The kremlin in an hour

⏱ 1 h 15 min🚶 1.5 km🍽 1📍 5 stops

🐢 A little — under 3 km

The essentials of the kremlin in just over an hour: the Dmitrovskaya Tower, Minin's tomb, military equipment by the Eternal Flame, the view from the Chkalov Stairs — and coffee at the end.

🏛 History and architecture

🗺 Open in Yandex Maps

1
🏛 Minin and Pozharsky Square
пл. Минина и Пожарского
The city's main square by the Dmitrovskaya Tower of the kremlin: Bolshaya Pokrovskaya, Verkhne-Volzhskaya Embankment and Zelensky Descent all branch off from here.
Enter the kremlin through the arch of the Dmitrovskaya Tower: the grounds are open from 6:00 to 22:00, free entry.
📖 More about the placeCollapse
© Алексей Трефилов · CC BY-SA 4.0
- The square used to be called Verkhnebazarnaya: it was the center of the Upper Posad, where overland trade routes met.
- It is named after Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, who raised the 1611–1612 militia in Nizhny.
- The copy of the Minin and Pozharsky monument from Red Square stands not here but under the kremlin walls, on People's Unity Square.
- On the square are Minin University, the Chkalov monument and the city's first fountain.
- The square is open to traffic: it is closed to cars only on public holidays.
🚶 on foot
2
🏛 Cathedral of the Archangel Michael
Кремль, 2А
The oldest church in the city — a 17th-century tent-roofed cathedral in the kremlin, where Kuzma Minin is buried.
The oldest church in the city, with the tomb of Kuzma Minin inside. Open until 19:00.
📖 More about the placeCollapse
© A.Savin · FAL 1.3
- The church traces its history to the founding of the city: a wooden cathedral was put up in 1221, a white-stone one in 1227.
- The present building was built in 1628–1631 by the architects Lavrenty Vozoulin and his stepson Antip in memory of the Nizhny militia.
- In 1962 the remains of Kuzma Minin were moved here from the destroyed Transfiguration Cathedral.
- The cathedral is consecrated to the Archangel Michael, patron of the Russian army.
🚶 on foot
3
✨ Military equipment display in the kremlin
Кремль, у Вечного огня
In the open air by the Eternal Flame stand tanks, guns and other equipment from the Great Patriotic War — kids can spend a long time here.
Behind the cathedral are the Eternal Flame, tanks and guns, and from the edge of the bluff you can see the confluence of the Oka and the Volga.
🚶 on foot
4
🌅 Chkalov Stairs
от памятника Чкалову до Нижне-Волжской наб.
A monumental figure-eight staircase from the Chkalov monument down to the Volga — the city's main postcard view.
Leave the kremlin for the Chkalov monument: the "figure eight" of the stairs is best seen from above. Going down and back up takes another 15 minutes or so.
📖 More about the placeCollapse
© Алексей Трефилов · CC BY-SA 4.0
© A.Savin · FAL 1.3
© Vityavo · CC0
- The design was approved in 1943 and the stairs opened in 1949; the authors are Alexander Yakovlev, Lev Rudnev and Vladimir Munts.
- Officially they are the Volga Stairs, but since the 1980s they have been called the Chkalov Stairs, after the monument to the pilot Valery Chkalov at the top.
- The staircase is built as a figure eight, with viewing platforms where the flights cross.
- Below, on a pedestal, stands the Volga Military Flotilla boat "Geroy" — it was put there in 1985.
- From the top you can see the Volga, the Strelka and the town of Bor on the far bank.
- For the city's 800th anniversary the stairs were restored: the crumbled steps were replaced, keeping two historic flights.
🚶 on foot
5
☕️ Skuratov Coffee on Verkhne-Volzhskaya
Верхне-Волжская наб., 2А
▮▮▮▯▯
Coffee two minutes from the stairs, on Verkhne-Volzhskaya Embankment, from 7 a.m. to 23:00.
🍴 A coffee shop by the Chkalov Stairs, from 7 a.m. to 23:00. What to order: a cappuccino, a babka with currant and chocolate, a croissant with turkey.