Pleshcheyevo Lake National Park, Russia

Lake Pleshcheyevo is one of the most unusual bodies of water in Central Russia. The shallow depth did not prevent it from becoming first a supplier of fish for the royal court, and then the homeland of the Russian fleet. Now, along the shores of the lake, a national park has been organized, where there is a place for museums - from the historical boat of Peter I to the transport museum of narrow-gauge railways or the anecdotal museum of teapots - and ancient temples, and wonderful lake landscapes, and dense forests turning into mushroom swamps. Lake Pleshcheyevo is firmly connected with the ancient Russian city standing on its shore, Pereslavl-Zalessky, which is unthinkable without the lake, and the lake would have lost a fair part of its charm if there weren’t so many ancient temples and monasteries along its shores.

Lake Pleshcheyevo is one of the largest in Central Russia. The lake is of glacial origin, formed about 30 thousand years ago. It has a smooth oval shape (9.5×6.5 km) and a relatively small area of 51 km2: optimal conditions for the reservoir to appear large, but at the same time the opposite bank is visible from one bank. The banks are low and swampy in places. The depth is up to 25 m, the average depth is 11 m, although at the edges the lake is very shallow: the first couple of hundred meters from the shore the depth is less than human height, which creates considerable inconvenience for boaters and those wishing to swim.

From the south, the Trubezh River flows into Lake Pleshcheyevo, at the mouth of which stands Pereslavl-Zalessky. In the northeast, the Vyoksa flows out, which then turns into the Nerl River, a right tributary of the Volga (not to be confused with the Nerl near Vladimir, which is a tributary of the Klyazma). There are more than ten species of fish in Lake Pleshcheyevo, including burbot, perch and pike. In the surrounding forests live animals characteristic of Central Russia, although in recent years they have been actively crowded out by summer residents. The southern shore of the lake is built up in places and is a swampy meadow in others. In the northern part, the forest comes almost close to the water. The forest is mostly mixed, interspersed with pine trees, which are especially numerous at the source of the Veksa.

The name Pleshcheyevo has been known since ancient times. According to the official version, it was transformed from the toponym Kleshcheevo, which, in turn, came from the ancient city of Kleshchina located on the northern shore (see Pereslavl-Zalessky). There is, however, a more straightforward version that Lake Pleshcheyevo splashes heavily, although there have been no real storms on the lake for a long time.

Lake Pleshcheyevo went down in history as the birthplace of the Russian fleet. At the end of the 17th century, Peter I practiced his shipbuilding skills here (see Boat of Peter I). Since then, the lake has become very shallow, and a fleet can no longer be built on it, and the construction of dachas is hampered by the national park created in 1988. Thanks to the park, Lake Pleshcheyevo retains some privacy, although in good weather there are usually more vacationers here than we would like, and slowly, fenced areas of campsites, recreation parks or even private cottages are appearing.

 

Getting here

Through Pereslavl-Zalessky. The only road bypassing Pereslavl is the highway from Nagorye, which is located on the Uglich highway. Along it you will arrive exactly to the village of Kupanskoye and to the museum of narrow-gauge railways, and then you will get to the lake itself. There is almost no public transport in this direction: buses run very rarely, at best 3 times a day.

Fees and passes
The cost of staying in the national park is 200 rubles/day. In fact, no one really controls this, but the bonus is a free visit to the Blue Stone. Payment can be made at the Blue Stone ticket office, at the Fisherman's House museum, on the national park website, as well as using QR codes, which are installed in large numbers along the road around Lake Pleshcheyevo. For a fairly wide list of beneficiaries, visiting the park remains free.

 

Sights

Troitskaya Sloboda and the northern shore

The village of Troitskaya Sloboda adjoins Pereslavl from the north. Adjacent to the Trinity Sloboda is Nikitskaya, where the monastery of the same name is located.

1 Nikitsky Monastery, village. Nikitskaya Sloboda, st. Zaprudnaya, 20. Admission is free; if necessary, women are given skirts and scarves. Active monastery. The only one in Pereslavl that has preserved ancient fortifications built back in the 1560s. under Ivan the Terrible, who often visited the monastery and, they say, even prepared it as a reserve oprichnina fortress in case treason overtook Alexandrov. This, however, did not happen, therefore, in architectural terms, the Nikitsky Monastery is somewhat inferior to the Alexander Sloboda. Nikitsky Cathedral, consecrated in 1564, belongs to the typical five-domed churches of the Moscow type; It looks more interesting from a distance than up close. During the Time of Troubles, the monastery suffered either from the Lithuanians or from the Poles, and in the 1640s. underwent major reconstruction. At the same time, the Annunciation Church was built with a refectory and a hipped bell tower: this is another five-domed temple of the Moscow type, but now in the style of the 17th century. In subsequent years, the monastery acquired a large gate bell tower (1818) and a chapel on the site of the prayer feat of Nikita the Stylite (1702). Nikita Pereyaslavsky, later nicknamed the Stylite, lived in the 12th century, sinned a lot, and then decided to repent, for which he imprisoned himself in a stone pillar, where he continuously said prayers. It is this “stone pillar”, in this case a cramped cave, that can now be seen in the chapel.
The monastery is located on a hill above the lake, but there is no observation deck here - the view is blocked by the monastery walls and private houses. But the monastery itself is very photogenic and looks great both from the shore of Lake Pleshcheevo and from the city: from the old Pereslavl cemetery, which is on the Yaroslavl highway on the road to the monastery.
2  Trinity Church (route to Yaroslavl, half a kilometer from the turn to the monastery). Church of the Trinity Sloboda. Built in 1855 in an eclectic style, it is clearly visible from the road.
3  Alexandrova Gora (Yarilina Gora). A kilometer from the monastery the road descends to the shore of the lake and after about another kilometer steep hills appear on the right. At the top of the nearest one, earthen ramparts can be discerned. It is believed that the ancient Kleshchin, the predecessor of Pereslavl, was located here, after which the lake was named Pleshcheev, and the village located behind the hill was named Gorodishche. A little further, Alexandrova Mountain, crowned with a wooden cross, to which a well-trodden path leads: this is the best viewpoint on the northern side of Lake Pleshcheyevo. Both hills are ancient settlements, inhabited already in the 9th century, i.e. during the birth of Ancient Rus'. The Kleshchina settlement stands, therefore, on a par with the Truvorov settlement near Izborsk or Staraya Ladoga, from where, as is known, “the Russian land originated.”
The early settlements on the lake shore were apparently Meryan. Relations between the Merya and the Slavs who came here from the south did not immediately become friendly. According to one version, the “foundation” of Pereslavl was in 1152, i.e. The transfer of the city from the Kleshchin settlement to its modern location at the mouth of the Trubezh was caused by an uprising of the local tribal nobility, which the founder of Pereslavl, the well-known Yuri Dolgoruky, thereby tried to overcome. Add here the mysteries of the Blue Stone lying under the hill, and Alexander Mountain becomes an almost mystical place, which is generally typical for ancient Russian settlements. However, in recent years, the mysticism has been broken by the kite surfers who have filled the northern shore of the lake, and now you can fully enjoy this unusual place only in the cold season, when surfers sit at home. Those who are not looking for solitude can have a picnic in specially equipped places in the meadow on the shore of the lake (below, under the “mountain”).
4  Blue stone. Entrance fee: 200 rub. The huge boulder of glacial origin has a clearly visible dark blue hue. There are no other stones of this size in the vicinity of Pereslavl, which is why mystical properties have been attributed to the stone since ancient times. The Orthodox Church struggled with this in every possible way, but the stone was always stronger: for example, in the 18th century they were going to lay it in the foundation of a church being built in Pereslavl, they took it on a sleigh across the lake, the ice broke, the stone went under the water, and a few years later it safely materialized on the shore . Local residents claim that the stone regularly changes its position, so each time it has to be looked for again. This problem seemed to be solved by local businessmen who made a wooden platform around the stone and placed numerous souvenir shops nearby, and at the same time began to charge a fee of 200 rubles for access to the stone. per person Those who disagree with this price, which is justified as an entrance fee for visiting the national park, can go a little further along the highway, where there is already a trodden path around the fence and there is even a hole in the fence, but in wet weather it can be dirty there. Over time, the stone sinks into the swampy soil and its visible part becomes smaller and smaller.
5  Nativity Church in the village of Gorodishche. The five-domed church with a cheerful blue and white bell tower was built in 1791-95. Experts call it an example of archaism in church architecture of the late 18th century. Unlike surfers, she fits perfectly into the mystical and hilly landscape of the northern shore of Lake Pleshcheyevo.
The area between the road and the lake shore belongs to the national park. In some places there are information boards informing about the recreational fee of 50 rubles per person, but in fact they take it only from the Blue Stone. In some places you can get to the shore of the lake directly through the meadow, although more often it is swampy, and in several places there are special wooden decks for this purpose. The best excursion trail of this kind is located farthest from the city, 2 km behind the Blue Stone near the Blue Stone recreation center.

6  Ecological trail “Visiting the Gray Heron”. The trail, equipped with a wooden platform, runs along the marshy shore of the lake and is equipped with information boards telling about the local nature. There are no herons here, as you can verify by climbing a small observation tower, from which you have an excellent view of the lake itself and the surrounding forests. If you get off the boardwalk and walk along the usual paths, you will find a couple of small, wild and relatively rarely visited beaches - tiny strips of sand that allow you to get close to the water and even swim.

 

Veskovo

The village of Veskovo is located on the southern shore of Lake Pleshcheevo, 3 km from the highway and 5 km from the center of Pereslavl. The permanent population of the village is less than 100 people; most of the houses belong to Pereslavl and Moscow summer residents.

It is well known that Peter I was partial to the army and navy from childhood. He found his first ship in 1688 on the outskirts of the Izmailovsky Palace - it was an English boat, later the boat "St. Nicholas", which is now kept in the military history museum of St. Petersburg. The Izmailovsky pond quickly became too small for the king, and he ordered the construction of an amusing flotilla on Lake Pleshcheyevo, for which a shipyard was created near the village of Veskovo, and a palace was built on the hill above the lake. The amusing flotilla, launched in 1692, entertained the tsar for some time, and then he began to become interested in a larger fleet and at the end of his life, in 1722, he ordered the remains of the ships built for Lake Pereyaslav to be “preserved forever.” The descendants did not live up to the emperor's hopes: in 1783 the entire amusing flotilla burned down. Miraculously, a single boat, the Fortuna, was preserved, stored separately from the other ships. In 1803, it was placed in a museum - one of the first museums of the Russian Empire, where some Russian emperors later came “on official visits”. Soviet rulers paid much less attention to the boat, and until the early 2000s it remained an ordinary provincial museum on the side of the Golden Ring. Then, finally, the interests of the regional authorities reached here: the estate was restored, surrounded by a high fence and an entrance fee was introduced. Botik has become a full-fledged Pereslavl brand.

It is also interesting that the botik.ru domain was one of the first in the .ru zone and appeared already in 1994 on the initiative of employees of the Pereslavl Institute of Software Systems (IPS RAS).

7  Museum-estate “Botik of Peter I” (on the hill behind the village, entrance to the territory opposite the cafe “Botik”). ✉ ☎ +7 (48535) 6-21-16. 10:00–17:00 except Mon, from May to September until 18:00. Entrance to the territory: 30 rubles; 40-100 rubles for each exhibition, single ticket: 200 rubles. Branch of the Pereslavl Museum-Reserve. The architecture of the estate is the standard of provincial classicism and has nothing to do with Peter I. The Boat House (1803) resembles a primitivist version of the St. Petersburg Admiralty, the remaining buildings date back to the mid-19th century. Among them, the impressive triumphal arch (1852), located on the side of the manor park opposite the lake, attracts attention. On the hill above the lake you will see the granite obelisk “Peter the Great” (1852), which the writer Mikhail Prishvin, who lived in the estate in 1925, called a pathetic “marble paperweight”, considering this monument disproportionate to the scale of the emperor’s personality. Another monument - now in human form, but still dwarf - was placed next to the entrance to the estate in 1992. The museum has 4 expositions: the boat “Fortune”, a rotunda with recreated interiors of the 18th century, the White Palace with a moderately interesting historical exhibition and the Gatehouse, where they tell about the life of Pereslavl fishermen. If you don’t have much time, you can safely ignore all the expositions except the boat itself.
8  Church of St. George the Victorious in Veskovo. The parish church of the village of Veskovo was built at the beginning of the 19th century at the junction of Baroque and Classicism. With its fresh red and white paint job, the church looks bright and festive.
Museum of the History of Money, st. Peter I, 2B. ☎ +7 (910) 812-83-88. Wed–Sun 11:00–19:00, from October to April - only on weekends. 100 rub. Private numismatic collection with a considerable number of medieval coins. All exhibits fit into one room and are touchingly signed by hand.
Teapot House, st. Peter I, 17. ☎ +7 (48535) 3-25-83. 10:00–18:00, daily in summer, in winter - only on weekends. 100 rubles, a little more expensive on weekends. The successor to the Pereslavl Iron Museum offers visitors an equally rich collection, in this case of old teapots, with no less creative design and fun excursions.

 

Talitsy

After the revolution, active extraction of peat began in the Pereslavl swamps, the removal of which was impossible without narrow-gauge railways. In the best years, the total length of Pereslavl narrow-gauge railways exceeded 100 km. In 1989, part of the road was purchased by a private cooperative with the aim of creating a museum. At first, business went well, and until 2002 passenger traffic continued on the road. “Cuckoo,” as local residents affectionately called the narrow-gauge railway, became one of Pereslavl’s attractions, but in 2003 the road was dismantled, and now only a tiny two-kilometer section in the museum area remains. It is located in the middle of a beautiful pine forest 20 km from Pereslavl. The village of Talitsy, once focused on peat mining, has now turned into an elite conglomerate of dachas by local standards, where high-quality cottages stand behind high fences.

Pereslavl Railway Museum (museum of steam locomotives) , village. Talitsa. ☎ +7 (48535) 4-94-79. Wed–Sun 10:00–18:00, in winter until 17:00. Entrance ticket: 150 rubles; ride on a handcar: 150 rubles/person. In its best years, the locomotive museum managed to collect a considerable collection of narrow-gauge rolling stock, both from the Pereslavl railway and from other narrow-gauge railways of the former USSR, by Russian standards. Contrary to the name, there are relatively few steam locomotives here, but there are diesel locomotives, carriages, railcars, snow plows and other special equipment. Its condition ranges from decent to quite rusty, and at times it seems that by using locomotives as a brand, the museum is paying more attention to the collection of old cars collected next door. However, the museum is engaged in marketing very effectively: it fits perfectly into the galaxy of irons, kettles, unnecessary things, although you will not find its exhibits at any flea market. As entertainment, visitors are offered a ride on a manual handcar along the preserved section of the narrow-gauge railway.
At the turn to Talitsy there is the Transfiguration Church in the village of Kupanskoye (1810) - an ordinary Baroque monument, and in Talitsy itself there is a wooden Trinity Church (2000).

 

Things to do

In the summer months, Lake Pleshcheyevo offers all types of outdoor recreation: swimming, fishing, walks in the forest to pick mushrooms and berries, boating, kite surfing and the like. The shore of the lake is swampy in places, but there are plenty of places where you can get close to the water. In some places there are narrow sandy beaches. Some of them have recently become paid, but you need to look for free ones further away from Pereslavl, in the area of ​​the source of the Vyoksa River and the village of Kupanskoye or on the northern bank behind the Blue Stone.

Boat station of the National Park (opposite the village of Gorodishche). Also from the station further north there are paid camping sites, and even further, under Alexander Mountain there are picnic areas (theoretically also paid).
Recreation Park "Veslevo" (behind Botik, turn left after 2.5 km). 9:00–19:00, on weekends until 20:00. Horseback riding and camel riding(!), paintball, bathhouse and sauna, as well as a mini-zoo. The café is open during the daytime.
urf point, village Veskovo. ☎ +7 (915) 985-64-34. All possible types of surfing, including snow and ice.
Brewery “Zalesskaya Pinka”, village. New. Excursions: Sat 12:00–18:00, also on holidays. Few people are surprised by microbreweries these days, but more often they appear in the vicinity of large cities, and this one, although it sells its products in the Moscow region (where it runs its own bar, for example), is located on Lake Pleshcheyevo and uses water from local artesian wells, simultaneously entertaining tourists excursions and tastings. Usually organized groups come here. If you want to come on your own, please check before going.

 

Local transport

By car you can easily reach all the interesting places on the shores of Lake Pleshcheyevo and in its environs, but there is practically nothing for pedestrian travelers to do here: a walk from Pereslavl to any attractions will take at least half a day, and you will have to walk not along the shore of the lake (increasingly swampy ), and on roads. The minimum program for a hiker could be to explore the Trinity Settlement (Nikitsky Monastery), from where you can walk to Alexandrova Mountain and the Blue Stone. Another option is to visit Veskovo (the Boat of Peter I museum-estate), which can also be reached on foot or by taxi. Good views of Pereslavl and Lake Pleshcheyevo are guaranteed in any case.

There is no regular water transport on the lake. The shallow depth allows you to navigate it only on motorboats, which are most numerous at the mouth of the Trubezh. Unlike neighboring Rostov the Great, boat trips on Lake Pleshcheevo are not included in the usual tourist program, but local residents will take you for a ride if they wish.

 

Shopping

In the Veskovo area, there is almost always something for sale on the road: mushrooms, berries, or, at worst, onions and zucchini from local gardens. There is a lot of fish in Lake Pleshcheyevo that you can try to catch or buy. Shops with smoked fish are located in Pereslavl and next to the Botik cafe. Sometimes they sell live fish, and usually not far from the place where they were caught. The most promising area is near the store in Kupanskoye. They can also sell other “gifts of the forest” there, and at lower prices compared to Pereslavl, since not every Moscow tourist or summer resident makes it to Kupansky.

Farm and cheese factory of Maria Koval, village. Housewarming, st. Monastyrskaya, 4 (via Veskovo, turn to Veslevo to the south). ☎ +7 (963) 601-22-61. Excursion and tasting: 750 rubles/person, with lunch: 1000 rubles/person. An example of import substitution on Pereslavl soil is a private farm that began with the production of cheeses using Italian technology, and now produces almost everything: its own dairy products, meat delicacies, dumplings and even French pastries, the production of which is managed by a foreign confectioner. Everything is decorated in a very European way, but the prices are appropriate: cheeses cost 1500-4000 rubles/kg, bread and pastries - from 100 rubles apiece, but the quality is apparently at the same level: visitors praise it. You can come here either to the store or on a tour: then you will be shown cheese production for half an hour, and then given a taste of several options.

 

Eat

There are not many organized catering places on the shores of Lake Pleshcheevo. They are usually combined with hotels.

1  Tavern “Botik”, village. Veskovo. 11:00–23:00, Fri and Sat: until 1:00. Hot dishes: 200-300 rub. The “cultural center” of the village of Veskovo includes a hotel, a campsite, a billiards club and a counter with local fish, and it is all dominated by a cafe in a wooden building shaped like a ship. From the back of the hall there is a good view of Lake Pleshcheyevo. Don't expect much comfort from this place: there are, for example, problems with water supply and sewerage, but the food is good and relatively inexpensive. You might even be able to try vendace, the fishing of which is now completely prohibited.
2  Grocery store in Kupanskoye. In an ordinary village store at the turn to the locomotive museum they sell very tasty pies from the local bakery.

 

Hotels

1  Recreation center “Pleshcheyevo” (northern shore of the lake, 3 km from Alexandrova Mountain). ☎ +7 (903) 820-33-93, +7 (915) 963-06-40. Cottages: from 6000 rub. Cottages for 6-14 people, with private amenities. Additional services - sauna and fishing organization.
2  Guest house “Obereg”  , Kupanskoye, st. Pleshcheevskaya, 60. ☎ +7 (920) 121-30-91. from 2500 rub. Wooden house with 6 guest rooms, most of them with private facilities.
✦  Hotel “Inn” (tourist complex “Botik”), village. Veskovo. ☎ +7 (48535) 9-80-85. Double room without amenities / with amenities: from 1100/2100 rub. Hotel rooms, as well as individual houses. Nearby is the Botik cafe and evening entertainment like billiards. In summer it is very hot and noisy. The entire complex was built 20 years ago, and the furnishings in it are appropriate.
3  Recreation center “Sin Kamen”, village. Kriushkino (northern shore of the lake, a kilometer from Alexandrova Mountain and Blue Stone). ☎ +7 (985) 975-33-33. Guest houses: from 3000 rub. The wooden houses surrounded by a high fence openly violate the local landscape, and the closeness to nature is imitated by bizarre figures of animals, birds and even a Chinese dragon. This is, in fact, an analogue of the Botik tourist complex mentioned above, but on the other side of the lake and 20 years later. There is a restaurant offering set lunches.
4  Camping “Popov Meadow” (on the road, between Veskovo and Kupansky). ☎ +7 (920) 659-06-82. Guest house: 6500 rub. Stylish but expensive wooden houses with sharp triangular roofs. Each has a bathroom and shower.
✦  Veslevo Park, village. Veslevo. ☎ +7 (901) 195-72-71. Double room: from 2300 rub. Hotel at the recreation park of the same name. The cheapest accommodation option is double rooms with private facilities. If desired, you can rent a separate house. In winter there are problems with heating.
A good selection of hotels in Pereslavl itself.

 

Safety measures

There is nothing dangerous on Lake Pleshcheyevo, but if you are careless you can run into trouble. When walking through the forest or even relaxing on the shore, remember that there are many snakes in this area, half of which are harmless snakes, but the rest are real vipers. Swimming in the lake is completely safe as long as you are not very far from the shore, where it is shallow anyway. There may be treacherous whirlpools closer to the center of the lake; swimming near them is not recommended.

 

History

It was founded on September 26, 1988 as the Pereslavl Natural Historical National Park by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR dated September 26, 1988, No. 400, which was under the jurisdiction of the Yaroslavl Region Administration and functioned as its structural unit. In 1998, by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation on July 17, 1998, No. 777, the Pereslavl Natural and Historical National Park was renamed into the Pleshcheyevo Lake National Park and declared a specially protected natural area.

Since 2000, the park has been under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation. Currently subordinate to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation. The park includes Lake Pleshcheyevo and adjacent territories.

 

Reference information

The total area of ​​the park is 23 790 hectares, including 15 271 hectares of forest land, 5963 hectares of water fund lands, 554 hectares of agricultural land, as well as 2002 hectares of lands of other land users. The park has one natural monument (Kriushkinsky spring), 26 archaeological monuments, two historical and two architectural monuments.

The main types of vegetation in the national park are forest and swamp (forests occupy about 48% of the total area). The main forest-forming species are small-leaved (aspen, birch) and dark coniferous (spruce, pine). Small areas are occupied by oak, linden, maple, ash, alder. Oak forests occupy about 1% of the area. Here lies the northern border of the pedunculate oak range. In total, the flora of the park includes 790 plant species belonging to 98 families; nine of them are included in the Red Book of Russia. A special group of 19 species is included in the regional list of rare and endangered species for the center of the European part of Russia.

About 300 species of vertebrates live on the territory of the park: 60 species of mammals, among which deer-maral, roe deer, flying squirrel, baby shrew, 210 species of birds, among which there are rare - gray heron, gray goose, whooper swan are protected and the gray crane, ten species of reptiles and amphibians, 109 species of insects. There are 19 species of fish in the reservoirs of the national park, of which 16 species are in Lake Pleshcheyevo, including the endemic form of the European vendace - the Pereslavl vendace. More than 20 species of animals, protected in the Yaroslavl region, have been recorded. Among them are animals listed in the Red Book of Russia: white-tailed eagle, peregrine falcon, osprey, black stork, Central Russian ptarmigan, desman, mnemosyne.

Near the town of Kuhmar in the park there is an ecological trail "Gray Heron". The ornithological trail is about one kilometer long and covers the habitats of almost 50 bird species. You can watch them by climbing a six-meter observation tower or from an open observation deck, and you can get useful information about bird species using colorful information boards that are installed along the entire route.

 

Nearby

The winding and rather broken road along the southern shore of Lake Pleshcheevo continues beyond Kupanskoye to the village of Nagorye, 50 km from Pereslavl. There it meets the road to Uglich, but not with the main highway running through the Tver region through Kalyazin, but with its branch, covering the western edge of Yaroslavl. These are remote and quite picturesque places, hiding several little-known attractions.

The Highlands have been known since ancient times. In 1770, the village was given to Admiral Grigory Andreevich Spiridov as a reward for victory in the Battle of Chesma. Soon after this, an elegant, although quite typical, Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior was built in the village (1785-87). The most unusual attraction of the Highlands is the monument to Admiral Spiridov erected in the courtyard of the kindergarten, on the site of the former estate. Trade has flourished in the Highlands since ancient times. It still exists: in the central square of the village, near the church, they sell all kinds of local products, and they also sell non-local products.

Church of the Ascension in Elpatyevo (8 km northwest of Nagorye). An extraordinary monument of classicism in the remote Yaroslavl province. The church in Elpatyevo was built in 1814-29. at the expense of the village patrimonial owner - Pavel Petrovich Naryshkin, a descendant of the boyar family of the Naryshkins, from which the mother of Peter I came. The village once had an estate, of which not a trace remains now, but a literary memory has been preserved: the author of “The Three Musketeers” Alexander Dumas stayed here, who made a rather colorful description of the estate itself and especially the road to it. Now the Church of the Ascension most resembles the churches in the north of the Lipetsk region - architecturally perfect, but in complete desolation.
Nikolo-Solbinsky Monastery  (15 km north of Nagorye). An example of modern temple architecture. The monastery on the Solbe River has been known since the 15th century. At the beginning of the 18th century it was moved to its current location, after the revolution it was closed and destroyed almost to the ground. Restoration work has been going on since the late 1990s and is still far from complete, although the monastery has already acquired a solid form. Its walls and towers were restored, the only old church was put in order - the Assumption Church (mid-18th century) - and several new ones were built at once, including the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the form of ancient Russian cathedrals and the Church of St. Spyridon of Trimifuntsky, where the characteristic silhouette of Yaroslavl Posad churches complemented by a tower porch and other elements of pseudo-Russian style. Also unusual are the Church of Xenia of St. Petersburg, built into the administrative building, and the wooden Church of Sergius of Radonezh, the prototype of which was the church in the painting by M.V. Nesterov “Vision to the Youth Bartholomew.” Inside the temples, note the abundant and quite exquisite wood carvings. There is a refectory and a shop at the monastery, and a bathhouse with a holy spring near the river.
Church of the Transfiguration in Brynchaga (20 km east of the Solbinsky Monastery). The name Brynchaga has probably been encountered by everyone who drove along the highway north of Pereslavl. 12 km from the city on the road there is a T-34 tank with a large sign “Brynchagi. Homeland of M.I. Koshkin, designer of the T-34 tank.” It is difficult to say who this sign is intended for, since it is 34 km from the highway to the village, and there is nothing thematic except for the bust of M.I. There is no Koshkin in the village, but there is an architectural monument not marked with any signs. The Transfiguration Church was built in 1830 in the spirit of classicism, but with a fancy five-domed structure, borrowed from Pereslavl churches of the late 18th century. You can go to Brynchaghi either from the already mentioned turn, marked by a tank, or from the west, through Nagorje and Solba.