Plyos

Plyos is a town of around eighteen hundred people on the high right bank of the Volga, wooden and low, climbing a hillside above the water with a church on top of Cathedral Hill and birch woods around. Isaac Levitan came here by chance in 1888, having spotted the place from a steamer, and stayed three summers; the paintings he made - Evening Bells, Golden Plyos, After the Rain, Above Eternal Peace - are among the central works of Russian landscape painting and made the town's name. The house he lodged in is a museum. What is unusual is how little has changed: the town was never industrialised, the wooden houses stand, the views he painted are recognisable from the same spots, and the hillside is protected. It is a Volga cruise stop and a weekend destination from Moscow, which has brought money, restored houses and prices well above the region.

The main sights

• The Levitan views - hillside and river scenes recognisable from his 1888 to 1890 paintings.
• The wooden town - low timber houses climbing above the Volga, largely unaltered.
• The Levitan house - his lodging, now a museum.
• Cathedral Hill - the church and viewpoint above the town.

When to go

May to September; autumn colour on the hillside is what Levitan painted best. A day or an overnight. Cruise-ship days are busiest.

Good to know

Very small - a couple of hours covers the town. Prices for food and rooms are high for the region because of the weekend trade from Moscow. Cruise arrivals fill it in bursts. Limited public transport; a car is easiest.

Nearby

Kostroma is downstream; Ivanovo is south.