perm - пермь

The city of Perm was founded in 1723 in an effort to develop large deposits of metals and minerals in the Urals. Today Perm is a large industrialized city with one million inhabitants sprawling on both sides of the Kama River.

The opera and ballet theatre.

The Ural Hotel.

The river port terminal.

Happiness is near at hand.

The railway station is right across the river terminal.

The church houses a fine arts museum.

The salty ears.

Ladies in red.

A place to relax after a walking tour around the city.

PERM oblast - ПЕРМская область

khokhlovka - хохловка

Khokhlovka is a museum of wooden architecture located 45 km north of Perm. Visitors can walk around a rather big territory and see wooden structures characteristic of that area. Among them two 18th century churches and salt production facilities. Perm used to be known as a salt producing area.

The Transfiguration Church.

A salt storage.

A brine lifting tower.

The 1781 Our Lady Church.

A fire station.

A watch tower.

PERM-36

The ill-famous prison Perm-36 was set up in 1946 as part of the GULAG system. Perm-36 was active long after GULAG disappeared being a prison for Soviet dissidents. Now the prison is a museum dedicated to the victims of political repressions - the only one of this kind in Russia set in the real environment. The prison has neither been rebuilt nor undergone major renovation since the time of GULAG. The museum is located in the village of Kuchino (Кучино) about 25 km west of the town of Chusovoy (Чусовой).

Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. Institution BC389/36. The prison's official designation.

The overseeing control desk.

kungur - кунгур

The town of Kungur was founded in 1663 and is located about 80 km south of Perm on the way to Yekaterinburg. Despite its rundown appearance the town makes a good day stop. There are many 18-19th century buildings in Kungur and the famous Kungur Ice Cave attracts tourist from all over the country.

The 1761 Assumption Church in March 2009.

The 1761 Assumption Church in May 2017.

The 1781 Transfiguration Church.

The 1763 Tikhvinskaya Church.

The 1825 John the Baptist Church.

The town Hall.

Kungur's coat of arms. Cornucopia or Horn of Plenty.

The 19th century trade arcade.

Kids are playing on the center of the world.

KUNGUR ice cave

The Ice Cave is located in the outskirts of Kungur. Ramified passages extend under the ground for over 5,000 meters, and only a small part is open for visitors. The cave numbers dozens of grottoes and lakes with crystal clear water. Entry is only with guided tours.

belogorsky monastery

The 1893 Belogorsky Monastery is located 50 km west of Kungur. The Exaltation of the Cross Cathedral sits on top of a hill in a scenic place. The hill is often referred to as the Holy Mount Athos of the Urals. The monastery is revered by believers from all over Perm Krai. On weekends worshippers flock the hill to collect holy water running from the spring on top of the hill next to the main cathedral.

solikamsk - соликамск

The town of Solikamsk was founded in 1430. It is located 200 km north of Perm. It used to be a major salt producing area. The town thrived in 16-19 centuries. Hence many churches built by local merchants. Some of them survived the test of time and are in good condition.

The 1713 belfry at night.

The 1697 Trinity Church and the 1713 belfry.

The 1704 Ascension Church.

The 1695 Epiphany Church.

The 17th century governor’s house.

cherdyn - чердынь

Moving north from Solikamsk we will arrive at a small but interesting historic and provincial town of Cherdyn. Cherdyn is the oldest town in Perm Krai. It is a place where time has stopped since the days of Old Russia. The streets are quiet, traffic is low.

The 1784 Assumption Church.

The 1718 John the Theologian Church.

The 1816 All Saints Church.

Lenin in Cherdyn looks like a bodybuilder.

Two kilometers from Cherdyn there is a nice hotel named "The Severny Ural". In low season (from November to April) most likely you will be the only guests at this isolated place. You can have a cottage at our disposal and sauna with a pool of icy water. Having washed, dived, dined and wined, travelers fell asleep wrapped in complete silence. No unwanted sounds, only subtle rustle of fir-trees.

north of CHERDYN

A regular road ends in the village of Nyrob (Ныроб). On the way you can see old churches of all shapes and sizes, abandoned houses and cemeteries overgrown with fir-trees. Sometimes views remind scenes from Russian fairytales.

The 1785 Annunciation Church in the village of Pokcha (Покча).

The 1779 Trinity Church with stained glass in the village of Vilgort (Вильгорт).

A bank office in the village of Vilgort (Вильгорт).

The 1793 Nativity Church in the village of Iskor (Искор).

An abandoned house coated with wooden tiles.

nyrob - ныроб

The village of Nyrob, 44 km north of Cherdyn, is the place, where Mikhail Romanov, uncle of the first tsar of the Romanovs dynasty, was exiled in 1601 by Boris Godunov his rival for the Russian throne. Romanov was kept in shackles in an underground dungeon and died after one year of imprisonment. After the Romanovs came to power, they endowed the village with their charity. The underground cell was turned into a memorial site on the eve of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty in 1913. The place is open for rare tourists. The shackles are displayed in the Cherdyn regional museum.

The dungeon was there.

The 1704 Saint Nicholas Church stands nearby.

Mikhail Romanov's shackles. The shackles weigh 32 kilos.

somewhere in PERM krai

The 1783 Nativity Church in the village of Komarovo 16 km north of Kungur.

A gate to nowhere in the town of Chusovoy.

A reminder of the 1918-22 Civil War near the village of Tyoplaya Gora (Тёплая Гора).

tchaikovsky - чайковский

The town of Tchaikovsky was founded in 1955. It is named after the famous Russian composed Pyotr Tchaikovsky who was born in Votkinsk just 40 km away. For pictures of Votkinsk see the Udmurt Republic page.

The St. George Church.

On March 25, 1961 unmanned spaceship Vostok-5 landed in the vicinity of Tchaikovsky. The landing place is marked with a monument. The landing capsule carried a dog that successfully survived the space flight and a dummy that was ejected and landed separately from the landing capsule. 18 days later on April 12, 1961 Yuri Gagarin made the first ever manned space flight using the same ejection system. Gagarin landed in Saratov Oblast. For pictures of Gagarin's landing site see the Saratov Oblast page.