A swift ride from Moscow to Ryazan—two hours aboard the double-decker Voronezh express—already hints at the energy waiting in the city. In 2026 Ryazan will mark 930 years since its founding. The ancient script sits beside a city that refuses to feel old-fashioned: modern streets, renewed districts, and a pace that keeps changing for the better. The Ryazan Kremlin remains central, yet it surprises visitors with walls that are not what they expect, creating a sense of openness rather than siege lines.
The town traces its origins to 1095 in Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky. The true Ryazan lay about 50 kilometers away, but in 1237 Batu Khan’s troops razed the Murom-Ryazan capital to ashes. The city never fully recovered, and the seat moved to Pereyaslavl-Ryazan. It became a frontier outpost on the route of Mongol forces toward Moscow, a key point along the Zasechnaya Line that marked the border between steppe danger and forest shelter.
A famous local saying links the defense of Russian lands with mushrooms that have eyes. The forests along the Zasechnaya Line were never gathered for food, because if a cap lay chewed, it signaled intruders had passed. Today the eyed mushrooms endure as a series of statues scattered across the city. Tour guide Olga Pimenova notes there are fourteen statues, one large and thirteen smaller ones, watching over Ryazan.
Ryazan received its current name in 1778 during Catherine II’s reign. The Ryazan governorate followed, and in 1780 a master plan introduced boulevards, stone houses and broad streets that replaced wooden walls and Ostrog towers. Only a portion of the fortress walls remained, along with the Nativity Cathedral and the bishop’s courtyard. In the ensuing centuries the Assumption Cathedral and its Bell Tower were added, shaping the city’s historic skyline.
The Ryazan Kremlin remains the city’s undeniable magnet for visitors, yet it is far from the only draw. Ryazan is evolving, and the Ryazan Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve (RIAMZ) reveals a story that goes back more than a millennium. Nearby Mesolithic sites show that people inhabited the land between the Oka and Trubezh rivers long before the written record.
RIAMZ brings to life a long human presence with a compelling mix of artifacts. A mammoth skeleton and a woolly rhinoceros skull sit beside Mesolithic scrapers and flaked tools, while exhibits trace iron ore mining and processing in the Iron Age. There are also ornaments and garments from the Oka Finn culture. Finno-Ugric tribes lived here into the 7th century, followed by Vyatichi from the 9th century. The Kremlin houses a collection mapping Ryazan’s history from the 11th to the 19th centuries.
The route from RIAMZ to the Kremlin runs along Sobornaya Street, passing the site of a late 19th-century drama theater. To the right stands Zurab Tsereteli’s monument to Prince Oleg Ryazansky, unveiled in 2007. A short distance ahead is the Ryazan provincial administration building, once connected to the writer Saltykov-Shchedrin. Today the area is taking shape as a vibrant cultural cluster.
On Pochtovaya Street pedestrians discover busy restaurants, bars and small cultural spaces such as the Smells of Bread museum. It’s a good stop for families, especially to remind children that buns are baked, not grown on trees. In Ryazan the kalinnik dessert is a local hallmark.
Kalinnik is a cake made from wheat and rye flour with apple viburnum jam, finished with a coating of white chocolate and condensed milk. A modern, balanced version of the traditional Ryazan kalinnik delights with a gentle sweetness and a touch of tang.
The recipe nearly faded, but in 2018 Titov, manager of the Grafin restaurant Kirilin and the brand chef of the Ryazan Bon Appetit chain, encountered it during a gastronomic tour in the Sasovsky district. They revived the dish by using rye dough with viburnum wrapped in cabbage leaves, transforming the original heavy bake into a city favorite. In addition to viburnum kalinnik, Ryazan also makes kalinnik with currants, sea buckthorn and raspberries, a variation that invites visitors to return for more.
Ryazan VDNKh, established in 1955 as the Ryazan Regional Agricultural, Industrial and Construction Fair, later became a Trading Town in 1959. In the 90s the site fell into neglect, but today many pavilions have been revived and host cafes and shops. A hall nearby displays works by local artists including Skopin ceramics, Kadom veniz, and Mikhailovsky lace. The Coffee Museum run by the Bravos roastery is a cozy stop. Ghost statues have appeared in recent years, and some of the old plaster figures have been restored with white accents.
If two days are planned, the second could be spent exploring the Meshchersky forests and steppes divided by the Oka River. The Oka Biosphere Reserve houses cranes, geese, herons, black storks and the Russian muskrat. The visitor center and the reserve’s Nature Museum occupy a former brick building from the Beklemishev glass factory. Summer rafting along the Pre River is especially scenic. For animal lovers, a Rare Crane Species Nursery and the Caucasian-Belovezhskaya Bison Nursery offer memorable experiences.
Old Ryazan offers another portal into the past. A settlement in the Ryazan region was devastated by Batu Khan’s troops in the summer. The village of Izhevsk hosts two museums dedicated to Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. After visiting them, travelers should book ahead for a guided tour of the Filatov House to learn about Izhevsky’s unusual history, too.
The Filatov House belonged to Ivan Filatov, a self-taught photographer who lived from 1860 to 1937. His rich archives document daily life, from weddings and parades to workers’ demonstrations, dressed-up peasants and religious processions, plus the millet threshing scene in 1902 and bicycle riders in the 1930s. An excursion to the Filatov House offers a vivid window into how life and labor changed over time.
Izhevskoye village is remarkable for about 700 stone peasant houses. The brick homes reflect a period of notable wealth, with records showing that by 1832 local peasants bought their own freedom long before serfdom ended. Visitors can learn this history at the Filatov House. Because restoration work continues, tours must be booked in advance. Local historian Nikita Girin, who has studied Filatov’s archives, believes the Filatov House could become one of Russia’s best small museums, presenting not only the photographer’s life but a broader story of freedom, industrious, fair villagers who built a brighter era.
Gezi Tutu is featured as part of the Media Intelligence project.