Historical Centre of the City of Yaroslavl
Situated at the confluence of the Volga and
Kotorosl Rivers some 250 km north-east of Moscow, the historic city of
Yaroslavl developed into a major commercial centre from the 11th
century. It is renowned for its numerous 17th-century churches and is an
outstanding example of the urban planning reform Empress Catherine the
Great ordered for the whole of Russia in 1763. While keeping some of its
significant historic structures, the town was renovated in the
neoclassical style on a radial urban master plan. It has also kept
elements from the 16th century in the Spassky Monastery, one of the
oldest in the Upper Volga region, built on the site of a pagan temple in
the late 12th century but reconstructed over time.