Углич:1980-е / Uglich: 1980s

Углич в цветных фотографиях 1980-е Uglich in colour photographs from the 1980s Музыка: Главная тема - Алексей Рыбников Music: Theme by Alexey Rybnikov Here I present a series of photographs of the ancient and beautiful town of Uglich in Yaroslavl Oblast. Situated on the River Volga, tradition has it that the original settlement dates back to 937. During the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the town passed to his only brother, Yury. Local inhabitants helped the Tsar capture Kazan by building a wooden fortress which was transported by the Volga all the way to Kazan. Throughout the 16th century, Uglich prospered both politically and economically, but thereafter its fortunes began to decline. After Ivan's death, his youngest son Dmitry Ivanovich was banished to Uglich in 1584. The most famous event in the town's history took place on May 15, 1591 when the 10-year-old boy was found dead with his throat cut in the palace courtyard. Suspicion immediately fell on the tsar's chief advisor, Boris Godunov. The Romanov Tsars made it their priority to canonize the martyred Tsesarevich and to turn Uglich into a place of pilgrimage. On the spot where Dimitry had been murdered the city in 1690 built a small Church of St. Demetrios on the Blood, which appears on the horizon with its red walls and blue domes as one sails north on the Volga. The palace where the prince lived was turned into a museum. The image of Tsesarevich with a knife in his hand was adopted as the town's coat of arms.