Sophia

Sofia Cathedral is the first stone temple and the main Vologda shrine. Ioann Vasilyevich Grozny himself had a hand in the construction. In 1565, he began the construction of a stone fortress, an area twice the size of the Moscow Kremlin. Ivan the Terrible managed to build two stone walls with 11 towers, founded the mighty Sophia Cathedral, laid several more temples and stone chambers.

The Sophia Cathedral is adjacent to the ensemble, conventionally called the Vologda Kremlin, but in fact is the estate of the bishop.

Inside, well-preserved paintings of the 1680s, made by Yaroslavl masters. At the cathedral there is a monumental bell tower with an observation deck, the ascent of which is carried out by means of no less monumental wooden shoots occupying the entire inner space of the tower.