Serpukhov

 Serpukhov

Location: Moscow Oblast

Description of Serpukhov

Serpukhov is located in the south of the Moscow region, 100 km from the center of Moscow at the junction of three regions: Moscow, Tula and Kaluga regions. The Nara River flows through it, which flows into the Oka River on the southern outskirts of the city, which makes Serpukhov, along with Kolomna, the largest river port in the Moscow region. Established in the 14th century as the capital of a specific principality, for several centuries it was an important link in the southern line of defense of the Muscovite state, and later became the center of the textile industry. Since then, the historical heritage has thinned considerably, but the two large monasteries, churches, remains of noble estates, industrial architecture and pre-revolutionary civil buildings that have survived in the city form a good ensemble, second only to Kolomna in the Moscow region. The Serpukhov Historical and Art Museum (SIHM) has collected the richest collection of paintings and art in the Moscow region, for which it is often called the Small Tretyakov Gallery. In the vicinity of Serpukhov are the Prioksko-Terrasny Nature Reserve, a temple in Podmoklovo, unique for Russia, and several science cities. Recently, the city has been making efforts to develop tourism infrastructure, so travelers will not have problems with navigation, accommodation, food.

 

Orientation

A significant part of Serpukhov is an industrial city with uninteresting high-rise buildings of the Soviet and post-Soviet times. The Nara River flows through it approximately from northwest to southeast, flowing into the Oka a couple of kilometers south of the city. At the confluence of the Serpeika River in Nara, there is one of the main local attractions - Cathedral Hill with the remains of the Kremlin. The historical part of the city is small and is located mainly on the left bank of the Nara, stretching along its middle part and extending inland for several blocks. On the right bank - in Zanarye - historical buildings go away from the river for only a couple of blocks. Two monasteries, founded in the 14th century in the vicinity of the city, are now located on its southern outskirts. The Vysotsky Monastery stands on the left bank of the Nara, close to the famous Serpukhov Art Museum, and the Vladychny Monastery is located in Zanarye, the nearest Varginsky Bridge connects Voroshilov and Leninsky Komsomol streets. On the east side of the railway there is the multi-storey Noginka district, and at the entrance to the city along the old highway from Moscow, there is a new microdistrict Ivanovskiye Dvoriki with the B-class shopping center, but they are of little interest to tourists.

Tourist Information Center (TIC), st. Gorky, d. 5B. ✉ ☎ +7 (4967) 39-69-85.

 

Travel Destinations in Serpukhov

Around Cathedral (Red) Mountain

Cathedral Hill is a very remarkable place in the urban landscape. In fact, this is not a mountain at all, but just a high hill on the left bank of the Nara, around which the city of Serpukhov grew over time. Magnificent views of the city open up from the hill, especially spectacular in the direction of the posad churches standing under the Cathedral Hill - the red Assumption (1854), the yellow Ilinskaya (1748) and the most elegant of all - Trinity (1670). For the convenience of tourists, an observation deck is equipped on the top of the mountain with the best view of the ensemble of township churches.

Serpukhov Kremlin. The oldest landmark of the city is the remains of a fortress dating back to 1374, when an oak Kremlin was built on a high cape at the confluence of the Serpeika River with Nara. In 1556 it was replaced by a white-stone fortress made of local stone by local masons. After a couple of turbulent centuries, the Serpukhov Kremlin lost its military significance and began to gradually collapse, but in the middle of the 19th century it was partially restored, now not as a fortress, but as a monument of antiquity. The construction of the Moscow Metro ruined the fortress: the capital suddenly urgently needed a rubble stone, and nothing more suitable was found. The fortress was hastily dismantled, the stone was taken to Moscow, but it did not fit for the metro and eventually went to the construction sites of the country. On today's Cathedral Hill, two small fragments of the wall have been preserved from the ancient fortress: note that it was built, like an ancient fortress, not of brick, but of large stone. If it is interesting to see what the Kremlin was like as a whole, then in the Serpukhov Museum of History and Art there is an exposition “Serpukhov in the period of the Muscovite state, 2nd floor. XV-XVII centuries”, where a complete model of the Serpukhov Kremlin is presented. Of the once numerous Kremlin buildings, only the rebuilt Trinity Cathedral and a few ordinary private houses remained. But in terms of picturesque views, the Kremlin Hill is an absolute city champion, and it would be a big mistake not to go around it along the path that runs along the edge of the steep hill (be careful, there are no fences on the path).

Trinity Cathedral. The church has stood on this site since the end of the 14th century. Its first version was wooden, but already in the 16th century the first stone building appeared here, which has survived several transformations since then. The most serious was the restructuring of the middle of the 19th century, when the cathedral was given the features of classicism that was fashionable in those days. In the 1960s, it was discovered that the layers of the 19th century hide a completely preserved hipped bell tower of the 17th century, which was revealed to the world during the next restoration. As a result, the cathedral acquired a very strange appearance: empire-style features coexist here with an elegant hipped bell tower.

Monument of Victory. The Victory Memorial with the Eternal Flame appeared on Cathedral Hill in 2009. It was created around the monument to the Liberator Soldier, which was moved here from the Semashko Hospital, where it was originally installed in 1964. The Serpukhov Liberator Warrior is a reduced copy of the famous sculpture from the Berlin Treptow Park and was created by E.V. Vuchetich while working on the original.

Assumption Church, st. Volodarsky, 2. The stone church, considered one of the first examples of Russian architectural historicism of the second half of the 19th century, was built in 1854 at the expense of the Serpukhov manufacturer Nikolai Konshin, after whom one of the streets of the city is named. Before it, a wooden church of the same name stood on this site (first mentioned in 1620), and in 1744 it was replaced by the first stone church, which was badly damaged in the fire of 1817. It is believed that I.T. Tamansky, student of M.F. Kazakova and one of the restorers of the Moscow Kremlin. The church has a traditional, but well-balanced composition - a single-domed quadrangle elongated along one axis, a refectory and a bell tower. The white-stone carving and stucco work of the facades, stylized in the spirit of the Moscow baroque of the 17th century, give a special effect to the temple. Inside, murals of the 19th century have been preserved, partially supplemented today.

Elias Church, st. Volodarsky, 4. It was built in 1748 at the expense of the merchants Popovs on the site of a wooden church, first mentioned in the middle of the 16th century. The restructuring of the middle of the 19th century, carried out due to the strong dilapidation of the building, noticeably changed the appearance of the temple: stucco molding was added on the facades, and onion cupolas were replaced with vases with crosses. Especially unusual here is the combination of the tiered composition of the time of Peter the Great with the layout of the volumes, characteristic of the 17th century township churches. The interior decoration of the church was completed in 1903, and the surviving main iconostasis was made of bronze in 1902. In Soviet times, the church was not closed.

Trinity Church, Sitzenabivnaya st. 5. It was built in 1670 on the site of a wooden church that had burned down a year earlier and existed at least since the middle of the 16th century. The appearance of the church resembled the Moscow Posad churches of the second half of the 17th century, but in Serpukhov it became the first Posad stone church and, apparently, unwittingly served as a role model in the construction of later churches. Its best detail is an elegant hipped bell tower, successfully set off by a static quadruple crowned with five small cupolas on thin drums. In 1714, the church acquired the southern chapel of St. Basil the Blessed, and later it was repaired several times, but due to poverty it was not seriously rebuilt. It served its intended purpose even after the revolution, in 1961 it was closed, and after the restoration of the 1980s it was transferred to the Serpukhov Museum.

 

Around Lenin Square

Lenin Square is the center of the historical part of the city and a place for folk festivals and street concerts on holidays. It was equipped in the middle of the 19th century in order to streamline the chaotic trade around the stone trading rows that appeared at the beginning of the same century. A Gostiny Dvor building was built in the center of the square, four squares were laid out around it. All this in itself is outstanding, and the square became quite unusual in the late 1920s, when two residential buildings in the constructivist style were built in its southwestern corner - a rare guest in the Moscow region. Nowadays, a new fashion has appeared: to put all kinds of monuments on the square. In 2020, a large-scale reconstruction took place on the square, and part of Revolution Street adjacent to it became pedestrian. In the summer, verandas are open on it.

8  Monument to Lenin, pl. Lenin. The monument by the sculptor Matrosov is the second one on this site, and was erected in the early 1960s. Its predecessor, The Calling Leader by G. Alekseev, appeared as early as 1925, immediately after the death of the leader of the world proletariat. The "calling leader", according to rumors, was removed from the square out of harm's way after a suicide attempt, when a young resident of Serpukhov tried to hang himself on the sculpture's outstretched arm, but the sculpture, fortunately, fell down under his weight. The current monument is an illustration of the straightforwardness of the thinking of those in power: the new version has its hands tightly pressed to the body, and the "Calling Leader" was exiled to the building of the 1st school.
9  Monument to Prince Svyatoslav, pl. Lenin. Opened on November 4, 2014, the monument, as conceived by the head of the city, personifies pre-Christian Rus'.
10  Monument to P.A. Stolypin, pl. Lenin. The Serpukhov monument to Pyotr Stolypin became the third in the country after Moscow and Saratov. A bronze sculpture of Stolypin was opened in one of the four squares on Lenin Square at the same time as the monument to Svyatoslav as a symbol of pre-revolutionary Russia.
11  The Crucifixion Monastery (1719) , Kaluga st. 40. This Serpukhov monastery did not last long, from the 1660s to 1764, when it was closed during the secularization of church lands. Before the monastery there was a wooden Church of the Nativity. The construction of the Cathedral of the Crucifixion of Christ began in 1719 at the expense of Princess N.M. Gagarina, who wanted to create something special, and in the European spirit. During the life of the princess, only the first floor was built, and the faceted dome with a spire was completed in the middle of the 18th century. What happened has a rather unusual silhouette and is squat - the cathedral did not manage to soar. After the closing of the monastery, the cathedral was turned into a parish church, and in the 1930s. and completely closed. Now you can see a dilapidated cathedral here, but it is being restored, and the entrance arch with gates of the late 18th-19th centuries has already been restored.
12 Nikolsky Cathedral, Kaluga st. 26/12. The cathedral in the style of classicism was erected in 1833-1857. according to the project of I.T. Tamansky and F.M. Shestakova. It was built on the site of the white-stone church of St. Nicholas the White, which appeared in 1649 and became the first stone church in the city. The cathedral is also interesting for its interior painting with scenes based on biblical motifs.
13  Monument to A.P. Chekhov (crossing of Chekhov and Voroshilov streets). Chekhov served seven years in the Serpukhov district as a zemstvo doctor and even had his own estate in Melikhovo. He visited Serpukhov on business, so the city of S. often became the scene of his stories. Monument to Chekhov by sculptors V.V. Shuvalov and S.V. Sagaiko was installed in 1999. And on the other side of the street in a small park in 2017, they put up a funny sculpture “Ladies with a Dog” by the artist Ilya Dyukov: Chekhov and his character are looking at each other.
14 City government building (house of I. G. Firsanov), Sovetskaya st. 33. One of the most beautiful buildings in Serpukhov was built in 1880-1905. for the city government and the Duma. It is quite difficult to determine its style (you can find both modern and references to traditional Russian architecture), which is why the building is sometimes attributed to Roman Klein, who designed the no less eclectic Church of the Savior, although no documentary evidence of this has been found. Also note how organically the Soviet coat of arms fit into the facade. In December 2019, the building received architectural and artistic lighting.

 

Zanarye

The main attraction in Zanarye is the Vvedensky Vladychny Monastery of the XIV century, in which peacocks are still bred. In addition to the monastery and several churches, mostly dilapidated, some historical buildings have survived in Zanarye, concentrated around Proletarskaya Street, which runs along the Nara. Here you can meet stone pre-revolutionary buildings with poorly preserved gates and pretty wooden houses. At the same time, this is the most environmentally friendly area of the city with a huge coniferous forest park "Gorodskoy Bor", and opposite the children's sanatorium (10 Oktyabrskaya St.) a new Ekaterininsky Square has been landscaped, which stands out with a long ribbon of bright graffiti with animals and a mini-sculpture of a peacock warrior.

15 Vladychny monastery, st. Oktyabrskaya, 40 (from the station, bus number 4 or a fixed-route taxi with the inscription "Oktyabrskaya" to the final one). The oldest monastery in the city was founded in 1360 in honor of the Mother of God, after whom it was named. The heyday of the monastery came at the end of the 16th century, when it received generous donations from Boris Godunov in memory of the deliverance from the Tatars. These funds were used to build a powerful two-story refectory with a tented church of St. George the Victorious, a fortress wall with towers and a gate church, and a private building, as well as the stone Vvedensky Cathedral, erected back in 1362, was rebuilt. All these buildings have come down to us, now making up a unique architectural ensemble of the era of Boris Godunov. In 1806, the monastery was turned into a convent, and after the revolution it was abolished, placing on its territory a school of "red military pilots", which eventually turned into a military flight school. In the late 1970s, the school left, the unattended monastery was plundered by local residents, but already in 1995 the nuns returned to the monastery. Currently, the monastery has been completely restored and has a beautiful night illumination. At the entrance to the monastery there is a living corner where peacocks are found.
16 Savior Church, st. Chernyshevsky, 52. The most interesting of the non-central Serpukhov temples. The church at the Zanarsky cemetery was built in 1893-1896. designed by Roman Klein, a master of all possible architectural styles, who also loved to combine them. Here he decided to cross the terry pseudo-Russian style with the hipped-roof temple of the pre-Petrine era, creating a rather bulky structure, which, however, looks like this only due to some destruction, and in its original form (you may be able to see it in pre-revolutionary photographs) looked excellent, claiming if not ten, then twenty of the best temples of its time. The current tents and domes are the product of a recent reconstruction. The heavily smoked fragments of wall paintings have been preserved in the interior; at one time the church served as a fish warehouse with a smokehouse. The bell tower was an integral part of the ensemble, lost its tent in Soviet times and is still in poor condition.
17 Sretenskaya Church, st. Karl Marx, 36. An Orthodox church in Zanarye, built in 1702 on the site of a wooden church. In Soviet times, it was closed, and the bell tower was destroyed. In the late 1990s, the ruins were returned to believers, and now the temple has been almost completely restored.
18  Factory "Red textile worker", st. Konshinykh, 108. A hundred years ago, textile factories stood one after another along the banks of the Nara. Now there is little left of them, and the Krasny Tekstilshchik is the last place in the city where you can still see a long three-story red brick workshop, as if somewhere in Krasnoarmeysk or Ivanovo. Next to it are several small industrial buildings of the early 20th century, some of them quite pretty. The factory closed around 2010. Currently, the building has been renovated without much attention to the preservation of the historical appearance (plastic windows, advertising signs), and the premises are rented out for offices and retail space.

 

Around town

19  Vysotsky Monastery, st. Kaluzhskaya, 5/3 (from the station, buses No. 3, 8, 20 or a fixed-route taxi with the inscription "Vysotsky Monastery"). It was founded in 1374 by the local prince Vladimir the Brave. The central temple of the monastery - the Cathedral of the Conception of Anna - was built in the 14th century over the mass grave of the soldiers who died in the Battle of Kulikovo and rebuilt at the end of the 16th century with faceted apses, which are rare in our area. The historical burial can still be seen in the basement of the cathedral. In the 17th century, the cathedral was reconstructed again - a gallery was added and the top was redone; at the same time, two more churches were built - Pokrovskaya and St. Sergius of Radonezh - which do not make a special impression, which cannot be said about the Church of All Saints (1896): a non-trivial structure designed by R.I. Klein for the family tomb of the local manufacturer Konshin. Now the monastery attracts many pilgrims, since the Church of the Intercession has a revered list of the icon "Inexhaustible Chalice", which is considered to get rid of drunkenness and other addictions (the original icon was lost in Soviet times). At night, the monastery is beautifully illuminated; it is perfectly visible from the Cathedral Hill, the upper floors of the Korston Hotel, as well as from the railway near the Oka station.
20 Intercession Church, st. Chekhov, 81-b. Tue–Fri 10:30–17:00, Sat 10:30–19:00. 200 rub. The former Old Believer church, built in 1910 in pseudo-Russian style. It was designed by Moscow architect Mecheslav Piotrovich, and you will immediately see that despite the general similarity, this is by no means a typical temple of the early 20th century. The church does not have an altar part, since the Old Believers did not have priests, but the most unusual thing is that in Soviet times the church was not closed at all. It ceased to be active only in 1988 due to the lack of parishioners and was immediately transferred to the historical and art museum. The entire interior has been preserved and, in particular, the beautiful oak iconostasis. In some distant future, the museum plans to open an exposition dedicated to the Old Believers here, but so far the visit is only possible with a guided tour.
21 Church of All Saints (1870), Mishina proezd, 2. The pseudo-Russian style church was built at the city cemetery in 1870 according to the project of K.V. Grinevsky. In the 1920s it was closed and then used as a warehouse, in 1995 it was returned to believers. Currently, its restoration is being completed.
22  Monument to Vladimir the Brave. The monument to the most famous ruler of the city was erected in 2009 in front of the administration building. The monument was made by Andrei Vyacheslavovich Klykov, the son of a famous sculptor, depicting bas-reliefs with the events of the Kulikovo battle, in which the Serpukhov prince commanded the Ambush Regiment, on a granite pedestal. There is a large fountain nearby. Behind the monument is the Square of Glory with the stele "City of Military Valor" and fundamental graffiti dedicated to the defenders of the Russian land.

 

Modern art objects

23 Series of mini-sculptures "Family of Peacocks". From 2019 to 2021, 13 mini-sculptures from the Peacock Family series were installed in the city, used for a tourist quest. Peacocks belong to different professions and are scattered throughout Serpukhov: a theater-goer at the Gorteatr, a football referee at the Trud stadium, a warrior in Ekaterininsky Square in Zanarye, an artist at an art museum, a detective at the Investigative Committee, a book lover at the library, a cook at the restaurant "Mother's Apartment ”, a tourist at Prinarsky Park, a stationmaster at the railway station, a janitor at Sovetskaya, a firefighter at the Ministry of Emergencies, a doctor at the children's clinic on Voroshilova and a teacher at the school opposite Pitomnik Park.
24  Tourist zone "Sennaya Square". In 2017, a series of sculptures “Fair on Sennaya Square” was mounted near the Korston shopping and entertainment center, which recreates the atmosphere of a fair in the 18th-19th centuries: the trading square of an old county town with streets, carts and people of that era. Also on Sennaya Square there is a three-meter clock on a cast-iron base.
25  Monument to the Oka car. The Oka car erected on a pedestal marks the former SeAZ plant, which produced this miracle of technology from 1991 to 2010.
26 Peacock sculpture, st. Voroshilov, 132 (near the children's clinic number 1). A bronze peacock with a loose tail, hoisted on a pedestal 1.5 meters high, the work of a local sculptor Ilya Dyukov.
27 Babcock-Wilcox. Monument to the oldest heating boiler in the Moscow region. Since 2012, the pedestal with the last pre-revolutionary boiler of 1895 has been decorating the courtyard of the main building of Serpukhov's Heating Network.

 

Outskirts

28  Observation deck on the banks of the Oka (next to the Oka platform). Strictly speaking, Serpukhov stands away from the Oka, but you can still see the second largest river in Central Russia in the city: just walk a couple of kilometers from the Vysotsky Monastery, or even less if you first drive to the final bus number 3. The observation deck is located near the railway bridge opened in 1929, interesting for its pillars lined with rough gray stone, and "vintage" spans with thousands of rivets. The bridge is planned to be reconstructed by replacing the spans with modern ones, so hurry to see. Dec 2019 edit

29 Manor Pushchino-on-Nara. One of the most beautiful estates near Moscow was built in the 1790s. for Prince Sergei Ivanovich Vyazemsky, who worked under Catherine II as something like a finance minister. It is interesting for references to the Palladian style - the Venetian variety of classicism - because of which historians speak with some certainty about the participation in the project of N.A. Lvov, the leading architect of that time, who built the best houses in St. Petersburg and luxurious estates near Torzhok. The form of the building, and especially its portico, is solemn and perfect. There was once a whole complex of manor buildings around, standing in the middle of a beautiful landscape park, but the inexorable Soviet era destroyed all this beauty. In the early 2000s, the skeleton of the main house (and everything else had turned into a pile of broken bricks by that time) became popular among independent travelers as the best example of “antique ruins” in the Moscow region, but this also came to an end: since 2014, the estate began to be restored. The reconstruction has not been completed to this day, its quality is disputed, and, in any case, the manor in the woods is not as picturesque as the manor in ruins, but it is still worth looking at: the portico decorated with stucco is one of the best examples of its genre. The estate should not be confused with Pushchino-on-Oka, which is located near the science city of the same name. As for Pushchino-on-Nara, it is actually located on the outskirts of Serpukhov, 4 km northwest of the center along the street. Konshins. The only bus that goes here is infrequent number 29 on Gavshino (1-2 times per hour).

Vysotsky Monastery

 

Museums

1 Serpukhov Museum of History and Art (the Maraevs' estate), st. Chekhov, 87. ✉ ☎ +7 (4967) 35-26-70, +7 (4967) 35-17-53. Wed–Sun 10:30–17:00; Fri: until 20:00, Sat: until 19:00. 400 rubles, when paying with a Strelka card: 320 rubles. It is a rare case in Russia when a good art museum is located not in the capitals and not even in the regional center. In addition to the already mentioned Intercession Church, it occupies the well-preserved mansion of the merchant A.V. Maraeva, to whom she owes her appearance: she bought out the collection of the bankrupt collector Yu.V. Merlin, who acquired several hundred paintings by Western European masters of the 16th-19th centuries in a quarter of a century. and Russian painters of the late XVIII - early XIX centuries. In Soviet times, the museum expanded its collection with works by Russian artists of the 19th–20th centuries. and possesses canvases of almost all artistic movements of the early 20th century. The museum is especially proud of the collection of paintings by N.S. Goncharova and early wooden sculptures by S.T. Konenkov. The collection often participates in other exhibitions throughout Russia, so a certain well-known painting may not be in the museum at the moment.
2  Historical and archaeological department of the museum (county school), Kaluga st. 48. Opening hours are the same as those of the art museum. 150 rub. There are two permanent exhibitions here - minerals and "Serpukhov as part of the Moscow principality" (XV-XVII centuries). There are also some temporary exhibitions. The exhibition of minerals "Stone Rainbow of the Earth" shows, among other things, precious stones in the form of nuggets and unique products; there is even a fragment of the Chelyabinsk meteorite. Museum staff are well versed in the collection and can tell interesting stories about each exhibit.
3  Print Museum, 2/7 Mishina Ave. (next to Korston mall). ☎ +7(968) 027-98-98. Sat. - Sun. - from 12:00 to 16:00 excursions at 13:00 and 15:00. Mon. - Fri. - by appointment.. Entrance: adults 100 rubles, children 50 rubles. Excursions: adults 200 rub., children 100 rub. The cost of the flyer printing master class is 100 rubles. The only printing museum in the Moscow region, opened in September 2019. Located in an old building of 1890, the exposition consists of two halls. In hall No. 1, the office of the first editor-in-chief of the Kommunist newspaper was recreated. Hall No. 2 shows the evolution of editorial activity over 100 years: stands with the equipment of each 20th anniversary: cameras, typewriters, pens, notepads, editorial items from different years. All machines are in working order.

 

Parks

4 Oleg Stepanov Park (crossroads of Chekhov and Staroslobodskaya streets). The largest park in Serpukhov was destroyed during the war years, then restored and named after the hero of the Soviet Union, a resident of Serpukhov Oleg Stepanov. There are several restaurants and attractions on the territory, as well as sports grounds for playing football, basketball, volleyball and tennis. Next to the park is the Central Celebration Palace, which hosts city events and wedding ceremonies. In 2021, a large-scale reconstruction was carried out.
5 Prinarsky Park (located at the bottom of Teatralnaya Street). A new landscaped park on the site of a former wasteland near the Nara River. Here alleys are broken and gazebos are equipped, which can be rented for relaxation or barbecue. From the park there is a pedestrian and bicycle path to the Vysotsky Monastery, from which one of the best views of the monastery opens. A similar path will be laid to the Cathedral Mountain. There are still sorely lacking trees in the park, but otherwise it is one of the most modern and comfortable urban spaces in Serpukhov.
6  Komsomolsky park. A small well-maintained park is unusual in that it has rather large sculptures of dinosaurs, which may be of interest to children.
7 "Pitomnik" park (at the intersection of Sovetskaya and Firsova streets). Family park with many rides, Ferris wheel, fountain, sports grounds. It was founded in a wasteland in 1940 by the railway workers of the Serpukhov station, who brought here tree seedlings from various parts of the country. The trees grown in the nursery were used for landscaping the stations of the Kursk railway, as well as green barriers protecting the tracks from snow drifts - hence the name.
8 Zhemchuzhina Park (Noginka microdistrict). A park far from the center with sports grounds and the Noginsk Pond, where many locals swim in the summer and dive into the hole in the winter.
9  Forest park "Gorodskoy Bor" (Zanarye). It is located in Zanarye on the territory of 119 hectares. It is a natural monument of regional significance. Until the 18th century, it was in the possession of the Vladychny Monastery. In the forest, 7 ancient mounds of the 11th-12th centuries remained, in one of them a treasure was even found in 1923. You can get there either by car (there is parking at the Infectious Diseases Hospital), or by bus 10 to the stop "Spartak Stadium" or "City Hospital".

 

How to get here

By train
From Moscow - by electric trains of the Kursk direction, and many depart not from the Kursk railway station, but from Tsaritsyno, on average every hour. Travel time: 2 hours from the Kursk railway station and 1.5 hours from Tsaritsyno; express trains and Lastochka are half an hour faster, but somewhat more expensive. You can also get from other stopping points of the Kursk railway direction, including from Podolsk and Chekhov. Almost all Lastochkas stop in Serpukhov and no long-distance trains stop.

From the side of Tula, the algorithm is the same: ordinary electric trains (1 hour 45 minutes), express trains and Lastochki (1 hour).

1  Serpukhov station. Serpukhov station is one of the oldest in Russia. Its building was built in 1868, which is hard to believe now: it is so big, and at that time it was the tallest in the city, not counting the monasteries and temples. The station is located on the outskirts, 4 km from the center and Cathedral Hill: use public transport, buses run to all points of the city. You can also walk from the station to the center along the rather boring but well-maintained Voroshilov Street and see a number of art objects. Opposite the station is the Atlas shopping center with a grocery hypermarket, food court and toilets. On the square near the station there is a monument to Dmitry Donskoy and Vladimir the Brave - the heroes of the Battle of Kulikovo with a light fountain, and not far from the entrance to the station there is a mini-sculpture of a peacock in the role of a stationmaster.
2  Oka platform. The stopping point of the Tula electric trains in front of the bridge over the Oka is almost further from the city center than the station, and buses do not go here either. However, in the summer, the platform is popular, making it easy to get to Pavlensky Lake, one of the best places for a beach holiday near Serpukhov. Once upon a time, Oka was a station where passengers changed from train to steamboat, but those days are long gone, only the old two-story station remains, now standing away from the tracks. There is a good observation deck nearby. Please note that the platforms towards Moscow and towards Tula are separated by about a hundred meters and shorter than ordinary platforms, so the doors of only the first four cars are used in the trains.

By bus
Buses cost about the same as trains. In Moscow, depart from   Lesoparkovaya: approximately every 45 minutes to Serpukhov (No. 458, the final one is on the square near the railway station), and every 30 minutes or an hour to Protvino (No. 368, in Serpukhov they stop on Revolution Square, they do not drive up to the station ). Travel time: 1 hour 15 minutes, peak time 1.5 hours.

There are no buses in the direction of Tula. You can go to Kaluga several times a day with a transfer in Tarusa or Kremenki, but this will take a lot of time.

3 Bus station. The main bus station, there is a waiting room with maps, timetables and WiFi.
4  Ploshad Revolutsii bus station. Bus station on the market, generates only part of suburban routes. There is a waiting room.

By car
Simferopol highway (M2 highway) leads from Moscow to Serpukhov - a good four-lane road, the journey from Moscow Ring Road will take about an hour (85 km). To the south, the same road leads to Tula (90 km). In the Serpukhov area, a distant concrete road (A108) passes and a local road begins to Kaluga (100 km) through Tarusa.

On the ship
5 Port of Serpukhov (River walks along the Oka). Nowadays, ships rarely sail along the Oka, but from May to September, life is glimmering in the Serpukhov port: excursion flights to Pushchino are organized almost every day, and on weekends there are longer trips to Polenovo. Prices are high, 600 and 1200 rubles, respectively (2019). If you want to ride cheaper, take advantage of the only regular flight in these parts: three times a day, motor ships go through the Oka to the Sada pier on the right bank; Mostransauto tickets are accepted. The port is active on social networks, where you can always find the current schedule and check availability.

 

City transport

Public transport is represented by buses, minibuses and taxis. The bus network is extensive, covering most of the city and is the main means of transportation. Mostransavto and urban private carriers operate on PAZ-3205. The fare on Mostransavto buses is 56 rubles. for cash or 36 rubles. using the Strelka card (or when paying with a contactless bank card). Tickets from private carriers cost 42 rubles. By taxi, travel around the city is 100 rubles. (during peak hours 150-200 rubles).

 

History of Serpukhov

 Serpukhov was established in 1339 to protect the southern approaches to Moscow. Two years later it was made a seat of the powerful princedom ruled by a cousin and close associate of Dmitry Donskoy, Vladimir the Bold. Town status was granted to it in 1374. The princedom continued until 1456, when the last prince escaped to Lithuania. The town frequently fell prey to the hordes of Tokhtamysh, Crimean Tatars, and other steppe conquerors. It was necessary to protect it with a stone citadel, or kremlin, which was completed by 1556 as part of the Great Abatis Belt.

 

Shopping

Grocery stores of the Pyaterochka, Diksi, and Magnit chains operate throughout the city. The city has developed a non-cash payment system: even in indoor food markets, most sellers have bank terminals.

1 Shopping center "Korston", Borisovskoe shosse, 1. ☎ +7(4967) 391 999. Shops from 10 am to 10 pm. Entertainment zone around the clock. The tallest building in the city and the largest shopping and entertainment complex with a convenient location in the center. Large selection of chain stores of clothing, footwear, electronics, fast food, Perekrestok, etc., fitness center, cinema. The hotel rooms and the restaurant are located on the upper floors. Nearby is a large covered market with a predominance of food products.
2 "B-Class" shopping center, Moskovskoe shosse, 55 (Ivanovskie dvoriki microdistrict). It is located on the very outskirts, but it is convenient when entering the city by car along the old Moscow highway. Consists of two buildings connected by a transition. McDonald's and other fast foods, Perekrestok, chain stores of electronics, clothes and shoes, a cinema. It stands out from the background of other shopping centers with the presence of a water park and an ice arena.
3  Shopping center "Atlas", st. Sovetskaya, 111 (across the road from the railway station). 10:00–22:00. A convenient shopping center on the station square: Perekrestok, chain brands of clothing and footwear, electronics, cosmetics, mobile operators, as well as a food court and a toilet.

 

Eat

One of the consequences of the development of Serpukhov tourism was the creation in 2018 of its own gastronomic brand Serpets - a bagel with salty or sweet filling. The most daring representatives of the city authorities claim that in the future the Serpukhov serpets will be on a par with the French croissant, but so far the locals do not share their enthusiasm, noting, first of all, an unsuccessful dough and a small amount of filling. Bagels are produced by a local bakery, you can find them in Kolobok stores for 19 rubles. A sickle in the shape of a cookie is also sold there, which costs 120 rubles. for 200 g, but much tastier. Delicious sickles of our own production are available in the FERMA and Le buffet restaurants (Korston shopping center).

There are fast food outlets in Korston, B-Class, Atlas shopping centers, as well as along Voroshilov Street. But in the city they are not very popular, as local establishments of various price categories and concepts have become widespread. Many of them belong to the local chain Grig Group. Due to the presence of a wide range of establishments, Serpukhov claims to be one of the gastronomic centers of the Moscow region.

Cheap
1  Blinnaya "Three Skovorodki", 1st Moskovskaya street, 2 (Lenin Square). 9:00–21:00. Pancakes: about 100 rubles, a large portion of dumplings: 150 rubles. In addition to pancakes with salty and sweet fillings, the assortment includes dumplings, salads and even soups. During the day there is a business lunch from 100 rubles, although its size, according to visitors, leaves much to be desired.
2  Le buffet, Borisovskoe highway, 1 (Korston shopping center). 7:00–19:00. Lunch: from 240 rubles. Self-service cafe in a large shopping mall. The food is good, it comes with a good view of the city from the window.
3 Monastic dining room at Vladychny Monastery, Oktyabrskaya Street. 9:30–18:00. 150–200 rubles In the dining room there is a choice of Lenten and non-Lenten set meals. Both are cheap and include salad, soup, second course, bread, and compote. If you wish, you can do without the complex, and take individual dishes. As expected, you will eat while sitting on long benches at wide wooden tables.
4 The monastic dining room at the Vysotsky Monastery. 9:00–18:00. 150-200 rub. In fact, there are two places in the monastery where you can eat. One is a dining room in the pilgrimage building (open until 16:00), the second is a kind of cafe (open until the evening). Modest furnishings, standard for such places, the same modest menu, but saves from hunger.

Average cost
5  Zucchini "Three little pigs"  , Sovetskaya st. 96. 11:00–24:00. A typical provincial cafe with a gloomy interior, cheap beer and inexpensive, but quite tolerable food.
6   Cafe "BabaUlya", st. Voroshilov, 125/2. 11:00–22:00. Hot: 300-400 rubles. One of the few "home cafes" that have bred around the city: a cozy interior and a simple menu with a touch of Georgian cuisine. Good feedback.
7   Cafe "Kumanets", pl. Lenina, 4. 11:00–24:00. Hot: 300-500 rubles. A kitsch establishment in the Gostiny Dvor building, which calls itself a "Slavic cuisine restaurant". The interior gives off something Ukrainian, although the food is more Russian at the same time: Oksky pike perch, Kola salmon, and cod is generally Atlantic. Good feedback.
8   Cafe "Southern Night"  , pl. Lenina, 1. ☎ +7 (916) 920-44-47. Mon–Thurs 12:00–2:00, Fri–Sat 12:00–5:00, Sun 12:00–3:00. Hot: 200-400 rubles. Cozy cafe of Caucasian cuisine, friendly service. Business lunch (12:00–17:00) from 200 rubles.
9 Irish pub Old Grange, st. Konshins, 108 (Red Textile Worker). 10:00–23:00, Fri and Sat: until 2:00. Hot: from 300 rubles. Local enthusiasts have turned one of the buildings of the former textile factory into a craft brewery with its own restaurant. The beer is really Irish style, the food and ambiance are more like the Czech Republic. Beer is relatively inexpensive, visitors recommend.
10   Cafe "Ovsyanka", st. Chekhov, 36/3. ☎ +7(925) 923-96-44. weekdays from 10:00 to 22:00, weekends from 11:00 to 22:00. Average bill: 600 ₽. Small and cozy cafe with European cuisine. The highlight of "Ovsyanka" is coffee and author's drinks based on it.
11 Grill Restaurant Kitchen Market, st. Voroshilov, d. 5/22. ☎ +7 (925) 659-06-00. average check 750 rubles. Cuisine: bakery, grocery market, grill restaurant. The summer terrace overlooks the courtyard overlooking the Cathedral of St. Nicholas the White.
12 Grill-burger "Prozharka", st. Revolution, d. 1/9. ☎ +79261093211. from 12:00 to 22:00. from 350 ₽. There are only 8 burgers to choose from: classic, branded and vegetarian. Tastier than McDonald's. The ceiling of the room is the former ceiling of a pre-revolutionary tobacco shop.

Expensive
13 Restaurant of author's cuisine "Mom's Apartment" (Apartment No. 15), st. Lunacharsky, 74. 12:00–22:00. The interior really resembles an apartment, although the execution and serving of dishes is by no means homemade, but purely restaurant and even author's. Prices for author's dishes are quite high, but there are simpler and cheaper dishes on the menu. Open from October to May, business lunch from 330 rubles. Free WiFi.
14 Restaurant FERMA, Tulskaya st. 1. 9:00–23:00. Hot: from 500 rubles. A modern and somewhere even an elite restaurant, located in one of the buildings of the former mechanical plant under the rampart of the (also former) Serpukhov Kremlin. From the once abandoned building they made a “candy”, carefully preserving the brickwork and hints of an industrial entourage. The original menu with a bunch of different delights, expensive. Unlike most establishments of this level, the restaurant also offers breakfast, but the prices are Moscow.
15 "Rus" tavern, st. 2nd Moscow, 2/20 (Lenin Square). ☎ +7 (4967) 79-01-80. Hot: from 300 rubles. In terms of the variety of the menu and design, the restaurant claims to be average, but in terms of the quality of the dishes, it remains a tavern in many respects. Russian cuisine is present on the menu along with "European" and Japanese. In general, edible, although you should not go here for frills, and even more so for authenticity. Reviews recommend local beer and vary greatly in assessing the quality of service. Inexpensive business lunch.
16 Extra Lounge restaurant, Borisovskoe shosse, 1 (located in Korston mall). +7 (4967) 39-15-15. The average check is 1500 ₽. Panoramic restaurant with a picturesque view of the city from the 15th floor of the shopping center "Korston". Author's European, Russian, Italian, Japanese cuisine, wine list. You can hold weddings and birthdays, there is karaoke. Works around the clock. One of the most popular and status establishments in the city with the best views.

Coffee and sweet
17  Cafe "Vincek", st. Voroshilov, 130-a. 11:00–22:00. Cakes: about 100 rubles, cakes: 150-200 rubles. A patisserie or, as it calls itself, a "sweet cafe" with a good selection of desserts, coffees and teas.

 

Night life

1  LOFT Beer Bar, Sq. Lenina, 4 (entrance from Aristova street). 16:00–2:00, Fri and Sat: until 4:00. According to one of the visitors: "A bar has appeared in Serpukhov, for which it is not a shame." Mostly imported beer, bottled and draft, with good snacks and at reasonable prices. A couple of TVs for watching sports, you can also order a hookah from the hookah bar of the same name, located next door.
2  Bar-hookah "Blueberry"  , st. Voroshilova, 57. 16:00–24:00, Fri and Sat: until 4:00. ~1000 rub. All kinds of drinks, desserts and, of course, hookahs. Movies and sports broadcasts on the big screen.
3  Falafelnaya Roll&Ball  , st. Voroshilova, 123. 12:00–24:00, Fri and Sat: until 3:00. Under the Street Food Bar banner, they offer falafel and shawarma, affectionately called "shawarma", but all this, strictly speaking, is just an addition to the variety of craft beers that are poured here. The choice of food for such a place is unusually large: the menu includes soups, salads and even desserts!

 

Hotels

Cheap
1  Hotel of the Vysotsky Monastery, st. Kaluga, 5/3 (in the pilgrimage building). ☎ +7 (985) 059-73-36. From 450 rub. for a place in a multi-bed room up to 2500 rubles. for a separate triple room with private facilities. Multi-seat cells and cells for individual living with all conveniences. Lunch and dinner are included in the price, breakfast and afternoon tea are optional.
2  Oka Hotel, Voroshilov St., 128. ☎ +7 (4967) 75-34-29. single room from 1800 rubles (2018). The hotel is part of the hotel and business center, where 5-7 floors of a nine-story building are allocated for rooms, and the rest of the space is leased. WiFi.
3  Hostel "Serpeyka", st. Lower Serpeyka, 13. ☎ +7 (985) 892-50-57. number from 1200 rubles. Hostel with an ingenious location right below Cathedral Hill. Accommodation in double, triple and quadruple rooms with shared bathroom and kitchen. There is a bathhouse nearby. WiFi.
4 Pitstop Hostel, 142 Tsentralnaya St., building 1. ☎ +7 (915) 368-33-77. around the clock. from 700 to 2000 rubles. Opened in summer 2019, rooms from 10-bed to 2-bed. Located at a distance of 1.5 km from the center.

Average cost
5  Hotel Nikolskaya, st. Kaluzhskaya, 5. Double room: from 2200 rubles. The hotel is located 200-300 meters from Cathedral Hill. Free parking, Wi-Fi, breakfast. The reviews are contradictory, the main problem is the cold in the rooms in the autumn-winter period.
6 Hotel "Mark", st. Revolution, 10. ☎ +7 (4967) 35-23-83, fax: +7 (4967) 35-23-83. Located on a quiet street in the heart of the city. Economy class rooms with private facilities on the floor (1000 rubles for a single room), but there are also superior rooms with a private bathroom (2600 rubles for a single room). Free parking, buffet breakfast. Residents are generally happy.
7 Mini-hotel "Russo Turisto", st. Sadovaya, 13-B (near the Oleg Stepanov Park). ☎ +7 (926) 559-30-44. From 1900 to 3600 rubles. 18-room mini-hotel with a 24-hour front desk and free Wi-Fi. Each room is equipped with a flat-screen TV with cable channels. Free parking is available on site.
8 Guest house "Golden Peacock", st. Kaluga, 105. ☎ +7 (916) 093-08-88. From 2000 to 4500 rubles. A small hotel near the Vysotsky Monastery and the Historical and Art Museum. All rooms are different in style and color. The price includes breakfast.
9  Inn "Rus", st. 2nd Moscow, 2/20 (On Lenin Square). ☎ +7 (4967) 76-09-97. Double room: 2500-3000 rubles. The hotel has 49 rooms presented in Russian style. The hotel houses a small Museum of merchants and a tavern "Rus".

Expensive
10  Province Hotel, st. Kaluga, 9. ☎ +7 (4967) 76-54-60. Single room: from 3500 rubles. Hotel in the historic center with its own restaurant and spa complex. Of the frills - a work desk in the room and food delivery. Free parking and Wi-Fi throughout the complex.
11  Korston hotel complex, Borisovskoe shosse, 1. From 4000 rub. An exquisite hotel located in a shopping and entertainment complex, which is a city within a city. The hotel draws on a solid four stars both in terms of the condition of the rooms and the level of service: air conditioning, panoramic windows with excellent views of Serpukhov, jobs, etc. The price includes a breakfast buffet in the cafe Le buffet. Guests of the hotel can use the large fitness club "Rai" located in the shopping center for free.