Ryazan Oblast.

History

The Principality of Ryazan was independent from 1097 to 1521 and long served as a southern shield for Russian lands against the steppe. Old Ryazan was wiped out by Batu's army in 1237, and the capital moved to Pereslavl-Ryazansky, which Catherine the Great renamed Ryazan in 1778. Kasimov, founded in 1152, was the capital of the Qasim Khanate from 1452 to 1681. Ryazan Governorate was split from Moscow Governorate in 1796, and the present oblast was formed in September 1937.

Culture & traditions

Sergei Yesenin was born in the village of Konstantinovo, and his name looms large here. Ryazan keeps its kremlin with the Assumption Cathedral and buildings from the 15th to 19th centuries, the Pozhalostin Art Museum, one of the oldest in Russia, and the estate museum of Ivan Pavlov. Kasimov has the Khan's Mosque with its limestone minaret and 16th–17th-century mausoleums beside Orthodox churches. The composer Alexander Alexandrov and mathematician Andrey Markov came from the region, and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was born in Izhevskoye.

Nature

The region lies on a plain between uplands, never rising above about 300 metres. The Oka is the main river, with podzolic and boggy soils to its north and black earth to its south. Forests cover about a third of the land. The Oka Nature Reserve, founded in 1935, has been a biosphere reserve since 1978 and has run a crane breeding centre since 1979; together with Meshchera National Park it protects peatland forests and bogs.

Sport

The region's most famous athlete is the weightlifter Vasily Alekseyev. The women's football club Ryazan-VDV won three Russian championships in a row and played in the UEFA Women's Champions League. The rivers and lakes of the Meshchera suit hiking and canoe trips.

Food & drink

Rural Ryazan has long kept livestock and bees, so honey is a natural souvenir. The cooking is plain, hearty and Central Russian.

Practical information

Ryazan is 196 km from Moscow and has been linked to it by rail since 1864; Trans-Siberian lines cross the region. The nearest airport to Ryazan is Turlatovo, but most travellers fly into Moscow and continue by train or road. The region runs on Moscow time. The climate is moderately continental, with average temperatures of −10.6°C in January and +19.7°C in July. Summer and early autumn are best, especially for the Meshchera and the Oka riverbanks.

What to see

• Ryazan Kremlin — the Assumption Cathedral and buildings from the 15th to 19th centuries
• Konstantinovo — the village where Sergei Yesenin was born
• Kasimov — the Khan's Mosque, mausoleums and churches of a former khanate capital
• Oka Nature Reserve — crane and bison breeding centres in the Meshchera forests
• Pavlov Estate Museum — the Ryazan home of the physiologist Ivan Pavlov

Cities on the map

• Ryazan 528,599