For those of you who don’t know, I have three main passions in life: «история, классическая музыка и литература» [history, classical music, and literature]. And, I suppose, there is a fourth one as well: writing about those three main topics, especially in relation to Russia. So today, we are going to learn «об Угличе» [about Uglich].

«Я была в Угличе в июле 2009 (две тысячи девятого) года и мне очень понравился.» [I was in Uglich in July 2009 and I really liked it.] But you are probably wondering: «что такое Углич?» [what is Uglich?] «Углич–небольшой город в России.» [Uglich is a small city in Russia.] «Он расположен на реке Волге в Ярославской области.» [It is located on the Volga River in the Yaroslav oblast (an oblast is a federal subject of Russia).] «Население–34,258 человек.» [The population is 34,258 people. Notice how I used the genitive plural «человек» here because we are referring to a specific number of people. If we were quantifying with the word «много» [a lot, many], we would use the form «людей».]

A little bit about the history of Uglich: «этот город был основан в 937 (девятьсот тридцать седьмом) году» [this city was founded in the year 937]. That makes Uglich «самый старый город в России» [the oldest city in Russia]. This fact makes «люди, которые живут в Угличе» [people who live in Uglich] very proud. (Though I am sure any natives of Kiev will be quick to point this out: «Киев старше, чем Углич» [Kiev is older than Uglich]). And it was in Uglich that «Дмитрий Иванович, сын Ивана Грозного» [Dmitry Ivanovich, the son of Ivan the Terrible], was assassinated «в 1591 (тысяча пятьсот девяносто первом) году» [in the year 1591]. «Ему было только восемь лет.» [He was only eight years old.] Dmitry’s assassination precipitated a political crisis, and for years afterward, people pretending to be the long-dead prince tried to claim the throne on his behalf, saying that he actually had not died.

What can one see in Uglich? What «достопримечательности» [tourist attractions, sights] are in this charming town? Many! My personal favorite is «Угличский кремль» [Uglich kremlin]. There you can see «церковь Дмитрия на Крови» [Church of Dmitry on the Blood]. Of all the churches I’ve seen in Russia (and believe me, «в России много церквей» [there are many churches in Russia]), I think this one in Uglich is one of my favorites (and so it is this church that is featured in the photo for this post).

«Что ещё?» [What else?] There are a few monasteries in Uglich as well, and museums. I haven’t been to any of the museums, but I’d love to go to «Музей кукол» [the Doll Museum] someday.

Did you like this post? Would you be interested in learning more about Russian history? Let me know in the comments!