KOSTROMA

The Church of the Resurrection in Kostroma in the northern part of European Russia was built in the 1650s and demonstrates the exuberant decoration of the exterior characteristic of its period. However, in spite of the dramatic exterior, the church is noted primarily for its interior wall paintings.

This color photograph was produced from plates left by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863-1944). This photograph was taken in 1910! This is a working church and looks pretty  much the same today.

Blue skies over silver waters, a small boat with sails fluttering in the wind...This picture denotes the emblem of Kostroma. In olden times Kostroma was known as "the flax capital of the north": it supplied Western Europe with the world's finest sail-cloth. Situated at the meeting of two rivers, the Kostroma and the Volga, Kostroma is a jewel. The oldest building in the town is the cathedral of the Monastery of Epiphany and was built in 1565. The pride of Kostroma is the museum at the former Ipatyevsky Monastery which played a part in almost every important event of the town's history. The monastery itself was founded in the fourteenth century. by the Zernov family of feudal lords, who were the forbearers of the Gudonovs. The stone walls and the fortress were erected during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Today Kostroma is the only city in Russia which has retained the layout formed in its central part during the eighteenth century. Not far from Ipatyevsky Monastery is a reconstructed wooden village depicting the life of old rural Russia. Russians built (and still build) log cabin style buildings which are notable for the complete absence of nails.