Russian Travel Guide

The City of Yuryevets

The history of Yuryevets on the Volga River has its fair share of legends and mysteries, and it all began with a dream: In 1225 Yury II of Vladimir dreamt that he and his troops were sailing down the Volga, where they decided to stop for the night on the bank of the river - opposite the place where the town of Yuryevets would one day be located. In the dream the prince’s patron saint, Saint George the Victorious, appeared and showed him the place where he was to build a fortress. The next morning, Yury II of Vladimir set out across the river to the place that Saint George had indicated. There he found an icon of his patron saint and decided to build a city, founding Yuryevets in 1225.

Коллекция Russian Travel Guide. Природа. Московская область

MESHCHORA NATIONAL PARK. THE RENAISSANCE

The vast low-lying regions in the center of the Eastern European plains have long borne the name of Meshchyora. In prehistoric times they were part of a gigantic forested area that extended from the Bialowieza Forest in the west to the Urals in the east. In days of yore, the thick Meshchorya forest served as a sanctuary – for princes’ military retinues hiding from Mongol attacks, for runaway serfs, and for swashbuckling bandits. These lands have historically had a reputation as a deep, dark, even enchanted place, the home of myriad forest sprits: rusalki (water nymphs) and vodyanie (water sprites), leshie (forest spirits) and Solovey Razboynik (Nightingale the Robber). Today, mythological and fairy-tale characters can be seen adorning nature trails: in 1992 Meshchyora National Park was established as a protected area. The forests and swamps are being restored, bird populations tracked an...