On the site of today's Yelets, a defensive fortress existed already at the end of the eleventh century, although in the annals the city was first mentioned only in the XII century, when Svyatoslav Olegovich fled into it.
Then the city, together with Russia, experienced raids by the Tatar-Mongols and Polovtsians. He was repeatedly burned and busted. Ceasing in the XVIII-XIX centuries. to play the role of a border fortress, the city became a craft and trade center, began to supply flour to Azov, and beer and beer boilers were transported to all cities, due to which the whole country learned about Yelets. The city map was compiled for the first time in 1908, after which it was repeatedly corrected after its development.
Speaking about the attractions of Yelets, one can distinguish a huge number of residential estates of the 1st half of the 19th century, as well as memorial museums - Tikhon Khrennikov, Ivan Bunin, as well as Nikolai Zhukov. Of particular interest will be the history of the museum of local lore. Initially, it was a museum of visual aids at the school, created thanks to Mikhail Prishvin in 1918. After some time he was plundered by the Mammoth workers, only after that he became a specialist in local history. Many unique exhibits are stored here, for example, paintings by Vereshchagin and Aivazovsky, personal belongings of Bunin.
Considering the rest of the attractions of Yelets, you can highlight the Orthodox Cathedral. Above it is only the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior and St. Isaac's Cathedral, located in St. Petersburg. The Ascension Cathedral was built by Konstantin Ton, who was also involved in the construction of the Armory and various structures in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The wall paintings of the temple were made by Claudius Lebedev and Alexey Korzukhin.
Russia is rich in many historical sights. The city of Yelets was no exception. For example, the Governor’s House was built in the old Russian style with embossed platbands and rusticated pilasters. And, of course, having been here, one cannot help but go to Red Square. Historians argue about the origin of this name. In ancient times, a red place (or square, angle) was called something very honorable and beautiful. Although there is an opinion that it was called that because of the amount of blood spilled on it - the city too often had to fight.
To our days, various attractions of Yelets have been preserved, among which many examples of architecture of the VIII-XIX centuries. - merchant houses, temples, buildings of commercial and public institutions. And the beauty, variety and number of temples here cannot be admired, almost each of them deserves special attention. From the point of view of architecture and history, the four most interesting sights of Yelets are:
- the temple of the icon of the Mother of God, which, according to legend, stopped Tamerlane’s troops from marching to Moscow;
- Vvedensky church is the oldest stone building in the city, which was built in the eighteenth century;
- The Grand Ducal Church, created in honor of a visit to the city by Mikhail Alexandrovich - Grand Duke, brother of Nicholas II;
- Ascension Cathedral, designed by Konstantin Ton.
The remaining sights of the city are connected with the work and life of I.A. Bunin, who lived here for several years, T.N. Khrennikov (composer), N.N. Zhukov (artist).