Yaroslavl: A Millennium of History, Icons, and Theater

1. The Pride of Russia Yaroslavl is an ancient town, so it has a very interesting history. The city is located on the bank of the river Volga. A thousand year ago in a thick forestthere was a settlement “Bears’ Log” . There lived a tribe of hunters. Their patron was a sacred bear. Only prince Yaroslav the Wise was able to win a victory over the bear with the help of his pole- axe. On the second of August, on the day of the duel of the prince with a bear, a wooden cross was put on the place of the first church of the city. This church was named in the honor of Elijah the Prophet. Then they started to build the walls of the fortress. The events of the beginning of the 17th century were called the Time of Troubles. Yaroslavl became a place of gathering of the detachments of militia for the liberation of the Russian capital. During the siege of the city defenders were in a very difficult position. In the memory of the victory Kazan Monastery was founded. Yaroslavl icons are well-known all over the world. 40 stone churches were built in the “gold” 17th century in Yaroslavl. They needed paintings. Thanks to this, special schools of icon painting appeared in the town. A great event in the history of Russian culture is a foundation in Yaroslavl the first public, national theatre. The honor of creating a theatre belongs to Fedor Volkov. His performances impressed the capital and he decided to organize his own theatre in Yaroslavl. The first theatre show was held on June 29, 1750. All the roles in the theater were played by men. Later a new building appeared. But time went by and the new names of glorified our city: the poet Nikolai Alekseyevich Nekrasov, Pavel Grigoriyevich Demidov, the first woman-cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova. But this is only the beginning, because our city is such young: it's only 1000 years old...