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Sights of the region

Gorodets

One of the most beautiful and ancient cities of the Nizhny Novgorod region, and easy to reach by car, bus, and by the fast Valdai hydrofoil, Gorodets makes for an ideal weekend trip. Quiet streets, merchants’ mansions and wooden houses with carved architraves, a vast number of museums, and a real "city of craftsmen", famous for its folk crafts.

A FEW FACTS ABOUT GORODETS

A folk crafts centre

The development of Gorodets has always centred around folk crafts, and it was even nicknamed the City of Craftsmen, with its residents engaged in weaving, embroidery, pottery, and carving gingerbread boards, and the most popular craft to this day is the famous Gorodetsky painting.

The last refuge of Alexander Nevsky

According to legend, it was in Gorodets, at the Feodorovsky monastery, that Alexander Nevsky died, having taken monastic vows before his death.

Museum City

It is no accident that Gorodets is called the city of museums and the "open-air museum". The only Museum Quarter in the Nizhny Novgorod region is located here, combining several streets of the historical centre, preserving the atmosphere of a 19th century merchant village.

Gorodets gingerbread

Gingerbread is the trademark of Gorodets! This sweet delicacy of the city is also one of its oldest. Gorodets gingerbread did not go stale or spoil for months, and was very highly prized. The gingerbread was sold at the Nizhny Novgorod fair, from where it was transported all across Russia.

The region’s oldest museum

The Gorodets Museum of Local Folklore is one of the oldest museums in the Nizhny Novgorod region. It was founded almost immediately after the revolution, at a difficult and crucial time. Initially, the museum exhibition was opened in one of the rooms of the People's House, but since 1920 the museum has operated as an independent institution, and is located in the mansion of the merchant Oblaev.

WHAT TO DO IN THE CITY

Take a walk around the Museum Quarter

There are seven museums for every taste on three streets. In the house of Countess Panina you can explore a unique library of old printed manuscripts, and hire a Russian costume to take spectacular photos. In the Gorodets on the Volga museum you can feel like a real Volga boatman, throwing the strap over your shoulder and tightening the "cudgel", while in the Terem of the Russian Samovar you can appreciate one of the world's largest collections of samovars, and in the Gallery of Goodness you will be told how to arrange your personal life with the help of an ordinary spoon, and much, much more. It will be interesting for both children and adults, but don't try to get around everything at once - it's far better to come back to Gorodets again and again.

Try your hand at one of the City of Masters’ masterclasses

Have a go at carving a whistle, drawing traditional Gorodetsky painting patterns, or baking a gingerbread. If you look at the towers of the City of Craftsmen from the outside, you can see that they are all decorated with hollow wooden house carvings, popular in Gorodets from the beginning of the 19th century to the turn of the 20th. Try to find as many as 14 carved lions on the facade!

Be sure to try the gingerbread

This is the main local specialty, they just won't let you out of here without trying a local gingerbread. There are a great many types of them, and they can be stored for a long time, but they are distinctive in that they are glazed from all sides: Tula gingerbread, for example, is covered with glaze only from above. You can buy gingerbread in the Gingerbread Artel of the Suvorovs, in fact gingerbread is sold here wherever you look, and if you want to have a more substantial snack that’s tasty and not too expensive, then go to Blinolyubov, a tiny place with a huge selection of hearty pancakes, "bombastic noodles", and waffles with salted caramel and coffee beans.

Climb Gorodetsky Val

Gorodets is a great place for a walk, with all the nature and fresh air, so be sure to climb up Gorodetsky Val, an outstanding monument to the art of Russian military engineering in the 12th and 13th centuries. It is well preserved along its eastern section, with a length of around one and a half kilometres, where you can climb and walk along a beautiful path and embrace 200-year-old pine trees. It is also good to walk around the Cheremonov swamp, to relax on a bench, or take a trip on a catamaran.

Grab yourself a vintage souvenir

You can buy a souvenir, for example, in the Gorodetskaya Starina antique shop in the grounds of the Petelin estate. Apart from the Soviet porcelain, badges costing 100 rubles, and icons, you can also find old platbands, for which Gorodets is so famous, or something featuring the legendary Gorodetsky painting.

Pay a visit to the art spaces

In the Molot art space, you can stumble upon the works of Gorodetsky street artists, sit in a cafe lovingly furnished with antique finds, and maybe even go to a party, which are held here regularly. If you would prefer a more relaxing way to spend your leisure time, then take yourself to the Lion and Cherry cultural centre, where a variety of masterclasses, lectures and tea parties are held. The centre also works as a folk costume showroom, where you can try on or order things from local craftsmen, including items with handmade gold embroidery.

Try the gingerbread meat

If mere gingerbread is not enough for you, then try a real delicacy: gingerbread meat in the restaurant at the Rublev hotel.

Visit the Kurtsevo Cheese Factory

Take a taxi or car from Gorodets to the village of Kurtsevo, where the famous cheese factory is located (cheeses from here are sold in almost all shops) and the equestrian sports club of the same name. In order to get better acquainted with the assortment, go to a cheese tasting, where you will definitely try the bestsellers — gorgonzola Piccante and classic chevre with the aroma of freshly mown grass, and then arrange a photo shoot with horses or sign up for a trial riding lesson. Unity with nature is guaranteed.

WHERE TO GO AND WHAT TO SEE

The Alexander Nevsky Museum

Gorodets, 1 Alexander Nevsky St.

The town’s newest museum, located in the Museum Quarter, but distinguished by its multimedia technologies.

The Feodorovsky Monastery

Gorodets, 34 Proletarian Square

A 12th century monastery where, according to legend, Alexander Nevsky died, and monk Prokhor, an associate of Andrei Rublev, served.

Monument to the Merchants of Russia

Gorodets, 2 Kirov St.

The first and only monument in the country dedicated to the merchant class.

The Holy Lake

Gorodets, Dmitry Maslov St.

Previously known as the "Ryazan swamp", located at the foot of Gorodetsky Val, around which swirl many legends mentioning the sunken church.

The Gorodetsky Museum of Local Folklore

Gorodets, 11 Lenin St.

One of the oldest museums in the Nizhny Novgorod region, which was founded almost immediately after the revolution.

The Nikola Klyuch holy spring

Beloglazovo Village

A specially protected area and a place of pilgrimage, the water of the spring is considered to have healing properties.

Church of the Holy Archangel Michael

Gorodets,16 Zagorodnaya St.

The oldest temple in Gorodets, and the tomb of the Gorodets princes.

Gorodetsky Val

Gorodets, intersection of Maslova St. and Zagorodnaya St.

An outstanding monument to the art of Russian military engineering art in the 12th and 13th centuries with a beautiful walking area.

Cheremonovo swamp

Gorodets, 4 Krasnogvardeyskaya St.

A great place to relax on a hot day in the shade of the overhanging willows.

The Humpback Bridge

Gorodets, 13 Revolution Embankment

From the middle of the bridge there is an incredible view of the Volga, which is popular with artists.

The City of Craftsmen

Gorodets, 1 Yuri Dolgoruky Embankment

A complex of wooden structures dedicated to the history of wooden architecture, with a huge number of masterclasses available.

Gorodetskaya Starina

Gorodets, 2A Lenin St.

An antique shop with wonderful souvenirs by which to remember your trip.

The Gorodetskaya Painting Workshop

Gorodets, 61 Embankment St.

A museum dedicated to the famous craft of Gorodetsky Painting, with an icon painting workshop and a tour of the factory with a masterclass all in one trip.

Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Gorodets, 33 Proletarskaya St.

A 19th century church built through private donations to mark the victory in the war of 1812. One of the church’s shrines is a cross inside a tree trunk.

The House of Countess Panina

Gorodets, 16 Andrei Rublev St.

The atmosphere of the 19th century and the charm of an old manor house, with a music room and antique gramophones.

The Gorodetsky Gingerbread Museum

Gorodets, 2 Lenin St.

A museum where you can learn all about gingerbread, take part in a masterclass, and buy a gingerbread as a souvenir.

The Gorodets on the Volga Museum

Gorodets, 9 Lenin St.

A museum dedicated to shipbuilding and the entrepreneurial activities of merchants, where you can try yourself in the role of a Volga boatman.

The Gorodets Culture and Recreation Park

Entrance from 22 Proletarskaya St.

A cosy and comfortable park in the city centre, with a children’s playground and leafy alleys.

Yuri Dolgoruky Embankment

Gorodets, Yuri Dolgoruky Embankment St.

It is here that the ships and the Valdai hydrofoils dock and depart.

Lapshina Manor

Gorodets, 5 Revolution Embankment

This high-ranking merchant’s palace on the high Volga coast is an example of eclecticism with features of classicism.

Merchant Malekhonov's estate

Gorodets, 133 Maxim Gorky St.

A manor in the style of academic eclecticism, the interior of which has been preserved.

Merchant Krasavin's house

Gorodets, 11 Revolution Embankment

The house has a rich decor, with carved platbands with floral ornaments.

How to get there

By car

Leave Nizhny Novgorod along highway 22P-0159 in the direction of Kirov, then before reaching the village of Ulyanovo, take highway 22K-0022. The distance to Gorodets by car is 59 km.

Travel time

~1 hour

By bus

You can travel to Gorodets by bus from the Kanavinsky bus station, which offers bus services to Gorodets bus station.

Travel time

1.5 hours

Departure time

1.5 hours

Fare

331 ₽