The Yaroslavl region is located in the northern part of Central
Russia.
A popular region of domestic Russian tourism, which, due
to its location on the banks of the Upper Volga, is known for the
historical cities of the Golden Ring of Russia. The routes of the
region, which is located in close proximity to Moscow, are actively
replenished with museums and sights, and the region's water resources
contribute to the development of active recreation. In the west, it
borders on the Tver region, in the south - on the Moscow and Vladimir
regions, in the east - Ivanovo and Kostroma regions, in the north - on
the Vologda region.
Administratively, the region is divided into 17 districts:
Bolsheselsky, Borisoglebsky, Breitovsky, Gavrilov-Yamsky, Danilovsky,
Lyubimsky, Myshkinsky, Nekouzsky, Nekrasovsky, Pervomaisky, Pereslavsky,
Poshekhonsky, Rostov, Rybinsky, Tutaevsky, Uglichsky and Yaroslavsky
districts.
From a tourist point of view, in descending order of
interest, the area can be divided into three main regions:
Yaroslavl Upper Volga - all cities and regions along the Upper Volga,
both up to and below the Rybinsk reservoir
Yaroslavl Zalesye -
Pereyaslavsky, Rostov and Borisoglebsky districts, forests and fields
with historical cities near large lakes
Yaroslavl Poshekhonye and
Zavolzhye - Poshekhonsky district, the eastern shore of the Rybinsk
reservoir, which gave the cheese its name, as well as Danilov, Lyubim
and Kukoboy, the northern districts of the region bordering on the
Vologda and Kostroma regions
Yaroslavl is the largest city
in Central Russia after Moscow. By local standards, this is practically
a metropolis with heavy industry and a very cozy historical center
located on the high bank of the Volga. Although Yaroslavl is a very
ancient city, almost all of its churches were built in the 17th century
in their own architectural style, which complemented the harmony and
beauty of Russian churches with bright oriental tiles. The pinnacle of
Yaroslavl architecture, the Church of St. John the Baptist in Tolchkovo,
even hit the 1000-ruble note, becoming the most recognizable temple in
Russia, and located in the city center and not inferior in beauty to it,
the Church of Elijah the Prophet contains outstanding examples of fresco
painting.
Remote and rather inaccessible
Myshkin is located on the
left bank of the Volga. To get here, you need to cross by ferry, and
sometimes cruise ships make a stop in the city with a tour. There are no
completely old historical objects in Myshkin, and this would be strange,
because the first mention of it dates back to the 15th century. Here you
can see a couple of cathedrals in the style of classicism, and wooden
and stone urban buildings, mainly of the 19th century. The tourist boom
of recent times has led to the flourishing of museums. Even 10-15 years
ago in Myshkin there was an open-air folk museum that occupied a whole
block, and on its territory there was a hut with a themed authentic
mouse museum. The locals liked the museum theme, and now there are more
than a dozen exhibitions in the city, including museums of linen or, for
example, felt boots.
Pereslavl Zalessky stands
on the shore of Lake Pleshcheyevo. The central part of the city is
surrounded by a full ring of earthen ramparts, inside which you will see
a church built in 1152-57. The Transfiguration Cathedral is one of the
oldest Russian churches. Pereslavl is also famous for its monasteries,
there are as many as 5 of them in the city, and almost every one of them
has preserved infrequent even in Central Russia monuments of the 16th
century. Old Russian temple architecture is quite organically
intertwined in Pereslavl with the architecture of the 18th century,
which was invented in a special style - Pereslavl Baroque. In the newest
period, the city was marked by the appearance of its own arboretum, and
also by the fashion for museums of all sorts of things like irons and
sewing machines that spread throughout the Golden Ring.
Rostov the Great is rightfully considered one of the
first Russian cities, although its current appearance hardly corresponds
to this title. The Rostov Kremlin is not a Kremlin at all, but a
metropolitan court built in the 17th century and became popularly known
after the film “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession” was filmed in
it. For all the kitsch of their external appearance, the Kremlin
churches are very charming, and from the inside they are decorated with
very solid and harmonious frescoes. Outside the Kremlin in Rostov, you
should definitely see the pretty church of Isidore on the Walls, two old
monasteries and a wooden church on Ishna, already outside the city
limits. Rostov is located on the banks of the picturesque lake Nero,
which offers beautiful views of the city and the Kremlin.
Rybinsk is the second industrial
center of the region, which gave its name to the Rybinsk reservoir and
is adjacent to a large dam and a cascade of locks. The city itself does
not belong to the cities of the Golden Ring, and cruises along the Volga
do not particularly favor it, although in general the city is very
interesting and unusual - the only one in Central Russia that grew up on
the Volga trade, and therefore somewhat reminiscent of the cities of the
Volga region. The old, pre-revolutionary buildings, wooden and stone
mansions, Orthodox churches and even a church are well preserved here.
You can also combine city sightseeing with a vacation in one of the
country rest houses or park hotels located on the Volga.
Tutayev stands on the Volga and belongs to the
“divided” cities rare for Russia, which are located on both banks of the
river, but are not connected by a bridge. The Volga coast is decorated
with wonderful temples, and the city itself preserves a rare atmosphere
of a distant and forgotten wilderness, where churches stand on lawns,
motor boats are the main means of transportation, and the opportunity to
get to the other side still depends on the weather and is at the mercy
of the natural elements. At the same time, in terms of transport, Tutaev
is located very conveniently, halfway from Yaroslavl to Rybinsk.
Uglich
is best known as the site of the mysterious death of Ivan the Terrible's
son Tsarevich Dimitri. The city picturesquely nestled on the high bank
of the Volga, which turns here at an almost right angle. Being one of
the stops of the Volga cruises, the city adjusts to the schedule of
ships, throwing all its efforts into serving tourists and especially
getting lively for foreign guests. And in the intervals, it almost does
not differ from small provincial towns with their unhurried, measured
life, taking place against the backdrop of attractive low-rise
historical buildings, including even rare wooden town houses in Russia,
and the same chamber, but rather dull Soviet heritage. No, there is
still one difference - the Volga! Still not wide, but already impressive
with magnificent panoramas of the ancient part of the city, the
surrounding expanses and, oddly enough, the Uglich hydroelectric power
station.
Poshekhonye
Gavrilov-Yam
Danilov
Lyubim
Pleshcheyevo Lake National Park is a unique
body of water in Central Russia. Its even, almost round shape, shallow
depth and, of course, proximity to Moscow were duly appreciated by Peter
I, who decided to start building the first Russian fleet here. The only
surviving ship of this amusing flotilla is now exhibited in the special
museum Boat of Peter I, which is also interesting because it was created
at the beginning of the 19th century, thus being one of the oldest in
Russia. On the northern shore of the lake are the Nikitsky Monastery and
the pre-Slavic settlement, from which beautiful views of the water
surface and Pereslavl-Zalessky standing in the distance are opened.
There are a lot of mushrooms in the forests along the shores of the
lake, and there is also a locomotive museum based on an old narrow gauge
railway.
The village of Borisoglebsky (19 km northwest of Rostov) is
a museum in the Borisoglebsky monastery-fortress of the 16th century.
The village of Kukoboy is a small village with an openwork church of the
Savior Not Made by Hands, recently the birthplace of Baba Yaga with a
corresponding museum.
Manor of the Ponizovkins (Palace of the
Ponizovkins), st. Naberezhnaya, 16, urban-type settlement Red Profintern
(Nekrasovsky district) (from Yaroslavl bus number 126 from the Zavolzhye
bus station). ☎ +7 (961) 160-81-17. Open: visit by group by appointment.
200₽. The palace was built between 1912 and 1914 in an eclectic style
with Art Nouveau elements, richly decorated with neo-Moorish carvings
and ornaments. It is currently privately owned and is being restored.
The Nikitsky Church (XVIII century) in the village of Porechie-Rybnoye
(Rostov region) is the second (according to some sources, the first)
bell tower in Russia in height.
State Literary and Memorial
Museum-Reserve of N. A. Nekrasov "Karabikha"
The village of Kurba
(Yaroslavsky district, 20 km southwest of Yaroslavl on the
Gavrilov-Yam-Tutaev highway) - Kazan Church (1770) of an unusual round
shape with original frescoes of the 18th century.
Darwin Biosphere
Reserve
Rybinsk reservoir
Salt Museum in Nekrasovskoye
Mologa - Russian Atlantis
By car
From Moscow or Vologda along the M8 Kholmogory
highway. On local roads, it is possible to enter the
territory of the region from Ivanovo, Kostroma, from the
Tver region through Kalyazin.
The Yaroslavl Region is located in the center of the European part of
Russia, in the center of the East European Plain.
The area of the
Yaroslavl region is 36.2 thousand km². Of this, 17.2 thousand are
occupied by forests, 11.3 thousand agricultural lands, 3.9 thousand
water bodies, 1.1 thousand swamps, and other lands - 2.7 thousand km².
The length from north to south is 270, from west to east - 220 km. The
highest point is the Tarkhov hill in the north of the Pereslavl region:
292.4 m above sea level. The lowest point is the bottom of the Volga
River at the place of its outflow from the Yaroslavl region to the
Kostroma region - 75 m above sea level (the mark of the water's edge is
about 84 m above sea level).
The climate of the region is
temperate continental, with long and cold winters and short but very
warm summers. The average temperature in January is -11°С, and in July
+18°С. Previously, almost the entire territory of the region was
occupied by dense coniferous (spruce, pine) and mixed forests, but now
most of them have been replaced by secondary birch-aspen forests and
arable land. Large areas are also occupied by swamps.
Minerals
here are mainly building materials (sand, gravel, clay) and peat. There
are also mineral waters (springs and wells).
The Yaroslavl region is located in the time zone designated by the international standard as the Moscow Time Zone (MSK/MSD). The offset from UTC is +3 hours.
The entire territory of the region belongs to the basin of one of the
largest rivers in Russia - the Volga, which connects the regions of the
Baltic, White, Caspian, Black and Azov seas, its length in the region is
340 km. The Volga is regulated by dams and has practically become a
chain of reservoirs: Uglich (with a capacity of 1.2 km³), Rybinsk (25.4
km³, the area in the region is 3246 km² out of 4580 km²) and Gorky (8.8
km³).
In total, 4,327 rivers flow through the territory of the
region with a total length of 19,340 km. Their annual flow is 38.8 km³.
The longest rivers (within the region): Volga - 340 km, Sot - 170 km,
Sit - 159 km, Mouth - 153 km, Kotorosl - 132 km, Sarah - 93 km, Sogozha
- 90 km, Obnora - 90 km, Sutka – 84 km.
There are 83 lakes. The
largest: Nero - 5130 ha, and Pleshcheyevo - 5089 ha. Fresh water
reserves in the region are 254 km³.
On the territory of the
region, 30 deposits of fresh groundwater (reserves - 540 thousand m³ /
day) and 29 mineral and brine (2.6 thousand m³ / day) have been
explored. Fresh waters are used in household and drinking water supply,
for technical purposes, mineral waters - as medicinal, brine and
industrial purposes. Subsoil potential is significant in terms of
geothermal resources (12-15 billion tons of reference fuel). Currently,
20% of cities and urban-type settlements are provided with explored
operational groundwater reserves.
Fresh groundwater is abstracted
by 726 water users during the operation of about 2,500 wells. Consumers
of fresh groundwater are small rural and industrial settlements and 7
regional centers. The underground waters of the cities of Rybinsk (9.5%)
and Uglich (26.9%) are partially used for household and drinking water
supply.
The water of most water bodies is moderately polluted.
The effluents from industrial enterprises have the greatest impact on
quality.
The climate, due to its geographical location (the central part of
the East European Plain), is temperate continental. Summer is relatively
warm, short; winter is moderately cold and long. The coldest month is
January (the average temperature fluctuates between -10.5 °С ... -12
°С), the warmest is July (+17.5 °С ... +18.5 °С). The autumn and spring
periods are clearly expressed.
On average, about 500-600 mm of
precipitation falls annually in the region, of which 30% falls in
winter. Due to the fact that the evaporation rate is one third less than
the amount of precipitation (400 mm), the climate in the region is
humid. Humidity ranges from 52-56% in May to 65-93% in December.
The Yaroslavl region is divided by the Volga River flowing through its
territory into two parts, which are characterized by some differences in
climate, in particular, the left bank is characterized by greater
humidity and more precipitation than the right bank. These districts, in
turn, are divided into two more sub-districts each.
The number of large animals has greatly decreased, but bears, wolves,
foxes, elks, red and spotted deer, wild boars, lynxes, beavers, hares,
and squirrels are still found in the forests. Many species of birds live
and nest in the region. In cities, common birds are pigeons, jackdaws,
hooded crows, magpies, house sparrows, great tits, ducks, as well as
rooks, swifts, white wagtails, blackbirds and rock gulls during the
breeding season.
On the peninsula, separated from the rest of the
region by the Rybinsk Reservoir, there is a part of the Darwin Biosphere
Reserve. Around Lake Pleshcheyevo there is a national park of the same
name. The region also has 1 federal (“Yaroslavsky”) and 41 regional
nature reserves, 70 natural monuments, 17 nature reserves, 82 protected
natural and historical landscapes, 5 medical and recreational areas, 22
protected water ecosystems, 21 tourist and recreational areas.
In
order to preserve the species diversity of the flora and fauna of the
region and improve their natural reproduction, the Red Book of the
Yaroslavl Region has been created.
The Yaroslavl region was populated already at the end of the Late
Paleolithic (about 20-13 thousand years BC) after the retreat of the
last glacier, when its territory was covered with glacial tundra, on
which herds of mammoths grazed. In addition to the Zolotoruchye-I site
near Uglich, the Upper Paleolithic sites include Altynovo-I and
Altynovo-II, Zolotoruchye-III, Bogoyavlenie, Fedyukovo-I.
In the
Mesolithic (12-5 thousand years BC), the territory of the region was
covered with forests, inhabited by primitive hunters of the Butovo and
Ienevskaya cultures, who mastered bow and arrow technology. Later, these
tribes evolved into the Upper Volga Neolithic culture. A representative
of the Upper Volga culture DM5 from the Ivanovskoye-VII site in the
Pereslavl region, who lived about 6,500 years ago, n., identified the
Y-chromosomal haplogroup R1b1a1 and the mitochondrial haplogroup
U5a2+16294.
In the Neolithic (5-3 thousand years BC) the local
Cro-Magnons were displaced by the Lappoid hunting and fishing tribes of
the so-called Pit-Comb Ware culture. Hundreds of sites from this era
have been discovered in the Yaroslavl region.
A 55-60 year old
man (Volosovite or Lyalovite) from the Berendeyevo burial ground (sample
BER001, 4447-4259 years BC) was identified as having the Y-chromosomal
haplogroup Q1-L54 and the mitochondrial haplogroup K1.
At the
beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. (Bronze Age) from the Middle Dnieper
region here invaded cattle-breeding tribes of dark-skinned
Indo-Europeans - Fatyanovo (according to the village of Fatyanovo near
the village of Tolbukhino). The largest of the discovered Fatyanovo
burial grounds in the territory of the Yaroslavl region is
Volosovo-Danilovsky on the Levashevka River near the village of Volosovo
(Dogadtsevo station), where archaeologist D. A. Kraynov excavated about
170 burials in 1962-1970. The Fatyanovo samples HAL001 from the
Khaldeevo 1 burial ground (2832–2473 BC), NAU001 from the Naumovskoye 1
burial ground (2836–2573 BC), and NAU002 from the Naumovskoye 2 burial
ground on the Kurbitsa River (2836–2469 BC) were found to have the
Y-chromosomal haplogroup R1a1-Z93, which is characteristic of modern
populations of Central and South Asia. The samples VOR003 from the
Voronkovo 5 burial ground on the Vondel River (2573–2466 BC) and
NIK002 from the Nikul'tsyno 15 burial ground (2865–2500 BC) were found
to have the Y-chromosomal haplogroup R1a-Z645. Y-chromosomal haplogroup
R1a-M417 was determined in samples VOR005 from the Voronkovo 7 burial
ground (2840-2343 BC) and NIK003 from the Nikul'tsyno 16 burial ground
(2522-2298 BC). Y-chromosomal haplogroup R1a-Z645 (xZ283) was determined
in sample NIK008A from the Nikul'tsyno 7 burial ground (2834-2472 BC).
Y-chromosomal haplogroup R1a1a1-M417>R1a1a1b-S224 was determined in
three samples from burials of the Volosovsko-Danilovsky burial ground
No. 22, 24, 57. The Yaroslavl samples and individuals from Eulau (Corded
Ware culture, Germany) have identical allele values for 10 loci, and
differ by one for 4 loci. The Fatyanovo people are replaced by
Iranian-speaking peoples of the Abashevo culture (Kukhmar burial mound).
The Bereznyaki settlement at the mouth of the Sonokhta River, where
burial structures - "houses of the dead" are known - dates back to the
4th-6th centuries.
From the middle of the 1st millennium BC to
the middle of the 1st millennium AD, the region was inhabited by the
so-called Dyakovo tribes, who knew how to process iron, were engaged in
cattle breeding and slash-and-burn agriculture, as well as fishing and
hunting, in the second half of the 1st millennium AD the territory of
the region was inhabited by the Merya people. Several Meryan fortified
settlements and settlements (non-fortified) have been excavated; these
were centers of crafts and trade: Sarskoe fortified settlement on the
Sara River, which flows into Lake Nero, fortified settlement near
Grekhov Creek, which flows into the Volga 7 km from Uglich, Popad'inskoe
fortified settlement (near the Krasny Kholm holiday home) (20 km from
Yaroslavl), Kleshchin on Lake Pleshcheyevo, and others.
In the
9th-10th centuries, the Upper Volga region began to be peacefully
populated by Slavs, these were representatives of the Ilmen Slovenes and
Krivichi.
Yaroslavl region is part of the core of Russian lands. The first
Russian city on its territory was Rostov, which was mentioned in the
chronicle as early as 862 (Alexei Shakhmatov believed that both the
legend of the Varangians' call and the mention of Rostov in 862 were
added to the chronicle in a later edition at the beginning of the 12th
century). When in 882 the capital of the Russian lands moved to Kyiv,
Rostov became the administrative center of North-Eastern Rus' (Rostov
Principality).
In the 9th-10th centuries, 10-12 km from the
center of modern Yaroslavl, there were Timerevskoye, Petrovskoye (up the
Kotorosl) and Mikhailovskoye (10th-11th centuries) (beyond the Volga)
proto-urban settlements, whose inhabitants were engaged in crafts and
trade. In 1908, I. S. Abramov excavated nine burial mounds 5 km east of
Bolshoy Timerevo in a burial ground near the village of Petrovskoye. The
materials of the Petrovskoye burial ground were similar to those of the
Timerevo burial ground, but the burial inventory was noticeably poorer.
According to M. V. Fekhner, the Petrovskoye burial mound cemetery arose
at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries. At the Timerevo burial
ground, the highest concentration of monuments from the 9th-11th
centuries was found on an area of 4.25 hectares, the area of the
settlement of the 9th-11th centuries was close to 6 hectares.
In
the Yaroslavl Volga region, pocket scales for weighing coins and their
fragments, as in other regions of Rus', were in use in the second half
of the 10th century - at the time when eastern coins began to be
accepted by weight in Russian monetary circulation.
Among the
famous Rostov princes were Boris (one of the first Russian saints) and
Yaroslav the Wise, who built the city of Yaroslavl in 1010. According to
the epics, the epic hero Alyosha Popovich came from Rostov. In 991 (just
three years after the Baptism of Rus), Rostov became the center of the
diocese, which confirmed the high status of the city. However,
Christianity took root with difficulty in the Yaroslavl region. In 1071,
an anti-Christian uprising broke out here, during which Leonty of Rostov
was killed.
From the second half of the 11th century, centrifugal tendencies
intensified in Rus'. From 1054, according to the will of Yaroslav the
Wise, Rostov, along with other cities of North-Eastern Rus, became the
possession of his son, the Pereyaslavl prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich,
where he sent governors. In the 12th century, Yuri Vladimirovich
Dolgoruky ruled the Rostov land. In 1125, he moved the capital of the
principality to Suzdal (now Vladimir Oblast) - since then, the political
role of Rostov has been steadily declining. In the vicinity of Lake
Pleshcheyevo, a diamond-shaped tip of the tia 41 was found, variant 2
according to Medvedev's typology, on the nib of which the signs of the
Rurikovichs are applied with silver wire on both sides, which can be
attributed to Prince Yuri Dolgoruky. One of them is better preserved and
is a two-pronged sign on a straight vertical leg with teeth ending in
curls turned outward. A spur-curl adjoins one of the teeth on the
inside.
On January 26, 1135, a battle between the Novgorodians
and the Suzdalians took place near Zhdana Gora, which was won by the
Suzdalians.
During the reign of Yuri, Uglich was first mentioned
in 1148 (according to local chronicles, it has been known since 937), in
1152 he built Pereyaslavl (Zalessky) on Lake Pleshcheyevo near ancient
Kleshchin, in the second half of the 13th century the city of Romanov
was founded.
In 1155, the son of Yuri Dolgoruky, Andrei
Bogolyubsky, moved his residence to Vladimir, from that time onwards the
Yaroslavl region was ruled by the Vladimir princes. However, at the
beginning of the 13th century, the Vladimir principality also
disintegrated into appanage principalities. The centers of four
principalities are located on the territory of the Yaroslavl region.
The Pereslavl principality was established in 1175 by Vsevolod the
Big Nest. His successor was his son Yaroslav - the father of Alexander
Nevsky, the grandfather of the first appanage Moscow prince Dmitry and
the great-grandfather of Ivan Kalita, from whom the Moscow tsars counted
their number. The Rostov Principality was created in 1207 by his son
Konstantin Vsevolodovich, but after the bloody Battle of Lipitsa he
managed to become the Vladimir Prince (he ceded Rostov to his son
Vasilko).
The Uglich Principality in 1216 went to Konstantin's son
Vladimir
The Yaroslavl Principality went to another son Konstantin
Vsevolod.
In February 1238, North-Eastern Rus' was devastated during the
Tatar-Mongol invasion. Pereslavl defended itself for 5 days, almost all
of its inhabitants died, Rostov and Uglich surrendered without a fight,
but were also destroyed, although to a lesser extent, nothing is known
about the defense of Yaroslavl, but it was also destroyed. On the
territory of the Rubleny Gorod in Yaroslavl, a grim evidence of the
Mongol devastation was discovered - a basement filled to the brim with
human bones with traces of violent death. In total, from 2005 to 2008,
nine such mass graves were discovered. A similar mass grave of people
was discovered in 2016 inside the ramparts of Pereslavl-Zalessky in the
basement of a burnt-down house. Individual #2 from mass grave #76,
discovered during the excavations of Rubleny Gorod, had its whole genome
sequenced with a coverage of 0.981293 and a mitochondrial genome of
62.92516. Using the mtPhyl v2.8 software package, taking into account
all modifications of the haplogroup nomenclature presented in the 17th
version of PhyloTree (18 Feb. 2016), individual #2 was assigned the
mitochondrial haplogroup I1a1a.
On March 4, 1238, a detachment of
Temnik Burundai encountered the Russian army on the Sit River; the
Russian troops were routed. Thus began the dependence of North-Eastern
Rus' on the Golden Horde. In the second half of the 13th and early 14th
centuries, the cities of North-Eastern Rus' were repeatedly devastated
by the Horde. In 1257, the Battle of Tugova Mountain took place. The
"calling" of the Mongol-Tatars was also accompanied by civil strife
among the Russian princes. The Yaroslavl army under the command of
Prince Vasily participated in the Battle of Kulikovo, which was inspired
by the local saint Sergius of Radonezh. In 1280, a council was held in
Pereyaslavl with the participation of northern Russian bishops (Novgorod
Archbishop Clement, Rostov Bishop Ignatius and Vladimir Bishop Feodor),
Metropolitan Kirill III, who died there, and Grand Duke Dmitry
Alexandrovich Pereyaslavsky.
Subordination to Moscow
In 1302,
the Pereyaslavl Principality was annexed by Moscow. In 1463, the
territory of the Yaroslavl region peacefully became part of the Grand
Duchy of Moscow. Former principalities, transformed into counties, were
then governed by Moscow governors or voivodes, sometimes given out for
feeding to visiting princes. In 1538, the city of Lyubim was founded.
After the creation of Arkhangelsk, Yaroslavl became an important transit
point on the way from Moscow to the northern port. The territory of the
Yaroslavl region suffered greatly during the Time of Troubles, the
population was devastated, many died or fled; especially heavy damage
was inflicted on Rostov and Yaroslavl. Twice in April 1609 and in
December 1615, detachments of Pan Lisovsky swept through the region like
a whirlwind. From April to July 1612, the Second Militia was stationed
in Yaroslavl, from where it moved south to liberate Moscow from the
Poles. In Yaroslavl, the composition of the government - the "Council of
the Whole Land" - was finally determined. In March 1614, the Cossacks of
Ataman Balovnya ravaged the Poshekhonsky district. In November of the
same year, the army of the voivode Valuev set out from Yaroslavl to
suppress the rebellion. In September 1618, Hetman Sagaidachny with his
huge Cossack army marched through the Yaroslavl region, acting on the
orders of the Polish prince Vladislav.
In 1692, Rostov and
Pereslavl came under the command of the Yaroslavl voivode. On the eve of
Peter the Great's reforms, the Slavic-Greek-Latin school in Rostov and
postal service with Moscow and Arkhangelsk were created in Rostov.
In 1708-1710, the Russian state was divided into 8 provinces:
Yaroslavl, Uglich, Romanov were included in the Saint Petersburg
province, and Pereslavl, Rostov and Lyubim were included in the Moscow
province. In 1719, a division into 45 (later 50) provinces appeared - on
the territory of today's Yaroslavl Oblast were the Yaroslavl and Uglich
provinces of the Saint Petersburg province and the Pereslavl and
Kostroma provinces of the Moscow province. The provinces were divided
into 5 districts. In 1727, the districts were renamed counties, at which
time the Yaroslavl and Uglich provinces were transferred to the Moscow
province. In 1777, as a result of the provincial reform, the Yaroslavl
Viceroyalty (Yaroslavl Governorate) was formed on the basis of the
greater part of the Yaroslavl, Uglich, and a smaller part of the
Kostroma provinces. It was divided into 12 counties. The centers of five
counties were the old cities of Yaroslavl, Rostov, Uglich, Romanov, and
Lyubim. Since the center of a county had to be a city, the corresponding
status was assigned to the following settlements: the settlement of
Mologa — the city of Mologa, Rybnaya Sloboda — the city of Rybnoy (later
Rybinsk), Borisoglebskaya Sloboda — the city of Borisoglebsk, the
village of Pertoma — the city of Poshekhonye, the village of Myshkino
— the city of Myshkin, the village of Danilovskoye — the city of
Danilov, the village of Petrovskoye — the city of Petrovsk. All the
cities received new coats of arms and the first regular development
plans. In 1786, the Rostov diocese (since then the Yaroslavl and Rostov
diocese) was moved from Rostov to Yaroslavl. In 1796, the viceroyalties
were abolished, and the provinces became the main
administrative-territorial unit; in the Yaroslavl province, the number
of districts was changed to 10.
Westernization led to the
emergence of theaters (Russian Academic Drama Theater named after F.
Volkov), museums (Museum at the Yaroslavl Natural History Society) and
educational institutions of both secular (Yaroslavl State Pedagogical
University named after K. D. Ushinsky, Demidov Law Lyceum) and spiritual
orientation (Uglich Theological School). Folk crafts (enamel) were
created based on the synthesis of Western and local traditions. At the
same time, government measures led to resistance, which acquired
religious forms (Beguny).
In the 19th-20th centuries, primary
industrialization took place in the Yaroslavl region. In 1850, the
Yaroslavl tobacco factory was created. In 1879, with the participation
of Mendeleyev, the Yaroslavl oil refinery was created. In 1870, a
railway connected Yaroslavl with Moscow, and in 1872 - with Vologda,
built on the initiative of the Skulskys, who before the revolution owned
the southern part of the village of Prechistoye and also land in the
Vologda and Kostroma provinces; their closest relatives lived in the
Vologda province. Local periodicals appeared (the Severny Kray newspaper
and the Dubinushka magazine). In 1916, the Russian industrialist V. A.
Lebedev founded the Yaroslavl Motor Plant as part of the government
program for the creation of the automobile industry in Russia. Industry
also developed in Rybinsk (Russian Renault, Rybinsk Printing Machine
Plant). Public transport appeared (Rostov horse-drawn tram).
July 6-21, 1918 — Yaroslavl anti-Soviet uprising, July 8, 1918 —
Rybinsk uprising: White Guard uprisings organized by the "Union for the
Defense of the Motherland and Freedom".
During the Civil War,
there were no active military operations on the territory of the region,
with the exception of the Yaroslavl and Rybinsk uprisings, which
inflicted heavy damage on these cities. During the Civil War and in the
following years, new authorities were formed, the
administrative-territorial division of the region repeatedly changed.
Thus, in 1921-1923, the Rybinsk Governorate existed, in 1929, the
Yaroslavl Governorate was abolished, in 1929-1930, the Yaroslavl and
Rybinsk districts of the Ivanovo industrial region existed in its place,
in 1930 their territories came under the direct control of the
administration of the industrial region.
On March 11, 1936, the
Ivanovo Industrial Region was divided and the Yaroslavl Region was
formed from 36 districts and 15 cities, including 3 cities of regional
subordination - Yaroslavl, Rybinsk and Kostroma. The region included the
territory of the former Yaroslavl Governorate (excluding the eastern
part of the Rostov District), a significant part of the Kostroma
Governorate and the Pereslavl District of the Vladimir Governorate. The
territory was 62 thousand km², and the population was 2.1 million
people. In 1944, the Kostroma Region was separated from the Yaroslavl
Region. The Yaroslavl Region was left with a territory of 36.4 thousand
km², which has remained virtually unchanged since then.
In the
first years of Soviet power, industrialization was intensively carried
out in the Yaroslavl region. Old factories were modernized and new ones
were created. The chemical industry was developing (Yaroslavl Rubber and
Asbestos Plant, SK-1). In order to meet the growing demand for
electricity, construction of the Rybinsk Hydroelectric Power Station
began in 1935, which led to the appearance of the vast Rybinsk Reservoir
on the Volga and the flooding of the city of Mologa. The construction
was carried out by prisoners of the Volgolag. In the 1930s,
collectivization of agriculture and "dekulakization" were carried out.
By the spring of 1941, about 3,500 collective farms had been formed. On
the eve of the Great Patriotic War, the Yaroslavl Region was one of the
most industrially developed in Central Russia. At the end of 1936, there
were 587 large industrial enterprises, employing more than 200 thousand
people. Most of the industry was concentrated in three largest cities:
Yaroslavl - 53%, Rybinsk - 17%, Kostroma - 11% of the production volume.
In 1940-1941, the most important roads for the region were built:
Yaroslavl-Rybinsk and Yaroslavl-Kostroma. The growth rate of industrial
production was significantly higher than in neighboring regions and
exceeded the average growth rate in the country.
Along with
industrialization, a cultural revolution was also taking place, the
number of schools and newspapers increased. In order to improve the
ideological processing of the masses, cultural institutions were
created: the Yaroslavl Puppet Theater and the Yaroslavl Regional
Philharmonic. At the same time, Orthodox churches were closed, their
premises began to be used for economic needs, and restoration work was
curtailed.
Since 1924, the only higher education institution in
the region was the pedagogical institute. In 1931, an evening
metalworking college and a branch of the Leningrad Institute of Railway
Engineers were opened in Yaroslavl. In the 1930s, the Higher Communist
Agricultural School operated. In 1932, the Rybinsk Aviation Institute
named after S. Ordzhonikidze, evacuated to Ufa during the war. In 1943,
a medical institute was opened in the regional center, in 1944 - a
technological institute of the rubber industry and an agricultural
institute, an evening Institute of Marxism-Leninism. From 1918 to 1975,
18,155 people were convicted for political reasons in the region, of
whom 2,219 were shot. These figures do not include those who were
unjustifiably dispossessed, administratively exiled, and their family
members. In 1937-1938, 544 regional-level executives were repressed in
the region, including more than 40 heads of city and district party
committees, 166 directors of industrial enterprises, about 40 heads and
teachers of educational institutions; during these years, 1,660 people
were shot, including 423 workers, 246 peasants, and 256 employees.
Volzhsky ITL and construction of hydraulic engineering hubs
Volzhsky ITL of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
ITL of Volgostroy
Moscow logging ITL
Rybinsk ITL
During the Great Patriotic War, more than half a million residents of the Yaroslavl region went to the front, over 200 thousand people died (approximately every tenth resident of the region). In the fall of 1941 - winter of 1942, there was a real threat of enemy invasion of the region; two lines of defense with a total length of 780 km were built in it, some strategic enterprises were evacuated, and preparations were underway for resistance. In 1941-1943, the region was subjected to bombing, the most destructive of which occurred on the nights of June 10 and 21, 1943. The Yaroslavl region received about 0.4 million wounded and about 0.3 million evacuees. The national economy quickly restructured itself to a war footing and became an important part of the country's defense production. In 1942, the Dyadkovo military airfield opened in Yaroslavl. From 1940 to 1944, the annual volume of industrial production grew by 12.2%, and the region supplied the front with about 760 types of defense products. The Yaroslavl region, which had previously imported more than half of the food it consumed, was self-sufficient in all food products in 1943-1945.
In 1946, the waters of the Rybinsk Reservoir finally flooded the city
of Mologa.
During the IV Five-Year Plan (1946-1950), 15
industrial facilities were reconstructed and built in the region,
military production was converted at enterprises, the construction of
the Rybinsk Hydroelectric Power Station and the filling of the Rybinsk
Reservoir were completed, the Uglich Watch Factory, the Rybinsk Cable
Factory, the Rybinsk Hydromechanization Plant, the Volgostroy Mechanical
Plant, the Rybinsk Electrical Engineering Plant, and the Semibratovsky
Gas Cleaning Equipment Plant were built. By the end of the five-year
plan, which was completed ahead of schedule, the region's industry had
exceeded the 1940 level by 46%. In 1950, collective farms were
consolidated in the village: 962 were created out of 3,890.
Electrification of the village began through the construction of
low-power primitive power plants. In 1957, television and the Shinnik
football club appeared. In the 1960s, Poshekhonsky cheese began to be
produced in the region. Jazz began to play on the banks of the Volga. In
1990, Yarsotsbank was created.
The first governor of the Yaroslavl region was Anatoly Lisitsyn. In
the 1990s, the regional brand Yarpivo appeared. The Muslim diaspora grew
stronger. Rock festivals (Dobrofest) began to be held, and goths
appeared. At the same time, negative phenomena also emerged. Residents
of the Yaroslavl region were shocked by the Ritual Murder in Yaroslavl,
committed by Satanists. The population of the region slowly began to die
out. Migrants from Armenia and Kyrgyzstan began to arrive to replace
local residents.
In 2006, the Yaroslavl region was the leader in
the number of schools with Internet access. A project to appropriate a
fairy-tale character to the region was also launched in the region. Baba
Yaga lives in Kukoboy, Alyosha Popovich and Emelya with a pike live in
Rostov, Tsar Berendey lives in Pereslavl, Myshka-Norushka lives in
Myshkin, Ryaba the Hen lives in Rybinsk District, and Vodyanoy lives in
Poshekhonye. And here, in the Pereslavl forests, is the most fabulous
place - the Far Far Away Kingdom.
At the end of 2020, the Yaroslavl Region moved up 8 notches in the investment climate rating, taking 10th place.
The Yaroslavl Region is one of the most industrially developed
regions of the country. About 300 Yaroslavl enterprises are of federal
significance and are leaders in their industries. The main mineral
resources of the region are quartz sand, gravel, peat, mineral waters,
calcareous tuffs, fine band clays, and mineral paints. The leading
industries of the Yaroslavl Region are mechanical engineering and
metalworking, food, chemical and petrochemical industries.
The
main industrial products (2004): tires (20.3%), petroleum products
(5.8%), footwear (3%), bricks (1.5%), bread (1.5%).
Chemical and
petrochemical enterprises produce about 19% of the region's industrial
output. The region purchases the necessary resources from other regions
of the country, in particular from the Komi Republic and the
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. Oil pipeline transport meets the needs of
two refineries that produce the main products of the fuel industry -
motor gasoline, heating oil, diesel fuel - and supply raw materials to
chemical plants. A significant part of the products is exported to other
subjects of the Russian Federation.
The share of mechanical
engineering in industrial production is about 31%. The Yaroslavl
Machine-Building Complex specializes in the production of diesel engines
and fuel equipment, aircraft engines, electrical machines. Mechanical
engineering is represented by 88 large and medium-sized enterprises.
The share of the food industry in industrial production is about
23%. The largest enterprises are: Research Institute of Butter and
Cheese Making, Ruskhleb (confectionery, whole milk products, soft
drinks, bakery products, pasta; now closed), Balkanskaya Zvezda (tobacco
products, closed in 2017), Baltika-Yaroslavl (alcoholic and
non-alcoholic products).
The rural population as of January 1, 2021 is 229,458 people, 18.5%
of the total population of the Yaroslavl region.
In 2019,
agricultural products were produced for 34 billion rubles (an increase
of 5.6% compared to 2018), including livestock farming 25 billion
rubles, crop production 8.5 billion rubles, as well as fish farming and
fishing. Large agricultural enterprises produce 81% of agricultural
products, 17 households of residents and 2% farms.
The number of cattle at the end of 2019 was 111.4 thousand heads
(-4.2%), of which 86% were in agricultural enterprises, including 48
thousand cows. The number of sheep and goats was 29.9 thousand (-8.4%).
The number of pigs was 4.1 thousand heads (-13.2%), of which 72% were in
private farms. The number of poultry is 14.3 million heads (+1.3%), 98%
of the poultry are kept on poultry farms.
In terms of egg
production, the Yaroslavl Region ranks second in Russia. In 2019, 2.3
billion eggs were produced (+6.7%), the average egg production of laying
hens is 325 eggs per year. 55.2 thousand tons of poultry meat were
produced. Located in Rybinsk, the largest poultry farm in Russia,
Volzhanin, produced 1.5 billion eggs in 2020 (the Sinyavinskaya poultry
farm in the Leningrad Region produced 1.44 billion eggs in 2020).
The milk yield per cow in the region in 2020 was 7,534 kg (+8.1%
compared to 2019). Since 2015, cow productivity has increased by 35% due
to the acquisition of highly productive breeding heifers and an increase
in the quality of the herd through the use of semen from improving
bulls. In 2020, farms of all categories in the Yaroslavl Region produced
332.1 thousand tons of milk (+3.2%), including agricultural enterprises
- 301.9 thousand tons (+3.2%). Breeding farms account for 40.1% of milk
production.
The Yaroslavl region is a leader in Russia in the
development of organic livestock farming, in particular the AgriVolga
agricultural holding. Organic dairy farming is represented by the
Yaroslavl and Jersey breeds, and meat farming is represented by the
Aberdeen Angus breed.
In 2020, 290 thousand hectares of land were allocated for sowing (+4
thousand hectares), 41 thousand hectares were sown with spring grain and
leguminous crops. The gross harvest of grain and leguminous crops in
2019 amounted to 93.4 thousand tons (+19.3%). Gross potato production in
2019 was 163.9 thousand tons (+3.3%). The harvest of open ground
vegetables reached 66.4 thousand tons (+7.3%), and that of closed ground
vegetables amounted to 26.3 thousand tons (+37.3%).
The region's
livestock industry specializes in breeding dairy and beef cattle and
poultry farming. In terms of egg production (more than 1.7 billion
pieces), the Yaroslavl Region ranks third in Russia. In crop production,
grain crops, potatoes, vegetables, flax, fruit and berry crops are
grown.
As of the end of 2020, 14 power plants with a total capacity of
1,593.2 MW were operating in the Yaroslavl region, including three
hydroelectric power plants and 11 thermal power plants. In 2020, they
produced 6,967 million kWh of electricity.
The share of electric
power in industrial production is about 9%. The following power plants
operate in the Yaroslavl region: Yaroslavl CHPP-1 (TGK-2, 24.6 MW),
Yaroslavl CHPP-2 (TGK-2, 245 MW), Yaroslavl CHPP-3 (TGK-2, 260 MW),
Uglich HPP (RusHydro, 120 MW), Rybinsk HPP (RusHydro, 376.4 MW), YATU
CHPP (Yartekhuglerod, 24 MW), NPO Saturn Power Plant (NPO Saturn, 28
MW), Khorobrovskaya HPP (0.16 MW). In 2017, the largest in the region,
the Yaroslavl Thermal Power Plant (463.9 MW), was launched, in 2020 -
the Tutaevskaya CCGT-TPP (44.93 MW).
In the early 1990s, the
regional administration took a course on active foreign economic and
interregional policy. Today, the products of Yaroslavl enterprises are
supplied to 93 countries of the world. The main export products are
mechanical engineering products, petrochemical products. The main import
products are mechanical engineering products, chemical products,
consumer goods, and food products.
The transport system of the Yaroslavl Region is of national and
international importance and includes railway, automobile, water, air
and pipeline transport flows, providing the possibility of carrying out
mixed transportation.
The federal highway M8 "Kholmogory" runs
through the Yaroslavl Region - Pereslavl-Zalessky, Rostov, Yaroslavl,
Danilov and Prechistoye - from the southwest to the northeast,
connecting the region with Moscow, Vologda and Arkhangelsk; the road
connecting Yaroslavl and Nekrasovskoye with Kostroma is also part of it.
The most important roads of regional importance: P74 connects
Pereslavl-Zalessky with Vladimir; P79 - Yaroslavl and Gavrilov-Yam with
Ivanovo and Vladimir; P104 — Uglich, Myshkin, Rybinsk and Poshekhonye
with Sergiev Posad (and then Moscow), Kalyazin (and then Tver) and
Cherepovets (and then St. Petersburg); P151 — Yaroslavl, Tutayev and
Rybinsk; P152 — Rostov with Ivanovo; P153 — Rostov, Borisoglebsky and
Uglich. Breytovo and Novy Nekouz are connected with the rest of the
region via Myshkin and Uglich; Lyubim — via Prechistoye. Yaroslavl is
directly connected with Myshkin and Uglich via Bolshoye Selo. The region
has a well-developed bus network. The length of public roads in the
Yaroslavl region is about 8 thousand km.
Rail transportation in
the region is carried out by the Northern Railway (mainly its Yaroslavl
branch). The railway route from Moscow, Moscow and Vladimir regions
(junction station Aleksandrov I) to Vologda region and further to
Arkhangelsk region and the Komi Republic runs from southwest to
northeast through Yaroslavl region — Rostov, Yaroslavl, Danilov and
Prechistoye. From Yaroslavl, the railway route goes northwest to Rybinsk
(dead-end line to Tutaev), and from Rybinsk further to the west
(junction station Sonkovo) to Tver region and further to Saint
Petersburg. From Yaroslavl to the east, the route goes to Kostroma and
Ivanovo regions (junction station Nerekhta). From Danilov to the east,
the route goes via Lyubim to Kostroma and further to Kirov regions. A
dead-end line of the Moscow branch of the October Railway approaches
Uglich from the west of Kalyazin. The operational length of the railways
is 650 km. The freight turnover of the region's railway transport is
more than 19 million tons per year.
The main obstacle for
automobile and railway transport in the region are the Volga reservoirs.
The following crossings exist across the Volga: automobile: Uglich
hydroelectric power station, Myshkinsky ferry, Rybinsky bridge,
Tutaevsky ferry, Yaroslavl Yubileyny and Oktyabrsky bridges; railway: at
the Volga and Yaroslavsky stations. Automobile and railway roads go to
the Kamennikovsky peninsula formed by the Rybinsk reservoir along the
structures of the Rybinsk hydroelectric complex.
Of great
importance for the region is seasonal shipping along the Volga and the
Rybinsk Reservoir, connecting Uglich, Myshkin, Rybinsk, Tutayev and
Yaroslavl with each other and with other ports of the Volga basin: up
the Volga - Tver and Moscow, down it - Kostroma, etc., through the
Rybinsk Reservoir - Vesyegonsk and Cherepovets (and further to St.
Petersburg and Arkhangelsk). The region has Rybinsk and Yaroslavl river
ports. The inland waterway system has a length of 823 km.
There
are airports in the two largest cities of the Yaroslavl Region: the
international Tunoshna Airport in Yaroslavl and the local Staroselye
Airport in Rybinsk. Yaroslavl also has a local airport Levtsovo, which
currently has the status of "temporarily inactive".
The first and second multiplexes of digital television of Russia are broadcast in the Yaroslavl region. 21 transmitters provide 100% coverage of the entire region.
Regional television is represented by six local TV channels broadcasting jointly with network partners or providing their own programming. Among them: GTRK Yaroslavia (Yaroslavl region), Gorodskoy TV channel (Yaroslavl), Pervy Yaroslavsky (Yaroslavl), NTK - Television Tutayev (Tutayev), TV channel Pereslavl (Pereslavl-Zalessky), Rybinsk-40 (Rybinsk).
Regional radio broadcasting is represented by local stations broadcasting jointly with network partners. Among them: GTRK Yaroslavia (Radio Rossii, Vesti FM, Mayak), Rybinsk-40 (Komsomolskaya Pravda). Typically, local broadcasting includes news releases, music programs on request, and thematic programs.