Plyos is a small Volga town in Ivanovo Oblast whose natural beauty and unhurried pace have long attracted artists. The places in Privolzhskiy District offer contrasting highlights: in Plyos, art, churches and old lanes take centre stage; in Milovka, you’ll find the “Milaya Gora” tourist and recreation centre. This lets you shape your trip around your interests and distinguish between art and architectural history, views of the Volga and another place to visit.
Crafts and landscape painting
The Plyos State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve includes the “Crafts of the Ivanovo Region” exhibition; the Landscape Museum is one of the reserve’s exhibition venues. The exhibition features weaving and embroidery, Palekh and Kholuy lacquer miniatures, and a jewellery collection. The Landscape Museum displays works by Russian landscape painters from the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. In Plyos, you can therefore encounter different artistic themes: handcrafted works and landscape painting from a distinct historical period. If you’re particularly interested in painting, you can connect your museum visit in your mind with the views that also shape the townscape.
Churches with distinct architectural histories
The Dormition Cathedral on Sobornaya Hill is considered the town’s oldest church and was built in 1699. Its main structure was erected on the site of a wooden church of the same name that had burned down. A tent-roofed bell tower was added in the 18th century; the church is decorated with murals that have survived to this day. The cathedral is also depicted in Isaac Levitan’s paintings “Tikhaya obitel” and “Vecherne zvon”. Its architectural history, surviving murals and depictions in two paintings offer different ways to appreciate the same church.
Two Resurrection churches can be distinguished by their locations and histories. The Resurrection Church on Levitan Hill was built in 1699 and moved to Plyos in 1982 from the village of Bilyukovo in Ilyinsky District, Ivanovo Oblast. A second, stone Resurrection Church stands in the marketplace: built in 1817 on the site of a wooden church, it has a Nativity chapel and is designed in the Classicist style.
Other churches display different architectural features. The Trinity Church was built in 1808 on the site of a wooden church, is in the Baroque style and is decorated with 19th-century murals. The Church of Saint Barbara the Great Martyr stands on the site of a lost wooden church of the same name; it is designed in the mature Classicist style and has 19th-century murals. Built in 1828, the Vvedenskaya Church is Late Classicist and was intended for winter services. These differences help you consider the buildings not only by age, but also by style and their recorded purpose.
Old lanes and views of the Volga
A walk through Plyos’s old lanes takes you past old houses with elaborately designed window frames. From Sobornaya Hill, you can enjoy a view of the Volga and the historic centre. The hill also preserves remnants of the rampart of Plyos’s historic fortress. The views and remains point to two different aspects of the town: its location on the Volga and traces of its former fortifications. The old streets add another detail to this view of its residential and urban character: the decorative window frames.
Milovka and the Volga experience
The “Milaya Gora” tourist and recreation centre is located in the village of Milovka in Privolzhsky District, Ivanovo Oblast; the centre has a children’s play area. Boat trips on the Volga are among the activities for visitors to Plyos. Check before your trip whether one is available, and don’t treat it as a guaranteed part of your itinerary. This keeps your plans for this stop flexible, while you can arrange your other interests—such as the churches, collections or old lanes—according to your own priorities.
More destinations
Discover more destinations: Zavolzhskiy District, Engelssky District, Ivanovskiy District, Teykovsky District, Privolzhsky District, Yuzhsky District, Lezhnevskiy District, Ivanovo.
Back to the overview of the region: Ivanovo Oblast.
