Dating back to the year of 937 Uglich is one of the most ancient Russian towns and makes an integral part of the famous Golden Ring of Russia.

Uglich is situated in Yaroslavl Region on the banks of the beautiful Volga River, only 240 km from Moscow. A straight railway line, a new motor highway and numerous motor ship routes connect it to the capital of Russia. The population of the town is about 37 thousand people.

History:

The chronicles of 1148-49 bear records of the town under the name of Ugliche Pole (“Ugliche field”) and only since the late 16th century it is known as Uglich.

In the 12th c. it was part of the Vladimir and Suzdal principality, and from 1207 of the Rostov princedom. From 1218 to 1328 Uglich was the capital of the small Uglich apanage principality until the local princes sold their rights to the Grand Prince of Moscow and the town joined the Moscow Princedom. Being a boundary town of the Moscow state Uglich underwent forays of Tatars, Lithuanian troops and the Prince of Tver and was burnt down a number of times.

The Grand Prince of Moscow Ivan III handed the town down to his younger brother Andrei the Big in 1462. Under Andrei’s reign the town grew up and acquired a number of stone buildings. Most remarkable of them were the Cathedral (rebuilt in 1713), the Protection of the Virgin Monastery (destroyed by the Bolsheviks) and red-brick palaces of apanage princes (built in 1481 and preserved till date).

During the reign of Ivan the Terrible the town passed on to his younger brother Yuri. The local citizens helped the tsar to seize Kazan by building a wooden fortress that was rafted down the Volga River to Kazan. That fortress served as the basis for the town of Sviyazhsk. The 16th century was the age of political and economical blossoming of Uglich, but later it was through with its star.

After the death of Ivan the Terrible in 1584 his younger son Dmitry Ivanovich was exiled to Uglich. The most notorious event in the history of the town occurred on May 15, 1591, when the tsar’s eight-year old descendant was found slaughtered in the palace yard. The suspicion fell on the tsar’s principal counselor Boris Godunov.

In 1608-1611 the town was destroyed by the Polish invaders.

From the mid 17th century the town recovered with the development of trading and a variety of crafts such as blacksmith’s work, copper and silver manufacture, processing of flax fabrics and leathers.

Read more about the town's history

Sights:

Uglich being one of the towns of the Golden Ring of Russia is often visited by tourists who enjoy the town’s numerous specimen of historical Russian architecture.

The main points of interest in Uglich are:

• The Uglich Kremlin with Dmitry on the Blood Church (1692), the Saviour Transfiguration Cathedral (1713), a belfry (1730), the palace of the tsar’s son Dmitry (1482), etc.;

• The Monastery of Holy Resurrection;

• The Epiphany Monastery;

• The Assumption (“Wonderful”) Church of St. Alexis Monastery (1628);

• Church of the Nativity of St John the Baptist is one of the architectural miracles of Uglich. It was built in 1689-1690 at the expense of the rich merchant Nikifor Chepolosov to commemorate his son Ivan killed by the merchant's assistant Rudak in 1663. In the north chapel of the church restorers discovered the niche where Vanya Chepolosov was buried.

11 km away from the town, in the Uleima settlement there is Nikolo-Uleiminsky Monastery founded as far back as 1400.

Uglich has a number of original museums, namely the Museum of Russian Vodka, the Museum of Myths and Superstitions, the Museum of Prison Art, and the Museum of the Uglich Watch Factory “Chaika”. There is also a Historical and Art Museum in the town.