Russia - 4

Hi, Our first port after leaving Moscow was Uglich on the Volga River.  This is the view from our ship as we approached the dock.  The red church dates from about 1690 and was built to mark the spot where the youngest son, Prince Dmitri, of Ivan the Terrible died.

The main square is very large and retains many old buildings.  Fortunately, drivers are very courteous and stop for pedestrians as otherwise it would be very dangerous to cross this square.

The town had a Kremlin or fortress at one time and a number of churches were located within its walls. 

 

During our walking tour a young boy and girl in period costume appeared outside one of the churches within the Kremlin grounds.

This is the best view of our ship I could obtain.  Fifty ships were built to this plan in the mid-1970s and almost all are still in service on Russian rivers.  Our ship was completely remodeled in 2006.

The next day, while our ship was underway bridge tours were offered.  There are three stations with identical controls; one in the center of the bridge and one at each end.  These controls are on the starboard or right side of the bridge.  The controls at the ends of the bridge are used when docking or in tight places, e.g., when passing through a lock.

Our next stop was in Goritsy. where we took a tour of the monastery that dates back to 1397.

Also, there were some interesting buildings in this very small town.

En route to Kizhi Island we passed a dock where a ship was being loaded with logs. 

It seemed that there were far fewer ships on the Russian rivers as compared to the river/canal system in Belgium and Holland.  The ships, however, appeared quite a bit larger.  This appeared to be a bulk carrier.

This is an older style riverboat.

Kizhi Island hosts a museum collection of old wooden buildings and churches.

In one of the buildings artisans were working.

Hydrofoils operate along the waterways providing local transportation between towns.

This is a typical farm house.  During the winter livestock was kept upstairs in the back of the house.  A ramp on the other side of the building gave the animals access.

Hope you enjoyed the photos.