Location: Kostroma Oblast
Hotels, motels and where to sleep
Restaurant, taverns and where to eat
Kostroma (Кострома) is the administrative center of the
Kostroma region. The ancient historical Russian city is located on
the banks of the Volga, 80 km downstream from neighboring Yaroslavl.
Unlike the latter, the transport accessibility of Kostroma is worse,
so the main flow of tourists flocks to the city in the summer on
cruise ships. A short sightseeing tour will give you an idea of the
city, but it will hardly allow you to understand Kostroma. It is
better to come here specifically for at least a couple of days for
leisurely walks around the city.
Kostroma is a city in the
European part of Russia, the administrative center of the Kostroma
region, a major river port. Located at the intersection of the Volga
and Kostroma rivers. Founded in 1152 by Yuri Dolgoruky and has the
official status of "historical". Included in the Golden Ring of
Russia. It is famous for its textile and jewelry industry, and is
also considered the cheese capital of Russia.
The city of
Kostroma is designated as the birthplace of the New Year's character
Snegurochka.
Kostroma is rich in attractions. In the city of the Golden Ring, which is the most remote from Moscow, as well as Central Russia, the historical buildings of the central part of the city have been well preserved. As a trading city, Kostroma is not very rich in temple architecture, although the Ipatiev Monastery, or the Church of the Savior in Ryady, is a must-see in the itinerary for travelers, which is hard to miss. It is also interesting to study the ensemble of civil architecture, concentrated mainly around Susaninskaya Square, and on the outgoing streets.
Ipatiev Monastery. Considered the cradle of the Romanov dynasty, in
1613 Mikhail Romanov was crowned king in the Trinity Cathedral. The
monastery was first mentioned in chronicles in 1432, but it was probably
founded much earlier. The monastery was visited by all Presidents of the
Russian Federation during their term of office.
Trinity
Cathedral. Trinity Cathedral Church (1650-1652), part of the
architectural ensemble of the Ipatiev Monastery.
Church of St. John
the Evangelist in Ipatievskaya Sloboda.
Kostroma settlement, museum -
reserve. One of the oldest ethnographic museums, a landscape
museum-reserve. In it you can see the wooden architecture of the
16th-19th centuries. Along the picturesque river Igumenka, there are
residential peasant houses and many outbuildings: mills, barns, baths -
in total about 30 monuments of wooden architecture of the Kostroma
Territory and neighboring Nizhny Novgorod and Vologda regions. Thematic
expositions are open inside most of the buildings. The objects located
on the territory of the museum-reserve are always in demand by
filmmakers: film crews often work on the territory of the
museum-reserve, shooting both feature films and popular science films.
Embankment
Obelisks of the Moscow outpost.
Ostrovsky Arbour (Беседка Островского).
On the banks of the Volga, near the river station in 1956, Ostrovsky's
gazebo was built. It stands high above the river, on an embankment that
has been preserved from the ramparts of the ancient Kostroma Kremlin.
The arbor in its architectural forms resembles old garden and park
arbors in Russian estates. The gazebo has seven columns. Today, the
gazebo is one of the main attractions of the city. Kostroma residents
love to visit here and bring their friends and guests to this place. And
not only because this place is associated with the name of Ostrovsky,
but also because the view from here is unusually beautiful.
Old pier.
A few years ago, the legendary landing stage turned into one of the main
attractions of the city on the Volga. It is located precisely on the
Volga coast, near the Moscow outpost. Tourists from all over Russia get
acquainted with Kostroma thanks to the "Staraya Pier". Here, down to the
smallest detail, everything reminds of the glorious merchant city and
Ostrovsky's "Dowry".
Berth. Motor ship pier, one of the places of
attraction and the water gates of the city. During the hours and days of
the arrival of the ship, the place at the pier is seething with trade.
Susaninskaya area
Fire Observation Watchtower.
An outstanding architectural monument of the Classicism era, one of the
sights of the city, the main decoration of the central Susaninskaya
Square.
Trading lines. Petty, Kvass, Red, Tobacco.... a trade and
warehouse complex of the late 18th-early 19th centuries, which occupies
several blocks from Susaninskaya Square to the former Kremlin in the
very center of Kostroma. This is an exemplary monument of urban planning
art of the time of Catherine's urban reform.
Present places.
Borshov's house. An architectural monument of the Classicism era, one of
the largest estates in the city of the first quarter of the 19th
century, which has an exceptionally important town-planning significance
in the development of the center. Architect N. I. Metlin. The building
is part of the civil architecture ensemble of Susaninskaya Square along
with the Fire Tower and Guardhouse.
Guardhouse (Kostroma State
Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve).
Church of the
Savior in Ryady (XVIII century).
Monument to Ivan Susanin.
Monument to the dog.
Monument to Yuri Dolgoruky. The monument to the
founder of Kostroma, Yuri Dolgoruky, was erected in the early 2000s on
Sovetskaya Street, opposite house 3. Its night illumination will come in
handy if you want to take a picture at the monument.
Lenin monument.
It is located on a monumental pedestal from the monument in honor of the
300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, and the unnaturally long right
arm may have been taken from another sculpture.
Church of the Resurrection on Debre. The temple complex, consisting of the summer Resurrection Church, the winter Znamenskaya Church with a tiered bell tower and a fence with holy gates, restored at the beginning of the 21st century, connected by a covered passage to the western porch of the Resurrection Church. The main pearl of the complex - the Church of the Resurrection on Debre - was built in 1651 at the expense of the merchant guest K.G. Isakov, and its Three Saints chapel was consecrated even before the main temple. Before the revolution, the church went through several major reconstructions, and acquired its current appearance during the scientific restoration of 1969. A significant part of the interior of the church has changed little since the middle of the 17th century. The main volume has preserved perspective portals and fairly sooty murals, and in the Trekhsvyatitelsky aisle one can see well-preserved murals, carved royal doors, and a magnificent table iconostasis.
Temples
Epiphany Monastery.
Epiphany Cathedral.
Church of
John Chrysostom.
Temple of Alexander and Antonina in Selishche, st.
Verkhnee-Selishchinskaya, 35a.
Monument in honor of the founding of the city of Kostroma.
Monument of Glory in honor of the Kostroma veterans of the Second World
War.
Civil architecture
Old station. The wooden station of the
old dead-end station Kostroma, located on the right bank. The station is
now a freight station, the building is used for housing
Other
Museums
Museum Kostroma Sloboda, st. Enlightenment, 1b (next
to the Ipatiev Monastery). ✉ 100 RUB Museum of Wooden Architecture
Kostroma Art Museum, Mira Ave., 7.
Museum of flax and birch bark,
st. Valentina Tereshkova, 38.
Terem Snegurochka, st. Camp, 38.
Residence of the Snow Maiden, st. Simanovsky, 11. ☎
+7(4942)45-30-61. 11:00 - 18:00 (Wed.-Sun.). 150 r., 200 r. In her
residence, the Russian Snegurochka conducts excursions to the Room
of Miracles, interactive programs and master classes all year round.
In addition, there is a Post Office where you can order a letter for
the New Year, Birthday and any other holiday.
Cheese Museum.
Jewelery Museum.
Museum of theatrical costume, st. Simanovsky,
d.8.
Romanov Museum (Романовский
Музей)
Theaters
Kostroma State Drama Theater
named after A. N. Ostrovsky.
Kostroma Regional Puppet Theatre.
Kostroma Chamber Drama Theatre.
Circus.
Kostroma Folk Theater
"Polynomial".
Leisure
Park Berendeevka. Park "Berendeevka"
- a place of rest for Kostroma residents and guests of the city.
Huge area for an active and relaxed family holiday.
By plane
Three times a week, the Kostroma Aviation Enterprise
flies to St. Petersburg on an An-26 turboprop. There are also flights to
Anapa in summer. The airports of Yaroslavl and Ivanovo are relatively
close, but they are only slightly more active than Kostroma.
Kostroma Airport (Sokerkino) (IATA: KMW) (7 km northeast of the center
of Kostroma, near the highway to Bui).
By train
Daily from
Moscow from the Yaroslavsky railway station on the branded train No.
148YA "Kostroma", travel time less than 7 hours (night) and from St.
Petersburg on the train "St. evening night). You can also get on the
trains of the Trans-Siberian Railway, following to Sharya, Khabarovsk
and Vladivostok.
Another option is to get through Yaroslavl and
then by bus or train.
Kostroma-Novaya
By car
Routes
pass through Kostroma:
A113 Ivanovo - Kostroma (via Furmanov,
Privolzhsk, Volgorechensk);
P98 Kostroma - Verkhnespasskoe (via
Makaryev, Sharya, Manturovo, Vokhma);
P99 Kostroma - Bui;
M8
Moscow - Severodvinsk: entrance to Kostroma from Yaroslavl.
When
driving from Moscow on the federal highway M8 in front of Yaroslavl exit
to the right (easy to miss) onto Kostroma highway, which is also part of
the M8, then 70 km. The Kostroma highway is mainly two-lane, with
separate four-lane segments, the quality of the roadway is good.
Kostroma does not have a bypass road, so all transit traffic goes
through the city, including the only bridge across the Volga. In the
city itself there are broken roads, motorists should be careful. Parking
lots, even in the city center, are chaotic, without the traditional
atrocities of newfangled traffic organizers.
By bus
The
Kostroma bus station regularly operates interregional (to major cities
in nearby regions), intercity (in the region) and suburban flights.
On the ship
Kostroma has a river port, but regular passenger
traffic is limited: local transportation is carried out by motor ship of
the Moskva type, in the summer the port receives cruise ships.
Bus #13 shuttles between the main square (Susaninskaya ploshchad) and Hypatiev Monastery. Trolleybus #2 runs between the main square and the train station. Public transport should cost you about 10 RUR per ride (as for 2010).
The city gave its name to the famous Kostroma cheese. Kostroma is
often called the cheese capital of Russia. For the sake of curiosity, it
is worth trying this delicious dairy product, which is sold at a
specialized fair, the Cheese Exchange in Red Rows, and if you like it,
then take it with you. Local and souvenir goods are based on the
specialization of local production. You should pay attention to jewelry,
as well as products made from linen, birch bark and clay.
Cheese
exchange.
Trading lines.
Gift shop (Kostroma souvenirs), st.
Ostrovsky 2/1.
Aunt Moti. A network of stores of useful products and
gifts of natural origin.
"Art shelf" (handmade goods, souvenirs,
gifts) , Tchaikovsky Street, house 9. ☎ 89536665061. 12:00-20:00. Shop
for handicrafts, souvenirs and gifts.
Cheap
Hostel "Dom-Kom", Kostroma, Yubileynaya st., 59. ☎
+79036343355. 07:00-23:00. 500 rub.
Hotel "Ipatievskaya Sloboda",
Beregovaya, 3a. ☎ +7-4942-319444.
Hotel "Samokovskaya",
Samokovskaya st., 10A. ✉ ☎ +7-4942-440455, fax: +7-4942-440455.
Double room from 900 rubles / day.
Average cost
Hotel
"Azimut", st. Trunk, 40. ☎ +7-4942-390505.
Hotel "Aristocrat",
Mira Ave., 159A. ☎ +7-4942-353735.
Hotel "Golden Ring", st. 104,
Nizhnyaya Debrya. ☎ +7(4942) 622-444, fax: +7(4942) 622-500. In
2014: 2700 rubles for a single room, 3000 - standard for two; 3500
rub. superior room, 6500 rubles. for spacious apartments. The hotel
is located on the banks of the Volga, but the name of the street
seems to hint that this is not the most accessible place. It is
strange that the multi-storey building does not have an elevator.
The description of the rooms on the website is correct.
Business
hotel, May 1, 24a. ☎ +7 (4942) 471212. The cost of 1-2 local numbers
is 3000 rubles per day.
Hotel complex "Volga", st. Youth, d.1. ☎
+7 (4942) 777-000. 2500-4000 r. The largest and most prominent hotel
in the city, which was built in Soviet times during the era of the
development of the Golden Ring as a tourist route. Despite the
presentable appearance, the decoration and condition of the rooms
sends guests back to the Soviet past: falling mattresses, Soviet
plumbing, sockets falling out of the walls and other joys of
everyday life. The restaurant deserves a separate negative, with
forgetful waiters and not very high-quality cuisine. Wi-Fi is
available on all floors, but under load it may not work at all. The
panoramic view from the window to the Volga at least somehow
brightens up everyday inconveniences.
Hotel "Snegurochka". The
hotel is located near the Terem Snegurochka, relatively popular with
travelers with children. The terrible soundproofing of the rooms
will definitely allow guests to hear the noise from the neighboring
room at any time of the day or night.
Cheap
Cafe "Samovar" (pancake "Skovorodka") , Simanovsky, 6.
☎ (4942) 31-80-58. Sun-Thu from 10:00 to 22:00, Fri-Sat from 10:00
to 24:00. Cafe of Russian cuisine in the center of Kostroma.
Cafe-pizzeria "Bravo Star" (formerly "Attic") , st. Lermontova, 1a.
☎ 7(4942) 47-20-03. from 11:00 to 23:00.
Pizzeria-billiards
"Bravo Star" , st. Lenina, d.100b. ☎ 7(4942)45-04-12. from 11:00 to
23:00.
Canteen "Limpopo", st. Sovetskaya, 13. ☎ +7 (4942)
31-90-53. Specializes in baking.
Cafe "Black Pyramid" , st.
Kalinovskaya, 40. ☎ +7 (4942) 45-37-45.
Self-service cafe
"Russian Traditions".
Average cost
Cafe "Barkas",
Nizhne-Naberezhnaya, 66. ☎ (4942) 63-08-29. Sun-Thu from 12:00 to
24:00, Fri-Sat from 12:00 to 02:00. Cafe of European cuisine on the
right bank of the Volga with a panoramic view of the historical part
of Kostroma. A memorable ship-style interior, several halls, open
and closed summer verandas, an interesting menu, large portions.
There is a children's room and a children's menu.
Coffee house
"Horns and hooves", st. Sovetskaya, 2 (center). ☎ +7(4942)31-52-40.
8.00-22.00. Excellent interior, with life-size figures and a plot
from books about Ostap Bender. It seems to be called a coffee shop,
but you can have a delicious lunch.
Cafe "Susanin House" , st.
Ivana Susanin, 54. ☎ +7(4942) 30 11 20. on weekdays 08.00-24.00, on
weekends 11.00-24.00. Business lunches in the form of a food warmer
on weekdays from 11 am to 4 pm. On weekends from 11 am to 5 pm there
is a children's room with an animator. After 19.00 there is often
live music. The establishment is popular, so it is better to book a
table for dinner.
Fiori Coffee House, Bolshoi Flour Rows, 6.
Positions itself as an "Italian coffee house", but the menu includes
both beer and hodgepodge. There is live music (guitar).
Trattoria
"Pinocchio", st. Sovetskaya, 59. from 11 to 24. Another institution
nostalgic for Italy. Pizza, pasta, and for some reason rolls.
McDonald's, October Square, 1.
Cafe "Prague". ☎ +7 (4942) 313572.
Czech cuisine.
Cafe "Izba". Dining room for set meals during the
day and a la carte service after 17.00. Trying to be original, with
a claim to haute cuisine, they overdid it. With all the richness of
the surroundings and the normal level of service, the cafe leaves a
general feeling of a C grade.
Expensive
Beer house "Owns
and Ours", Davydovsky-3, 32 (shopping center AVOKADO, left wing, 1st
floor). ☎ +7(4942) 41-44-22. 11.00-24.00.
Restaurant "Metelitsa",
st. Lagernaya, 38/13 (in the hotel complex "Snegurochka"). ☎
+7(4942) 42-32-31, 42-78-11.
Shesh-Besh, st. Sovetskaya, 14 A. A
chain restaurant with an oriental interior and oriental cuisine.
Menu is small, portions are small.
Restaurant "Slavyansky",
Molochnaya Gora, 1. ☎ +7(4942) 31-54-60, 47-27-02. 12.00–24.00.
Restaurant of Russian cuisine. Delicious and good service.
Restaurant "White Sun", st. Lesnaya, 2 (on the banks of the Volga).
☎ +7(4942) 37-31-37. Restaurant with Caucasian, European and Russian
cuisine. Film-themed interior.
Restaurant "Darling, I'll be
late" , st. Lower Debrya, 2/15. ☎ +7 (4942) 499-009. 12:00-2:00.
500₽.
Coffee houses
Capella , st. Red Rows, 1 (east
side). ☎ +7 (920) 392-51-23. 10:00–22:00.
Do not go to Pervomaisky district
There is no single scientifically based view on the origin of the
city's name.
The most common version is a hydronym: the name is
derived from the river on which it stands. But on the Postal Map of the
Russian Empire in 1760 and on the General Map of the Russian Empire in
1745, the city of Kostroma is located on the Vassey River. Which makes
the opposite more likely: the river subsequently received the name of
the city at its mouth.
“Kostra” (or “kostrika”) in East Slavic
dialects denotes parts of the stems of spinning plants, in particular
flax, which was one of the foundations of the economy of the Kostroma
Territory. In Fasmer's dictionary, this toponym is associated with an
East Slavic ritual character, which was a straw doll that was
symbolically burned during the summer ritual cycle - on Semik or Peter's
Day ("Kostroma's funeral").
The allocation of the formant -ma in
some cases is controversial, and the basis of the kostr- is not typical
for the pre-Russian hydronymy of this region. However, the indigenous
population of these lands was of Finno-Ugric origin (conditionally
referred to as "Kostroma Merya").
One of the interpretations is
given by L. Skvortsov. Referring to the fact that in the ancient
chronicles the words “kostra”, “kostroma”, “kostrum” generally denote a
fortified place, he believed that this common name of the fortress
remained with the city that had arisen. This assumption echoes the
controversial version put forward by Prince A. Kozlovsky, who derived
the name of the city by analogy with the geographical location of the
Kostrum castle (later the city of Tallinn). The word comes from the
Latin clostrum meaning "castle". But the same author puts forward
another version of the origin of the name - from the forest harvested in
winter on the banks of the rivers with large "bonfires", rafted in the
spring from Buevsky and Kostroma counties. It is also interesting in
terms of etymology that in the time of Kozlovsky (1840), the Merya
tribes were attributed to the Slavs.
As the local historian N. A.
Zontikov writes, “on the question of the origin of the name of the city
of Kostroma, there have always been two main points of view: the first
is that the city got its name from the Kostroma River, the second is
that its name comes from the name of a pagan deity.” This scientific
discussion has not yet come to an end.
Physical location
Kostroma is located on the Kostroma lowland, on
both banks of the Gorky reservoir of the Volga, at the old mouth of the
Kostroma River - 65 km from Yaroslavl, 105 km from the city of Ivanovo
and 370 km northeast of Moscow.
The distance from the Moscow Ring
Road along the highway (M8 Kholmogory, then P600) is 350 km. The total
area of the territory within the city limits is 144.5 km².
Kostroma is located in the time zone MSK (Moscow time). The offset of the applicable time from UTC is +3:00. In accordance with the applied time and geographic longitude, the average solar noon in Kostroma occurs at 12:16.
The climate is temperate continental, the influence of the Atlantic
Ocean is great. The average annual temperature is +3.6 C°, the average
annual wind speed is 3.1 m/s, the average annual air humidity is 79%.
The main rivers of Kostroma are the Volga (Gorky reservoir) and its
left tributary Kostroma, the level of which was raised by the backwater
of the Nizhny Novgorod hydroelectric power station. Kostroma is located
on both banks, 597-603 km from the source of the Volga (Upper Volga),
here the river changes its direction and turns to the southeast. The
right bank of the Volga is high and steep, while the left bank is low.
The width of the Volga within the city is about 600 meters.
Within the city, near the Ipatiev Monastery, there is the old bed of the
Kostroma River, now it is an additional ship passage leading to the
shipyard and the slop-repair point of the port of Kostroma. The bed of
the Kostroma River was blocked by a dam within the city in 1955-1956,
which led to the creation of the Kostroma reservoir (an extension of the
Gorky reservoir). The new artificially created mouth of the Kostroma
River is located 12 km upstream near the village of Samet.
On the
territory of the city, several rivers and streams flow into the Volga
and Kostroma (most of them are enclosed in pipes for a considerable
length): the most significant of them are the Zaprudnya, the Sula (an
underground channel in the city center) and the Black River.
The
average water flow of the Volga near Kostroma is 1110 m³ / s, (the
average long-term value of the level of the Gorky reservoir near
Kostroma is 84.28 m).
The Volga River is the main source of the
city's water supply. According to the chemical composition, the water in
the Volga River is characterized as soft, low-mineralized, with a low
content of chlorides and sulfates. The content of chlorides is 26–30
mg/l (MPC 350 mg/l), sulfates 6.0–7.2 mg/l (MPC 500 mg/l), hardness
2.6–2.8 mol/l (MPC 7, 0 mol/l), total mineralization 137–164 mg/l (MPC
1000 mg/l). In general, the Volga water is characterized by high color
(color varies from 28 to 70 deg, average 46 deg), high content of
organic matter (permanganate oxidizability 9–18 mg O2/l, COD - up to 60
mg O2/l), low turbidity (3 -7 mg/l, during the spring flood in spring it
can briefly increase up to 20 mg/l). Most indicators of anthropogenic
pollution (the content of pesticides, heavy metals, oil products, etc.)
are within the limits accepted for drinking water. However, in terms of
the content of phytoplankton in the summer months and, periodically, in
terms of the level of microbiological pollution, the water quality
deteriorates, which requires additional purification steps. Along with
the surface source, underground deposits located to the north of the
city (Bashutino) are used. The explored capacity of the deposit is,
according to various sources, 24-33 thousand m³ per day. The water in
the spring meets drinking standards in all respects, except for the iron
content (1-2 mg/l).
The city of Kostroma, in accordance with federal legislation and
heraldic rules, has official symbols - a coat of arms, a flag, an
anthem, reflecting historical, cultural, national and other local
traditions and features (Article 4 of the Charter of the city of
Kostroma).
The historical coat of arms of Kostroma was approved
on October 24, 1767, restored on July 5, 1878, and re-restored on
October 7, 1992. The coat of arms of Kostroma is the first city coat of
arms in the history of Russia. Depicts the Tver galley, on which Empress
Catherine II arrived in Kostroma.
In the azure field, sailing to the
left along the azure waves with silver crests, a golden galley with
stowed silver sails and ten golden rowers; on the mast - the Imperial
standard.
On August 22, 2002, the historical coat of arms was
approved as the current symbol of the city.
The flag of Kostroma
was created on the basis of the symbols of the coat of arms. There is no
officially approved anthem of Kostroma.
Base
Archaeological excavations in the center of the modern city
have revealed scattered finds of Fatyanovo axes - they probably come
from a destroyed burial ground of the Bronze Age. On the left bank of
the Sula River, stucco pottery was found from the middle - second half
of the 1st millennium (that is, the period preceding the Slavic
colonization), indicating the settlement of the Finno-Ugric peoples.
According to archeology, the finds found by archaeologists at the
site of the first Kostroma Kremlin date back to the end of the 11th
century: glass women's bracelets. Metal writing for birch bark letters
were found in the estates of ordinary artisans.
The date of
foundation of Kostroma is officially considered to be 1152. This date
was proposed by the historian V. N. Tatishchev, who connected this event
with the activities of Yuri Dolgoruky in the north-east of Rus'.
Establishing the date of the city's emergence, V.N. Tatishchev used
various sources that have not survived to our time.
During
excavations on the right bank of the Volga in the territory of
Gorodishche, archaeologists discovered objects related only to the eras
of the final bronze age, the early Iron Age (I millennium BC) and the
period from the 17th century to the 17th century. up to the present.
Therefore, it can be assumed that at the time of the Tatar invasion
there was no city on the right bank of the Volga, and life on
Gorodishche for some reason ceased during the early Iron Age and began
again after the founding of Kostroma on the left bank of the Volga in
the 11th-12th centuries. The hypothesis about the location of the
settlement associated with the founding of Kostroma on the banks of the
small river Sula, near its confluence with the Volga, was tested by
historians and archaeologists in 1951. Ceramic objects found at the
intersection of Ostrovsky and Pyatnitskaya streets showed that intensive
urban life took place in this area only starting from the 12th century
and it did not exist in earlier periods. Apparently, the historian V. N.
Tatishchev, who suggested that Yuri Dolgoruky founded Kostroma in 1152,
was close to the truth. The fact that Dolgoruky was familiar with this
region is an annalistic record of his campaign along the Volga on ships
from Rostov the Great to the land of the Kazan Bulgarians. The
foundation in the XII century on the Kostroma land of the city with the
southern name Galich is another evidence of the active development of
the lands by the South Russian Slavs.
The hypothesis that
Kostroma was founded in the 12th century on an elevated place near the
Sula River, near its confluence with the Volga, in addition to the finds
of archaeologists, is supported by the fact that the oldest Fedorov
Church of the city, known since the 13th century, stood right here. Its
location is well documented by the fact that only in the 17th century
the wooden Fedorovsky church was dismantled due to dilapidation and
immediately a stone one was erected, but the main altar was called
Bogootsovsky, and only a chapel was made Fedorovsky. The message of the
chronicle that in 1276 the Kostroma prince Vasily was buried in the
Fedorov Church indicates that by this time the church had become a city
cathedral, which, according to tradition, should stand in the “city”.
One of the documents says that the Fedorovskaya Church was located "on
the square near Mshanskaya Street" and that there are still remains of
the "old scree", that is, the city's earthen fortifications. One can
only assume that the city was located on both banks of the Sula River,
but more on the right bank, towards the Kostroma River, since the most
ancient monasteries stood in this part of the city - Anastasevsky,
Spaso-Zaprudnensky, Ipatiev. The area on the left bank of the Sula was
called Debrey, and its main street, which developed in the 15th-16th
centuries, was Borovoy Debrey. The name of the river - Sula and one of
the ancient streets of Desyatilnich is clearly of southern Russian
origin and indicates that among the first inhabitants of the city there
were many southern Slavs.
XIII-XVII centuries
The first
chronicle mention of the existence of Kostroma dates back to 1213, it is
associated with strife between the sons of the Grand Duke of Vladimir
Vsevolod the Big Nest. This year, Prince Konstantin of Rostov burned
Kostroma, which supported his brother, Vladimir Prince Yuri: "and burn
it all, and the people are taken out." After the victory, in 1216-1217
Konstantin handed over Kostroma to his infant son Vasily.
The
fate of Kostroma during the invasion of Batu in 1238 is not known for
certain: the invaders "captured everything on the Volga to Galich
Mersky."
After 1239, Kostroma was restored by the Grand Duke of
Vladimir Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, who built a wooden church in the city
in honor of the patron saint Theodore Stratilates, whose name he bore in
baptism. In 1246, the city passed into the specific possession of the
youngest son Vasily. In the same year, Kostroma became the capital of
the Kostroma specific principality, which separated from the
Vladimir-Suzdal Rus.
In 1272, Vasily Yaroslavich became the Grand
Duke of Vladimir - the head of all the specific principalities of
North-Eastern Rus'. He did not go to capital Vladimir, but remained in
specific Kostroma, thereby making the city the capital of North-Eastern
Rus' until his death in 1276.
In the XIII-XIV centuries,
fortified monasteries appeared around Kostroma, protecting the
approaches to the city: Ipatiev and Nikolo-Babaevsky.
In 1364,
Kostroma became part of the Moscow principality, since then its history
has been inseparable from the development and culture of the all-Russian
state.
The fourth Moscow birch-bark charter dates back to the
last quarter of the 14th century, in which Kostroma is mentioned: “We
went, sir, to Kostroma.”
The wooden city at the mouth of the Sula
was often subjected to predatory attacks by the ushkuins, so in 1419 it
was moved to a new elevated place, which became known as the Kostroma
Kremlin. It was there that the first stone building in the city, the
Assumption Cathedral, was built.
Around 1468, the city was
visited by Afanasy Nikitin, who mentioned it in his travel notes
"Journey Beyond the Three Seas".
In 1565, Tsar Ivan the Terrible
divided the Russian state into oprichnina and zemshchina, the city
became part of the latter and belonged to it until February 1567.
During the Time of Troubles, Kostroma was twice taken by the
detachments of the Polish Pan Lisovsky and was subjected to terrible
devastation. In 1609, the Kostroma militia played an important role in
the fight against the next Pretender, expelling supporters of False
Dmitry II who had taken refuge there from the Ipatiev Monastery. The
Kostroma detachments joined the militia of Minin and Pozharsky. In the
Ipatiev Monastery in 1613, Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov was called to the
kingdom and, thus, Kostroma became the "cradle" of the royal and
imperial Romanov dynasty.
After the Time of Troubles, the
defensive fortifications of the Kremlin were rebuilt in Kostroma, and an
extensive trade and craft settlement and settlements spread around. By
the middle of the 17th century, in terms of economic development and the
number of inhabitants, Kostroma became the third largest craft city of
the Russian state after Moscow and Yaroslavl with a developed textile,
leather, soap, silver and icon-painting industry. Blacksmithing,
pottery, construction trades were developed. At the same time, a large
trading center appeared in Kostroma, and an English trading post was
established in the city. In the second half of the 17th century, an
outstanding school of fresco and icon painting was formed in Kostroma.
Provincial city
As a result of Peter's reforms, in 1708 Kostroma
became a provincial town of the Moscow province. On July 16 (27), 1744,
the Kostroma diocese was established.
In 1767, Catherine II
established the emblem of Kostroma with the image of the Tver galley, on
which she arrived in Kostroma. After the fire of 1773, the Kremlin and
the surrounding quarters were thoroughly rebuilt, and a new Gostiny Dvor
was built. By the end of the century, the cathedral bell tower was
completed, which towered above the surrounding buildings, thereby
organizing the spatial environment of the city. Since 1778, Kostroma has
become the center of the Kostroma governorship. In 1781, Catherine II
approved the master plan for the development of Kostroma, according to
which defensive ditches were filled up, earthen ramparts were torn down,
and the building of the city began with shopping arcades and civil
buildings.
From the middle of the 18th century, the development
of Kostroma as a textile center began: in 1751, the merchant I. D.
Uglechaninov built the first linen factory. In terms of the volume of
linen fabrics produced, Kostroma quickly took the first place in Russia.
There were also 12 tanneries and 18 brick factories, 6 cloth
manufactories, a bell foundry, a tile and other factories. Kostroma
became a major trading pier on the Volga transit route.
In
December 1796, by decree of Emperor Paul I, the city became the center
of the established Kostroma province. In 1797 Paul I visited Kostroma.
The city owes the visit of Nicholas I to Kostroma in 1835 the
renaming of the central Ekaterinoslavskaya Square to Susaninskaya and
the decree on the erection of a monument to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich and
the peasant Ivan Susanin (opened on March 14 (26), 1851). Since 1838,
the first periodical, the newspaper Kostroma Gubernskie Vedomosti, began
to appear weekly.
In 1858, Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria
Alexandrovna came to Kostroma, and in the summer of 1881, Emperor
Alexander III with Empress Maria Feodorovna and heir Nicholas.
In
1870, the first water supply system was built in Kostroma, in 1880 a
post and telegraph office, in 1891 a museum of antiquities was opened.
In 1894 there were 36 churches in Kostroma. In 1895, the first
five-story building was built in Kostroma (a hostel for workers and
employees of the Association of the Novo-Kostroma Linen Manufactory).
The beginning of the 20th century was marked by a revival of social
and economic activity in the city. In 1905, the second (after
Ivanovo-Voznesensk) Council of Workers' Deputies in Russia was created
in Kostroma. In 1913, the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty was
widely celebrated in Kostroma: Emperor Nicholas II and his family
visited the city. For this event, a power plant was built, the second
stage of the water pipeline was opened, the center was landscaped, the
foundation was laid for a grandiose monument to the 300th anniversary of
the Romanov dynasty, a number of civil structures were built, including
the Romanov Museum and the Romanov Hospital.
As part of the USSR
On January 14, 1929, by a decree of the All-Russian Central Executive
Committee of the USSR, the Kostroma province was abolished. Kostroma
loses the status of a provincial city and is included first in the
Ivanovo and then in the Yaroslavl region.
Industrialization was
expressed in the accelerated development of enterprises in the textile,
light and wood processing industries, as well as textile engineering. In
1932, the construction of a railway bridge across the Volga was
completed. According to the project of engineer I. D. Zvorykin, a flax
factory is being built, where labor-intensive processes were mechanized.
The construction of production buildings and residential buildings for
workers was completed in 1935, in 1936-1938 work was carried out on the
installation of equipment. By the end of the 1930s, the population had
almost doubled due to the influx of labor from the peasants. In 1932, a
textile institute was established, and in 1939, a teacher's institute.
In the 1930s, many temples were destroyed or rebuilt in the city.
The most famous destruction of the temple complex of the Kostroma
Kremlin in 1934, churches and chapels in the center. Even earlier, in
September 1918, Susaninskaya Square was renamed Revolution Square, and
the destruction of the monument to Ivan Susanin began (completely
dismantled by 1934).
During the Great Patriotic War, hospitals,
military schools and the civilian population were evacuated to Kostroma.
Near Kostroma in the fall of 1941, the Yaroslavl Communist Division was
formed. Thousands of Kostroma residents were awarded orders and medals
for their exploits at the front and rear, 29 of them were awarded the
title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
On August 13, 1944, the city
of Kostroma became the administrative center of the newly formed
Kostroma Region.
In the 1950s-1980s, in addition to the textile
and woodworking industries, new promising industries were intensively
developed in Kostroma: energy, mechanical engineering and metalworking,
radio electronics and instrument making.
At this time, intensive
industrial and housing construction is carried out: industrial zones and
residential microdistricts are being formed. New objects of social
infrastructure appear and existing ones are modernized (the medical
building of the regional hospital (1981), the ambulance station (1982),
the circus (1984), the building of the archive of the Kostroma region
(1984), the Philharmonic Society (1988), etc.).
The tourist
infrastructure was developed, in 1958 a historical and architectural
museum-reserve was organized on the basis of the Ipatiev Monastery,
behind the southern wall of the monastery along the left bank of the
Igumenka River in the 1960s a museum complex of wooden architecture was
formed. In 1970, traffic was opened on an auto-pedestrian bridge across
the Volga River; in 1972, the movement of trolleybuses began; In 1986,
an auto-pedestrian bridge across the Kostroma River connected the
territory of the Ipatievskaya Sloboda with the central part of the city.
The Volga hotel complex was built on the left bank of the Volga (1977).
In 1987, for the first time, a holiday was held in Kostroma - City Day,
which coincided with its 835th anniversary.