City
Kozmodemyansk

Kozmodemyansk is a small provincial town located on the right high bank of the Volga River, in a picturesque place of the Republic of Mari El. More than four hundred years ago, Tsar Ivan the Terrible liked this place, returning from the conquest of Kazan in 1583 and staying overnight near a high cape. He ordered a fortress to be built here in the name of Saints Cosmas (Kozma) and Damian (Demyan), from the combination of whose names the name of the city was derived.

Since the middle of the 19th century, merchants have been actively developing in the city. Most of the merchants were engaged in the timber trade, which was floated down the Volga. Kozmodemyanskaya Forest Fair was considered the second largest in Russia after Arkhangelsk. The Russian merchants played an important role in the commercial and industrial life of the Mari region. Thanks to patronage, the infrastructure of the city was actively developing; merchant mansions were built, which have survived to the present day. Some of them have museums.: The Grigoriev Museum of Art and Historywith a rich collection of paintings by Aivazovsky, Makovsky, Polenov, Korovin, Feshin, and others, and the Museum of Satire and Humor.Ostap Bender, the A.V.Muravyov Museum of Merchant Life, and the House of Stained Oakare the only Russian exhibition dedicated to a unique natural material.

V.I.Romanov Open-air Ethnographic Museum can be considered one of the main attractions of the city. A small Mari village introduces residents and visitors of the city to the traditions, way of life, and culture of the mountain Mari. The buildings and exhibits give a complete picture of how the Mari lived in the past.

Such historical buildings as the Streletskaya Chapel, the Smolensk Cathedral of the Icon of the Mother of God, and the Holy Trinity Church are interesting and valuable.

Kozmodemyansk has a great tourist potential. Every year, the city receives more than 120,000 tourists, including those arriving in the city on cruise ships. Guests of the city are greeted by the Tea House on Uspenskaya, ancient houses richly decorated with carvings, quiet streets of Kozmodemyansk, and the Volga embankment. Many guests also come to the main festival, the Benderiada satire and humor festival. The festival is held every year on the penultimate Saturday in July.