Uglich
Encyclopedia
Yaroslavl Oblast
Yaroslavl Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , which is located in the Central Federal District, surrounded by Tver, Moscow, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kostroma, and Vologda Oblasts. This geographic location affords the oblast the advantages of proximity to Moscow and St. Petersburg...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, which stands on the Volga River
Volga River
The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...
. Population:
A local tradition dates the town's origins to 937. It was first documented in 1148 as Ugliche Pole (Corner Field). The town's name is thought to allude to the nearby turn in the Volga River.
Uglich had been the seat of a small princedom from 1218 until 1328 when the local princes sold their rights to the great prince of Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. As a border town of Muscovy, it was burnt several times by Lithuanians
Lithuanians
Lithuanians are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,765,600 people. Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland. Their native language...
, Tatars
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
and the grand prince of Tver
Tver
Tver is a city and the administrative center of Tver Oblast, Russia. Population: 403,726 ; 408,903 ;...
.
Grand Duke Ivan III of Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
gave the town to his younger brother Andrei Bolshoi in 1462. During Andrei's reign the town was expanded and first stone buildings were constructed. Particularly notable were the cathedral (rebuilt in 1713), the Intercession
Intercession
Intercession is the act of interceding between two parties. In both Christian and Islamic religious usage, it is a prayer to God on behalf of others....
Monastery (destroyed by the Bolsheviks) and the red-brick palace of the prince (completed in 1481 and still standing).
During the reign of Ivan the Terrible the town passed to his only brother, Yury
Yuri Vasilevich (son of Vasili IIl)
Yuri Vasilievich of the House of Rurik, was Prince of Uglich, and the second son of Vasily III of Russia and Elena Glinskaya, as well as being the younger brother of Ivan the Terrible...
. Local inhabitants helped the Tsar capture Kazan
Kazan
Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...
by building a wooden fortress which was transported by the Volga all the way to Kazan. Throughout the 16th century Uglich prospered both politically and economically, but thereafter its fortunes began to decline.
After Ivan's death, his youngest son Dmitry Ivanovich was banished to Uglich in 1584. The most famous event in the town's history took place on May 15, 1591 when the 10-year old boy was found dead with his throat cut in the palace courtyard. Suspicion immediately fell on the tsar's chief advisor, Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov
Boris Fyodorovich Godunov was de facto regent of Russia from c. 1585 to 1598 and then the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. The end of his reign saw Russia descend into the Time of Troubles.-Early years:...
. Official investigators concluded however that Dimitriy's death was an accident. They cut a "tongue" from the cathedral bell that rung the news of Dimitriy's death and "exiled" it to Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
.
As Dimitry was the last scion of the ancient Rurik dynasty
Rurik Dynasty
The Rurik dynasty or Rurikids was a dynasty founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who established himself in Novgorod around the year 862 AD...
, his death precipitated the dynastic and political crisis known as the Time of Troubles
Time of Troubles
The Time of Troubles was a period of Russian history comprising the years of interregnum between the death of the last Russian Tsar of the Rurik Dynasty, Feodor Ivanovich, in 1598, and the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613. In 1601-1603, Russia suffered a famine that killed one-third...
. People readily believed that Dimitriy was alive and supported several False Dmitriys (see False Dmitriy I
False Dmitriy I
False Dmitriy I was the Tsar of Russia from 21 July 1605 until his death on 17 May 1606 under the name of Dimitriy Ioannovich . He is sometimes referred to under the usurped title of Dmitriy II...
, False Dmitriy II, False Dmitriy III) who tried to grab the Muscovite throne. During the Time of Troubles, the Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
besieged the Alexeievsky and Uleima monasteries and burned them down killing all the populace who had sought refuge inside.
The Romanov
Romanov
The House of Romanov was the second and last imperial dynasty to rule over Russia, reigning from 1613 until the February Revolution abolished the crown in 1917...
Tsars made it their priority to canonize the martyred tsarevich and to turn Uglich into a place of pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
. On the spot where Dimitriy had been murdered the city in 1690 built the small but lovely Church of St Demetrios on the Blood, which appears on the horizon with its red walls and blue domes as one sails north on the Volga. The palace where the prince lived was turned into a museum. The image of tsarevich with a knife in his hand was adopted as the town's emblem
Emblem
An emblem is a pictorial image, abstract or representational, that epitomizes a concept — e.g., a moral truth, or an allegory — or that represents a person, such as a king or saint.-Distinction: emblem and symbol:...
.
In the first third of the 18th century the kremlin
Kremlin
A kremlin , same root as in kremen is a major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the best-known one, the Moscow Kremlin, or metonymically to the government that is based there...
cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
and its remarkable bell-tower were demolished and rebuilt. Other 18th-century landmarks include the Smolenskaya, Korsunskaya, Kazanskaya and Bogoyavlenskaya churches. The most important edifice of the 19th century is the ponderous cathedral of the Theophany
Epiphany (Christian)
Epiphany, or Theophany, meaning "vision of God",...
Convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
, consecrated in 1853.
The modern town did have a famous watch manufacturing plant now closed (see Chaika watches
Chaika watches
Chaika watches are a women's brand made in the Soviet Union and Russia. The factory making Chaika watches was founded in 1940 as Volga in the city of Uglich for the production of precision technical stones and watch jewels...
), a railway station, and a hydroelectric power station. In November 2008 was opened a new Nexans
Nexans
Nexans S.A. is a French company which manufactures copper and optical fiber cable products for the infrastructure, industrial and construction markets. It is the world's largest manufacturer of cables. It has an industrial presence in nearly 40 countries, over 23,000 employees and sales of around...
cable mill. Actually, Stalin's decision to create the Uglich Reservoir
Uglich Reservoir
Uglich Reservoir or Uglichskoye Reservoir is an artificial lake in the upper part of the Volga River formed by a hydroelectric dam built in 1939 in the town of Uglich. It is located in Tver and Yaroslavl Oblasts in central Russia....
led to severe flooding of the town's outskirts. Apart from the kremlin, the city centre features other nice samples of old Russian architecture. Particularly notable are the Alexeievsky and Resurrection monasteries.
The Assumption three-tented church (1628) of the Alexeievsky monastery is considered a true gem of Russian medieval architecture. "Marvelous" is an epithet that common people gave to their church and which became a part of its official name. Located nearby is the more conventional Church of St. John the Baptist (1681).
Closer to the bank of the Volga one may see the Resurrection Monastery with its huge cathedral, refectory
Refectory
A refectory is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries...
, belfry and summer church. All these buildings stand in a row and date back to 1674-77. Opposite the monastery is the graceful Church of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist
Nativity of St. John the Baptist
The Nativity of St. John the Baptist is a Christian feast day celebrating the birth of John the Baptist, a prophet who foretold the coming of the Messiah in the person of Jesus and who baptized Jesus.-Significance:Christians have long interpreted the life of John the Baptist as a preparation for...
. It was built in 1689-90 by a local merchant to commemorate the spot where his son had drowned.
More old architecture may be seen in the vicinity of Uglich, including the 17th-century Uleima Monastery and a fine church in Divnogorie.