Kirov is a Russian metropolis located on the Vyatka River and is the capital of the Kirov Oblast region. The city is known as Vyatka in 1374, and at that time, like other cities in the North Russian area, it was governed by a people’s assembly. Throughout the following century, troops from Vyatka attacked other cities in the region and along the Volga, and during the 15th-century civil war in Moscow, the city supported Yuri of Zvenigorod, who unfortunately became the losing side for Vyatka. The victorious Vasili II then sent troops to Vyatka, which came under Moscow rule with some autonomy. In 1489, the city was finally annexed.

By then, the town’s name had changed to Khlynov, and over the centuries the town became known for pottery, which is still the case. In 1780, Catherine the Great changed the city’s name to Vyatka, and she made it the capital of the newly established Vyatka Governorate. From the end of the 19th century, the city was connected to large parts of Russia as a station on the Trans-Siberian Railway. After the Russian Revolution, Vyatka became part of the Soviet Union, and in 1934 it changed its name again.

It happened after the assassination of Bolshevik Sergei Kirov, and since then the city has been called Kirov. At the beginning of the 20th century, approximately 25,000 people lived in the city, which today has over 500,000 inhabitants.

There are many things to see in Kirov, and you can start a stroll in the center at Teatralnaya Ploshad square. Here stands the city’s monument to the head of state Lenin, and behind him is the Kirov Oblast’s administration building, which was completed in 1949. To the north of the square, you can see the Kirov Drama Theatre, which with its classicist facade was built in the years 1935-1939. To the south you can visit the Kirov Regional Art Museum, which is housed in an old mansion building from 1815 and in a modern extension from 1992. At the museum you can enjoy a fine collection of paintings, graphics, sculptures, handicrafts, folk art, etc.

From Teatralnaya Ploshad you can go east along Moskovskaya ul. in the direction of the Vyatka River. On the way, you can see the Savior’s Cathedral, which was built in the years 1764-1767 on the same site as previous church buildings and precisely where a miracle allegedly happened in 1645. The miraculous icon of the Savior was then brought in procession to Moscow, where the Kremlin’s Saviour’s Tower was named after it.

At the end of Moskovskaya ul. you can see a memorial monument for fallen soldiers with an eternal flame, and north of this you can take a nice walk in the Alexander Garden, which was created as a city park after Tsar Alexander I’s visit to the city in 1825. From the garden’s southern entrance gate, you can enjoy a walk in the park and go to the rotunda, from where there is an excellent view of Vyarka.

A little south of Moskovskaya ul. you can see the beautiful Trifonov Monastery of the Assumption, which is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, and which is one of Kirov’s best-known attractions. The monastery is beautifully situated in green surroundings close to the Vyatka River and was founded in 1580 by the monk Trifon.

The central building in the monastery is the Ascension Cathedral from 1684-1689, which is Kirov’s oldest preserved construction. In addition to the cathedral, you can see three other churches on the monastery grounds. These are Nikolskaya Cherkov from 1692-1695, Trokhsvyatitelskaya Cherkov from 1711-1717 and the Church of the Annunciation from 1728. Together with the other monastery buildings, the churches form a fine building ensemble.