Ivanovo

In the middle of the 18th century Ivanovo acquired a reputation of being the center of the country' s textile industry, later called as "cotton empire". Especially popular not only in the territory of Russian but also in Britain and Persia were cotton fabrics of Ivanovo city. Besides textile industry the city was renowned for its theatre life as since 1873 stage plays of famous Russian writers Gogol and Ostrovsky.

Modern city of Ivanovo is a part of the Golden Ring of Russia itinerary. Although the city was founded relatively recently, it has already become popular for plenty of statues and monuments constructed there such as Shudrovskaya tent of XVII century, Wooden Assumption Church established at the end of XII century, Duringer's estate (1910).

• Fascinating architectural monuments such as the wooden Assumption Church and Shudrov Tent - a sample of industrial design - have been preserved to this day.
• Visitors can see the local Art Museum, featuring 18,000 exhibits including old Russian icons and Palekh miniature paintings, as well as a memorial museum of artist Boris Prorokov.
• The State Museum of Applied Arts or Palekh are situated 65 km away from Ivanovo and are fine examples of out-of-town guided tours.
• In Palekh, tourists will see the Church of Exaltation of the Cross, icon painting of the 14th - 19th centuries, the Memorial Museum of Ivan Golikov and exhibits at the Museum of Lacquer Miniatures.