Alexandrovskaya Sloboda

In December 1564 Ivan IV left Moscow with his household and treasury, went to Alexandrovskaya Sloboda, and sent word that he was abdicating - a manoeuvre that produced a delegation begging him to return and gave him the leverage to impose the oprichnina, the parallel administration and its terror, on his own terms. He then governed from here for seventeen years rather than from Moscow, which makes this the de facto capital of Russia in that period. The Trinity cathedral of 1513 stands at the centre with two sets of sixteenth-century plundered bronze doors brought from Novgorod and Tver, and around it are the Intercession church with rare surviving painted vaults, the bell tower, cellars and chambers. A convent was established in the seventeenth century and shares the site today. The museum covers the period without softening what the oprichnina was.

History

Alexandrovskaya Sloboda was founded in the mid-14th century, and from December 1564 to February 1565 it served as the capital of Russia under Ivan the Terrible, who agreed to return his court to Moscow only after the church allowed him to found the Oprichnina. The settlement was granted town status in 1778 as Alexandrov (Wikipedia, Alexandrov, Vladimir Oblast).

Highlights

• The 1513 cathedral - the Trinity, with plundered bronze doors from Novgorod and Tver.
• The seventeen years - the residence Ivan IV governed the country from after 1564.
• The painted vaults - rare sixteenth-century decoration in the Intercession church.
• The shared site - a museum and a working convent occupying the same walls.

When to go

May to September. Two to three hours. Two hours by suburban train from Moscow.

Before you go

The site is shared between museum and convent, and access to parts is restricted by the latter. Alexandrov itself is a plain industrial town. The history here is grim and the museum does not dress it up. Some buildings closed for restoration.

Nearby

Sergiev Posad is west; Pereslavl-Zalessky is north-west.

Key facts