Two different travel interests come together in Privolzhsky District: Plyos offers several points of interest for art and architectural history, while the Milovka ski complex brings together a range of winter sports. To plan your trip, you can first decide whether to focus on collections and historic sites or on activities in the snow. In Plyos, the attractions range from landscape painting and connections to Levitan to churches and older houses; at the ski complex, several forms of winter sports take centre stage.
Art and Collections in Plyos
The Landscape Museum in Plyos opened on 14 November 1997 and is considered the only landscape museum in Russia. It features works by the Peredvizhniki artists A. K. Savrasov, I. I. Shishkin, A. P. Bogolyubov, V. D. Polenov, A. A. Kiselev, N. A. Yaroshenko, N. N. Dubovskoy, I. N. Tvorozhnikov and A. E. Makovskaya. The collection at the Museum of Russian Landscape in Plyos also includes paintings by friends and students of Isaak Levitan, as well as works by Soviet artists. Taken together, the collections offer different ways to explore landscape painting and various circles of artists.
The I. I. Levitan Memorial House Museum contains two memorial rooms with artists’ personal belongings. Levitan Hill in Plyos is also connected with a particular work: it inspired Isaak Levitan to paint “Above the Eternal Peace”. Alongside the collections, you can discover specific links between a place and the art for which the artist is known.
The “Prisutstvennye mesta” Museum offers another story of a collection. It includes finds considered symbols of pagan-Christian dual belief, as well as the so-called “stone of love”. In Plyos, cultural and historical objects thus form a distinct area of interest alongside paintings.
Churches and the Townscape
The Dormition Cathedral on Sobornaya Hill is the oldest church in Plyos and was built in 1699. The present-day Resurrection Church dates from the late 17th century and was moved to the site of the wooden church that burned down and had been depicted in Isaak Levitan’s paintings. The Church of Saint Barbara the Great Martyr stands on the banks of the Volga. These three buildings offer different historical reference points: a cathedral with a known construction date, a church on the site of a former church, and a church right by the river.
The streets also shape the impression of the town’s history. Plyos has houses with three windows, typical of the town, as well as merchants’ mansions. The houses of the “Sobornaya Sloboda” project form a row of old, colourful buildings with original window frames; they are considered an open-air museum of Russian wooden architecture. These different building types and details offer another perspective on the built environment, alongside the collections and churches.
Activities and Trip Planning
In Plyos, visitors can visit the workshops of local artists and jewellers and sign up for masterclasses. If you would like to plan one of these activities, check dates and availability in advance.
The Milovka ski complex is located east of the village of Milovka in Privolzhsky District. Activities offered there include downhill skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing on a specially groomed trail, tubing and a snow park. The specially groomed trail provides a dedicated option for cross-country skiing; the other offerings include additional forms of winter sports. Availability is seasonal, so check current operations before your trip.
For the broader travel overview: Ivanovo Oblast.
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