In 1148 Uglich was mentioned in chronicles for the first time under the name the Ugliche-Pole. In winter of 1238 it was occupied by armies of mongolo-tatar troops. About 1326 Uglich principality was included into structure of the Great Principality of Moscow. Since then its historical destiny, an economic and cultural life is connected with Moscow.

From the end of the 14th century the brothers and sons of Grand Prince of Moscow start to rule in Uglich. The Uglich principality has achieved the greatest heyday in the 15th century, during the reign of Prince Andrei Bolshoy (1462-1491) - the brother of Tsar Ivan III. The new fortress was built in Uglich, stone temple construction in town and neighboring monasteries was developed, they wrote chronicles, correspondence and decoration of books was conducted. Andrei Bolshoy was the customer of outstanding icon-painter of the end of the 15th - the beginning of the 16th centuries Dionysus.

In the end of the 16th century there was an event which became a prelude of Times of Trouble - epoch of shocks, wars, impostors in Uglich. On May, 15th, 1591 in a north-eastern corner of a fortress the life of youngest son of Ivan the Terrible - Dimitry died. The national rumor has accused the actual governor of the state Boris Godunov in death of tsarevitch. The conclusion of the investigation lead by prince Vasily Shuisky, said that tsarevitch killed himself, with a knife during an attack of illness. The historical and cultural image of the town came out of memories of this drama and the subsequent events of a vague and ruin in the beginning of the 17th century.

The 17th century left significant number of outstanding monuments of Russian architecture: Church of tsarevitch Dimitry «on the blood», The Assumption “Divnaya” Church, the Church of the Nativity of St. John The Precursor (1690), Resurrection Monastery, The Trinity Church on “Divnaya Gora” (Marvelous hill).

During the reign of Peter the Great the town became the center of the extensive province and included Uglich, Begevetsk and Kashinsk districts. About 1730 Uglich got the arms with an image of tsarevitch Dimitry.

In 1767 Catherine the Great visited Uglich. After that, in 1784, the Regular Construction Plan was adopted. The existing historical part of Uglich formed according to this plan. In the 19th century the town was built up with the stone houses in classical style making its streets elegant and cosy even at the present time.

In the beginning of the 20th century the town became the reserve of Russian architecture and town-planning. The monasteries and temples of the Middle Ages, nobiliary and merchant private residences of 18th-19th centuries, and wooden houses on suburbs have incorporated in harmonious ensemble. A picturesque landscape of the Volga shore, woody environs, fields and meadows gave unique charm to Uglich and hundred years ago attracted thousands of tourists and pilgrims. The town was always interesting not only with its cultural heritage and drama events. A lot of outstanding people visited Uglich: artists, writers, regal persons. In Uglich there was Ivan the Terrible and Alexei Mihajlovich, Nikolay I and Cesarevitch Alexander Nikolayevich.

Xenia Shestova, mother of the first tsar from the Romanovs’ dynasty - Michael Fedorovich - owned ancestral lands not far from Uglich. It has connected the dynasty of Rjurikovich which was interrupted with death of Dimitry and the Romanovs family on Uglich land.

THE KREMLIN
The Kremlin is a historical and architectural nucleus of the ancient town. Time has not kept its fortifications, but among the trees of old park the temples and buildings - witnesses of historical events of ancient town - are still there. The picturesque group of monuments is the bright composite center of the main Volga panorama. The State Historical Architectural Art museum of Uglich is on the territory of the Kremlin. Chamber of the palace of apanage princes of Uglich. The most ancient residential building of the central Russia was built by Andrey Bolshoy in 80th years of the 15th century, the son of Ivan the Terrible, one of the last representatives of Ruric Tsarevitch Dimitry lived there. In the beginning of a vague period of the 17th century the unlucky groom of Xenia Godunova the Swedish prince Gustav lived in it. After restoration in 1892 in Chamber a museum of domestic antiquities was opened there. Church of tsarevitch Dimitry «On blood».

It was built on a place of death of eight-year-old tsarevitch in 1692. The frescoes of the temple belong to the period of Catherine the Great reign. The grandiose historical fresco composition «The murder of tsarevitch Dimitry» the western wall of a temple part. The iconostasis includes some magnificent icons, imperial contributions, and works of the best Russian artists - masters of the State Armory Museum. The relics connected with tsarevitch Dimitry are kept in the temple: the “exile bell” announced the death of tsarevitch and spent three hundred years in Siberia, stretcher which was used to remove the relics of tsarevitch from Uglich to Moscow in 1606, a lantern which was ahead of a procession, an icon with splinters of the nuts which tsarevitch held at the moment of death.

The Cathedral of Our Savior’s Transfiguration. The main cathedral of the town. It was built in 1706 on a place of ancient temples. The interior is painted by in traditions of academic school in 1809-1811. The grandiose six-row iconostasis includes the first class icons of Moscow artists of the beginning of 18th century. In side-altar of a temple there is an exposition of Uglich icons of the 15th-18th centuries. The magnificent monument of the Moscow school of icon-painting is represented among them - «Leontyevskiy rank», connected with art of Dionysus. The cathedral belfry was built in 1730 in the style of “Naryshkin” Baroque. The Epiphany Cathedral. 1827 The paintings of artists from Uglich are presented in the spacious hall. These works characterize both culture and life of Russian provincial town.

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