Kostroma Russia
Russia


Frequently Asked Questions

At the foot of the city centre on the Volga, which is more than half a kilometre wide here. The fan of streets laid out after the 1773 fire converges on the esplanade facing the river: you step ashore straight into the 18th-century plan.
Yes for the centre: Susanin Square, the fire tower and the trading arcades link up on foot from the quay. The Ipatiev Monastery, upstream where the Kostroma River meets the Volga, needs a short transfer.
The Ipatiev Monastery first, then back to the centre for the trading arcades and Susanin Square. With children, add the residence of Snegurochka, the Snow Maiden.
Because it was at the Ipatiev Monastery in 1613 that the young Mikhail Romanov learned the national assembly had offered him the throne. Three hundred years of dynasty began behind those walls, at the end of the Time of Troubles.
White churches and gilded domes gathered behind a wall, where the Kostroma River meets the Volga. The Trinity Cathedral keeps an interior painted from floor to vaults — it is the signature sight of the call.
The finest neoclassical trading arcades preserved in provincial Russia: a dozen colonnaded buildings raised after the 1773 fire, framing courtyards where merchants still sell embroidered linen, honey, forest berries and the famous local cheese.
A watchtower built in the 1820s, thirty-five metres tall, with classical columns and a belvedere. It is so elegant you would take it for a commemorative monument. It is the city's visual landmark.
The peasant who, by tradition, saved the first Romanov by leading an enemy troop astray in the frozen marshes. Kostroma's central esplanade carries his name, and all the fan-shaped streets converge on it.
Yes. Russian tradition makes Kostroma the home of Snegurochka, the Snow Maiden, granddaughter of Father Frost. Her residence can be visited, and the shops carry her image on dolls, lace and glass baubles.
Embroidered linen, a regional speciality, honey, forest berries and the local cheese, a point of regional pride you can taste on the spot in the trading arcades. Bring roubles in cash: foreign cards do not work.