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Historical Centre of the City of Yaroslavl

Situated at the confluence of the Volga and Kotorosl Rivers some 250 km north-east of Moscow, the historic city of Yaroslavl developed into a major commercial centre from the 11th century. It is renowned for its numerous 17th-century churches and is an outstanding example of the urban planning reform Empress Catherine the Great ordered for the whole of Russia in 1763. While keeping some of its significant historic structures, the town was renovated in the neoclassical style on a radial urban master plan. It has also kept elements from the 16th century in the Spassky Monastery, one of the oldest in the Upper Volga region, built on the site of a pagan temple in the late 12th century but reconstructed over time.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1170

The Historical Centre of the City of Yaroslavl is a product of Catherine the Great's town planning reform and is dotted with 17th century churches.

Yaroslavl (250 km northeast of Moscow is said to have been founded in 1010. It lies at the intersection of major highways, railroads and waterways. In the 17th century, Yaroslavl was Russia's second largest city and, for a time (during the Polish occupation of Moscow in 1612), the country's de facto capital. 

Its main churches date back to the same period. They belong to the so called Yaroslavl type: built of red brick, with bright tiled exteriors. Those of St. Nicholas Nadein and Elijah the Prophet have some of the Golden ring's most impressive frescoes.

Yaroslavl was also rewarded world heritage status because it is an outstanding example of the town-planning reform ordered by Empress Catherine The Great in the whole of Russia, implemented between 1763 and 1830. The city also holds a number of

significant neo-classical buildings. 

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/yaroslavl.html