Address: Russia, Kasimov
Main attractions: Church of the Annunciation, Church of the Assumption, House of the Nastavins, Trading Rows, Ascension Cathedral
Coordinates: 54 ° 56'12.0 "N 41 ° 23'28.6" E
Content:
Almost all the historical monuments of the ancient city are located in its center. The beautiful Cathedral Square houses the main cathedral church, picturesque merchant mansions and the main Kasimov museums. Getting here, tourists find themselves in a real stone fairy tale.
General view of the Cathedral (Soviet) Square
The history of the square
Initially, the city was called Gorodets Meshchersky and stood slightly lower along the Oka valley. In the XIV century, streets and houses were rebuilt in a new place. On the high bank of the river, where the Cathedral Square now stretches, there were wooden merchants' shops. Various goods were brought along the Oka to Kasimov and sold in the busiest part of the city.
For a long time, all Kasimov houses and temples were made of wood. Stone buildings in the city appeared in the XV-XVI centuries. These were mainly houses of wealthy Tatars, Muslim mosques and tombs - tekie. The first stone building in the bustling city bazaar was erected only in the middle of the 18th century.
The central part of Kasimov acquired its modern look thanks to the talented self-taught architect I.S.Gagin. The architectural ensemble of the main square was formed according to the town planning plan in the late 18th - early 19th centuries. The square and the city were connected by a straight long street, which overlooked the facades of the richest buildings of Kasimov - the mansions of the administration and private houses that belonged to the nobles and the top of the Kasimov merchants.
With the advent of the new government, the square and the street began to be called "Soviet". At the end of the 20th century, the name of the square was returned to "Sobornaya", it was decided not to rename the main street of Kasimov, but to leave "Sovetskaya".
Cathedral of the Ascension of the Lord
Kasimova architect
The cities that are part of the "Golden Ring" of Russia acquired their modern look thanks to the urban planning reforms of Empress Catherine II. At the end of the 18th century, each major city had its own chief architect. In Kasimov, this work was entrusted to Ivan Sergeevich Gagin.
Gagin was born into a merchant family and did not immediately come to architecture. Initially, he worked in the civil service, tried to do business, and even opened a crystal factory in Kovrov with his cousin. Ivan Sergeevich understood that he was not very successful in business and was very burdened by this. Already in adulthood, he decided to devote himself to architecture and worked in this field for three decades.
Kasimov stands on the high left bank of the Oka and is divided by a deep ravine. When designing new squares and buildings, I. Gagin always took into account the peculiarities of the local relief. He developed dozens of architectural projects and built up the entire central part of the city. One of his outstanding creations was the Cathedral Square. The architect worked a lot on orders of wealthy citizens and erected several representative mansions in Kasimov.
Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The architectural ensemble of the square
The main square of Kasimov is often called an open-air museum. There are six architectural monuments of federal significance on it.
In the center of the open space, there is a small Cathedral Square - a cozy shady place where it is pleasant to hide from the summer heat. From the side of Sovetskaya Street in the park there is an obelisk to the perished Bolsheviks, and in the central part you can see the foundation stone for the future monument to the traveler and Admiral Alexander Pavlovich Avinov (1786-1854).
To the east of the park rises the main temple of the local diocese - the Ascension Cathedral. It is known from old scribes that in the 16th century, when Kasimov was almost entirely made of wood, a small Ascension Church was located on the site of the cathedral.
The first stone church in Kasimov was built and consecrated in 1754, and the cathedral, which has survived to this day, appeared more than a hundred years later. The architect N.I. Voronikhin used the famous Gatchina cathedral as its prototype. During the years of Soviet power, the bell tower of the Ascension Cathedral was dismantled, and the church building was occupied by various organizations.
Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin
Today the cathedral has been almost completely restored. The one-domed temple is located at the highest point of the square and dominates the rest of the buildings. It was built of red brick and decorated with white stone inserts.
Opposite the Ascension Cathedral on Cathedral Square, there is a baroque church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, built in the 70s of the 18th century. It is located on a sloping slope and seems to "descend" to the river. Farthest from the Oka is a squat five-headed quadruple. A low refectory adjoins it, and a three-tiered bell tower rises at the closest distance to the river. Visually, it serves as a "support" and makes the complex of the Assumption Church very harmonious.
To the north-east of the Ascension Cathedral there is a small mansion, decorated with an elegant arched colonnade. The two-story building was erected simultaneously with the arrangement of Cathedral Square according to the project of I. Gagin, and before the revolution it housed the magistrate's court, the treasury and the city government.
Another old mansion stands to the west of the Cathedral Park. Before the revolution, house number 15 on Cathedral Square belonged to the zemstvo commissar F. Skornyakov. The two-storey mansion was built in the best traditions of classicism and is decorated with a picturesque columned portico. Today ordinary residents of the city live in it.
The building of the former City Council
The building in the northeast of Cathedral Square was erected in 1813 and is known as the house of the merchants Nastavnins. The two-storey mansion with a mezzanine is one of the few well-preserved urban mansions in the early classicism style. Today there are residential apartments and the Station of Young Technicians.
The southeastern corner of Cathedral Square is closed by the representative house of the Alyanchikovs, built by I. Gagin at the beginning of the 19th century. The richest merchant family Kasimov owned a beautiful three-story mansion with a belvedere, a balcony and porticoes. Today it houses the collections of the Kasimov Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve, the fund of which has more than 42 thousand items.
During a tour of the museum, tourists can get acquainted with the finds of archaeologists, the nature of the Kasimov region and the history of the Kasimov kingdom. The museum halls display rare furniture, items of folk life, things from noble estates, paintings, documents and photographs.
From the south, Cathedral Square is closed by three buildings of the Trade Rows, which were also built according to the project of I. Gagin. Long one-story buildings with columns in the Empire style look very representative and perfectly fit into the overall architectural ensemble. Unfortunately, now the old Kasimov shopping complex is not in the best condition and requires major repairs and restoration.
House of merchants Alyanchikovs now Kasimov Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve
On the side of the river, south of the Trading Rows, stands the Church of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos (18th-19th centuries). The one-domed temple-ship has a hipped bell tower and small aisles. Behind the beautiful snow-white church, there is a magnificent view of one of the most beautiful rivers in Russia - the Oka.
For everyone who comes to Kasimov by water, I. Gagin built a short Ryazan descent. In front of the entrance to the sloping street from the Embankment, there is the Water Gate or Petrovskaya Zastava. Previously, there was a sentry box near them, and the documents of those sailing along the river were checked and the cargo was inspected.The outpost was named Petrovskaya, because it was from this side that the Russian Tsar Peter I entered the city in 1695.
Nowadays, from the ancient gates, there are two Empire columns, the top of which is decorated with figured images of the Russian coat of arms. To the left and to the right of the Ryazan descent to Cathedral Square, long staircases have been laid, and the facades of old merchant estates are facing them.
House of the Zemsky Commissar F.S. Skornyakova
How to get there
Cathedral Square is located in the center of the city's historic buildings, 0.3 km from the banks of the Oka. From the bus station, located near the Moscow metro station "Shchelkovskaya", to Kasimov in 6 hours by bus. From Kasimovskaya bus station to Cathedral Square is only 1.6 km. This distance can be walked or taken by bus.
