Sights of Yoshkar-Ola

Around Leninsky Prospekt

Dormition Church

40 Ulitsa Uspenskaya

Ulitsa Pervomaiskaya runs across Leninsky Prospekt and just south of the Ploschad Obolenskogo-Nogotkova on the intersection of Ulitsa Pervomaiskaya and Ulitsa Uspenskaya, behind the government buildings, is the Dormition Church. The church is a modern construction, dating from 2006. It was built in the traditional Byzantine style. Read more »

Ivan Obolensky-Nogotkov Monument

Ploschad Obolenskogo-Nogotkova

Ploschad Obolenskogo-Nogotkova is named in honour of Ivan Obolensky-Nogotkov (sometimes written Ivan Nogotkov-Obolensky) who was the first governor of Tsarevokokshaisk - as Yoshkar-Ola used to be known. He was appointed in 1584 by Tsar Feodor. Just next to this monument is a scaled-down copy of Moscow's Tsar Cannon. Read more »

National Art Gallery

Ploschad Obolenskogo-Nogotkova (24 Leninsky Prospekt)

The beautiful building located on Ploschad Obolenskogo-Nogotkova, which itself is one of the most picturesque squares in the city, is partially occupied by the National Art Gallery. The gallery does have a permanent exhibition but also holds temporary exhibitions of work from various Russian and foreign museums and from private collections. The building of the gallery is famous for its clock tower and on the hour the Virgin Mary appears from the clock. Read more »

Republican Museum of Fine Art

15 Ulitsa Gogolya
10:00 - 18:00 (12:00 - 20:00 on Tuesdays). Closed on Mondays.

The Republican Museum of Fine Art is located in a specially-built building and displays art, decorative applied art, sculptures and graphics of Russian artists, including local Mari artists. The museum has several halls dedicated to the work of artist Boris Ivanov, whose paintings depict fat characters with big round faces. Various temporary exhibitions are also held here. Read more »

St Leonid, Bishop of Mari El Monument

Ploschad Obolenskogo-Nogotkova

Just outside the National Art Gallery is a modern statue of St Leonid, Bishop of Mari El. Leonid became bishop of Mari El in 1937, but in the same year he was arrested by the NKVD and charged with anti-revolutionary activity. He was executed in Yoshkar-Ola in 1938 and canonised in 2002 as a new-martyr and confessor of 20th century Russia. Read more »

Timofey Yevseev National Museum of the Republic of Mari El

153 Ulitsa Sovetskaya
http://www.fumus.ru
10:00 - 18:00. Closed on Mondays.

The Republic of Mari El's main regional museum is named in honour of Timofey Yevseev - a Mari ethnographer, folklorist and historian. The museum details the history, ethnography and nature of the republic. It also has information on the traditions, clothing and spiritual lives of the Mari people. Read more »

Vladimir Lenin Monument

Ploschad Lenina

Vladimir Lenin with Children Monument

156 Ulitsa Yakova Eshpaya

Connecting Leninsky Prospekt with Bulvar Pobedy is Ulitsa Yakova Eshpaya and on this street you will find a school which has an unusual Vladimir Lenin monument outside. The statue depicts Lenin sat down in a rather standard pose, but what is not standard is the fact that he is joined by two children. Read more »

Yoshkar-Ola Tom-Cat Monument

outside 1 Ploschad Lenina

A new statue in Yoshkar-Ola, which has become a symbol of the city, is that of a tom-cat sat on a bench. The reason behind this unusual monument is due to the Russian euphemism of “Yoshkin Kot”, which sounds like 'tom cat of Yoshkar-Ola. Slightly down Prospekt Gagarina is another statue of a cat - this time a she-cat - which has been opened outside a cafe. Read more »

Around the Embankments and Chavain Boulevard

Annunciation Cathedral

Ploschad Respubliki Presvyatoi Devy Mari

Standing on Ploschad Respubliki Presvyatoi Devy Mari (Republic of the Virgin Mary Square), at the intersection of Resurrection Embankment and Chavain Boulevard, is the Annunciation Cathedral which is still, as of 2014, under construction. Work started first in the late 2000s on the bell tower and now the main structure is in the process of being completed which will feature five domes. Just outside the cathedral is a statue of the Virgin Mary and a fountain with a statue of… Read more »

Bruges Embankment

Naberezhnaya Bryugge

The embankment on the left-bank of the River Malaya Kokshaga is known as the Bruges Embankment (Naberezhnaya Bryugge) after the Belgian city as the modern buildings here have all been built in the Flemish style, even though there is no real connection between Yoshkar-Ola and Flanders! Many of the buildings here are now used by the local government and since its construction the embankment has become the calling card of the city. The embankment is also decorated with various… Read more »

Central Park

Bulvar Chavaina

At the end of Chavain Boulevard is Yoshkar-Ola's central park which is officially known as the 30th Anniversary of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League Central Park of Culture and Rest. There are several attractions here as well as statues entitled the Tree of Life and the Tree of Memory, plus a Lenin Monument. In the north-east of the park Is the Our Lady of Tikhvin Church which dates from 1774. The western side of the park is known as Military Glory Square and there… Read more »

Chavain Boulevard

Bulvar Chavaina

Chavain Boulevard runs horizontally across the city, passing the two embankments en route. The two main landmarks on the boulevard are the reconstructions of the Annunciation and the Saviour Towers of the Moscow Kremlin, which stand on either side of the bridge over the River Malaya Kokshaga which makes up part of Chavain Boulevard. No boulevard though in Yoshkar-Ola is of course complete without several statues. On the eastern side of the boulevard there are statues of the… Read more »

Museum of Folk Art

23 Ulitsa Chernyshevskogo
http://www.fumus.ru
09:00 - 17:00. Closed on Mondays and Sundays

The Museum of Folk Art is located just to the south of Chavain Boulevard inside an old wooden house. It displays various examples of decorative applied art, especially focusing on Mari art. The museum is run as a branch of the Timofey Yevseev National Museum of the Republic of Mari El. Read more »

Patriarch Square

Patriarshaya Ploshad, Naberezhnaya Bryugge

The square situated between Resurrection and Bruges Embankments to the north of the River Malaya Kokshaga is known as Patriarch Square (Patriarshaya Ploshad). It is so named as in the centre of the square is a statue of Patriarch Alexius II releasing a dove. Behind the statue are two of Yoshkar-Ola's most famous modern buildings. One is known as the Twelve Apostles Complex which is a reconstruction of the Sheremetev Castle in Yurino. It houses a theatre, a TV company and a… Read more »

Resurrection and Amsterdam Embankment

Voskresenskaya Naberezhnaya and Naberezhnaya Amsterdama

The right-bank of the River Malaya Kokshaga is known as the Resurrection Embankment which then becomes the Amsterdam Embankment in the south. These embankments also have several monuments. In the north, outside the Resurrection Cathedral, is a statue of Tsar Feodor, which is said to be the only statue of the son of Ivan the Terrible in the world. Yoshkar-Ola is said to have been founded in 1584 during the reign of Feodor, meaning that unlike the other statues here there is some… Read more »

Around Ulitsa Voznesenskaya

Ascension Cathedral and Resurrection Church

29A-31 Ulitsa Voznesenskaya

Situated at the intersection of Ulitsa Voznesenskaya and Tsargradsky Prospekt is a church complex consisting of the Ascension Cathedral, the Resurrection Church and some other buildings. The Ascension Cathedral was built in 1756 as a two-storey building with an octagon-on-cube structure. The built-on bell tower dates from 2009 as the original was destroyed during the Soviet period when the church was closed from 1937 to 1995. Just next to the cathedral is the Resurrection… Read more »

Gulag Museum

102 Ulitsa Sovetskaya
http://gulagmuzey.ucoz.ru/

Just behind the Tsarevokokshaisk Kremlin is the Gulag Museum which is probably one of the best museums in the country detailing the system of Soviet forced labour camps. The museum is located in what were once the NKVD headquarters in the city where prisoners were interrogated before being sent onto a camp. The rooms are now brimming with all sorts of items connected with the Gulag and the Soviet era. This includes many statues of Stalin, Lenin and other revolutionaries, as well… Read more »

History of Yoshkar-Ola Museum

39 Ulitsa Voznesenskaya
10:00-18:00 (10:00-16:00 on Sundays). Closed on Mondays.

The History of Yoshkar-Ola Museum was founded in 1996 and is housed in an early 20th century mansion. It details the foundation of the city and its development over the centuries, including information on the faith, tradition and everyday lives of its citizens. Read more »

Resurrection Cathedral

45 Ulitsa Voznesenskaya

The original Resurrection Cathedral was built in 1759 in the decorative Moscow baroque style. In 1928 the cathedral was closed and its dome and the top of its bell tower were removed when it was converted to a cinema. However it was reopened for worship in 1941 only to be closed again in 1944 and then demolished. The current red, white and green version is a reconstruction which was built between 2008 and 2009. The main part of the cathedral consists of a traditional octagon-on… Read more »

Trinity Church

53 Ulitsa Voznesenskaya

The Trinity Church was built in 1763 and was actually the first stone building to be built in the city. The pretty church consists of a tall structure stopped with five small domes and rows of kokoshniks. Next to the church there is a bell tower built in the same style. In 1932 the church was closed and its domes and part of its bell tower were removed. In 1995 the building was returned to the Orthodox Church and reconstruction work was carried out. Like the neighbouring… Read more »

Tsarevokokshaisk Kremlin

49 Ulitsa Voznesenskaya
10:00 - 20:00.

It is not that a well-known fact that the newest kremlin in Russia is in Yoshkar-Ola. Whereas as most of Russia's other kremlins date from the 15th, 16th or 17th centuries Yoshkar-Ola's is a modern reconstruction which was built in 2009 around Ploschad Revolyutsi. The kremlin is called the Tsarevokokshaisk Kremlin as Yoshkar-Ola was previous known as Tsarevokokshaisk. Situated inside the kremlin are some cannons, some stands detailing the history of the city and some attractions… Read more »