Kostroma

Kostroma is a historic city in central Russia and administrative centre of the Kostroma Oblast. As part of the Golden ring, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Volga and Kostroma, 65 km east of Yaroslavl.

FACTS.
Kostroma is the center of Kostroma region and is located 340 kilometers north east of Moscow. It was founded in 1152, where the Kostroma river meets Volga river.
There are 288 000 people living in Kostroma.

IMPRESSION OF KOSTROMA.
Entering the city by bus or train, it feels sad that the neverending landscapes of forests (which you cross coming from Yaroslavl) or the hilly countryside (which you ride through when you come from Ivanovo) disappear under a big city.
Like any suburbs of a town with 300 000 inhabitants, Kotroma's outskirts are morose and grey.
Approaching towards the ancient city center though, it feels different: as you cross the bridge, coming from the station, you discover an older part of Kostroma, just on the shore of the large Volga river. All the streets, like a spider net, converge to the central attraction area, where most of the shops installed under the imposing white stone trading arcades. The air is fresh, and it feels nice to walk around the streets, the markets, the park, the river bank where boats and hydrofoils stop at two embarkment piers. The charm of the ancient trading city remained, and its special location, right on the shore of such a large river gives it a brightness, a special light.

HISTORY OF KOSTROMA.
Kostroma was founded in 1152 on the conjunction of Volga and Kostroma rivers by Yury Dolgoruky (he was the one who founded Moscow also) to secure the north-east part of his Rostov-Kostroma principality.
Many times Kostroma was completely devastated. In the beginning of the 13th century Kostroma was burned because of a quarrel between Russian princes, who couldn't divide the country, in 1238 the Tartars invaded and plundered the town, in 1318 Moscow princes plundered Kostroma again, in 1375 the town was invaded by the river pirates, who came from Novgorod and ransacked the town.
St Ipatiev monastery, located at the place where Kostroma river meets Volga river, was securing the town. In the beginning of 17th century the monastery was captured by Lzhedmitri II, who claimed to be the Tsar (king) of Russia, but he was banished by militiamen.
By the end of the 17th century Kostroma became the third biggest town in Russia, after Moscow and Yaroslavl. It ceased to be a significant fort, and became an important cultural and commercial center.
Kostroma was one of the first cities where they started to make cloths and linens for Russian fleet.
Now Kostroma is a nice and calm provincial town on the river of Volga river, with historical center kept intact. The main industries are machinery, forestry, and textile. In September 2002 there's going to be a big feast: 850 years of the city, so many buildings and streets in the centrum are being prepared for the celebration.

WHAT TO DO IN KOSTROMA.
A bit to the west, where the Kostroma river enters in the Volga, just at the confluence is nested the monastery of St Ipathy, the main architecture and historical attraction of the town. Next to the monastery there's a museum of wooden architecture, that can be
interesting if you want to see old Russian izbas (wooden houses) and churches gathered in one place. It's better to just go to some village to see the izbas, but if you don't have enough time, you can see this museum.
The nicest thing to do in Kostroma is to walk along quiet central streets with trading arcades and wooden houses, it's better to do it in the morning, when the city is just waking up. A good place to walk is also the embankment of Volga river.

BY TRAIN.
There are daily trains to/from Moscow, St Petersburg, Yaroslavl. The train station promises little from the outside, but as you get inside it surprises: very clean, no queues, some signs in english, a waiting room, a pharmacy, a barbery, a good small cafe, opened 24 hours a day, where you can eat fast for 70 roub. ($2.3 US), and it's written in the menu how long it takes to cook a meal.
Next to the exit there are phones to make free phone calls in the city.
The railway station: address: Sovetskaya, #33; information: (0942) 54-22-64.
Directions to the city centrum: You can either take a trolley #2 to get from the train station to the center of the city (and back), or you can walk to Privokzalnaya (Привокзальная) square (along the main avenue, going to the direction of the city centrum) and take any bus / trolley from there.
It takes around 15 minutes by trolley to get from / to the train station to / from the city centrum. How to get there from the bus station: walk along the main avenue to the direction of the city centrum, cross the large bridge and later a small pedestrian bridge over the railways on the right. It a 10-minute walk.

BY BUS.
The buses depart to Moscow, Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Suzdal, Vladimir and other cities. The bus station is 20 minutes ride from the centrum of the city. There are automatic lockers, toilets at the station. The station's information office is opened from 7 to 19.30 (a break 12.30-13.30).
The bus station: Kineshemskoe (Кинешемское) shosse, #21. Phone: (0942) 22-02-33. Directions: take a bus along the Kineshemskoe shosse to the direction of the railway station (vokzal) to the centrum of the city. It'll take around 20 minutes.

BY BOAT.
Kostroma is located on the Volga river, so the river transport is operating when there's no ice. There are some cruise boats, but they are expensive, local people use the local hydrofoil, which circulates between Yaroslavl, Kostroma, and Plyos.
The hydrofoil from Kostroma to Yaroslavl departs daily 18.00, except tuesday and thursday. It takes about 2 hours to get to Yaroslavl, and it costs 48 roubles ($1.7 US) one way. The hydrofoil departs from pier #1, they start to sell the tickets 30 minutes before the departure. It's better to take this boat on the weekdays, because on the weekends it's so popular, that people start to queue it 2 hours before departure. This hydrofoil returns from Yaroslavl to Kostroma daily (except tuesday and thursday), departs Yaroslavl at 6.20, comes to Kostroma (pier #1) 2 hours later at 8.20, and then departs at 8.35 further to Plyos (1 hour). It comes back from Plyos to Kostroma in the evening (departs Plyos at 16.40, comes to Kostroma at 17.40, and then sails further to Yaroslavl).
The pier #1: Located on the Volga river, just next to "Korvet" pier hotel. How to get there: walk from the main Susanina (Сунанина) square (where the trading arcades are) to the direction of Volga river, and as you reach the embankment, turn right. Walk straight ahead for 5 minutes, the pier will be on your left (of course). It takes 15-20 minutes to walk there from Susanina square. Information phone: (0942) 55-36-87

PUBLIC TRANSPORT.
There are buses and trolleys with discounts (for old people and students) and without discounts. A trip costs 2 roubles ($0.08). The trolleys have the price written on a plate behind the front window, so don't mix it up with the trolley's route, which is written on top.

The useful trolley routes are #2, that goes from the train station to the city centrer (Sovetskaya (Советская) street and Susaninskaya (Сусанинская) sq.), trolley #3 goes from the centrum (from the stop on Sovetskaya st., next to the Trading Arcades on Susanina sq) to the eastern part of the city, stops close to Ipatievski Monastery, which is on the other shore of Volga river.
A bus #13 will take you from the main square of Kostroma - Susaninskaya (Сусанинская) ploshchad (where the Trading Arcades are) directly over a bridge above the Kostroma river to Ipatievski monastery.

TAKING A CAR.
You can wave down any car on the street and use it as a taxi. The prices are like in Moscow. If you want to get from the centrum of the city to Ipatievski monastery it'll cost 15-20 roubles ($0.5-$0.8).
Taxi service: (0942) 22-00-72, 22-01-33

Before the end of the 18th century the centrum of Kostroma consisted maily of wooden houses. In 1773 there was a devastating fire in the town, during which almost all wooden buildings and structures were destroyed.
So, in the year 1781, the Russian empress Ekaterina II gave the decree to restore and rebuild Kostroma. The process of building the new town and restoration took more than one decade, and as a result the new churches, trading places, and houses were built.

THE TRADING ARCADES.
If you walk along Sovetskaya (Советская) street to Susaninskaya (Сусанинская) square, on your left you'll see the long, bending, white rows of Trading Arcades. They go from the square down to Volga river. The complex of the arcades was built in the end of the 18th century at the place, where 300 year before there had been the trenches of Kostroma Kremlin (that didn't exist anymore even in the 18th century).
If you walk down to Volga river, you'll see that there are many different arcades. Each arcade was used for trading different kind of goods: there are 'flower' arcades, 'milk' arcades, 'vegetable' arcades, 'tabacco' arcades, 'oil' arcades, 'sweets' arcades, 'fish' arcades. Closer to the Volga river there are parallel to each other 'bread' and 'kvas' arcades ('kvas' is a russian brewed sweet drink), and further down, parallel to the Volga, there are 'fish' arcades.
The first floor of arcades was used to trade, and the second floor was used to store the goods.
Now, there are different kinds of shops and a market in the arcades.

AROUND SUSANINA SQUARE.
At the big square between the arcades, there's a monument to Ivan Susanin – a peasant from Kostroma, who became a Russian hero. During the winter of 1612-1613s Ivan Susanin guided a detachment of Polish invaders into an unpassable swamp. When the Polish soldiers realised that Susanin did it on purpose, they killed him. But after they didn't manage to get out of the swamp and died themselves. The monument was built in 1967 by a Russian sculptor, and was set not only to Susanin, but also to embody the abnegation of Russian people, who, during the many wars, were ready to die saving their country.
If you cross the Sovetskaya street and stand on the square in front of Susanin's Monument, you'll see some interesting buildings around you. The first is a fire tower, that is 35 meters high (built in 1823-1827). Inside the tower there used to be rooms for cisterns with water, a stable, living rooms for firemen, and an observation deck on top. Now there's the history museum of fire department inside. At the moment the fire-tower is being restorated, and it should be finished by the year 2002, when there'll be the feast of 850 years.
Next to the fire-tower (in the clockwise direction), there's the building where there used to be the military guard-room (gauptvakhta). The decorations on the walls of this building are dedicated to the victory over Napoleon in 1812.
Nowadays there's a literature museum inside this bulding, where you can see samples of old Russian books (hand-written and printed), and an exhibition dedicated to writers from Kostroma region. The museum is opened daily from 10 to 17.
Address: #1, Lenina ul., phone: (0942) 51-60-27

EPIPHANY MONASTERY.
If you walk from Susaninskaya sqare along Simonovskogo (Симоновкого) street, you'll see the Epiphany Monastery (Bogoyavlensky monastery - Богоявленский монастырь) which was founded in the first half of the 15th century by a monk from Trinity monastery of Sergius (from Sergiev Posad). Nowadays this monastery is the residence of the archbishop of Kostroma. The main church in the monastery is Epiphany cathedral (Bogoyavlensky cathedral) built in 1559-1565, which is the first building made of stone in Kostroma. Inside you can see the holy icon of Fedorovsky Bogomater (around 800 years old). The legend says that the Prince Vasily Yaroslavovich found this icon, while he was hunting. It was hanging on one of the branches of an elm tree.

ST. IPATHY MONASTERY.
Take the bus #14 and in 10 minutes it'll take you through the whole centrum of Kostroma, crossing the bridge over Volga river, to St Ipathy
monastery (you'll need to walk 5 more minutes).
St Ipathy monastery (Ipatievski monastery - Ипатиевский монастырь) is the most important monastery in Kostroma. It was founded in the beginning of 1330 at the place where Kostroma river meets the Volga. It's not clear who founded the monastery, some legends say that it was a Tartar called 'Chet', who became Christian; other legends say that the monastery was founded by Vasily Kvashnya, who was the prince of Rostov-Kostroma principality, and who liked to live in Kostroma.
First there were just some wooden walls and fortifications, but in the 16th century it was completely rebuilt. The monastery was making some money on the land, on peasants, on taxes, on navigating along the Volga river, so it could afford itself to build the impressive Trinity cathedral (Troitsky cathedral - Троицкий собор), richly decorated buildings, and stone walls around the territory of the monastery.
The territory of St Ipathy monastery is divided into two parts: the 'old town' and the 'new town'.
The stone walls around the 'old town' used to be 550 meters long, 6 meters high, and 3 meters thick. The center of the 'old town' is the Trinity cathedral which was built in 1586, but was blown up in 1649, because of an 'accidental' explosion of some gun-powder that was stored in the basements. Built again in 1650-1652 the cathedral became much bigger and more richly decorated than before. The frescos inside were painted by Russian craftsmen, headed by Gury Nikitin and Sila Savin, who were the famous masters from Kostroma (they did some frescoes in Kostroma's Euthimiev monastery as well).
The 'new town' was built in the middle of the 17th century after Russian tsar's Mikhail Romanov decree. In the 'new town' and the territory nearby there's the Museum of Wooden Architecture, where the churches, peasant's houses (izbas), a mill from all over the Kostroma region were brought. Among the most interesting sights are the Spaso-Preobrazhenskaya church, built in 1628, is said to be made without any nails, just pure handcraft. The Sobora Bogoroditsy church, built in 1552, is claimed to be the oldest construction of the Kostroma region (that we can see now).
Address: #1, Prosveshcheniya ul. Phone: (0942) 57-25-89. Open hours: 9.00-17.00 daily. The preachers' services are daily 7.30 or 8.00 or 17.00. If you come earlier, you can ask a guard to let you in, saying that you'll leave soon, and that it's the only chance for you to see the monastery. Addmission: 50 roubles ($1.7).
Museum of Wooden Architecture: #1a, Prosveshcheniya ul. Phone (0922) 39-15-12. Open hours: 9.00-17.00 daily.