Kostroma
The grand princes have been building here since the 13th century, and it was here, in this terraced, church-studded city, that Mikhail Feodorovitch accepted the crown, establishing the Romanov dynasty.
I breezed past the Romanov Museum on Pavlovskaya, preferring to enter the Ipatiyev Monastery with the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. The cathedral, like the monastery, and like Kostroma itself, is a pastiche of original, rebuilding, and reimagining. A heady mixture.
Distance from Tver: 523 versts
