Golden ring of Russia

How did the Golden ring of Russia appear?
The circular route connecting the ancient cities of Russia was invented by the journalist Yuri Bychkov. In the autumn of 1967, he went on a road trip on the invented route. On his return to Moscow, he wrote a series of travel notes about his trip. Travel notes of the journalist were published in the newspaper ” Soviet culture “in November-December 1967 under the title”Golden ring”. The very name of the cycle of notes “Golden ring”, which later became the name of the tourist route, also came up with Yuri Bychkov.

“Falling into a reverie, wandered around Moscow. The weather was a contrast to the five Sunny days of the recent trip, the sky was overcast grey. I looked up, and my eyes met melting in the ghostly heights, Golden through the veil of drizzle slowly descending from the sky rain dust dome of the bell tower of Ivan the Great. As current hit: “gold!”Immediately this “gold” was connected with the road. It came out – “Golden ring”.”

— Yury Bychkov

Yuriy Bychkov
Small gold ring of Russia and Big gold ring of Russia
The Golden ring of Russia includes eight cities, but in different sources to this list began to attribute other cities: Alexandrov, Bogolyubovo, Gorokhovets, Gus-Crystal, Dmitrov, Kalyazin, Kideksha, Moscow, Murom, Myshkin, Palekh, ples, Rybinsk, Tutaev, Uglich, Yuriev-Polsky, Shuya and so on. As a result, Yuri Bychkov’s list was given the name “Small gold ring” or “Traditional gold ring”, and the expanded list was called “Big gold ring”.

Cities of the Golden ring of Russia
Sergiev Posad
Golden ring of Russia: Sergiev Posad
Coat of arms of Sergiev Posad
Sergiev Posad is the only city of the Golden ring of Russia, located in the Moscow region. Date of Foundation-1337. The main attraction of the ancient city is the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, where the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh are kept.

Pereslavl-Zalessky
Golden ring of Russia: Pereslavl-Zalessky
Coat of arms of Pereslavl-Zalessky
Pereslavl-Zalessky is a city on the banks of the picturesque Pleshcheyev lake in the Yaroslavl region. It was founded in 1152 by Prince Yuri Dolgoruky. In the ancient city there are many monuments of Church architecture: five architectural complexes of monasteries and nine churches. Also in the city there are many museums (Museum-estate “boat of Peter I”, iron Museum, locomotive Museum, radio Museum, teapot Museum, Museum of the history of money and others).

rostov veliky
Golden ring of Russia: Rostov the Great
Coat of arms of Rostov the Great
Rostov the Great is one of the oldest cities in Russia (first mentioned in 862), the pearl of the Golden ring. In Rostov you can see more than three hundred monuments of culture, a third of which are monuments of Federal importance. The main attraction of the city is the Rostov Kremlin.

Yaroslavl
Golden ring of Russia: Yaroslavl
Coat of arms of Yaroslavl
Yaroslavl is the oldest city on the Volga river (founded in 1010). Yaroslavl is one of the few provincial cities of Russia, in the construction of which all directions of Russian architecture of XVI-XX centuries are represented. The historic city centre is a UNESCO world heritage site. It is often said that Yaroslavl is the capital of the Golden ring of Russia.

Kostroma
Golden ring of Russia: Kostroma
Coat of arms
Kostroma is an ancient city on the Volga river. Date of Foundation-1152. Kostroma is a unique monument of Russian urban planning of XVI-XIX centuries. The main attraction of Kostroma — Ipatievsky monastery.

Ivanovo
Golden ring of Russia: Ivanovo
Coat Of arms
The city of brides is known not only for its textile industry, but also for its revolutionary history. The town has almost no ancient architecture, but interesting as a kind of monument to the revolutionary era of Russia in the early XX century, so the city was given the name “Red ruby Golden ring of Russia”.

Suzdal
Golden ring of Russia: Suzdal
Coat of arms of Suzdal
Suzdal is an ancient city in the Vladimir region. The historical center and the main attraction of the city — Suzdal Kremlin, which according to archaeologists existed in the X century. In Suzdal you can visit the Museum of wooden architecture, where in the open air collected original buildings XVII-XVIII centuries: merchant houses, peasant huts and more.

Vladimir
Golden ring of Russia: Vladimir
Coat of arms
Vladimir is an ancient city, famous for its monuments of architecture of the Vladimir-Suzdal school. In total, the city has more than two hundred state-protected buildings of the XVIII-XIX centuries.

Golden ring on the map of Russia

The Golden ring of Russia is an interesting and thoughtful tourist route, time-tested (the route has existed for more than fifty years). It is not necessary to go on a trip along this route by car: nowadays bus tours of the Golden ring of Russia are very popular. You can even make several trips to the city from the list of “Golden ring”, without linking them in one route. In any case, travel to the cities of the Golden ring of Russia will be interesting and informative.