Architectural monuments of Kostroma are a special type of cultural heritage. The pages of the site contain addresses and descriptions of the best architectural monuments of Kostroma.
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Not long ago, residents of Kostroma had a unique opportunity to visit a fairy tale. A real Snow Maiden house was installed near the Snegurochka hotel. Now it is a real fabulous museum. The organizers organize excursions here and offer several options for visiting. Here you can visit with a full tour of the house, or you can also get into the ice room, where you will certainly be served treats so that you don’t freeze. Interestingly, the hostess herself is the tour guide of the house. The granddaughter of Santa Claus, together with his assistants, will take everyone to all corners of the wooden house and show them the place where they need to make wishes, which will certainly come true.
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The former guardhouse building is a historical place in the Kostroma region. It is the facade of an entire city block. Thanks to its large proportions, it more closely resembles an attic placed on the ground. All the stucco decorations of the building are dedicated to one theme - military glory. Shields and armor, dogs, lion masks, and even the head of Medusa the Gorgon are depicted here. The entire central part of the building attracts attention thanks to the semi-circular exerdi with five niches, as well as a six-column portico. This building was built after the Patriotic War of 1812.
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The entire central part of the city is an architectural ensemble, which was built as an integral complex in the 18th-19th centuries. In the very center of the complex there are shopping arcades, which were once called Gostiny Dvor. The layout was based on the arrangement of a merchant's shop on the ground floor and large warehouses in the attic and basement. The buildings are surrounded by galleries, behind each arch there was a shop with display cases and an entrance. The complex is adjacent to the bell tower and the Church of the Savior in Rows. The whole complex is divided into several parts
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The building of the Noble Assembly is a building in the architectural style of provincial classicism. It remains the best among the buildings of provincial cities. The building combines a rich interior, stucco decoration and a unique layout. The volume of the building looks light and elegant, and all decorative elements create a beautiful play of light and shadow. Emperor Nicholas II himself climbed the stairs of this house in May 1913. The main condition for the acceptance of the project for this building was the construction of a Great Hall for meetings. It is located on the left side of the building. It is decorated with beautiful ivory marble, which is why it received the name “White Hall”.
Kostroma has rightfully become one of the most beautiful cities of the “Golden Ring” of Russia and its attractions attract thousands of tourists and city guests.
● Kostroma is an ancient Russian city, the history of which is closely connected with the destinies of all of Russia, located 350 km from Moscow on the banks of the great Russian river Volga.
● In ancient times, Kostroma was built up mainly wooden buildings, but due to frequent fires, ancient monuments for the history of Russian architecture were not preserved.
● Only in the 17th century were widely known architectural monuments that have survived to this day erected in Kostroma: T Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Ipatiev Monastery, Posad Churches of the Resurrection on Nizhnyaya Debra, John the Evangelist and Ipatievskaya Sloboda, Nativity of Christ at Gorodishche.
● By decree of Catherine II Kostroma becomes in 1778 . the administrative center of a vast governorship, and since 1797 - the center of the Kostroma province. The city began intensive construction of new administrative buildings. The new development was carried out according to a master plan, according to a clear scheme, in which radial streets converged on the central square, and the main axis of the plan should be perpendicular to the Volga embankment and pass through this square. According to the plan, the center of Kostroma developed mainly at the end of the 18th - first third of the 19th centuries as an unusually integral ensemble, and has remained almost unchanged to this day.
Ipatiev Monastery. Southwestern tower and fortress walls of the New City. XVII |
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● ● The creators of this ensemble were the architects S. A. Vorotilov, P. I. Fursov, V. P. Staso v. On the sides of the blocks forming the central square, there is a fire tower, a former guardhouse and a hotel, Borschov's mansion and a government building. The tower and guardhouse buildings are rightfully included in the golden fund of Russian architectural monuments. Kostroma in the 18th century becomes
 a large shopping center on the Volga shipping route. The complex of shopping arcades that has survived to this day is one of the largest in Russia. It was built over several decades, starting at the end of the 18th century. Particularly interesting are the Big Red and Flour, Tobacco, Gingerbread, and Butter rows. Ipatiev Monastery. XVI-XIX |
centuries Museum-reserve. The balanced appearance of the administrative and commercial center of Kostroma and its architectural style were not disturbed by large buildings of the late 19th century: Tretyakov’s houses, the former Romanov Museum, etc. One of the most interesting objects to see in Kostroma is the historical and architectural museum-reserve, located in the former Ipatiev Monastery
. There is a scientific hypothesis that the monastery was founded in the 14th century, but a complex complex of buildings has survived to this day, in which buildings from different times have been preserved, starting from the end of the 16th century and ending with the last quarter of the 19th century. The central place in the ensemble is occupied by
On the main square of the monastery there is a belfry, erected at the beginning of the 17th century, with three floors of arches and a tent covering. It housed up to 20 large and small bells and ancient striking clocks. At the western wall of the monastery there are chambers of the Romanov boyars
- cellar cells built in the 16th-17th centuries, with quite significant later architectural changes.
 Of great interest are the fortress walls with towers and gates (XVI-XVII centuries), residential chambers - fraternal cells (XVI-XVII centuries), outbuildings (XVI-XIX centuries), as well as rich historical, local history and artistic exhibitions, located in many buildings of the architectural complex. Ipatiev Monastery. Bishop's Corps.
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 Ipatiev Monastery. Chambers of the Romanov boyars. Ipatiev Monastery. century. |
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● Ipatiev Monastery. Entrance to the chambers of the Romanov boyars.
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Ancient architecture of Yaroslavl |
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| Unusual buildings in the world | Not far from the stone architectural ensemble of the Ipatiev Monastery, from the beginning of the 60s in the 20th century, the museum of wooden architecture "Folk Architecture and Life" began to be created, occupying more than 30 hectares, where about 26 unique and typical monuments for the Kostroma region were brought and installed: peasant huts, baths, mills, churches, granaries, barns, built from the 18th to the 20th centuries and currently being restored. Museum of Wooden Architecture.Church from the village of Fominskoye. 1721 |
Museum of Wooden Architecture. Baths from the village of Vederki.
The sculpture weighs 4 tons and is 4.5 meters high and looks majestic. Yuri Dolgoruky is shown sitting on a bench decorated with carvings. On his head is a Monomakh hat. With his left hand he rests on a sword resembling a cross. According to the authors, this symbolizes that he came to these lands as a conqueror, but not as a warrior. The right hand of the ruler is extended forward, as if pointing to the place where a new city should be founded.
Monument to Ivan Susanin
Among the iconic names associated with Kostroma, the name of Ivan Susanin plays a special role. The legendary feat of this peasant, who led the Poles and Lithuanians to a swamp in the wilderness and, despite torture, did not betray the future founder of the Romanov royal dynasty - Mikhail, was first decided to perpetuate back in the 30s of the 19th century.Then, with the highest permission, Tsar Nicholas I ordered the erection of a monument dedicated to the autocrat Mikhail Fedorovich and Ivan Susanin. At the same time, the square where they wanted to erect a monument in the central part was given a new name: instead of Ekaterinoslavskaya, it became Susaninskaya. The memorial composition was opened with honors in front of a large gathering of noble guests and ordinary people in 1851 on March 14. Its creator was the famous master V.I. Demut-Malinovsky.
The memorial consisted of a column ending with a bronze bust of the first Tsar of the Romanov family. At the base of the granite pillar there was a kneeling figure of Susanin, and next to him were two scrolls - letters granted by the monarchs to the descendants of the peasant. The column was decorated with the symbol of the Russian Empire - the double-headed eagle, and the coat of arms of the Kostroma province. A bas-relief picture of the death of a national hero was attached to the front of the quadrangular pedestal, and at the back there was an inscription in gold letters expressing the gratitude of the descendants to the savior of the king. The life of this memorial sign was short-lived. After the revolutionary upheavals of 1917, in the spring of the following year, the Council of People's Commissars issued a document “On the Monuments of the Republic,” in connection with which the symbols associated with the imperial family and its servants were to disappear into oblivion. At the same time, the destruction of the memorial structure began, and Susaninskaya Square received a new name - Revolution. First, the bronze figures were destroyed. Then, in 1928, the column was removed from the pedestal, until then hidden under a wooden obelisk with a red flag. In 1934, the foundation itself was razed to the ground.
The historical name Susaninskaya was returned in 1992. Also, plans for the 400th anniversary of the accession to the throne of the last royal dynasty in Russia (2013) included the reconstruction of the monument at the previous location, but this idea was not implemented. Although in 2013, a monument to Mikhail Romanov and Ivan Susanin (in the courtyard of a house on Gornaya Street) did appear. This structure was installed on the initiative of former mayor Boris Korobov. The sculptural creation is a three-times smaller, reworked copy of a 19th century model. On a high column there is a bust of the young autocrat wearing a Monomakh hat and with a golden cross shining on his chest, and in the middle of the column there is a bas-relief portrait of Susanin.
During the Soviet period, a new monument to Susanin was erected (Molochnaya Gora Street, near the Trade Rows on Susaninskaya Square) as a patriot of his homeland, as indicated by the inscription on the pedestal. The project was invented by the young author N.A. Lavinsky and erected with the participation of architects M.P. Bubnova and M.F. Markovsky. The decision to develop and install a monument to the national hero was approved back in 1947, but work on its creation began only in 1959. And it was opened, despite numerous disputes among contemporaries, who mostly considered it inappropriate for the appearance of the city’s historical center, on September 28, 1967 .
On a towering cylinder-shaped pedestal, lined with white limestone, there is a life-size statue of a peasant. He is presented dressed in long clothes. Susanin rests his left hand on a massive stick, and his right hand, with his palm facing down, as noted by the eminent academician N.V. Tomsky, whose pupil Lavinsky was, shows that the enemies who came to Russian soil will remain there. The monumental creation, designed to glorify the patriotism of the Russian people, rises to a height of 12 meters.
Lenin monument
Another attraction of the communist era invariably attracts tourists with its non-trivial appearance. This is a monument to V.I. Lenin (Central Park, Tchaikovsky St., 4A), performed by a group of specialists, including M. Listopad, Z. Ivanov, A. Lebedev, D. Schwartz. The image of the leader of the world proletariat in Kostroma does not differ from many similar figures in other Russian settlements. He is depicted making a fiery speech with the constant gesture of his right hand pointing forward. But the base under the sculpture, thanks to which it is clearly visible from afar, looks unusual and contrasts sharply with it.
This is because initially it was planned to erect a grandiose sculptural and architectural composition dedicated to the 300-year reign of the Romanov family. According to the project of sculptor A.I., approved in 1912 by Autocrat Nicholas II. Adamson planned to build a chapel with a hipped roof of several tiers. Statues of representatives of the royal family and other famous personalities in Russian history were to be placed on the ledges.
The monument was laid in 1913 during anniversary celebrations dedicated to the royal dynasty. By 1916, a pedestal was erected and 20 of the 28 expected statues cast in bronze were brought. But the First World War and the October Revolution prevented the final implementation of the plan.
In the first years of Soviet power, the idea was expressed to build a monument to Freedom on a pedestal from an unfinished chapel with elements characteristic of such structures in the form of kokoshniks, but the proposal remained only on paper. After the death of V.I. Lenin in 1924, a more practical use was found for the pedestal by erecting a statue of the leader on it. The sculpture, erected in 1928, was made of concrete, but was later replaced by a metal sculpture in 1982.
Memorial "Glory to the soldiers of Kostroma, participants of the Great Patriotic War"
During the Second World War, thousands of natives of the Kostroma region did not return from the battlefields. At the memorial “Glory to the soldiers of Kostroma, participants of the Great Patriotic War” (Mira Square) there are always fresh flowers as a tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for the happiness of future generations. A grandiose bronze composition created by sculptors M.F. Baburin, G.P. Levitsky and architect E.I. Kutyrev and installed in 1972, depicts a young Soviet soldier in a fluttering raincoat. With one hand he holds the deceased young man, and the other, clutching a machine gun, is thrown up.
Monument to Home Front Workers
The feat of those who worked tirelessly in the rear during the war years has not been forgotten either. The original and unique monument to home front workers (Deputatskaya St.) was erected in 2006. His sketch entitled “Tear”, made by Soligalich resident R. Simonova, was chosen as a result of a public competition. The sculptural creation, embodied by V. Tserkovnikov, consists of the images of a woman holding a machine gun belt and a teenage boy. They are enclosed in a frame reminiscent of a tear. The height of the bronze memorial is 7 meters. Near it there are 2 slabs, one of them describes the contribution of the Kostroma home front people to the overall victory, and the second indicates those who took part in the installation of the memorial.
Monument to the dog
In addition to the impressive sculptures frozen in stone and metal and preserving the memory of historical figures and significant events in the life of the city and country, there is also a less noticeable, but in its own way important attraction in Kostroma - a monument to a dog (Susaninskaya Square). The bronze basset with sad eyes, often popularly called Druzhko, had a real prototype, and it is no coincidence that the sculpture appeared in 2009 near the Fire Tower.
In the middle of the 20th century, the writer L. Kolgushkin, in his story, described the real-life dog Bobka, who at the end of the 19th century lived at the fire station and helped save children from fire. Today, the good-natured dog not only serves as a decoration for the square, but now he brings benefits to our smaller brothers. Next to it there is a piggy bank, where caring people put money, which is then transferred to the center for homeless animals. And the nose of the dog, beloved by locals and guests, is polished to a shine, as it is believed that touching it invariably brings good luck.
Welcome to Kostroma - one of the brightest and most precious pearls of the Golden Ring of Russia!
The first mention of Kostroma dates back to 1152. At this time, the Kostroma fortress, founded by Yuri Dolgoruky, appeared on the banks of the Sula River. Scientists believe that the word “Kostroma” comes from “bonfire” - “fortified place, fortress.” According to another version, this is an ancient pagan word that means a holiday held in the summer during ritual games in honor of the sun god Yarila.
Kostroma is built on the principle of a radial (fan) layout, the streets fan out from the main square. Strict adherence to this urban plan is one of the features that distinguishes Kostroma from other Russian cities. Such clarity arose only in the 18th century. Before this, Kostroma was a collection of wooden buildings. Therefore, the city has repeatedly suffered from fires throughout its history.
After another catastrophic fire in 1773, when almost all the houses and churches burned down, it became clear that it was time to finally do something. Local land surveyors drew up “a plan for the places that burned in that city with instructions to build neighborhoods.” But “building neighborhoods” turned out to be unrealistic - to implement it, most of the buildings that survived the fire would have to be demolished. Therefore, other projects began to be developed.
Legend attributes the idea of fan-shaped buildings to Empress Catherine II. As if, having visited Kostroma, she learned about the urban planning problems of the residents and solved them simply and elegantly. Catherine dropped her open fan onto a map depicting the Volga and said: “Build it like that.” True, Catherine visited Kostroma six years before the fire and, therefore, before the decision was made to rebuild the city. In fact, the final fan plan of Kostroma was approved by an ordinary commission in 1779 on the basis of information collected by the Yaroslavl Governor-General Melgunov.
It’s worth coming to Kostroma if only to feel the living breath of history, to touch it, to see with your own eyes what our city is rich and famous for.
Ipatiev Monastery
One of the main historical monuments of Kostroma is the Ipatiev Monastery. It is located on the spit between the Volga and the Kostroma River. According to one hypothesis, Hypatius was founded in 1275 by Prince Vasily Kvashnya during the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Moscow. Another legend says that the founder of the Ipatiev Monastery was the Tatar prince-Murza Chet in the 1330s. On his way to Moscow to see Ivan Kalita, Chet suddenly fell ill and was forced to stop at the place where the monastery is now located. At the height of his illness, Chet saw a vision of the Apostle Philip, the Hieromartyr Hypatius of Gangra and the Mother of God. After this, Chet accepted the Christian faith, becoming Zacharias, and built the Church of the Holy Trinity with the chapels of Philip and Hypatius. It is from Chet that the genealogy of the Godunov boyars begins; they took a direct part in the further fate of the monastery where their ancestor rested: under their patronage, a book-making workshop was built in the temple. Here, at the insistence of the Godunovs, priestly vestments were made, religious objects studded with precious stones, and icons were painted. All this was included in the exhibition of the modern monastery. In addition, the Godunovs collected a magnificent library called the Ipatiev Chronicle, which is one of the main sources that store information about Ancient Rus'.
In 1613, the Ipatiev Monastery was forever inscribed in the history of the country as the cradle of the Romanov clan. At this time, the Polish-Lithuanian intervention took place across Rus'. Sixteen-year-old Mikhail Romanov found refuge within the walls of the monastery with his mother, nun Martha. Moscow envoys came there and offered Mikhail to become the king of “all Rus'.” However, the young chosen one, mindful of intrigues and betrayals, for a long time refused the honor bestowed upon him. And only after six hours of exhortation did the ambassadors convince Michael to accept the throne. Appearing before the miraculous image of the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, Mikhail Romanov was blessed to the kingdom. In the Trinity Cathedral of the monastery, the first thanksgiving prayer service was served for the salvation of Russia from unrest and for the blessing of the new reigning house.
At different times, the Ipatiev Monastery was visited by Russian emperors: Catherine II (1767), Nicholas I (1834), Alexander II (1837, 1858), Alexander III (1866, 1881), Nicholas II (1881, 1913).
Spiritual heritage
Kostroma is a city of golden-domed churches and majestic temples, a center of folk spirituality.
On the opposite side of the Kostroma River, parallel to the Ipatiev Monastery, is the Epiphany-Anastasia Monastery. It is believed that it was built in the 15th century, but since then it has been rebuilt several times. The main Kostroma shrine, the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, is kept in the cathedral. Found by the Holy Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich (1238) in a dilapidated wooden chapel near the ancient city of Gorodets, the icon after his death passed to the Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky. In 1263, the icon miraculously appeared in Kostroma, in the inheritance of Alexander Nevsky’s younger brother, Prince Vasily Yaroslavich. According to legend, Prince Vasily went hunting outside the city, to the Zaprudna River, and saw a beautiful icon of the Mother of God on a tree. The clergy summoned from the city by the prince removed the newly found shrine from the tree and in a solemn religious procession brought it to Kostroma, placing it in the city Cathedral in the name of the Great Martyr Theodore Stratilates. In memory of this, it began to be called Feodorovskaya. The day of the discovery of the icon - August 16 (29) became a day of church celebration. The Feodorovskaya icon, as the patroness of the family, became famous for many miracles and grace-filled healings.
On the Volzhskaya embankment there is the Church of the Resurrection on Debra, this is the only surviving temple in Kostroma dating back to the 17th century. At the entrance to the Holy Gate, parishioners are greeted by mythological creatures: a lion - a symbol of strength, a unicorn - a symbol of chastity, a pelican - a symbol of immortality and resurrection, an alkonost (a bird of paradise with a human head) - a symbol of righteousness. On the other bank of the Volga you can see two more architectural monuments - the Ilyinskaya and Transfiguration churches. Previously, around the Elias Church there was the village of Gorodishche, which belonged to the boyar Morozova, whom Vasily Surikov depicted in his canvas. On the night of November 16, 1671, when the noblewoman was taken into custody, her estate with the five-domed church was transferred to the state treasury.
Architectural appearance of Kostroma
The historical part of the city is a complete architectural ensemble of the late 18th-19th centuries. The shopping arcades are located symmetrically. In the Red Rows they used to sell “red” goods - fabrics, furs, leather goods, books. In the Big Flour Rows you could buy flour, fodder, and flax. In the courtyard there are Mechnye rows, built for the trade of small haberdashery. Opposite is the elegant building of the Vegetable (Tobacco) Rows. Next to them is the Butter Rows building. At the top of the Volga slope, Gingerbread Rows with two chapels were erected, and lower down the slope are Fish Rows.
The ensemble of public buildings includes a guardhouse, a fire tower and Borschov's house. Construction took place at a time when the Empire style was already dominant in St. Petersburg, so in provincial Kostroma you can find all shades of classicism: from early classicism to Empire style. For example, the building of the provincial government is monumental in the spirit of the works of G. Quarenghi, the fire station is most likely of the Bazhenov type, and the guardhouse is a completely empire-style building.
The guardhouse was built in 1824-1827 according to the design of P.I. Fursova. At that time, rioting and revelry among officers was considered normal, so the city society maintained a guardhouse. The wooden guardhouse was originally located on the banks of the Volga, near the Moscow outpost. When it became dilapidated, Fursov decided to move it to the square. Previously, this place was the apple orchard of the Volkov manufacturers. The guardhouse building represents the façade of the block. Like all buildings in the Empire style, it is distinguished by a special solemnity and majesty.
The fire tower is an architectural monument of the first third of the 19th century, located on the main (Susaninskaya) square of Kostroma. The initiative to build a tower on the central square (then called Yekaterinoslavskaya) belonged to Governor K.I. Baumgarten. The author of the building project was the architect P.I. Fursov. The building was built in the form of a two-story quadrangle with a beautiful portico, topped with an octagonal watchtower with a guardhouse. The convenient location of the monument, the integrity and compactness of the architectural volume, the expressiveness of its silhouette, and the measure in the use of decoration on the facade make the Kostroma tower one of the best monuments of late classicism in Russia. In 1834, it aroused the admiration of Emperor Nicholas I, who visited Kostroma, after which it acquired the reputation of the best fire tower in the Russian province.
The former mansion of General S.S., a participant in the Patriotic War of 1812. Borshchova was built in 1824. Large scale and representativeness are its characteristic features. The decision of the main facade was dictated by the fact that the mansion was located in the depths of the square and was perceived from a great distance, therefore it is accentuated by an eight-column portico of the Corinthian order. The artistic appearance of this building is a necessary link between the ceremonial fire tower, the elegant guardhouse and the official and ceremonial provincial offices.
The building of the Noble Assembly is considered one of the best examples of construction in the style of Russian provincial classicism of the late 18th - early 19th centuries (architect M.M. Prave). Everything about the building captivates: the originality of the layout, the nobility of the interior, and the rich stucco decoration. Its almost cubic volume looks light and elegant. Architectural elements - blades, rods and reliefs create an unusual play of light and shadow. In the large, spacious lobby, a cast-iron openwork staircase begins; according to legend, Emperor Nicholas II ascended it in May 1913 to the state rooms of the second floor.
In the name of the great playwright
The names of many remarkable personalities are associated with Kostroma, in particular, the actor F.G. Volkov, writers N.A. Nekrasova, A.F. Pisemsky. And, of course, the great Russian playwright A.N. Ostrovsky. It was in Kostroma that he found prototypes for his famous play “The Thunderstorm”.
The Kostroma Drama Theater is named after the playwright. It is one of the oldest theaters in Russia. The theater's repertoire includes dozens of performances staged based on plays by Russian and foreign playwrights, both already recognized classics and modern authors. The Kostroma Drama Theater is the only one in the world where 46 of the 47 plays written by A.N. are staged. Ostrovsky.
Not far from the river station there is a gazebo built in 1956. One of the symbols of Kostroma is located on an embankment preserved from the wood-earth fortifications of the ancient Kostroma Kremlin. Kostroma residents also call this gazebo after the Russian playwright A.N. Ostrovsky. Often coming to Kostroma from his Shchelykovo estate, he loved to relax here, admiring the Volga landscape.
Monuments of great history
Between the Flour and Red Rows, on the top of Molochnaya Mountain, there is a monument to the Russian patriot Ivan Susanin. It was erected in 1967 according to the design of sculptor N.A. Lavinsky. In the winter of 1613, a peasant from the Kostroma district, Ivan Susanin, saved Tsar Mikhail Romanov from Polish invaders. He led his enemies into an impenetrable forest swamp, for which he was killed by the Poles. The memory of Ivan Susanin’s feat is preserved in oral traditions. The Decembrist poet K. F. Ryleev sang it in his work: “Everyone loves the Fatherland from infancy and will not destroy his soul by betrayal.” The Russian composer M. I. Glinka dedicated the folk-heroic opera “Ivan Susanin”, as well as the opera “A Life for the Tsar” to these events.
In 2003, a monument to Yuri Dolgoruky was erected in Kostroma. The sculptor of this monument is V.M. Tserkovnikov, architect - G.L. Morozov, artist - S.I. Kadyberdeev. The monument is 4.5 meters high, weighs 4.2 tons, cast in bronze. The sculpture represents the Grand Duke seated on the throne, who extends his right hand in front of him, indicating that a new city will be founded here. In his left hand he holds a sword like a cross, showing that he came to these lands not as a warrior, but as a creator.
