Plyos is located in the north of the Ivanovo region. The small cozy town of the Golden Ring is located on the right bank of the Volga River. In the 19th century, thanks to its picturesqueness, it was a favorite vacation spot for many famous Russian artists - Repin, Savrasov, Levitan; Nowadays, this historical fact has turned into a tourist brand. It is for the “Levitan landscapes” that people come here, and in the warm season there are many more tourists in Plyos than local residents. This creates certain difficulties for an independent traveler, but still does not completely kill the original charm of the city. The landscapes here are still amazing, and there are plenty of attractions. The name of the city is associated with the type of river bed, in the place of a wide, straight flood, and this is exactly the place on the Volga where the city stands.
Landscape Museum. The Landscape Museum was opened on November 14,
1997 in a house that belonged to the merchants Groshev and Podgornov
before the revolution, built at the end of the 18th century. Many
landscape painters depicted this house in their works, and I.I.
Levitan was one of the first to paint it in the painting "Evening.
Golden Reach". 1889 The collection of paintings of the Plessky
Museum-Reserve from its very foundation was completed mainly from
the works of artists of the circle of Levitan and those whose work
was associated with their stay in Ples. The main theme of the
permanent exhibition of the Museum of Landscape is the demonstration
of various trends in Russian and Soviet landscape art, the formation
of the Russian landscape school, the main features of which are most
clearly reflected in the work of I.I. Levitan. The exposition of the
museum presents works by artists of the second half of the 19th -
early 20th centuries: I.I. Shishkin, A.P. Bogolyubov, N.N.
Dubovskoy, A.A. Kiselev, I.I. Tvorozhnikov, N.A. Klodt, S.Yu.
Zhukovsky, N.A. Sergeev, R.G. Sudkovsky, M.Kh. Aladzhalov, V.V.
Perepletchikov, V.K. Byalynitsky-Birulya and others. Active
exhibition activity is carried out in the halls of the Museum of
Landscape. It has become traditional to hold the festival of sacred
music "Golden Ples" here. Since 1999, the Interregional Exhibition
of Modern Landscape Painting "Green Noise" has been held in the
halls of the Museum of Landscape.
Cathedral Mountain. The
heart of Plyos is Cathedral Mountain, which received its second name
- Freedom Mountain. It is from here that the town on the Volga
originates. Historians note the first mention of Plyos in 1141. The
settlement existed until the invasion of the Mongols in 1238, when
all the houses were burned by fire. The city was revived only in
1410 through the efforts of the great Moscow prince Vasily Donskoy,
son of Dmitry Donskoy. Therefore, the inhabitants of Plyos consider
Muscovites almost relatives. By order of the Moscow prince, a large
wooden fortress with an earthen rampart was laid on a mountain 70
meters above the water level, designed to protect not only the city
itself, but the approaches to the Rostov-Suzdal principality. All
the surroundings are clearly visible from the Cathedral Mountain, so
it is difficult for the enemy to be unnoticed here. In addition, the
rampart turned out to be quite steep and impregnable, so it was
quite difficult to get close to the walls of the fortress. The walls
of Plyos could even protect against firearms, which was rare for
buildings of that time. Unfortunately, the fortress has not survived
to our times. Only the ramparts remained, and old centuries-old
birches mark the former walls. However, the mountain itself has
changed little historically. There are no modern buildings here.
Rather, it is a place of rest for locals and tourists. A winding
alley stretches around the mountain, proudly called the “Boulevard”
by the Plesovites. Since 1699, the oldest church in the city, the
Assumption Cathedral, the building of the former Offices of the end
of the 18th century, has been standing on the mountain. In 1910, a
tribute was paid to the memory of the founder of the city - Vasily
Donskoy. In the year of the celebration of the 500th anniversary of
Plyos, a monument was opened in his honor on Mount Liberty. The
sculptor S. Alyoshin depicted the prince, like illustrations in
paintings and icons. In a fur hat and a rich fur collar, the bust of
Basil I stands on a high dark pedestal and is surrounded by a
patterned fence. Now Cathedral Hill is being actively restored. The
Presences have been updated without losing their historical value.
The alley is being ennobled, viewing platforms and gazebos are being
created. City dwellers like to walk here. Every tourist will
definitely come here to understand why the Plyos neighborhoods of
famous artists were so fascinated. It is on a high mountain that the
name of the Volga town becomes clear. The river in this part of it
flows smoothly, as if in a narrow corridor. But "ples" from ancient
Russian is translated as a straight section of the river. Cathedral
Hill is not only a historical part of the city, but also a cultural
one. Holidays and festivals are held here, weddings are held in
Russian traditions. Before the revolution, the mountain was also the
administrative center of the city.
Assumption Cathedral. The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin in its new stone form appeared here, on Cathedral Hill, in 1699 after a fire that engulfed the former wooden church, and almost completely repeated its outlines. The Assumption Cathedral in a tree, in turn, appeared here on the site of a fortress created by order of Dmitry Donskoy in 1400 and designed to protect the approaches to the Rostov-Suzdal Principality from the Volga. The fortress was destroyed twice: first by the Tatars, and then by the Poles. For the third time, it was decided not to restore the fortress, but to build a temple on the mountain. The Assumption Cathedral made of whitewashed stone is simple and at the same time beautiful. In many sources, art historians call his style a provincial version of the Moscow Baroque. The first tier of the cathedral is a quadrangle with refectory and altar rooms of equal width on the sides. From the quadrangle, as if, an octagonal second tier with a domed roof grows. It is quite powerful and creates a feeling of squatness of the whole church. This volume is often called "an octagon on a quadruple". And above the bell-shaped vault, a small dome stretches upwards with an interception on a small octagonal base. The temple is not rich in window openings. The refectory has only two light windows on the side facades. The meager design of the facades is reminiscent of the architecture of the 17th century. The octagon is decorated with simple cornices supported by columns along its edges. Arched windows of the refectory and the main volume in figured keel-shaped architraves, rectangular windows of the apse in a simple frame. There are pilasters between the windows of the altar ledge. At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries, a richly decorated bell tower was added to the Assumption Cathedral from the side of the refectory. The base of the bell tower is the same octagon on a quadrangle, ending with a tent vault. The tent is filled with dormer windows of various designs. In the northern wall of the base of the bell tower there is a staircase leading to the bell. In 1824, a small chapel appeared next to the Assumption Cathedral, and in 1828, the Kazan Summer Cathedral was built at the expense of the Plyos tradesman V. Shishkin. At the end of the 19th century, a stone fence with a gate on the south side was erected around this cathedral ensemble. Now the complex of two temples, surrounded by a fence, can only be seen on the canvases of Isaac Levitan "Quiet Abode" and "Evening Bells". In the city, only the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the stone gates have been preserved. The most ancient cathedral of the town on the Volga is currently in operation. In 2007, the governor of the Ivanovo region, at his own expense, reconstructed the Assumption Cathedral, and also began the improvement of the entire Cathedral Mountain: he restored the fence, landscaped observation decks and footpaths. On the opening day of the renovated church on July 8, 2007, the first religious procession was held with the participation of many famous people of Russia.
Assumption Cathedral. The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin in its new stone form appeared here, on Cathedral Hill, in 1699 after a fire that engulfed the former wooden church, and almost completely repeated its outlines. The Assumption Cathedral in a tree, in turn, appeared here on the site of a fortress created by order of Dmitry Donskoy in 1400 and designed to protect the approaches to the Rostov-Suzdal Principality from the Volga. The fortress was destroyed twice: first by the Tatars, and then by the Poles. For the third time, it was decided not to restore the fortress, but to build a temple on the mountain. The Assumption Cathedral made of whitewashed stone is simple and at the same time beautiful. In many sources, art historians call his style a provincial version of the Moscow Baroque. The first tier of the cathedral is a quadrangle with refectory and altar rooms of equal width on the sides. From the quadrangle, as if, an octagonal second tier with a domed roof grows. It is quite powerful and creates a feeling of squatness of the whole church. This volume is often called "an octagon on a quadruple". And above the bell-shaped vault, a small dome stretches upwards with an interception on a small octagonal base. The temple is not rich in window openings. The refectory has only two light windows on the side facades. The meager design of the facades is reminiscent of the architecture of the 17th century. The octagon is decorated with simple cornices supported by columns along its edges. Arched windows of the refectory and the main volume in figured keel-shaped architraves, rectangular windows of the apse in a simple frame. There are pilasters between the windows of the altar ledge. At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries, a richly decorated bell tower was added to the Assumption Cathedral from the side of the refectory. The base of the bell tower is the same octagon on a quadrangle, ending with a tent vault. The tent is filled with dormer windows of various designs. In the northern wall of the base of the bell tower there is a staircase leading to the bell. In 1824, a small chapel appeared next to the Assumption Cathedral, and in 1828, the Kazan Summer Cathedral was built at the expense of the Plyos tradesman V. Shishkin. At the end of the 19th century, a stone fence with a gate on the south side was erected around this cathedral ensemble. Now the complex of two temples, surrounded by a fence, can only be seen on the canvases of Isaac Levitan "Quiet Abode" and "Evening Bells". In the city, only the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the stone gates have been preserved. The most ancient cathedral of the town on the Volga is currently in operation. In 2007, the governor of the Ivanovo region, at his own expense, reconstructed the Assumption Cathedral, and also began the improvement of the entire Cathedral Mountain: he restored the fence, landscaped observation decks and footpaths. On the opening day of the renovated church on July 8, 2007, the first religious procession was held with the participation of many famous people of Russia.
House-museum of the artist I.I. Levitan. Opened on August 25, 1972, the memorial house-museum of I.I. Levitan is located in an old mansion with a mezzanine of the nineteenth century, which belonged to the merchant P. Solodovnikov before the revolution. In this house, starting in 1888, Isaac Ilyich created his most famous canvases: “Evening. Golden Ples”, “Quiet Abode”, “Above Eternal Peace”, “Birch Grove” and many other masterpieces of landscape painting. The area that gave inspiration to Levitan was named Plyos due to the special relief, where the riverbed becomes deeper and the banks are more steep, creating fabulous views of nature itself. A quiet town, a house on the banks of the Volga River, picturesque surroundings and a calm environment helped to create a total of more than two hundred works known throughout the world. It is not without reason that Levitan's "splashing" period is considered to be the formation of an original artist. The museum has two exhibition halls. In the first one - the development of the artist's creative biography, in the second hall Levitan's original canvases with the works of his friends A. Stepanov and S. Kuvshinnikova are exhibited. on the top floor (in the mezzanine) there are memorial rooms where Isaac Ilyich lived with friends. Today, the house-museum of the famous painter is part of the Plessky Artistic, Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve. Near the museum, on the banks of the river, a monument was erected to the great Russian landscape painter, who glorified a small town in the Ivanovo region with his work. The house-museum has repeatedly been the place where scientific and practical conferences of the Plessky Museum-Reserve were held. Literary and musical evenings and other events are successfully held here.
Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Plyos. The Church of the Resurrection of Christ gained its fame, as well as the popular name "Above Eternal Peace", thanks to the painting of the same name by the famous artist I. I. Levitan. The artist arrived in a small cozy town on the Volga in 1888 and on the very first evening he painted a sketch of an old church located high on a hill, right next to the house where he stayed. Many do not know that another church is depicted on the canvas. Church of Saints Peter and Paul built in the 16th century. stood in the same place on the banks of the Volga River on Mount Levitan (formerly Peter and Paul Mountain) until 1903. It burned down, and in the eighties of the twentieth century, a church similar in size and appearance was brought here from the village of Bilyukovo, Ilyinsky district, Ivanovo region. The slender, graceful Church of the Resurrection of Christ, as if stretching upwards, was built in 1699 from chopped logs, consisting of three stands (log cabins). At first she stood on boulders. After the wall was sheathed with hemp. In 1903, the building acquired a brick foundation. At the end of the 19th century, a three-tier hipped bell tower was erected, which was destroyed in the 1930s. In the fifties of the same century, as a result of a hurricane, the church lost its only dome, along with a quadrangular pedestal, restored by the church elder Gagin back in 1905. He also changed the wall paneling to plank instead of plank, and also expanded the windows. Moving in the 1980s to the old cemetery over the river, the church has become a popular place of pilgrimage for tourists, reminiscent of the old Peter and Paul Church, from which Levitan and his companion Kuvshinnikova painted their paintings. The church that stood on this site was depicted by the artist in at least two of his paintings “The Wooden Church in Plyos at the last rays of the sun” and “Above Eternal Peace”. There is an opinion that the landscape of the painting “Above Eternal Peace” was painted by the artist, being at Lake Udomlya, under Vyshny Volochok, Tver Region, but Isaac Levitan was not attracted to that church, and he replaced it with the cozy Plyosskaya that impressed him so much. On the eve of the anniversary of the city of Plyos, the authorities ennobled the ascent leading up the mountain - they built a comfortable wooden staircase with railings that organically fit into the ancient landscape. And although the church is not currently operating, the mountain is built up with houses and overgrown with trees, and the cemetery has not been preserved at all, the “folk trail” does not overgrow here. Travelers want to admire the famous Levitan landscape, and painters want to try to paint their own “Eternal Peace”. Novice artists come here for plyners, masters and amateurs look for inspiration here.
Resurrection stone church. The Resurrection stone church is located on the old Market Square of the city of Plyos (Lenin Street, 2). It is the most prominent building in this part of the city. You will definitely see it when entering Plyos by bus. Previously, there were two wooden churches on this site. In honor of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812, it was decided to erect a stone temple here. The Resurrection Church began its existence in 1817. The Church of the Resurrection of Christ combines two styles. You can notice the features of the Yaroslavl architecture of the 17th century and the decor of the early classicism of the 19th century, when the church was built. If we compare the Resurrection and Trinity churches of Plyos, we can conclude that they are similar. A high two-tier quadruple holds a symmetrical four-pitched roof, on which there are five onion domes on faceted pedestals. The central dome is luminous. The semicircular apse on the east side is strongly lowered. On the western side there is a square-shaped refectory, equal in width to the quadrilateral of the church. The entrance porticos of the side facades are strongly extended and provided with Tuscan columns and pediments. Next to the church is a three-tiered bell tower, decorated with arched openings, columns, pediments and figured decorations. The bell tower is crowned with a small cupola on a faceted drum. In 1962, it was decided to place an art gallery in the building of the Resurrection stone church. The temple had not been restored for a long time and looked abandoned. Now the domes of the church and the nearby bell tower glisten in the sun with gold, and at night the entire building is illuminated by LED spotlights. At any time of the day you will definitely pay attention to this church. Traveling along the Volga or being on land in any part of the Plyos, you can see the golden-domed onions of the stone Church of the Resurrection of Christ located on a hill. Opposite it, across the street, there is a wooden chapel of the Archangel Michael, forming a single ensemble with the temple. It was brought here in the 1980s from the village of Antonovo and restored. Otherwise, by analogy with the church, it is called Resurrection. If you walk past the chapel up the path and turn back, you will see a panorama of the Volga with a river pier. Near the church, you can stroll past the old shopping malls and see the fire tower of the 19th century. The Resurrection Church can often be found on postcards depicting the city of Plyos. And also, perhaps, you have already seen her in the films “Two Captains”, “Golden Calf”, “Chinese Service”, “Cruel Romance”.
Museum of the Old Russian Family. On the slope of Mount Liberty (formerly Cathedral Hill) in house number 1 is the first private museum in the Ivanovo region. "Museum of the Old Russian Family of 1237" organized by a local archaeologist, candidate of historical sciences P.N. Travkin. The scientist himself participated in the excavations of his city and knows that Plyos better than other provincial cities has preserved the idea of ancient pre-Mongolian Rus'. In his museum, Pavel Travkin recreated the estate, located on the street of jewelers in Plyos. In 1238 it was burnt down by the Horde. The exposition of the Russia House presents exact copies of objects of those times: jewelry, dishes, children's toys, weapons, and others. The manor is divided into male and female halves with the help of wooden flooring. The owner of this house was a jeweler, so a good part of the men's part is dedicated to this craft. And also here you will see what a Russian warrior of the 13th century was like. You will even be allowed to hold a weapon. This museum is generally different in that you can touch things, because these are not historical values, but repeated finds from excavations. On the women's side, you will even be offered to try on clothes from the era of Alexander Nevsky or grind grain with ancient tools. Visitors of all ages want to learn how to play head over heels and burkalo or write on birch bark. You will be told about the pagan faith in the home sanctuary of the Russian House. For a deeper immersion in the Middle Ages, experiments and master classes are organized on the basis of the museum. For example, in 1999, a detailed study was organized of the production cycle of medieval ceramic dishes from the production of clay mixture to firing in a kiln, restored according to surviving documents and the results of excavations. Supervised the work of Yu.B. Tsetlin is a doctor of historical sciences. The whole experiment was captured on video by the Kultura channel. If you are planning a group tour, you can order a thematic lecture by the fire or a lesson dedicated to the life of the Russian family, the rites and paganism of pre-Christian Rus', as well as the work of an archaeologist. The corner at the entrance to the museum is also dedicated to the art of historical excavations. Here, in addition to professional tools and accessories of the researcher, there is also a photo gallery of the expedition. Pavel Travkin admires the talent and genius of the ancient Russian provincials and believes that modern history textbooks reflect very little information about the world of things of the past. The archaeologist seeks to fill this gap, so here are excellent local history lessons for young residents of small surrounding towns, Muscovites and everyone who is interested in the life of a Russian medieval family. Museum of the archaeologist P.N. Travkina is recommended for visiting schoolchildren and students by the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia.
Church of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara. At the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries, a wooden church of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara appeared in Plyos near the Volga. In 1821 the building became white stone. The street on which this temple stands, like many other streets of the city, has two names: Varvarinskaya and Uritsky. Levitan, inspired by the picturesque view of the Russian river and the Varvara Church, painted one of his most famous paintings, The Golden Reach. Since then, little has changed in the appearance of the church. In contrast to the rich decoration of the bell tower, the church of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara is laconic and simple. Art critics call the style of the church classicism. A double-height quadruple with a four-pitched roof completes the five-domed structure. Domes with interception are located far from each other on narrow faceted drums. After the restoration, the central dome of the main volume and the dome of the bell tower became gilded. The apse is slightly elongated along the axis passing through all the buildings. Thus, the altar part takes the form of a narrowed semi-oval. The refectory, on the contrary, is stretched and protrudes on two sides of the main volume. Its gable roof has two small cupolas along the edges. The corners of the quadrangle and the refectory are rounded. Rectangular windows of the second tier are enclosed in simple frame architraves with sandriks. Window openings of the lower tier without platbands, equipped only with cornices and window sill ledges. The space between the tiers of the quadrangle is decorated with arched niches. The bell tower was probably built later than the church itself, as it is distinguished by its design in the style of mature classicism. It consists of three tiers. The lower tiers are two quadrangles standing on top of each other, and the ringing is cylindrical in shape, ending in a dome with lucarnes on four sides and a cupola, to match the church. High arched openings are repeated on each tier of the slender bell tower. The pediments and the columns supporting them emphasize the aspiration upwards. The interior of the temple has preserved an old adhesive painting of the middle of the 19th century, made in the spirit of classicism with baroque elements using the grisaille technique. The gospel compositions are located on the vault on its four sides: "Nailing to the Cross" (western), "Carrying the Cross" (southern), "The Entombment" (northern) and "Resurrection" (south). Church attributes are depicted above the upper light tier. In the middle tier, the large figures of the saints contrast with the small characters of the narrative biblical compositions. The ornament framing the paintings from the life of Christ is made in the Baroque style. The Church of Barbara the Great Martyr is the hallmark of the Volga town. You will find it on almost all Plyos souvenirs: on postcards, magnets, key rings, dishes, etc. It is still valid. Services are held here on weekends and holidays.
Getting to Plyos is not a trivial task. There is no railway station
in the city, the nearest railway is located 16 km to the south-west, in
Privolzhsk, and there is a passenger service only in Furmanovo, which is
33 km away. The city is also deprived of the airport - the nearest one
is in Ivanovo, it is already 66 km away.
By car
A car is the
best way to get to Plyos. It is worth noting, however, that the entry of
cars into the city itself is closed, and vehicles will have to be left
in one of the three parking lots on the outskirts. Such a measure looks
somewhat wild, but it allows you to keep the charm of a small Volga town
in Plyos, not parked to the eyeballs.
1 gas station "Travel
Dream №4" , st. Kornilova, 52. ☎ +7 (964) 495-95-08. around the clock.
The only gas station in Plyos. It used to belong to Gazprom, but fell
under the reduction of assets due to low profitability and was bought
out by the regional network. Prices are below average, displayed in real
time on the network's website. There is a shop at the gas station, but
no toilets.
By bus
Bus service in Plyos is quite intensive for
such a small town: in addition to a local flight to the village of Penki
(down the Volga), the city is connected with the regional center all
year round by 10 pairs of flights, in the summer 2 pairs of flights to
Moscow are added to them. All flights also make stops in Privolzhsk and
Furmanovo.
2 Plyos bus station, st. Gornaya Sloboda, 33. ☎ +7
(49339) 4-33-50. A small bus station without a waiting room, the ticket
office is open only for flights. Nearby there is a grocery store where
you can buy something for the road.
On the ship
Perhaps the
most interesting and imposing, but also the slowest way to get to Plyos
is to board a cruise ship. During the navigation season, dozens of such
ships sail along the Volga, mooring to the berths of any more or less
interesting town. In the towns themselves, with the advent of the next
ship, life begins to boil - many souvenir shops and cafes are designed
only for tourists from ships.
3 Pier №2, Sovetskaya st. (in
front of house 35). The largest pier in the city, designed for mooring
large cruise ships.
You can also arrive in the city on your own
ship: almost the entire coast is littered with berths and mooring
places, and there are filling stations for ships at both ends of the
embankment.
4 PZS "Lukoil", st. Lunacharsky (in front of house
22). around the clock. A floating filling station for ships is
essentially an ordinary car filling station placed on a barge with fuel
tanks. The prices are the same as at a regular network gas station, but
there is no need to carry fuel in cans, you can just dock and refuel.
Card payment and shop available.
5 PZS "Sweet Mountain", st. Lenin
(in front of the house 90). around the clock. A non-network gas station
owned by a ski resort.
Cheap
Snack bar “Fish Corner” , Sovetskaya st., 41. ☎ +7 (915)
836-01-11. Wed–Thu 11:00–18:00, Fri–Sat 10:00–19:00, Sun 10:00–18:00.
Pies and “corners”: 80 (with cherries) - 130 (corner with bream) ₽,
soups: 180 ₽. Plyossky corner is a half-open pie filled with smoked
bream fillet and the main culinary attraction. You can buy it in
different places on the Plyos embankment, but the most interesting thing
is to try the corner right in the “Corner”. There are other pies and
pies here, although the main thing is broken fish soup (from pike-perch)
and broken borscht. Both are served in glasses with a chic sticker “A
glass of fish soup (borscht)”, hot to the point of burning (watch your
lips and tongue!) and no less tasty. And “broken” because the broth with
a piece of fish is beaten with a blender until smooth. They sell
take-out drinks and offer low-alcohol and non-alcoholic original drinks.
In the sales area, a display attracts attention, showing the total
number of corners sold since the founding of the modern cafe.
Average cost
Restaurant "Shalyapin", Sovetskaya st. 25A. ☎ +7 (915)
815-66-36. 08:30–20:40. Restaurant at the hotel of the same name. They
serve traditional Russian and European dishes, a large selection of fish
dishes, fruit drinks and soups. For large companies or tourist groups,
the restaurant has a special group menu from which you can choose
breakfast/lunch/dinner.
Restaurant-brewery “Plyossky Beer House”,
Yuryevskaya st., 4. Suggested options: Food in the establishment ·
Takeaway · No delivery
Average cost
Hotel "Shalyapin", Sovetskaya st., 25A. ☎ +7 (915)
815-66-36. The modern building is located on the banks of the Volga in
the city center. 15 rooms of various categories and a restaurant. The
hotel windows offer views of the Volga, Cathedral Mountain and Mount
Levitan. The hotel has free parking and Wi-Fi.
The exact date of the founding of the Plyosskaya fortress is not
known. According to the historian K. E. Baldin, the most ancient cities
of the Ivanovo region are Plyos and Yuryevets. Presumably, Plyos was
first mentioned in the Novgorod First Chronicle under 1141 as the place
where the posadnik Yakun Miroslavich was caught, who fled with Prince
Svyatoslav from the wrath of the Novgorodians to Suzdal to Prince Yuri
Dolgoruky. However, the identification of this place with the current
city is not generally accepted.
Plyos is mentioned among the
Volga cities destroyed in 1238 by Batu. Having lost the fortress, the
city continued its existence. After the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily
Dmitrievich fled from the invasion of Edigey to Kostroma in 1408, he
ordered in 1410 to build a new fortress here, which became part of the
Plyos customs and defense system. In 1471, the city was visited by
Afanasy Nikitin, who mentioned it in his travel notes "Journey Beyond
the Three Seas".
In 1778 Plyos became a county town of the
Kostroma viceroy. Since 1796, a provincial town of the Nerekhtsky
district of the Kostroma province. In Plyos there were linen factories,
two malt factories, two breweries, 10 forges, a state-owned salt
warehouse, and trading shops. From here the fish was delivered to the
royal table. In 1812, it became one of the centers for the formation of
detachments of the Kostroma people's militia.
With the intensive
development of light industry in the Ivanovo-Shuisky district, Plyos
remained the main port of the entire textile region until the
construction of the railway (Ivanovo-Kineshma) in 1871. Subsequently, it
lost its significance as a crossroads of transport routes and turned
into a provincial town. Like other historical cities “bypassed” by
railways, tourists are told that Plyos merchants, trying to prevent the
construction of a railway to Plyos, which supposedly was supposed to
ruin them, allegedly “paid off it”.
In 1909, a water supply
system was built in Plyos. In 1910, the 500th anniversary of its
foundation was celebrated in Plyos and a monument (bust) to the founder,
Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Dmitrievich, was opened. In the same 1910,
the singer Fyodor Chaliapin first came to Plyos and, fascinated by the
views, built a dacha here by 1914 (after 1924 it became a rest home).
Like other cities in this region, after the collapse of the USSR,
Plyos found itself in a difficult economic situation, and its population
more than halved (from 4,000 to 1,700 inhabitants, see table below). In
2009, the attention of the federal media was drawn to Plyos due to
reports that President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the construction of a
government residence near Plyos on the territory of the former noble
estate of Milovka.
Located in the north of the Ivanovo region, on the right bank hills of the Volga (Gorky Reservoir), at the mouth of the Shokhonka River - the right tributary of the Volga. The highest point of the city is 54 m above the level of the Volga. The distance (by highway) to the regional center - Privolzhsk is 18 km, to the regional center of Ivanovo - 69 km, to Moscow - 396 km. The width of the Volga in the Plyos area is 650-700 meters, the depth of the fairway is 15 meters. The height of the Cathedral Mountain (Mount of Freedom) is 54.5 meters, the height of the Peter and Paul Mountain (Mount Levitan) is 50 meters above the level of the Volga.
Plyos is a place where fossil remains of temnospondyl amphibians that lived in the Early Triassic were discovered. Specimens of Wetlugasaurus angustifrons and Angusaurus weidenbaumi were found in the Lower Olenek substage.
The etymological dictionary of Alexander Preobrazhensky establishes a supposed original relationship with the meaning “a place where it splashes,” since in the reaches there is always a small wave rushing to the shore. Vladimir Nikonov’s toponymic dictionary explains: the Old Slavonic “plyos” meant “lake,” and then a secondary concept was established: “a section of the river from turn to turn.” The description of the city’s coat of arms, approved in 1779 by Catherine the Great, says: “In the 2nd part of the shield in the silver field there is a river, with a reach coming out of it, meaning the name of this city.” This refers to a sandbank washed up by the Shokhonka River (Perbor Spit), now hidden under water.
Since 2006, every summer the annual Russian fashion festival “Plyos
on the Volga. Linen palette."
Since 2007, the city annually hosts the
Andrei Tarkovsky Mirror International Film Festival.
Since 2008,
Plyos has hosted the Levitanov Music Festival.
Since 2015, the
Chaliapin Dacha Festival has been held in Plyos.
Since 2017, Plyos
has hosted the chamber program of the Moscow Easter Festival.
Also,
since 2017, the city has hosted the Plyos sports (every summer) and
animation festivals.
The event season 2018 was declared the “Year of
Italy in Plyos”. The project, implemented with the support of the
Italian Embassy in Moscow and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian
Federation, thematically united major events in Plyos in 2018: Moscow
Easter Festival, Chaliapin Dacha Festival, Plyos Sports Festival, Plyos
Animation Festival.
In 2023, after a 5-year break, the Chaliapin
Dacha Festival was held in Plyos.
The city houses the House of Creativity of the Union of Theater
Workers of Russia. In particular, a significant part of the scenes of
the film “An Almost Funny Story” was filmed there, in which many unique
city corners of Plyos were captured.
1938 - “Minin and
Pozharsky”, dir. Vsevolod Pudovkin.
1959 - “Maiden Spring”, dir.
Veniamin Dorman, Genrikh Oganesyan.
1966 - “Rivers Flow Through
Russia” (documentary film).
1972 - “The Great Hungry Men”, dir. Lev
Mirsky.
1976 - “Two Captains”, dir. Evgeny Karelov.
1977 - “An
Almost Funny Story”, dir. Pyotr Fomenko.
1984 - “Cruel Romance”, dir.
Eldar Ryazanov.
1993 - “Provincial benefit performance”, dir.
Alexander Belinsky.
1999 — “Chinese service”, dir. Vitaly Moskalenko.
2006 - “The Golden Calf”, dir. Ulyana Shilkina.