Veliky Ustyug
Veliky Ustyug and its environs is one of the most beautiful places not only in the Vologda Region but also in the entire Russia. It’s really a fairy-tale city without any exaggeration, the only city in the North that has the name of Veliky (the Great). Established in 1147 as an outpost on the northern border, it is a contemporary of Moscow and Vologda.
Today the city has 32 thousand of population and is a centre of rare crafts and exclusive tourist routes. It is a real pearl of Northern Russian architecture, a treasury of numerous mysteries and secrets of Medieval Russia, a museum in the open air and a birthplace of outstanding Russian pathfinders and seafarers.
Many famous Russians were born or lived in Veliky Ustyug, but there is one among them known to everybody, admired by every Russian of any age and eagerly awaited by children on New Year’s Eve. This is Father the Frost.
A beautiful building in the very heart of the city is his residential palace. It is here that he makes decisions on New Year celebrations and plans his trips in Russia and abroad.
Today Veliky Ustyug is the centre of the easternmost district of the Vologda Region crossed by the highway connecting the south-western parts of the region with Archangelsk.