Yelets

Introducing Yelets

Amid lovely countryside, Yelets is a relaxing town that looks like a slice out of mid-19th-century Russia. Streets are lined with colonnaded buildings and wood and brick houses, while the town's showpiece, beautiful Ascension Cathedral, is visible from kilometres around. Tucked into the town's tidy streets are another half-dozen working churches and cathedrals, as well as ruins of several more. There's also a well-stocked regional museum and a museum devoted to Soviet composer Tikhon Khrennikov.

Yelets was founded on the Sosna River in 1146 as a fortification against the Polovtsy, invaders from the east. It was sacked by Tatars three times and rebuilt in the 1500s.

If you do not require much in the way of nightlife or hotel amenities, you might consider staying here and visiting the far larger and gruffer Voronezh on a day trip.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009