Rostov the Great is one of the oldest towns in Russia, it is nearly three centuries older than Moscow.
Rostov is one of the most interesting tourist centres of the Golden Ring. "A miracle of the past",
"a symphony in stone", "the eternal city of Russia" - such poetic names were given to this ancient
Russian city by its visitors.
The Cathedral of the Assumption
The cathedral and its belfry dominate the Kremlin, though they are actually outside its northern wall.
The cathedral, with its five magnificent domes, was created here a century before the Kremlin. The belfry,
added in the 1680s, was famous even outside Russia; the French composer Hector
Berlioz came to listen to its 13 bells during his visit to the land of Rostov.
Today the biggest bell rings only on the days of church festivals.
The Kremlin
Nearly all the Kremlin buildings date from the 1670s and 1680s. The western gate and the northern gate
(through which you can't pass) are both straddled by gate-churches: church of the Rebirth and
Ioann Bogoslov's church. The churches are decorated with frescoes, dating back to the 17th century.
They can be observed from May to October.
The metropolitan's private chapel, the Church of the Saviour-over-the-Galleries (Tserkov Spasa-na-Senyakh),
in the southeastern corner of the Kremlin, behind the metropolitan's house has a beautiful interior
with colorful frescoes, painted in the 17th century. The huge White Chamber next door was once the Kremlin's dining
hall; the Red Chamber with the massive porch was its guesthouse.
Both the metropolitan's house and the White Chamber have museums. The one in the metropolitan's house has icons, paintings and a
collection of the luminous painted enamelware of Rostov. The one in the White Chamber
displays Rostov-area glass, ceramics and furniture.
Monasteries
Two monasteries flank the Kremlin on the lake shore. At the distance of two kilometers to the west
there is a Monastery of St. Jacob. It's under restoration but, having been returned to the Church in 1993,
has a small community of monks; its magnificent 19th century cathedral is worth seeing as you'd never
expect to find such an architectural splendor in the outskirts of a tiny town.
Avraamevsky Monastery, with Cathedral of the Epiphany, built in 1553,
is said to be the oldest building in Rostov.
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