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Ryazan is the capital of Ryazan Oblast in Central Russia, on the banks of the Oka River 196 kilometers southeast of Moscow. At the 2010 census it had about 525,000 people, making it the fourth largest city in Central Russia after Moscow, Voronezh and Yaroslavl.
The town was first mentioned in 1095 under the name Pereslavl. After the old capital of the Principality of Ryazan was razed by the Mongols in 1237, the princes later moved their seat here, and in 1778 Catherine the Great renamed the city Ryazan. Its historic heart is the kremlin on a hill above the Trubezh and Lybed rivers.
Today the Ryazan Kremlin is an open-air museum reserve with cathedrals from the 15th to the 17th century. The city is also known for the Pozhalostin Art Museum, one of the oldest in Russia, the birthplace of the scientist Ivan Pavlov, and the museum of Russia's airborne troops, and its compact old center is easy to explore on foot.
The Ryazan Kremlin is the oldest part of Ryazan, founded according to tradition in 1095 on a high hill where the Trubezh and Lybed rivers meet. Today it is an open-air museum reserve, and its earth rampart, cathedrals, bell tower and old palaces tell the story of the city.
The Assumption Cathedral in the Ryazan Kremlin was built in 1693-1699 by the architect Yakov Bukhvostov in the Naryshkin Baroque style. Its image has become a symbol of the city, and the huge church, about 28 meters high to the cornice, is covered in rare lace-like carving in white stone.
The Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ is the first stone building raised in the Ryazan Kremlin, founded in the late 14th century under Grand Prince Oleg of Ryazan as the Assumption Cathedral. Princes of Ryazan were buried here, it was renamed in 1753, and it returned to the Church in 2002.
The Archangel Cathedral in the Ryazan Kremlin is the oldest surviving church in Ryazan Oblast, built in the late 15th to early 16th century. It served as the house church of the grand princes of Ryazan and later as the burial place of 22 bishops, and it was given back to the Church in 2011.
The Church of the Holy Spirit stands in the Ryazan Kremlin on the Trubezh embankment, the only surviving building of a monastery that once stood where the Lybed meets the Trubezh. Built in 1642 by Vasily Zubov, it is crowned by two tent roofs above rows of decorative gables.
The Yesenin Monument in Ryazan stands on the high bank of the Trubezh River near the Kremlin and honors the poet Sergei Yesenin, a native of the Ryazan region. Unveiled in 1975 for his 80th birthday, the 4.4-meter bronze figure seems to rise from the earth, arms spread wide.
Pochtovaya Street is the main pedestrian and shopping street of Ryazan, laid out under the city plan of 1780 and known as the Ryazan Arbat. Merchants lined it with stone mansions, with shops below and offices above, and it is named after the post office that opened here in the late 18th century.
Lybedsky Boulevard is a pedestrian boulevard through the old center of Ryazan, running from the Central Park to the eastern side of the Kremlin. It follows the valley of the Lybed River, whose steep banks once carried the town walls, and its paths link many of the main sights of the old city.
The Pozhalostin Art Museum in Ryazan, founded in 1913, is one of the oldest art museums in Russia, with some 12,000 works from the late 15th to the 20th century. Since 1980 it has occupied a classical building, where it shows icons, Russian painting, European art and Ryazan folk crafts.
The Museum of the History of the Airborne Troops in Ryazan, opened on 28 July 1972, was the first official museum of Russia's paratroopers and is the largest. Set in a former seminary of 1816, it holds about 80,000 items, from battle banners and parachutes to the office of General Vasily Margelov.
The Pavlov Museum-Estate in Ryazan is the house where the physiologist Ivan Pavlov was born and grew up, a town estate of the early 19th century. Opened as a museum in 1946, it keeps family rooms with period furniture and a second house with displays on his scientific discoveries.
The Borisoglebsky Cathedral in Ryazan is a church built in 1686-1687 by the architect Yakov Bukhvostov on the site of older churches near the Trubezh River. From 1946 to 2002 it served as the cathedral of the Ryazan diocese, and its upper octagon is decorated with fine white stone carving.
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