34 Yoshkar-Ola attractions recommended for viewing - descriptions, addresses, prices

What to visit in Yoshkar-Ola for free:

Assumption Street and the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is located next to the Government House; its construction was timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the victory in World War II. The temple was consecrated immediately - on August 28, 2006.

Nearby is the chapel named after St. Nicholas, and the Church of the Assumption itself is decorated with hand-made wall mosaics, an altar and painted icons.

Address: Uspenskaya street, 40, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: daily, Monday – closed; morning service – 8:00, evening – 17:00

Entry: free

Official website: https://uspenie-ola.cerkov.ru/

"Yoshkin cat"

Located near the main entrance to the University of Mari. The sculpture was created in 2011 in Kazan, and then transported to Yoshkar-Ola. Interesting fact: the prototype was a cat who lived in the creators’ studio.

During the existence of the sculpture, many legends appeared around it. They say that if you rub a cat's paw, it will bring good luck. In total, there are already as many as 5 sculptures dedicated to cats in the city.

Address: Leninsky Prospekt, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: 24 hours a day

Entry: free

Square of the Republic and the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Square of the Republic and the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in 2007 and received this name for a reason. As planned, this name should symbolize the connection between the Republic of Mari El and the Virgin Mary.

A fountain was installed on the square, which is decorated with sculptures. The sculptures play out the plot of the Feast of the Annunciation, in honor of which the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built.

Address: Republic Square and the Blessed Virgin Mary, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: 24 hours a day

Entry: free

Medici Park

The main element of the park is the sculpture of Lorenzo de' Medici, the height of which reaches 3.5 meters, and it is cast entirely from bronze. It was created in 2012 with money from patrons.

The compact park includes alleys planted with maple trees. The park ensemble was built in the Italian style and is a symbol of the prosperity of the Republic.

Address: Voskresenskaya embankment, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: 24 hours a day

Entry: free

Blagoveshchensky cathedral

The temple is the main element of the architectural complex erected on the river embankment, as well as the cathedral of the Mari diocese.

The parish of the Annunciation Cathedral was originally created to attract a new generation and introduce them to the Orthodox faith. It’s worth a visit if only for its impressive size and aesthetic considerations.

Address: Voskresenskaya embankment, 32, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: daily, morning service – 8:00, evening – 17:00

Entry: free

Official website: https://mari.eparhia.ru/churches/eparhii_yoshkar-olinskoi/capital/?ID=5222

Gogol Square

This is one of the best squares in the city. Oddly enough, it is decorated with a monument to the writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol.

If you walk a little, you will see Gogolevsky Boulevard, which was built quite recently, at the end of 2014, and behind it is the Gogolevsky Bridge, running across the Malaya Kokshaga River.

Address: Gogol street, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: 24 hours a day

Entry: free

Resurrection Cathedral

The cathedral was built in 1759; funds from parishioners and the merchant Bulygin were used for the construction. It also hosts water blessing prayers for expectant mothers twice a month.

On the territory of the Resurrection Cathedral there are several chapels, and inside everything is decorated with icons and crosses, in the center there is an altar.

Address: Voznesenskaya street, 45, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: Wednesday - Sunday, morning service - 8:00, Wednesday at 7:30, evening - 16:30

Entry: free

Official website: https://mari.eparhia.ru/churches/eparhii_yoshkar-olinskoi/capital/?ID=5224

Attractions in the surrounding area

Sea Eye Lake

GPS coordinates: 56.1621313, 48.7613529 Address: Shariboksad village How to get there: by car on the A295 highway

According to legend, once in a village a young man and a girl who loved each other very much decided to get married. But the local witch warned the young people that they were brother and sister. The lovers waved it off and scheduled a magnificent wedding, during which a downpour poured in, lightning split the hill, and the entire village went underground. They say that the bitter cry of the bride can still be heard here at night.

The depth of the lake in the shape of an almost perfect circle reaches 42 m. The water coming from underground sources is used as drinking water.

Lake Yalchik

GPS coordinates: 56.008707, 48.438326 How to get there: by rail to the station. Yalchik

The area of the largest lake in the region is 1.6 square meters. km. Strawberries, stoneberries, and blueberries grow in the pine forest next to the lake. The lake is home to roach, pike, and perch.

There are tourist centers near the reservoir, and there is a shop at the station.

State Nature Reserve Bolshaya Kokshaga

Address: st. Voinov-Internationalistov, 26 Phone: Website: https://b-kokshaga.ru/ Opening hours: 08.00-17.00 Mon-Fri, Sat, Sun - days off Cost: 100 rubles

The Bolshaya Kokshaga Nature Reserve consists of 95% forest: spruce, pine, birch. Territory area - 214 sq. km.

The reserve is home to 50 species of mammals: moose, bears, wild boars, beavers. There are 700 species of plants on the territory: cloudberry, bramble, sundew. The Bolshaya Kokshaga River, which flows through the reserve, is home to 29 species of fish: pike, perch, carp.

Hunting and fishing are permitted in some parts of the protected natural site.

Where to go in Yoshkar-Ola and what else to see:

Botanical Garden-Institute of Perm State Technical University

The area of the botanical garden is almost 74 hectares, and all exhibitions are located in the very center and surrounded by a protective zone.

This place contains many specimens of flora from all over the world; the garden’s funds contain almost 6,000 plant specimens. Various scientific studies are carried out on the basis of the obtained samples.

Address: Mira street, 2B, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: Monday – Friday from 8:00 to 17:00

Entrance: 1200 rubles – excursion for a group of up to 6 people

Official website: https://botsad.volgatech.net/

National Museum of the Republic of Mari El

The National Museum has collected many exhibitions dedicated to the Mari, their culture and history. The historical complex was founded in 1920.

At the moment, the Museum of the Republic of Mari El is located in a place built in 1903. Having undergone many restorations, the building has still not lost its flavor.

Address: Sovetskaya street, 153, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: daily from 10:00 to 18:00; Monday - closed

Entrance: 150 rubles – adult ticket, 90 rubles – schoolchildren, pensioners, students, 70 rubles – preschoolers

Official website: https://www.fumus.ru/

Museum of the History of the City of Yoshkar-Ola

The richest and most interesting exhibitions of the museum have been operating since 1996 on the initiative of the city administration to inform residents about the history of their native city.

The exhibition includes more than 17,000 items and is still constantly being updated. The exhibition is dedicated to the fate of Yoshkar-Ola in the 16th–20th centuries. In 2005, the Department of Military Glory was opened.

Address: Voznesenskaya street, 39, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: main building: Tuesday - Friday from 10:00 to 18:00, Saturday - Sunday from 10:00 to 16:00; Monday is a day off. Department of Military Glory: Monday – Friday from 8:00 to 17:00; Saturday – Sunday – closed

Entrance: 80 rubles – adult ticket, 50 rubles – pensioners, students, schoolchildren. Excursions: group – from 70 to 100 rubles; individual – 500 rubles

Official website: https://www.i-ola-museum.ru

Mari Drama Theater

The Mari Theater opened its doors for the first time in 1919. At that moment, it was a simple mobile theater in which students of a rural school performed.

Now the Mari National Theater named after M. Shketan is one of the oldest drama theaters in the republic and a center for the cultural development of the population.

Address: Lenin Square, 2, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: daily from 11:00 to 19:00; Monday - closed

Entrance: price depends on the performance

Official website: https://shketan.ru

Mari Opera and Ballet Theater

The Erik Sapaev Theater appeared in 1968 and took place in the same building as the Mari Drama Theater. They wanted to unite them, but after the arrival of Konstantin Ivanov in 1999, everything changed for the better.

Now the theater management organizes festivals and invites young artists and directors to conventions.

Address: Komsomolskaya street, 130, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: daily, on weekdays from 11:30 to 18:30, on weekends from 11:00 to 16:00

Admission: price depends on performance

Official website: https://www.operaballet.net

Ferris wheel

It is located in the central park of culture and recreation, next to other equally interesting attractions, but of all the types of entertainment, the wheel seems the most impressive from the outside.

If you want to see the beauty of Yoshkar-Ola from a bird's eye view, then you definitely need to visit this place and get a lot of positive emotions.

Address: Komsomolskaya street, 124, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: daily, from 10:00 to 20:00

Entrance: 100 rubles, children under 4 years old – free

Official website: https://park-ola.mari-el.muzkult.ru

Republican Puppet Theater

The Puppet Theater, located on Patriarchal Square, is one of the sources of cultural education for the population. In 2014, it was decided to change the building, and now it resembles a German palace.

Inside there are several auditoriums, a foyer and a local museum. Currently, the theater organizes excursions that include visits to the museum and backstage.

Address: Tsargradsky prospect, 35, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: Wednesday – Friday from 11:30 to 18:00; Saturday – Sunday from 9:00 to 15:00; Monday – Tuesday – closed

Entrance: from 180 to 400 rubles

Official website: https://teatrkukolmariel.ru/main

National Gallery of Art

The gallery was founded in 2007 as a branch of the Museum of Fine Arts. The permanent exhibition consists of paintings by Mari artists, and temporary exhibitions include completely different exhibits.

Private collections, paintings from other world and Russian museums - all this attracts many art connoisseurs visiting the gallery.

Address: Leninsky Prospekt, 24, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: Tuesday – Saturday from 10:00 to 18:00

Entrance: permanent exhibition: 80 rubles – adult ticket, 50 rubles – discounted ticket

Official website: https://www.museum.ru/M1529

Gulag Museum

The museum is located in a house that once belonged to a merchant, and during the USSR, people who issued arrest orders were located there.

The museum is very popular among history buffs and simply those who are not indifferent to the past of their people. Many photographs, papers and other reminders will remind you of what once happened in the USSR.

Address: Voznesenskaya street, 39, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: Monday – Friday from 11:00 to 19:00

Entrance: 100 rubles – adult ticket, 50 rubles – schoolchildren, pensioners, students

Museum of Folk Applied Arts

The museum was created in 1999 in the mansion of the zemstvo contractors; after the revolution, the building changed its purpose many times.

The Museum of Folk and Applied Arts organizes excursions for different age groups and conducts master classes, teaching new things, so here everyone will find something to their liking.

Address: Chernyshevsky street, 23, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: daily, from 10:00 to 18:00; Monday - closed

Entrance: 40 rubles – adult ticket, 20 rubles – schoolchildren, pensioners, students. Photography – 50 rubles, video filming – 100 rubles

Official website: https://www.fumus.ru

Russian Drama Theater

The theater is named after Georgy Konstantinov, who held the management of the theater in his hands for 30 years (1964 - 1994).

Nowadays the drama theater hosts a lot of different performances for people of all ages. Various festivals are also organized on behalf of the theater - this is a huge contribution to the development of the culture of Mari El.

Address: Nikonova Square, 1, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: daily from 11:00 to 18:00

Entrance: from 200 to 950 rubles

Official website: https://rusdramtheatre.ru

Annunciation Tower

This is a relatively young monument, built in 2007, but even in such a short period of time it managed to become a symbol of Yoshkar-Ola.

Its main attraction is the clock, which follows the shape of the Spasskaya Tower chimes. The time on the clock is adjusted by the satellite signal. The tower is also a favorite backdrop for photographs among tourists.

Address: Republic Square and the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: daily from 10:00 to 18:00; Monday - closed

Entrance: 100 rubles

Clock "12 Apostles"

Amazing design. Bronze statues perform the famous story from the Gospel - “The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem”, appearing every 3 hours and delighting the people who have gathered to watch it.

A special system of mechanisms, designed to last 30 years, powers the figures. And this moving sculptural composition was assembled in just a year!

Address: Tsargradsky prospect, 37, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: daily from 9:00 to 18:00 every 3 hours; excursion to the tower: daily from 9:15 to 20:15 every hour

Entrance: free; excursion to the tower: 200 rubles – adult ticket, 100 rubles – children’s ticket

Museums

The sights of Yoshkar-Ola in one day are not only architectural buildings and monuments. You can include in your program a visit to one or more museums that introduce you to the ancient city. At the National Art Gallery it will be interesting to look at the permanent exhibition “Mari El: Traditions and Modernity” with Mari paintings, local embroidery, folk costumes and jewelry. Large temporary exhibitions also take place here. Thanks to the information and educational project “Russian Museum: Virtual Branch”, you can see exhibits from the collection of the St. Petersburg institution.

The gallery is part of the Republican Museum of Fine Arts . It contains Mari art (modern and classical, fine and decorative and applied), and also has collections of Russian and Western European painting and graphics.

Not far from Chavaina Boulevard, in the Lokhanov House, a historical and architectural monument built in 1907, there is the Museum of Folk Applied Arts . In its halls you can learn about the folk crafts of the Mari of past centuries, see household items and crafts. The museum is part of the structure of the National Museum of the Republic of Mari El named after T. Evseev . In it you can learn more about the Mari traditional religion, which still exists today along with Orthodoxy, which is why the Mari people are called “the last pagans of Europe.” The museum presents archaeological finds, information about the nature of the region and the culture of the peoples living here. The museum also includes: a cultural exhibition museum, a museum of history and archeology , a children's museum center, a house-museum of the composer I. S. Klyuchnikov-Palantay , and a museum of the history of Orthodoxy .

Not far from the Kremlin is the Museum of Mari fairy tales and folk art of Silver-toothed Pampalche , where visitors will get acquainted with the folklore and fairy tales of the Mari people. Nearby, in the park near the Kremlin, there is an open-air Museum of Folk Tales with characters from Russian and Mari works. Yoshkin Kot gastronomic you will try Mari brands - cheeses, sausages, chocolate, marmalade, honey, beer, etc.

Excursions with interactive activities, tastings and master classes are held at the Cheese Museum . You can also attend a master class at the Museum of Ceramics . Other thematic museums in the city include the forest museum, the glasses museum, and the doll museum.

In the former house of the merchant Bulygin , where for some time there was a prison for political prisoners, there was previously a Museum of the History of the Gulag , now you can only examine the historical building from the outside.

More details: museums of Yoshkar-Ola

Sights of Yoshkar-Ola in one day:

Obolensky-Nogotkov Square

The first thing that catches your eye when you get to the square is the 6-meter monument to Ivan Obolensky-Nogotkov, who made a significant contribution to the development of the city. In honor of him, oddly enough, such a name was given.

Also on the square is an art gallery, a sculpture of the martyr Bishop Leonidas and a double of the Moscow Tsar Cannon.

Address: Obolensky-Nogotkov Square, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: 24 hours a day

Entry: free

Chavaina Boulevard

The main avenue of Yoshkar-Ola and it has this name in honor of the founder of the national literature of Mari El - Sergei Chavain.

On the territory of the boulevard there is a lot of greenery, benches, souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants, and if you decide to take a walk at night, you will also see fountains shimmering with light.

Address: Chavaina Boulevard, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: 24 hours a day

Entry: free

Patriarchal Square

A large square in the city center, it is also called the heart of Yoshkar-Ola. Having appeared not so long ago, it has already managed to captivate many city residents and tourists.

During your visit, you will learn many facts about both the square itself and the attractions located on it, and you will also have a great time enjoying the architecture.

Address: Patriarchal Square, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: 24 hours a day

Entry: free

Bruges waterfront

Houses in the Flemish style, the sound of water, wonderful views, as well as a monument to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna - all this is on the Bruges embankment. Walking along it is wonderful in any weather.

Locals consider the route along the Malaya Kokshaga River one of the best for relaxing in the city and a good walk.

Address: Bruges embankment, Yoshkar-Ola

Opening hours: daily

Entry: free

Stories, routes and tourist tips

Photos of Yoshkar-Ola sights for 1 day, routes and tips can be found in the stories of tourists. The reviews will be useful not only for residents of the nearest regions who can take a day off to the capital of the republic, but also for those who are planning a trip for several days visiting different cities. A route around Yoshkar-Ola for 1 day is usually included in the program for visiting Kazan, Cheboksary, Nizhny Novgorod and other cities, depending on the direction of your trip. Tourists in their stories recommend trying the local cuisine and give recommendations for places visited. Many people write about the strange contrast of the city - remodels based on the models of beautiful European buildings, and behind them - ordinary Soviet buildings.

Reviews of the sights of Yoshkar-Ola for 1 day:

Valeria Belousova - “Two capitals + Bulgarians. Festivals, antiquity and modernity"
Elena Antyufeeva - “Yoshkar-Ola: madness on an urban scale”
Yaroslav Glukhov - “One day in Yoshkar-Ola. Part I. The Kremlin" and "One day in Yoshkar-Ola. Part II. Kokshaga"
Marina Dvoryashina - photo album “Transition from Yoshkar-Ola”
Denis Mironov - photo album “New Year's impromptu. Part 2: Yoshkar-Ola"

Reviews of tourists about trips to Yoshkar-Ola

FAQ

Where can you go with children in Yoshkar-Ola? Fountain “Into Space”, Central Park of Culture and Leisure, Replica of the Tsar Cannon, Medici Park, Ferris Wheel.

What can you see in Yoshkar-Ola on your own? Church of the Holy Trinity, Square of the House of Government of the Republic of Mari El, Assumption Street and Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Annunciation Cathedral.

4 main attractions of Yoshkar-Ola that are definitely worth a visit? Tsarevokokshay Kremlin, Arkhangelskaya Sloboda, Voskresenskaya Embankment, “12 Apostles” Clock.

Beautiful places in Yoshkar-Ola that are worth visiting

In Yoshkar-Ola there are several outstanding cultural and educational centers where tourists can have an interesting time. The city has interesting places for travelers: museums of art, national culture, art exhibitions are held here, and art galleries are open. The theaters show famous modern and classical productions. Art museums and galleries are exactly what the Red City is famous for.

Yoshkin cat

The main attraction of the city for young tourists. A monument to a character from colloquial folklore - an ironic sculpture depicting a cat imposingly sitting on a bench.

Address: Lenin Square. At Arkhangelskaya Sloboda, 7, there is another thematic sculpture – Yoshkina’s cat next to the cat.

Stop – “Teatralnaya”, bus 5.

Get directions