Kirillov is located in the northwestern part of
the Vologda region on the shore of Siverskoye Lake. This is a cozy
provincial town, one of the most important tourist centers of the
Vologda Region. The central part of Kirillov is dominated by a
mighty fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage Site list item - the
Kirillo-Belozersky
Monastery.
Not far from Kirillov is the
village of
Ferapontovo, in which another UNESCO object is located -
Ferapontov Monastery, as well as the Nilo-Sorsk desert and the
Goritsky Monastery. The city and the monasteries are located on the
territory of the national park "Russian North", which occupies most
of the Kirillov district.
Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. ☎ +7 (817) 573-14-79.
9:00–18:00 daily, October to April: except Mon. Single ticket: 1000
rubles (from November to April - 650 rubles), entrance to the territory:
free. The record holder in many respects: the first in Europe in terms
of the length of the walls (2 km) and the second in the world in terms
of area (12 hectares) - only the Buddhist Drepung in Tibet is larger.
The monastery makes a grandiose impression and looks more like a
separate city; it is not for nothing that it is called the Northern
Lavra. To see the entire monastery, you need to walk several kilometers,
and with a visit to the museum exhibitions, it can easily take half a
day. However, both from a practical and financial point of view, it is
worth giving preference to a free external inspection, and then choosing
only those expositions that are of interest to you. Having examined the
territory, be sure to go to the Siverskoye Lake, where there will be
wonderful views along the shore. It is worth admiring the monastery from
the side, across the lake: from the inside it looks stern and strict,
and from afar - almost fabulous.
The territory is divided into
three parts - the Big Assumption Monastery, the Small Ivanovsky
Monastery and the New City. The latter is interesting for its
fortifications; there are practically no buildings on its territory. The
first two together form the Old Town, where almost all the monastery
churches are located.
The main thing in the monastery is just
these temples and the most powerful defensive structures perfectly
inscribed in the landscape. The walls and towers are mainly from the
17th century and therefore did not see the enemy, but, perhaps, they
could frighten him. This is the largest fortress in Russia built in this
genre. Temples of the XVI-XVII centuries. there are more than a dozen in
the monastery. Almost all of them do not look quite authentic now -
later restructuring affects, from which the roofs were especially
damaged. In Soviet times, the original appearance was returned to the
church on the Water Gate, the church of Euthymius the Great and partly
the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh; from them one can imagine how
much more intricate and original the shape of the roofs used to be. The
walls of the churches are much better preserved, and it is precisely in
this crowd of temples and chambers, with their runners and massive stone
architraves, that the charm of the monastery, its architectural value,
lies. Probably nowhere else in one place is there such a large “layer”
of stylistically homogeneous and at the same time very traditional
Russian architecture.
Before the construction of the New City, this
monastery had its own fortifications. The wall overlooking the lake
remained just from them and belongs to the 16th century, although it is
still very impressive: 5.5 m high and 1.8 m wide. Now the wall is
slightly leaning, ready to fall and therefore supported by buttresses.
Of the towers from that time, only Svitochnaya (1591) and the mothballed
remains of Malaya Merezhennaya have survived. The Khlebennaya and
Povarnaya towers were built in the 1630s with high hipped roofs, which
were later replaced by iron roofs with octagonal cupolas and spiers.
1 ☆ Holy gates with the gate church of John of the Ladder. 170 rub. The
main entrance to the monastery is through a two-span gate built in 1523:
a narrow passage for pedestrians, a wide one for passage. From the
inside, both spans are painted, and the paintings are original, from
1585, and in the plots and colors, experts see a connection with the
frescoes of Dionysius in the nearby Ferapontov Monastery. The church was
built over the gates in 1572 and reflects the general Cyrillic trend
towards the unity of temples, chambers and walls, which here all the
time smoothly merge into each other. Inside the temple, you can see the
carved royal gates of the 16th-17th centuries. and the original
iconostasis of the same time. At first glance, it does not look
impressive, but the icons are genuine, and the design itself is unusual.
This is the so-called table iconostasis, where the icons are simply
inserted into horizontal boards, forming a continuous "gallery". The
church is only open to visitors during the summer. Dec 2020 edit
2 Treasury Chamber. 110 rub. The building to the west of the Holy Doors
looks a little awkward, since it consists of two parts: the lower floor
of the middle of the 16th century, and the upper one, the so-called
“drier” (storage), was built in the second half of the 17th century.
Inside is one of the museum ticket offices and the exposition
"Ecclesiastical art of the 17th-19th centuries", showing, among other
things, a wooden sculpture characteristic of Belozerye. Also of interest
is the interior of the upper floor, where mica windows, a brick floor
and even wooden beams under the ceiling have been preserved.
3
Monastic cells. 60 rub. The stone cells of the 17th century on the other
side of the Holy Doors are distinguished by the complexity and harmony
of their decor, the lush architraves are especially good. Inside there
are now a conference hall, a library and scientific departments of the
museum, and on the first floor there is an exhibition with the interior
of a monastic cell of the 17th-18th centuries.
4 Assumption
Cathedral. 170 rub. The oldest of the monastic buildings that have come
down to us looks like an open nesting doll: in the center is the
Assumption Cathedral itself, built in 1497, adjacent to it is a small,
but similar as two drops of water, Vladimir Church (1554), and to it, in
turn, the Church of Epiphany (1645) - despite the difference of more
than 200 years, another copy of the previous two. The cathedral owes
such extensions to wealthy people who wanted to see not just a chapel,
but a whole temple over their grave. The Vladimir Church was erected for
the exiled Vladimir Vorotynsky and provoked fierce criticism from Ivan
the Terrible himself, who was indignant at the construction of a
temple-tomb for some boyar, while the tomb of Cyril Belozersky remained
at that time without its temple. The complex of the cathedral and two
"small" churches looks great as a whole, but don't miss the details -
entrance portals, stone architraves and a carved frieze, especially
finely worked on the cathedral building.
The murals of the Assumption
Cathedral were made in 1641 in a bright, colorful style, characteristic
of the churches of Rostov, Yaroslavl, Kostroma. The magnificent
five-tiered iconostasis was created no earlier than the 18th century,
but some of its icons are much older and were painted even before the
cathedral itself was built: for example, the “Assumption” of the early
15th century is attributed to Rublev’s brush. These unique monuments of
ancient Russian painting are now taken apart by large art museums, only
photocopies are placed in the iconostasis. On Sundays and church
holidays, divine services are held in the cathedral.
5 Church of
Kirill Belozersky. Another extension to the Assumption Cathedral, and
this time - baroque. The first church over the tomb of St. Cyril was
built in 1585 in the wake of criticism from Ivan the Terrible, but it
was built poorly, by the end of the 18th century it was completely
dilapidated and was replaced by a new one, which stands out from the
general style of the monastery, although it does not contradict it too
much. Now the church is functioning, divine services and worship of the
main shrine of the monastery - the relics of Cyril Belozersky are
regularly performed in it. The remains of the ancient carved iconostasis
of the temple were transferred to the Church of John the Baptist, and
the lid of Cyril's shrine was transferred to the Armory of the Moscow
Kremlin.
6 Vvedenskaya Church with a refectory. 220 rub. Perhaps
the oldest of the monastic refectories that have come down to us. It was
built in 1519 in the style of traditional stone chambers and is
accompanied by a small church. Inside there is an exposition "History of
the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery", which has collected many curious
artifacts, including the personal belongings of St. Cyril. On the north
side, a kitchen with a free exhibition "Folk Art of Belozerye" is
attached to the refectory, and in the basement there is an
archaeological exposition "Antiquities of Belozerye", a visit to which
will cost an additional 100 rubles.
7 Church of the Archangel
Gabriel. Perhaps the most unusual building of the monastery, and it was
erected in 1531-34. on a special occasion - in honor of the birth of the
heir to the Moscow prince Vasily III, the future Ivan the Terrible. At
that time, the “under the bells” style was popular, when the bell tower
was elegantly located in the second tier right above the church. The
temple was built that way, but as a result of subsequent rebuilding, it
looks more gloomy than beautiful, and more like a factory floor or
something like that. Adjacent to the church is an equally massive bell
tower (1757-61), where the exhibition "The Bell World" is open in the
summer; one can also visit the jingle tier.
8 Archimandric's
cells. 220 rub. Built in the 17th century, first in a one-story design,
but at the end of the same century, the upper tier was erected over the
cells - as a result, the building became two-story from the main facade
and three-story from the courtyard. Almost every new abbot of the
monastery sought to update his residence, as a result, in 1821 the
building acquired the features of a provincial Empire style, with a
four-column portico and an attic on the main facade. Now one of the most
interesting expositions of the museum with unique icons of the 15th
century is located here. from the iconostasis of the Assumption
Cathedral and ancient books.
9 Church of Euthymius the Great. The
only hipped-roof church of the monastery was erected by local masons in
1646 and surprisingly well stylized as the temples of the 16th century
surrounding it - the same portals, stone architraves, runners, although
it also has one original element - a small single-arch belfry, referring
to the Pskov-Novgorod architecture. Nearby is the massive building of
the Great Hospital Chambers, also from the middle of the 17th century.
But the cell building standing next door, later a religious school, was
repeatedly rebuilt and now looks very ordinary. The church was the only
one where Patriarch Nikon was allowed to pray during his stay in the
monastery under strict supervision in 1676-1681.
10 Water gates
with the Church of the Transfiguration. As the name implies, these gates
lead to the shore of Lake Siverskoye. Above them are two outbuildings
(from the east a storeroom, from the west a kalachnaya where ovens were
located), between which the Church of the Transfiguration (1595) with an
unusual three-domed structure was located. Cyrillic masters generally
liked the asymmetric arrangement of domes. Once upon a time, almost
every monastery church had a carelessly placed side dome, but only here
such a roof was preserved, or rather, was recreated during
reconstruction in the 1970s. From the inside, the temple is also
unusual, since it has two pillars: compare, for example, with the
Assumption Cathedral, where there are four pillars in the spirit of more
ancient monuments of Russian architecture. Reducing the number of
supports required a redistribution of the load: that is why the domes
are shifted to the side, which looks disharmonious from some angles, but
is very functional. The iconostasis of the 16th century has been
preserved inside. The temple is open to the public during the summer.
The second and smaller monastery was formed inside the
large Kirillo-Belozersky monastery in the middle of the 16th century.
Elderly monks lived out their lives here, a forge and two hospitals were
located, as well as most of the monastery cemetery of the 17th-20th
centuries. All this did not require serious protection, so at first the
Ivanovsky Monastery had the weakest walls, although they were also
strengthened in the 17th century. Only the Deaf Tower, built in
1599-1600, has survived from those walls. and received its name as the
only non-corner and at the same time did not have a passage. From the
north, a fortification was added to the walls of the Ivanovsky Monastery
- Ostrog, which has not been preserved.
It is curious that in
1397 Cyril and Ferapont dug out their first dugout and erected the first
wooden chapel right on the territory of the future Ivanovsky Monastery.
The monastery expanded towards the Bolshoi Assumption Monastery only
later. Now the territory has been completely transferred to the Russian
Orthodox Church, there are no museum expositions on it (although you can
walk freely), and both temples are active.
11 Cathedral of John
the Baptist. Another church built in 1531-34. in honor of the birth of
Vasily III's heir. They were built by the same masters as the Church of
the Archangel Gabriel, but if inside there is really a lot in common
between the temples, then outside they look different, although both did
not escape significant restructuring. Now the Church of John the Baptist
seems to be a kind of "generalized" St. Cyril's church with massive
windows, a simplified roof and a sitting "hat" dome, and it is painted,
unexpectedly, in red.
12 Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh. The
church with a refectory chamber, vaguely reminiscent of Vvedenskaya, is
distinguished by the construction “like under the bells”, accommodating
a belfry along with the refectory. It was built around 1560, later it
was heavily rebuilt, so that even the reconstruction of the Soviet era
could not return the temple to its original appearance: if the ringing
tier here is from the 16th century, then the dome and buttresses are
from the 17th. In the temple there were royal doors of excellent work,
which are now exhibited in the Refectory.
13 Place of Cyril's
original cell. It is believed that the first dugout of Ferapont and
Cyril was located here. Later, a cross was placed on this place, a
wooden canopy was erected over it in the 17th century, and another stone
canopy over it in the 18th century. However, the cross in it is new -
1994.
14 The wooden chapel of Cyril. A symmetrical stone canopy
made in the same style hides the “first chapel of Cyril”, although in
reality it is a kind of wooden blockhouse of the 18th century, of no
great artistic value. Inside, there were once three crosses, one of
which is now on display in the Refectory, the second disappeared
somewhere, and the third remained in its place. It is gnawed on the
sides, as the pilgrims believed that the cross relieves toothache. You
can enter the chapel only on your knees, as it is very low and small.
This part of the monastery consists of only
fortifications. There have never been serious stone buildings on its
territory; walls and towers were supposed to protect the settlement -
wooden residential and economic buildings that have not survived to this
day. Instead, they are now museum objects: a mill and an old wooden
church.
The grandiose walls of the New City are 11 meters high
and 7 meters wide. They form three sides of a huge quadrangle and were
built in 1653-82, mainly with funds granted by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.
There are 4 powerful towers in the corners, and between them there are
two “intermediate” and travel towers (Kazanskaya and Kosaya). The walls
are three-tiered, with casemates on the first tier and three levels of
loopholes of various types. Inside, they face two floors of galleries,
where you can walk for 170 rubles. (only in the summer, entrance through
the Vologda tower).
15 Vologda tower. Founded in 1656, this is
the very first tower of the New City. It is octagonal, with five tiers
and reaches 30 meters in height, ending with a watchtower with 8 high
windows. This is the only tower in the New City with a rich exterior
decoration, reminiscent of the towers of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra built
in the same period.
16 Ferapontovskaya tower (Moscow). The
tallest tower in the New City is 42 meters. It was erected in 1660, it
has six sides in plan, and cannon loopholes are located in a
checkerboard pattern along its entire height.
17 Forge tower.
Appeared at the final stage of the construction of the fortress in the
1670s. It has 16 faces with a checkered arrangement of loopholes, ends
with the sixth shooting tier. It is located on the shore of the lake,
and from the water it seems the heaviest, since its walls have a minimal
narrowing upwards.
18 Belozerskaya Tower (Bolshaya Merezhennaya).
Another tower on the lake. It was built in 1667 on the model of
Ferapontovskaya, but it has 16 faces and is one tier lower. It differs
from other towers in its curvilinear (almost domed) shape of the roof,
which appeared already in the 19th century. Now the tower is slightly
tilted, and this asymmetry immediately attracts attention if you look at
the monastery from the side.
19 Kazan tower. The main entrance
to the monastery and the museum ticket office. The tower was built in
1659 and named after the nearby Kazan Church. Represents a square with a
side of 14 meters. The 17-meter roof ends with a spire with a trumpeting
angel. Icon cases with brick frames and murals from the 17th century
have been preserved above the passage arch. After a recent restoration,
it is open to visitors in the summer (with a ticket to the walls of the
monastery).
20 Slanting tower. It was built in 1662 as the
second entrance tower of the monastery, but, unlike Kazanskaya, the
entrance to it was located at an angle to the wall, hence the name. Now
the passage through the tower has been blocked, and the tower itself has
been significantly rebuilt: for example, the pointed tent was replaced
by a figured roof with a spire.
21 Rizopolozhenskaya Church.
Wooden church from the village of Borodava on the banks of the Sheksna.
It looks very simple, but it immediately inspires respect for its age -
1485, several years older than the Assumption Cathedral. This is the
oldest of the wooden Russian churches that have come down to us (only
the Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus on Kizhi is comparable in age
to it) and an excellent example of how the northern monasteries looked
before the construction of stone churches. In 1957, the church was moved
to Kirillov and restored; the icons of the late 15th-16th centuries
stored in it were included in the collection of the museum-reserve.
22 Wooden mill. A 19th-century windmill-pillar was transported to
the monastery from the village of Gorki on the Sheksna River. These were
previously widely distributed in the Russian North, but few of them have
survived to this day. Inside, the mill equipment is well preserved, in
the 1980-1990s. the mill has been restored.
Outside the monastery, the city is of little interest.
On the central streets (Gostinodvorskaya, Preobrazhensky, Gagarin and
Proletarskaya) you can see fragments of merchant buildings: stone
mansions and carved wooden houses, mostly of the late 19th - early 20th
centuries. City temples are in a dilapidated state. The Kazan Cathedral
and the Church of the Ascension (1798) on the outskirts of the city are
better preserved than others - both are in the process of sluggish
restoration.
23 Kazan Cathedral, st. Bazarnaya, 3 (next to the
main entrance to the monastery). 9:00–17:00. The first parish church of
the city, built in stone in 1700 on the site of a wooden church that
previously belonged to the monastery. When Kirillov became a county
town, the temple was "raised" to the cathedral and at the same time
decided to give it a more representative look. In 1825, it was rebuilt
in the classicist style, supplemented with a bell tower (not preserved)
and a carved iconostasis was installed, also not preserved. Alexander
Starov, the son of the famous architect Ivan Starov, the author of the
Tauride Palace in St. Petersburg and many other iconic buildings of the
late 18th century, is considered the author of the project. In the works
of his son, there was no longer that innovation and “light”, and now his
plan is also violated by the absence of a bell tower, although the main
part of the temple still looks very beautiful. Until the 1990s, the
building housed a wine shop, and only in November 2018 the church was
handed over to believers. Now the cathedral is gradually being repaired
with the money of the parishioners.
24 People's House, st.
Preobrazhenskogo, 3. A neoclassical two-story building made of red
brick, built in 1916 at the expense of the merchant P.A. Simonov. Before
the revolution, the Gostiny Dvor, the city government and the Duma were
located here. In Soviet times, the building was called the People's
House or, more simply, the House of Culture. By the end of the 20th
century, it fell into disrepair, and all institutions were taken out of
it. In 2014, the house was handed over to the Kirillo-Belozersky
Museum-Reserve, which began its restoration. Now in the halls of the
first floor there are temporary exhibitions of the museum (the cost of
visiting is 100 rubles), and the repair is still ongoing.
Near
the People's House there is a city park with a bust of E.N.
Preobrazhensky, a memorial to the Great Patriotic War and a memorial
sign in honor of the awarding of Kirillov in 1776 with the status of a
city. In 2019, a bench with characters from the cartoon "Just you wait"
was installed in the park.
After visiting the monastery, it is worth taking a walk along the
shore of Lake Siverskoye. All the most interesting museum expositions
are located in the monastery, although if you have the strength, you can
visit a couple of museums in the city itself.
Museum of the
History of the City of Kirillov, st. Gagarin, 103 (next to the bus
station). ☎ +7 (817) 573-15-98. 9:00–18:00. 60 rub. It is located in a
wooden one-story house of the end of the 19th century, typical for the
Kirilov building of that time. It is impossible to get a complete
picture of how the city developed historically in the museum, but you
can see the interiors of houses and household items from different eras.
Museum of Evgeny Preobrazhensky, st. Preobrazhensky, 3 (in the
building of the People's House). ☎ +7 (817) 573-14-79. Tue–Sat
9:00–18:00. 100 rub. It is located on the first floor of the People's
House. Tells about Soviet aviation during the war and local pilots. The
main focus of the exposition is on the life of a local native, hero of
the Soviet Union E.N. Preobrazhensky - the crew commander during the
first bombing of Berlin in the summer of 1941, who after the war held
command posts in the aviation of the USSR.
Siversky lake.
Kirillov occupies almost the entire northern and eastern shores of Lake
Siverskoye, which is 6 kilometers long. The reservoir has a sandy
bottom, but after its incorporation into the North Dvina water system,
the banks began to swamp. In good weather, you can swim in the lake -
the most popular beach is located right at the walls of the monastery:
the bottom here is shallow, but the water is quite cool. You can rent a
boat or a catamaran offered at recreation centers or by locals along the
shores of the lake. There are excellent views of the monastery from the
water. Siverskoye Lake is a popular place for fishing, both in summer
and winter: you can buy goods and clothes for fishing in local stores or
rent at recreation centers.
In 1397, with the arrival of the Moscow monk Kirill on Lake
Siverskoye, a settlement was founded that grew around the
Kirillo-Belozersky monastery he had created.
In 1776 the
settlement was proclaimed the county town of Kirillov. By the
seventies of the 18th century, it had already become a fairly large
settlement, with 335 residential buildings.
Kirillov was the
center of the most remote north-eastern district of the Novgorod
province. The area of the Kirillovsky district was 13078.8 square
meters. verst, that is, it was 2.5 times larger than the modern
Kirillovsky district. The city of Kirillov had its own coat of arms,
approved in 1781: "In the upper part of the shield is the coat of
arms of Novgorod. In the lower part there is a riveting tool hung on
a wooden tripod on a chain, an instrument used in ancient times
instead of bells and two iron hammers placed with it, in a white
field as a sign the fact that there is an old noble monastery near
this new city. The appearance of the historical part of Kirillov is
largely determined by the plan drawn up by Nikolai Checherin and
approved by Catherine II in 1777. In the same year, a city and
county prison was located in the fortress wall of the monastery.
In 1785, there were 3 forges and 4 mills, 3 salt and 2 wine
shops, 4 drinking houses in the city; among the townspeople there
were 67 artisans and 33 merchants. The wooden Gostiny Dvor on the
Torgovaya Square at that time consisted of more than 150 shops.
Goods necessary for the city were brought from Yaroslavl, Vologda,
Vesyegonsk. Kirillov merchants traded in Moscow, St. Petersburg and
the Volga cities in pitch and tar.
According to the 1st
general census of the population of the Russian Empire in 1897, 4306
people lived in Kirillov (only half as many as now), there were 746
residential buildings, of which only 20 were stone and semi-stone.
In 1924 the monastery was closed and a museum was created on its
territory.
In 1927, Kirillov became the regional center of
the Leningrad region, and since 1937 - the Vologda region.
The nearest major cities are Cherepovets and Vologda, where you can
arrive by train, and sometimes even fly by plane from Moscow or St.
Petersburg.
By bus
From the Vologda bus station to the
Kirillov bus station, bus 5410 runs 5 times a day - travel time 2 hours.
45 min., cost 423 rubles. (December 2020). You can also take a transit
bus to Petrozavodsk in Vologda, but it will not stop at the bus station,
but at the turn to Kirillov from the A119 highway, from where you will
have to get another 15 kilometers to the city by taxi or hitchhiking.
There is also a direct bus from Cherepovets to the Kirillov bus station
5 times a day. Travel time 2 hours 12 minutes, cost 301 rubles.
(December 2020). You can take a transit bus to Vytegra in Cherepovets -
it also goes through the Kirillov bus station.
1 Kirillov bus
station, st. Gagarina, 94. ☎ +7 (817) 573-13-33. 05:30 - 12:00, 13:30 -
16:00, 16:30 - 19:00. An unremarkable two-story brick building with a
ticket office and landing area. Located 500 meters from the main
entrance to the monastery.
By car
Given the lack of a railway
in the city and the rather rare bus service, it is most convenient to
travel by car, especially if you want to see the surroundings. Kirillov
is located 130 km from Vologda along the A119 Vologda-Medvezhyegorsk
highway and 100 km from Cherepovets. The condition of the road from
Vologda to Kirillov is excellent - you can get there quickly and without
traffic jams.
Traveling from Moscow and St. Petersburg is
approximately the same, 600 km each. From Moscow you can get through
Yaroslavl and Vologda on a good road. From St. Petersburg via
Cherepovets along the A-114 highway.
2 "Lukoil" gas station, st.
Preobrazhensky, 47. Around the clock. The largest and most popular gas
station in Kirillov with high-quality gasoline, good service, a cafe and
a toilet. Located at the entrance to the city from Vologda. In general,
there are few filling stations of large federal chains in Kirillov and
its environs.
On the ship
From May to September, numerous
cruise ships follow the Volga-Baltic river route, making an obligatory
stop in Kirillov. Both marinas are located far from the city, so
tourists are taken by bus. Excursions can be included in the price of
the ticket or offered on board the ship for a fee.
3 Pier
"Goritsy". The main pier of Kirillov is located 8 km from the city
center. Opened in 1964, since then it has been reconstructed more than
once and now it can take up to two dozen ships per day, as well as
private yachts. Near the pier are the Goritsky Monastery and the
historical and ethnographic complex "Sugorye". You can buy souvenirs on
the pier, but the prices are higher than in the city.
4 Pier
"Kuzino" (17 km from Kirillov). A new passenger berth opened in 2010
downstream of the Sheksna River due to overload at the Goritsy pier. It
accepts part of the cruise ships that previously stopped in Goritsy.
From 2012 to 2019, the Sugorye ethnographic complex was located here,
which has now moved to Goritsy, and in its place there is an almost
similar complex, the Outpost of the Belozersky Princes. A medieval
northern settlement of the 11th–13th centuries has been recreated here,
you can have lunch, attend theatrical performances, take pictures in
princely clothes, and buy souvenirs.
Kirilov is a small town, and it is quite possible to move around on foot. Public transport is mainly represented by suburban buses, which run more on weekdays and infrequently (several times a day). It is more convenient to take a taxi, which usually costs 100 rubles within the city. Taxi aggregators in Kirillov do not work, so you can catch cars in tourist places, look up phone numbers on the Internet or on street poles. The most convenient option for getting around the city and its surroundings is your own car, especially since there are no traffic jams in the city, and parking in tourist places is free.
1 Souvenir rows (near the Kazan tower of the monastery). Traditional
souvenir tents next to the main entrance to the monastery and the
parking lot. During the season, stalls with souvenirs can stretch along
Bazarnaya Street to the very Vologda Tower. They sell nesting dolls and
other souvenirs for foreigners, magnets, wooden items, as well as the
usual Vologda linen and lace products. Most of the goods presented here
can be bought in other tourist places of the Vologda Oblast, but there
are also original items made by local craftsmen.
2 Shop with a bear,
st. Preobrazhensky, 2A. 10:00–19:00. One of the city's most popular
souvenir shops is located next to the main entrance to the monastery. A
wide selection of Vologda souvenirs - from magnets with the
Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery to Kurakin ceramics. Here you can also buy
coffee for the road, ice cream, fresh Vologda sweets (with tasting). The
store occupies a miniature house built in 1954.
3 Department store,
st. Preobrazhenskogo 5. Mon–Fri 9:00–19:00, Sat 10:00–17:00, Sun
10:00–15:00. A small two-story shopping center, where perhaps the
largest selection of non-food products is presented in Kirillov:
clothes, shoes, household goods, cosmetics, stationery, etc. Dec 2020
edit
There are no large shopping centers in the city, but there are
quite a lot of chain grocery stores: Dixy, Fasol, Magnit, Pyaterochka,
Bristol. Nothing works around the clock.
There are no fast food establishments or expensive restaurants in the
city. The choice is relatively small - you should not build high
expectations for the range and quality of dishes, but you can eat
relatively inexpensively.
1 Cafe "Crossroads", st. Lenina, 33.
☎ +7 (817) 573-25-17. Mon–Sat 9:00–17:00. A classic dining room, but
with a cozy and modern interior. Pretty tasty and inexpensive. You can
eat both inside and on the outdoor veranda.
2 Museum cafe, on the
territory of the New Town of the monastery next to the Kazan Tower (main
entrance). 10:00–16:00. Operates only in summer. Focused on tourists, so
the prices are not the lowest, you can dine for 500 rubles.
3 Restaurant "Siversky", st. Uritsky, 8. ☎ +7 (817) 573-13-17.
7:30–22:00. Despite the loud name, it is an ordinary provincial cafe
both in terms of prices and interiors. The price/quality ratio is good.
Located on the first floor of the hotel "Rus".
4 Restaurant "Rus",
st. Uritsky, 10. ☎ +7 (817) 573-13-11. Mon–Thurs 12:00–22:00, Fri–Sat
12:00–2:00, Sun 12:00–23:00. A provincial restaurant with slightly
higher prices than the neighboring Siversky, while the quality of food
and the interior are not too different from a regular cafe. The most
status of the city institutions.
5 Restaurant "Pir Mountain" , st.
Gostinodvorskaya, 7. ☎ +7 (964) 671-49-22. 10:00–24:00, Fri-Sat: until
4:00. Conveniently located near the entrance to the monastery. From 10
a.m. to 7 p.m. it works as a self-service canteen - here you can have a
quick and hearty lunch. In the evenings, the dining room turns into an
expensive restaurant with music and dancing - a branch of the Vologda
institution of the same name.
6 Sushi Go , st. Preobrazhenskogo, 35
(in the shopping center "Ideas for Home"). ☎ +7 (921) 050-06-89.
11:00–22:00. Sushi bar with prices slightly lower than in Moscow.
In addition to all of the above, you should pay attention to local
products - the archaic lemonade "From Kirillov" in half-liter glass
bottles and donuts, which are sold in a grocery store opposite the
department store.
There are no independent nightclubs and bars in the city, but you can drink and dance in the restaurants "Rus" and "Pir Goroy" - there are bar counters and a dance floor, on Friday and Saturday the establishments are open until late at night. Also, a disco can be organized in Gostinodvorsky Park (near the monastery), where the Beryozka cafe is open until 6 am on weekends, although it was temporarily closed in 2020.
In the city
1 Hotel "Rus", st. Uritsky, 8. ☎ +7 (817) 573-15-39.
Soviet-built hotel with a recent cosmetic overhaul, but old appliances.
For 1900 rubles. you can rent a budget double room of 8 sq. m. with
shared toilet and shower, without breakfast. For 3300 rubles. the room
will be twice as large, with its own bathroom and breakfast. Free
parking, Wi-Fi. On the ground floor there is a restaurant "Siverskiy".
Conveniently located 700 meters from the entrance to the monastery.
2 Guest house "Lumanskaya Zavod" , st. Gagarin, 110. ☎ +7 (931)
508-44-06. A mini-hotel in a three-story brick house, which until
recently was the Luman shopping center. The hotel has a dining room with
home cooking, Wi-Fi, Russian bath. Budget double room for two costs 1000
rubles. with breakfast included, but the bathroom will be shared, and a
room with a private bathroom will cost twice as much. There are also
inexpensive rooms for 3-4 people. Upon check-in, they may require a
deposit of 1000 rubles, guarded parking is paid, but you can easily find
a place nearby for free. The entrance to the monastery is less than 500
m.
3 Hotel Korona , st. Preobrazhensky, 33. ☎ +7 (931) 509-59-54.
New hotel with small rooms, fresh renovation and modern furniture.
Economy double room with a shared shower and toilet for two rooms will
cost 1400 rubles. At the same time, a standard with its own bathroom
will cost a little more - 1750 rubles. Each room has free Wi-Fi and an
LCD TV. On the ground floor there is a bar for everyone - from 12:00 to
2:00. You can order the services of a sauna with a swimming pool. The
hotel is located 1 km from the monastery next to the Ascension Church of
the end of the 18th century. Good value for money, but there are only
seven rooms in the hotel.
4 Hotel "Phoenix" , st. Gagarin, 92A
(opposite the bus station). ☎ +7 (921) 831-08-38. 🕑 8:00–22:00.
Mini-hotel for 9 rooms at a price of 1400 to 2700 rubles. Each room has
its own toilet, shower, refrigerator, kettle and free Wi-Fi. Rooms are
designed for 2 or 3 people, and the price mainly depends on the size of
the rooms. Furniture and appliances are not the most modern, but not old
either. The hotel is located on the shores of Lake Siverskoye, 300
meters from the monastery, there is free parking. You can go to the
bathhouse, rent a boat, fishing equipment or a bicycle.
5 Guest
house "Pilgrim's Shelter" , st. Paryshkinskaya, 29. ☎ +7 (817)
573-27-81. Two-storey wooden house of a local priest, 800 meters from
the monastery. Designed for up to 6 people, there is a fireplace room.
Russian bath services and excursions are offered. The prices are
democratic, there is no fixed price list - depending on the season and
the number of guests, there are discounts for pilgrims and large
families.
6 Guest house "In the city of Kirillov" , st. Gagarina,
57. ☎ +7 (921) 130-42-96. Two-story wooden house. The rooms are
spacious, there is Wi-Fi, the furniture and appliances are good,
although not the newest. The prices are democratic. There are 6 rooms in
total: two, three and four-bed rooms - a toilet and a shower on the
floor, but there are several of them. There is one suite with its own
bathroom. You can order two meals a day: breakfast and dinner delivered
to your room. There is a bath. Located in the Sloboda district, 1.5 km
from the monastery. Lots of positive feedback.
In the country
7 Recreation house "At the lake" , per. Krasnoslobodsky, 3 (on the
edge of the city, 4 km south of the monastery). ☎ +7 (921) 722-16-52.
Two cottages with a kitchen on the shores of Lake Siverskoye. Prices are
highly dependent on the time of year. In winter, half of one cottage for
three people can be rented for 2700 rubles. A whole cottage for ten
people costs 10,000 rubles. In summer the prices are higher. The holiday
home has a sauna, you can rent bicycles or skis.
8 Recreation center
"Tourist village Ecotel" , st. Kalacheva, 85 (on the edge of the city,
5 km south of the monastery). ☎ +7 (921) 530-77-00. 8:00–18:00. Located
on the shores of Siversky Lake, there is a beach. Includes the main
building, where you can rent a double room from 2000 rubles, and
cottages. Rent cottages for 2-3 people from 4000 rubles for a Swedish
house and from 5000 rubles. for the Russian hut. The houses have all the
amenities and appliances, in Russian huts there is also a kitchen. On
the territory of the base there is a cafe, a living corner, rental of
boats, bicycles, skis.
9 Recreation center "Vasilki" , village of
Shidero, st. Belozerskaya, 27 (4 km towards Goritsy). ☎ +7 (960)
290-63-00. The base consists of comfortable two-storey wooden cottages.
You can rent as a whole house - from 3000 rubles. for a cottage, and
separate rooms for 1-6 people, from 600 rubles. from a person. Near the
base of the lake Egorievskoe, where you can swim and fish. On the
territory there is a restaurant, a sauna, houses for barbecue.
10 Recreation center "Severland", Shidyero village (4 km from the
monastery on the shore of Lake Yegoryevskoye). ☎ +7 (921) 722-50-90. Two
log houses with a kitchen and appliances for up to 8 people each.
Russian bath, rental of boats and catamarans, snowmobiles, cheesecakes.
Renting a cottage as a whole will cost 4500 rubles. (one day more)
11 Recreation center "12 months" , village of Bozino (southwestern
shore of Lake Siverskoye, 17 km from the monastery, you have to go
around the north of the lake, since there is no bridge across the
south). ☎ +7 (953) 504-42-68. 11 comfortable cottages for 7-12 people.
Prices from 7000 rubles. for a 7-bed house with 4 rooms, a kitchen and
all necessary equipment. On the territory there is a cafe, a bathhouse,
billiards, a pier for boats and boats.
You can also stay in the
private sector. There are also hotels and guest houses of different
levels of comfort around Lake Siverskoye, in the village of Ferapontovo
and on the territory of the Russian North National Park.
All federal mobile operators work: MTS, Beeline, Megafon, Tele 2 and
Yota - in the city and popular tourist areas, coverage is at least 3G.
But outside of populated areas, communication can be much worse.
Post office, st. Proletarskaya, 5. Mon–Fri 8:00–20:00, Sat 9:00–18:00,
break: 13:00–14:00. Post office in the center of Kirillov. Index 161100.
The town is small and quite safe, in the summer there are many foreigners in the monastery. But everyone wants to make money on tourists, including the police. Law enforcement authorities pay special attention to such minor violations as crossing the road outside the pedestrian crossing (even in the absence of cars) or improper parking of the car, and are happy to issue fines for them. Therefore, you should not relax and violate the rules of the road, especially in front of the police.