The Yaroslavl Region is situated in the Northern part of Central Russia with a population of approximately 2,000,000. Its area is roughly equal to the territory of Belgium. The region has several major industrial centers.Yaroslavl with a population of 700,000 is the capital of the region and a favourite city for tourists. The city is one of the pearls of Golden Ring of Russia on the river Volga. In 2010 the 1000th year anniversary of the foundation of Yaroslavl will be celebrated.

It was in 1010 that the great Kiev Prince Yaroslav the Wise founded a fortress which was named after him, but the first human settlements there go back as far as the 8th and the 9th centuries. The people who lived there thought the bear a sacred animal. That’s why there is a bear with a crown on its head and an axe on its shoulder on the ancient coat-of-arms of Yaroslavl. In 1993 the monument to Yaroslav the Wise was erected.

The XVIIth century is considered to be „the gold century“ in the history of Yaroslavl. During this period Yaroslavl became the second greatest city after Moscow. In those days a lot of masterpieces were created by Yaroslavl masters of that time and got world-wide fame.

At present Yaroslavl is among the largest industrial regions of the country. This land is a sovereign subject of the Russian Federation. The region includes ten towns having 82% of the total population.

It has an advantageous geographical position being 280 km away from Moscow and 750 km away from St. Petersburg. The city stretches 30 km along the bank of the Volga.

The Volga Embankment is the most beautiful place in the city, and, probably the most beautiful embankment of the Volga river. In three places it is cut by slopes. Over the slopes beautiful bridges are built.

There is no any other Russian city which possesses so many beautiful masterpieces of medieval wall painting. The Yaroslavl masters enriched the traditional Chistian themes with the elements of folk art. They were closely connected with the life of their people and painted in frescoes the scenes of everyday life such as harvest time, hunting, construction of a church. So the churches of Yaroslavl are famous not only for their unique architecture , but for their fresco- paintings, as well.

The citizens of Yaroslavl are fairly proud of their theatre, the first national Russian theatre, as it is often called. It was established in 1750. The founder of the theatre was Volkov, a wellknown actor after whom the theatre was named.

Thousands of tourists visit the city every year to see unique architectural monuments, masterpieces of painting, to walk along the Volga Embankment in the shadow of age-old trees and along broad Yaroslavl avenues.