History

Uglich is one of the oldest and most fascinating cities of central Russia. Being fifth largest town of Yaroslavl Region, Uglich is a combination of the charm of a small Volga town and the treasures of Russian cultural heritage and traditions. Uglich is famous for being a cradle of the Romanovs, Russian Royal family, and a crypt of the Ruricks, old dynasty of Russian princes.

Uglich was founded in 937 by Yan Pleskovich, an ambassador of the Kiev’s Great Prince, who arrived there for population census and collecting tribute, and was first mentioned in the Russian chronicles in 1148 in descriptions of quarrels between various Russian feudal princes of that times.

In 12-13 centuries the town was part of Vladimir-Souzdal Principality, and during Tatar and Mopngol invasion it was conquered by Tatars and almost destroyed. The historians of that times tell stories of a bloody battle on the shores of the Sit’ River, where Uglich citizens fought enemies in a losing strrugle.

In 1328 Moscow Prince Ivan Kalita bought city territories from descendants of Uglich Prince Roman, and since this purchase history of this town has close bonds with Muscovia’s history. In the middle of XV century Uglich citizens found themselves in the epicenter of an internal murderous war.

The end of XVI and the beginning of XVII centuries are known to be nost hard times for the town. Year 1591 is notable for a tragic accident – prince Dmitry was killed here under some mysterious circumstances. When the prince was two years old, he, together with his mother and other relatives, was exiled to Uglich under supervision of Boris Godunov’s servants; this happened in 1584, and little prince has spent there about seven years.

On May15, 1591, citizen, who heard the city bell’s alarming tolls, found boy’s dead body. Since that time Dmitry’s death belongs to historical mysteries, which are not yet solved. Some historians blame the tsar Boris Godunov in killing the Royal child. Another hypothesis suggests the prince accidentally falling on a knife during an epileptic seizure. However, the latter version didn’t allow burying the prince with all necessary honours, since he would have been considered to be a suicide.

The tsar sent an investigation board to the town in order to shed light on a mysterious murder. The investigation resulted in punishment for about 200 citizens, imprisonment of little prince’s relatives and sending the tsarina Maria Fedorovna to a monastery. Even the city bell, which told the city about the death, was punished – it was thrown down from its bell tower, flogged in front of town’s population, the bell’s tongue was torn off, and it was later exiled to Tobolsk with documents saying “exiled heartless thing form Uglich ”. The bell spent 300 years in the exile, and upon its return, was placed into the museum.

During the times of Pilish and Lithuanian intervention, Polish invaders crowded the city, and chronicles describe palace’s dungeons, full of blood, because too many people were killed. The town was conquered several times by various invaders and lost many monuments of history and architecture.

Uglich ’s renaissance started between XVII and XVIII centuries, during the reign of Ekaterina II, who made the town the central town of the district. In 1784 the government approved a general plan of civil engineering, which introduced new straight streets instead of old and twisting ones.

The town welcomed various crafts and industries, such as blacksmithing, flax weaving, sartorial craft and shoemaking. The town manufacturers produced fabric and paper, as well as leather, which was well-known for its quality. However, most famous products of Uglich were sausages, cheeses and hams, which were delivered to Moscow and Saint Petersburg to please stomachs of capital dwellers.

XX cetury brought significant changes to the town, such as building a hydro-electric power station, flood-gates and water storage basin, not to forget about buiding a factory, producing accurate industrial stones and finally developing into Uglich watch plant.

Uglich territories are rich in historical and cultural monuments, counting to 170 monuments, three of which have federal significance. Uglich outskirts boast 33 churches and three monasteries.

The town’s attractions include 18 museums, such as “Library of the Russian Vodka”, museum of the Russian hut, the museum of bell tolls, the museum of vernacular arts, Doll Gallery and many others.