 on the orders of the tsar, when the cathedral was still unfinished. It was only fully completed and consecrated in 1587 under the reign of Ivan's son Feodor I. In structure it is a traditional Russian monumental church with… Read more »

Varlam Shalamov House-Museum

  • 15c1 Ulitsa Sergeya Orlova

The Russian author Varlam Shalamov was born in Vologda and in 1907 and he lived up until 1924 in the two-storey house next to St Sophia's Cathedral, which is now a house-museum in his honour. Shalamov is most famous for his writings known as The Kolyma Tales about the time he spent in a Gulag camp in the Russian North. The museum was opened in 1991 and displays information on the author and his work as well as some personal belongings. The second floor of the museum houses an… Read more »

Vladimir Lenin Monument

  • Ploschad Svobody

Vologda's main Lenin statue stands on Ploschad Svobody (Freedom Square) which is located at the start of the boulevard on Prospekt Pobedy. The bronze statue was unveiled in 1958 and is the work of sculptor Nikolai Tomsky known for his numerous statutes of the leader of the Bolsheviks. This statute is often referred to as the Big Lenin statue as there is a smaller but older version in Detsky Park and another outside the Vologda State University on Ulitsa Lenina. Read more »

In the Nizhny Posad

'Literature. Culture. 20th Century' Museum

  • 36 Ulitsa Gertsena
  • http://www.vologdamuseum.ru/
  • 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

The 'Literature. Culture. 20th Century' Museum is actually specifically dedicated to the poet Nikolai Rubstov, who lived and died in Vologda, and the composer Valery Gavrilin, who was born in Vologda. It was opened in 2005 and details the lives and work of the two cultural figures, including displays of some personal belongings. The museum is run as a branch of the Vologda State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve. Read more »

'Vologda at the Turn of the 20th Century' Exhibition Complex

  • 16A Sovetsky Prospekt
  • http://www.vologdamuseum.ru/
  • 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

The Vologda at the Turn of the 20th Century Exhibition Complex consists of three wooden buildings - a mansion, shop and lodging house - which once belonged to the Samarin merchant family. The complex has been restored to how it would have looked in the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Included in the lodging house is a memorial-flat where Lenin's sister Maria Ulyanova lived in exile between 1912 and 1915. The museum is run as a branch of the Vologda… Read more »

Nikolai Rubstov Monument

  • Petrovsky Skver, Sovetsky Prospekt

The 20th century lyrical poet Nikolay Rutsov was born in the Russian North in 1936 but lived during the war in Vologda and then after the death of his mother was raised in a children's home in the Vologda Region, before returning to Vologda after the war. The poet died in Vologda in 1971 after an argument with his fiancée, who was found guilty of his murder. This statue of him was unveiled in 1998 in the small gardens outside the Peter the Great House-Museum. Read more »

Peter the Great House-Museum

  • 47 Sovetsky Prospekt
  • http://www.vologdamuseum.ru/
  • 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Vologda's Peter the Great House-Museum is located in a small stone building dating from the mid-17th century where Peter the Great himself stayed five times (1692, 1693, 1694, 1702 and 1724) when visiting Vologda. In 1872 it became the first museum in Volgoda displaying over 100 items connected with the emperor. Today it remains a museum dedicated to Peter the Great and is run as a branch of the Vologda State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve. Read more »

Revolution Square

  • Ploschad Revolyutsi

The main square in the Nizhny Posad part of Vologda is Ploschad Revolyutsi (Revolution Square). Here are two monuments traditional for Russian cities. One is an Eternal Flame in memory of those who died in the Second World War which was lit in 1975 on the 20th anniversary of the end of the war. The second monument is dedicated to the events of the October Revolution and the Civil War. It is nicknamed the Tooth as that is what is resembles growing out of the ground. It is decorated… Read more »

St John the Baptist Church in Roschenye

  • Detsky Park, Ulitsa

Located in Vologda's Detsky Park (Children's Park) is the St John the Baptist Church in Roschenye, which dates from 1710. Previous to this a wooden church stood here which burned down in 1698. In structure the church is formed of a standard octagon-on-cube structure attached to a bell tower. In 1924 the church was closed and used as a anti-religion museum and then a children's theatre. It was reopened for worship in 2006. Inside, several fragments of early 18th century frescoes… Read more »

Vologda Exile Museum

  • 33 Ulitsa Marii Ulyanova
  • http://www.vologdamuseum.ru/
  • 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Sundays

Vologda served as a place of exile of political prisoners at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, especially during the period of Prime Minister Stolypin. Between December 1911 and February 1912 Iosef Stalin lived in a small wooden house while in exile in Vologda, which became a museum dedicated to him in 1937. After Stalin's death the museum's remit was widened to cover political exile in Vologda in general. The museum was refounded in 2007 as the… Read more »

War Memorial

  • Kirovsky Skver

Situated in Kirovsky Gardens is the city's main war memorial. It was unveiled in 1968 and consists of three plinths depicting the names of 173 heroes of the Soviet Union from Vologda and the surrounding areas. At the bottom of the plinths is a bar-relief depicting the faces of a soldier, partisan, sailor and pilot. Read more »

In the Verkhny Posad

800th Anniversary of Vologda Monument

  • Lenivaya Ploschadka

Vologda's Lenivaya Ploschadka (Lazy Square) represents the oldest part of Vologda. It gets its named from the fact that a "lazy" market was historically held here where merchants would sell their goods straight from their cart. Over the years several churches were located here, including the stone Resurrection church which was built in 1792 and demolished by the Bolsheviks in the 1930s. In its place a simple obelisk dedicated to the 800th anniversary of Vologda was erected in 1959… Read more »

Churches of the Former Ilinsky Monastery

  • 14A+Б Ulitsa Zasodimskogo

The Ilinsky Monastery is believed to have been founded during the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible in the mid-16th century, but later destroyed during the Time of Troubles. The monastery was subsequently refounded and new stone churches where built in the end of the century. However by 1738 there were no monks at the monastery and a decision was taken to dissolve it with the churches remaining as parish churches. St Elijah the Prophet's Church in Kamenye St Elijah's Church in… Read more »

Dormition Church of the Former Gorny Convent

  • 19A Ulitsa Burmaginykh

In 1590 the Gorny Convent was founded in Vologda and between 1692 and 1699 the Dormition Church was built inside, replacing an earlier stone version. In 1880 a bell tower and refectory were built on. In 1918 the convent was closed but the Dormition Church continued to function up until 1924 when it was turned into a cinema. The church has since been reopened but the convent has not been re-established. Some auxiliary buildings of the convent also survive to this day. Read more »

Founder of Vologda Monument

  • beginning of Ulitsa Burmaginykh

In 2012 on the 865th anniversary of Volgoda a monument to St Gerasim of Vologda was unveiled in the small park at the beginning of Ulitsa Burmaginykh on the banks of the River Vologda. St Gerasim is considered to be the founder of Vologda due to the Tale of the Miracles of St Gerasim of Vologda which mentions the saint founding a monastery close to the River Vologda in 1147. Such date is now officially considered the date of foundation of the city. Read more »

Museum of Forgotten Things

  • 6 Ulitsa Leningradskaya
  • http://www.vologdamuseum.ru/
  • 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

In 1991 a 19th-century wooden mansion became the home to a new museum dedicated to everyday items of bygone eras. The dining room, living room, children's room and study on the first floor have been carefully recreated to appear how they would have looked in pre-revolution Russia, using authentic items and furniture taken from estates around Vologda which no longer exist. The second floor exhibits portraits dating from the 18th and 19th century. All in all it is a very quaint… Read more »

Ss Constantine and Helena's Church

  • 85 Prospekt Pobedy

One of the prettiest churches in Vologda is Ss Constantine and Helena's Church which is an example of the decorative Russian uzorochye architectural style. The current surviving version dates from 1690, but previous to this a wooden church stood here since 1503. In structure it consists of a cubic structure topped with five silver domes and attached to a pretty bell tower. In 1930 the church was closed and many of its icons were transferred to museums. It was reopened in 1998. … Read more »

In Zarechye

Ensemble of St Demetrius of Priluki's Church and Dormition Church

  • 119 + 121 Naberezhnaya VI Armii

On the embankment of the River Vologda on the Zarechye side of Vologda, close to Oktyabrsky Bridge, is a church ensemble consisting of two churches: St Demetrius of Priluki's Church and the Dormition Church. St Demetrius of Priluki's Church The oldest of the two churches is St Demetrius of Priluki's Church which served as the complex's summer church, meaning it was unheated. The original stone version of the church was built in 1651, making it to the first to be built after St… Read more »

Meeting of the Lord Church

  • 85 Naberezhnaya VI Armi

The Meeting of the Lord Church was built on the embankment of the River Vologda on the Zarechye side of the city between 1731 and 1735 in the Russian baroque style. In 1830 a bell tower in the Russian gothic revival style was added on to the main part of the church. The church was closed in 1930 and has so far never been reopened, but its external appearance has been maintained in quite a good condition. Read more »

St Andrew the Apostle's Church in Fryazinovo

  • 205 Naberezhnaya VI Armii

Further down the embankment on the Zarechye side of Vologda is St Andrew the Apostle's Church in Fryazinovo. It was built sometime between 1670 and 1687 and consists of a cubic structure topped with one dome and attached to a small bell tower. The church was closed in the Soviet period between 1930 and 1990. During this time it was used as a store before being restored in the 1960s. Read more »

St John Chrysostom's Church

  • 105 Naberezhnaya VI Armii

The exact date of foundation of St John Chrysostom's Church is not known for sure but it is believed to date from the mid-17th century. It consists of a large cubic structure with five silver domes. Attached to this is a bell tower which was built on in the 18th century. The church was closed in 1930 and although it was returned to the Orthodox Church in 2003 it does not regularly hold services. Read more »

St Nicholas' Church in Vladychnaya Sloboda

  • 108 Ulitsa Gogolya
  • http://www.svnikolai.ru/

St Nicholas' Church in Vladychnaya Sloboda dates from 1669 making it the third oldest surviving church in the city after St Sophia's Cathedral and St Demetrius of Priluki's Church. It consists of a traditional cubic structure topped with five domes which are its most striking feature as they are slightly larger than expected for such type of church. Attached via a small vestibule is a bell tower. The church was closed in 1930 and subsequently used as a workshop. In 1994 it was… Read more »