Art Department

Northern European Russia


On the eastern side of the main kremlin courtyard, Muppet-style wooden dolls, lacquered wood items and embroidery briefly grab your attention before the Art Department gets down to business with some truly first-class icons and the remarkable abstract wood carvings of local artist Victor Shumilov.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Northern European Russia attractions

1. Resurrection Cathedral

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Just outside the kremlin enclosure, the amply domed 1776 Resurrection Cathedral adds photogenic foreground to kremlin views. It also houses an art gallery…

2. Bell Tower

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Climbing the 288 steps of St Sofia’s Cathedral's separate 78.5m-high, gold-topped bell tower offers breathtaking views down upon the cathedral’s grand…

3. Kremlin

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Vologda’s multidomed, attractive kremlin is the city’s historical centrepiece, a 17th-century fortified enclosure built as a church administrative centre…

4. Lace Museum

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5. Regional Studies Museum

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The natural history section has clearly benefited from the untimely demise of numerous regional species of wildlife, such as the dramatically posed…

6. St Sofia’s Cathedral

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Powerful five-domed St Sofia’s Cathedral has a soaring interior smothered with beautiful 1680s frescoes. The astonishingly tall iconostasis is filled with…

7. St John Chrysostom Church

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This attractive 17th-century church is one of Vologda's oldest constructions and contains some 200-year-old frescoes. Located on the river bank opposite…

8. World of Forgotten Things

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One of several enchanting old wooden buildings at the eastern end of ul Leningradskaya, this little museum evokes the life of a 19th-century, 17-child…