Since the ancient times there were settlements of Finn-Ugor tribes assimilated with the Slavs at the junction of Volga and Kotorosl rivers. In the beginning of the 11th century Yaroslav Mudry ('Wise') founded a fortress here, which he called 'Yaroslavl'.
Because of its favourable location on the river, the town became an important trade center in the beginning of the 13th century. At the times of Tartar invasion (13th-14th centuries) Yaroslavl was burned and demolished, but in the 15th century it was mostly restored and rebuilt and became an important commercial center again, for a period of time it was the second richest and powerful city in Russia, after Moscow.
Yaroslavl is quite big city 260 kilometers north of Moscow. There are 630 000 inhabitants in the city. The main industries are machinery and oil industry. There are over 5000 monuments of history and culture, including those three recommended by UNESCO for tourists. They have accumulated the most precious historical and cultural heritage.
Yaroslavl can deservedly be considered the cultural capital of the Golden Ring of Russia. The art of different folk and ethnographic groups attracts a lot of tourists and is popular not only in Russia, but all over the world. The Rostov enamel is a real pearl of Yaroslavl traditional handicraft art, though the region is famous for the production of linen, exported to Europe years ago, for embroidery and icon painting, for issue of jewelry, wooden and clay articles.
