Bulavin House Museum
Stary Gorod Hotel
Stary Gorod Restaurant
STAROCHERKASSK
Formerly the bustling capital of the Don Cossacks, the place where in its heyday so many mutinies took places, and as many peace treaties were signed, today’s Starocherkassk is a sleepy village which stretches along the mighty River Don. Curiously, it is the Don with its sudden floods that made Cossacks move their capital to a new location in Novocherkassk. After that the history of Cherkassk was the history of decline. First, its name was changed from Cherkassk to Starocherkassk (Old Cherkassk), then it lost the status of a city and was downgraded to a village. Today, it is the magnificent cathedral and the fortress that remind us of its former glory.
Distance from Moscow: 1076km Founded in 1593 Population: 3345 UTC+3
TO GET THERE
By bus from Rostov-on-Don
Bus 151 departs from Karl Marx Sq. (пл. Карла Маркса) in Rostov-on-Don at 7, 8, 9, 10, 11am, 12pm, 2.10pm, 3.20pm, 4.30pm, 5.50pm, 7pm. The journey takes 1h.
By boat from Rostov-on-Don
On weekends, you can catch a ferry from one of the quays along the Don River in Rostov. The ferries belong to the travel companies which organise day tours to Starocherkassk. This means that you'll be exploring the town with a group of Russian tourist, and then taken back to Rostov in the evening. The ferries depart around 9am and return to Rostov around 5pm. The one-way journey takes around 2-2.5h. The tickets can be purchased from the ticket offices on the quay.
TO GET AROUND
Starocherkassk is tiny and perfect for exploring on foot. It takes no more than 15min to walk from one end of the village to another.
EVENTS IN STAROCHERKASSK
February or March - Cossack Maslenitsa (Russian Shrove Tuesday)
June-August (the last Saturday of each month) - Cossack Folklore Festival
11 September - Celebration of the Don Icon of the Mother of God
25 Setepmber - Cossack Music Festival