One day in Kolomna
Kolomna is a small city not far from Moscow (116 km or 2,5 h by train). It is an ancient city, which still looks half-village, half-town. Recently it celebrated its 840th birthday. Like some other old Russian cities, it has its own Kremlin. In the 16th century the infamous Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible used to have his palace right there! Inside tip for anybody visiting Kolomna: The entrance to the Kremlin is free!
Go to the Old City
Start your excursion in Lazhechnikova Street. Here you will find a lot of touristic attractions and souvenir shops. Take a look at exhibitions in the gallery of modern art called “Liga”. At the end of the street, there are several buildings (numbers 13a, 15a, and 15) that were a private estate of the bread merchant Duhinov in the 19th century, and later on a gymnasium for girls. Now it’s a Museum of Regional Studies, which you can visit.
If you leave the Museum of Regional Studies and turn right from Lazhechnikova Street, take Lazareva street, and soon you will be at the Cathedral square. This is the main square – beautiful and peaceful. You’ll see Uspensky Cathedral, the oldest cathedral in Kolomna, Tichvin church and Novo-Golutvin monastery on the square. The fact that they have a camel and pheasants in the monastery gives it extra credit.
SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES
We still wonder how different the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets are. People who are believed to invent the origins on a Slavic alphabet are remembered in Kolomna. The statue of Saints Cyril and Methodius is right in the center of the city. The way out (and originally, the way in) from the main square to the residential area goes through Pyatnitskye Gates, also known as Spasskiye Gates. Turn left-and hap on a line of people, standing and patiently waiting for a delicious kalach.
How to get to Kolomna?
Either by car or by a regional train from Kursky train station. There are quite comfortable express-train and not-upgraded “dacha” trains. People use them to travel to/from dachas and the nearest villages.
Where to eat in Kolomna?
We recommend the stylish art-café “Nameki”. The café was designed by the artist Vitaly Hitrov. It’s open every day from 12 pm to 12 am. You can choose a wide range of European and Asian dishes. Address: Lazhechnikova St., 5.
To have a tea break, go to the Kalach-museum (Zaitzeva St 14). Firstly, if you make an appointment beforehand (by phone), you can visit the museum and listen to the history of artisan Russian bread for the wealthy people and eat a real fresh kalach after the tour. Secondly, in the same building, they have two small kiosks with delicious buns and kalachi with pate inside.
If you have a sweet tooth, then Kolomna Pastila Museum ( Posadskaya St. 13a) or a nearby café, nicely hidden in the bushes, is where you need to go. To visit the museum and drink tea with sweets there, don’t forget to call them in advance and reserve a table! People adore sweets and there are long lines near this museum. The entrance fee to the performance with pastila tasting is 300 rubles. Kolomna produces tons of pastila: apple pastila, pastila with pears, lemons, chocolate, strawberries, and even a special type of pastila to fight hangover. If you wonder what it’s like, it reminds you of marshmallows or Turkish delight but less sugary.
The author of this post is Natalia Motorina from the ExploRussia team, who never leaves out an opportunity to travel. She goes somewhere literally every weekend. In our team, she is responsible for our tailor-made trips for our travellers. Maybe that’s why her routes are so inspiring and full of interesting places!
Want to explore Russia on your way to St Petersburg? Read about Veliky Novgorod!
Want to explore Russian north? Read our article about Murmansk!