Quick search
CTRL+K
Quick search
CTRL+K
Archangel or Arkhangelsk is one of the largest cities in northern Russia, and it is the capital of Archangel Oblast. The city’s history dates to the 12th century, when emissaries from Novgorod established a monastery dedicated to the Archangel Michael at the mouth of the river Dvina. In 1478 the area came under the Principality of Moscow, and in 1555 Tsar Ivan IV granted trade privileges to English merchants and the contemporary Muscovy Company.
From 1583, a harbor and a castle were established at the old monastery, and the year is considered the foundation of Archangel. However, the name only came about in 1613, and throughout the 17th century the town flourished due to the trade with England. Trading houses, a shipyard and a larger harbor were built in the town, which was further fortified at the beginning of the 18th century.
With the construction of Saint Petersburg, Archangel’s role as the country’s most important port city was returning but decline struck later in the 18th century. The following century again brought growth and new trade with e.g. timber, which became an important commodity for Archangel. In the world wars of the 20th century, the port of Archangel was of great importance for supplies to the Soviet Union.
The center of the city is Ploshad Lenina (площадь Ленина), which is a square where you can see Archangel‘s monument to the Soviet leader Lenin. The monument was unveiled in 1988 and was the last major Soviet-era statue of Lenin erected in the country. Behind Lenin stands the building that houses the Archangel Regional Assembly.
Ploshad Lenina is not far from the banks of the Northern Dvina, which empties into the Dvina Bay north of Archangel. There is a nice promenade along the river, and on its central part you can see the stele and the monument Mys Pur-Navolok (Мыс Пур-Наволок), which was erected in memory of the former fortress, that was established in 1584 by order of Tsar Ivan IV.
Between the river and Ploshad Lenina, you can visit Archangel Regional Museum (Архангельский краеведческий музей), where you can learn more about the history of the city and the region. The museum building is worth noticing, as it was built as a combined trading post and defense facility in the latter half of the 17th century, when more than half of Russia’s foreign trade went through Archangel.
If you walk along the river promenade in a southeasterly direction, you will come to a statue of Peter the Great and the Archangel Drama Theater (Архангельский театр драмы), which in its original version was built in 1929-1931 from building material from the city’s Orthodox Cathedral, which had been torn down. This part of the city also houses the Northern Maritime Museum (Северный морской музей) and the Museum of Artistic Exploration of the Arctic (Музей художестноного освоения Арктики).
You can see several churches in the city as well, where the beautiful Archangel Michael Cathedral (Михаило-Архангельский собор) stands along the Northern Dvina. The cathedral is the Orthodox cathedral of the diocese and was originally built in 1685-1689 but demolished by the Soviet authorities in 1930. The current and beautifully decorated cathedral was consecrated in 2022.
You can also choose to enjoy some strolls in Archangel, where the contrasts between new and old are clear. One of the best places to experience it is on the street Prospect Tyumbarova-Luchinskogo (проспект Чумбарова-Лучинского), located in the city center as an open-air museum. In the pedestrian street are rows of houses from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, which have been moved here to show the northern architecture from that time.
Malye Korely or Little Karelia is an open-air museum where you can experience the traditional architecture of the Arkhangelsk area. The museum and the buildings in the area are a piece of equipment in wooden buildings from the 17th century and the following centuries, and the buildings have been moved here from other places in the region.
The museum was established in 1964 and opened in 1973. Over the years, several different sectors have been established where you can look at varied styles and regions. In the beautiful area you can see, among other things, old churches and bell towers, farmhouses, barns, a windmill and a bath house.
The museum area is structured so that you can stroll around between the four sectors, each of which represents its own geographical area with buildings. The sectors are respectively Kargopol-Onega (Каргопольско-Онежский сектор), Dvina (Двинской сектор), Mezen (Мезенский сектор) and Pinega (Пинежский сектор).
Novodvinsk Fortress is a complex of fortifications north of the city of Arkhangelsk in the delta of the Northern Dvina. The facility is located on the island of Linskij Priluk (Линский Прилук), which in its time was strategically well located at the entrance to Arkhangelsk. It was Tsar Peter the Great who founded the fortress in 1701 as a defense against an expected attack on the city by the Swedes.
It was the German engineer Georg-Erst Rese who designed the significant facility. He came to Arkhangelsk in 1701 and immediately started construction, which lasted until 1714. The Novodvinsk fortress was considered one of the best fortresses in Russia. It included a citadel with four bastions and a series of outer fortifications.
Inside the citadel, several buildings were built to accommodate, among other things, the commander, leading officers and others from the fortress’s staff. There were also powder magazines, barracks buildings, military ammunition stores, a tower with a flagpole for hoisting the fortress flag and a wooden church that stood on the central parade ground.
On June 25, 1701, Sweden attacked Arkhangelsk from exactly where Peter the Great had predicted it, and it came to a battle at the fortress that was only being built. The Swedes had to retreat, and the Russian victory meant that Russia captured two Swedish ships with weapons and ammunition.
Today you can visit the fortress area, where parts have been preserved in relatively good condition to form a good impression of the historically important defensive position. You can also enjoy the trip to the fortress from Arkhangelsk and enjoy the beautiful view of the Northern Dvina and imagine the historic Russian victory over the Swedes.
Severodvinsk is a city located in the river delta of the Northern Dvina as a strategically important city in Russia. Despite the city’s considerable size, Severodvinsk is a relatively new city. It was founded as the settlement of Sudostroj (Судострой) in 1936, and between 1938 and 1957 it was called Molotovsk (Молотовск) before getting its current name.
However, Nikolo-Korelskij Monastery (Николо-Корельский Монастырь) was already here from the 15th century, and the monastery flourished over the centuries, where, among other things, a lot of trade came through the local port from the British trading company The Muscovy Company. The monastery is still located in the streets of Severodvinsk with its remarkable monastery church from 1670-1674.
During the Soviet era, the settlement formally achieved the status of a city, and thereafter development progressed rapidly. The city was, for example, developed as a shipyard for some of the world’s largest submarines, and the city’s population increased explosively from approximately 21,000 in 1939 to a peak of over 250,000 in 1990.
The center of the city is around Ploshad Pobedy Square (площадь Победы), where the city’s most important statue of Lenin stands. The main streets Prospekt Lenina (Проспект Ленина) and Ulitsa Sovetskaja (ул. советская) emanate from the square. In the northern part of the city is the old Nikolo-Korelsky Monastery, and further in the same direction are the northern quarters of the city, with sandy beaches that lie out to the Dvina Bay.
Archangel, Russia[/caption]
Overview of Archangel
Archangel or Arkhangelsk is one of the largest cities in northern Russia, and it is the capital of Archangel Oblast. The city’s history dates to the 12th century, when emissaries from Novgorod established a monastery dedicated to Michael at the mouth of the river Dvina. In 1478 the area came under the Principality of Moscow, and in 1555 Tsar Ivan IV granted trade privileges to English merchants and the contemporary Muscovy Company.
Contents: Tours in the city + tours in the surrounding area
Published: Released soon
Author: Stig Albeck
Publisher: Vamados.com
Language: English
About the travel guide
The Archangel travel guide gives you an overview of the sights and activities of the Russian city. Read about top sights and other sights, and get a tour guide with tour suggestions and detailed descriptions of all the city’s most important churches, monuments, mansions, museums, etc.
Archangel is waiting for you, and at vamados.com you can also find cheap flights and great deals on hotels for your trip. You just select your travel dates and then you get flight and accommodation suggestions in and around the city.
Read more about Archangel and Russia
Russia Travel Guide: https://vamados.com/russia
City tourism: https://visitarch-angel.ru
Main Page: https://www.vamados.com/
Buy the travel guide
Click the “Add to Cart” button to purchase the travel guide. After that you will come to the payment, where you enter the purchase and payment information. Upon payment of the travel guide, you will immediately receive a receipt with a link to download your purchase. You can download the travel guide immediately or use the download link in the email later.
Use the travel guide
When you buy the travel guide to Archangel you get the book online so you can have it on your phone, tablet or computer – and of course you can choose to print it. Use the maps and tour suggestions and you will have a good and content-rich journey.
Similar to Archangel Travel Guide
