This city was founded in 1152 by Prince Yuri Dolgoruki as a fortress on the southern borders of North East Rus'. It's situated in an idyllic spot 100 km north-east of Moscow. Next to the city is Lake Pleshcheevo upon which Peter I built a dockyard where he then proceeded to contstruct a war fleet, hence the beginning of the Russian Navy. Now you can see the nautical Botik Museum here. In the city centre, with walls of made of earth, stands the Church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour, which is as old as the town itself. Tourists here can also visit the Church of Peter the Metropolitan (1585), Church of Alexander Nevsky (1746), the Semyonovsky and Chernigovsky clock towers and the Church of Purification.