This city is divided by the Oka River into two distinct parts. The Upper City, that is located on the hilly eastern (right) bank of the Oka, and the lower city. The city downtown is mostly built in the Russian Revival and Stalin Empire styles. The dominating feature of the city skyline is the grand Kremlin (1500-11), with its red-brick towers. After Bolshevik devastation, the only ancient edifice left inside the Kremlin’s walls is the tent-like Archangel Cathedral (1624-31), first built in stone in the 13th century.

Attractions

• Notable landmarks are the two great medieval abbeys: The Monastery of the Caves and The Annunciation Monastery.
• The town of Semyonov, to the north of Nizhny Novgorod, is known as a craft center for Khokhloma wood painting.
• Another suburb, Balakhna, is noted for its medieval architecture.
• The Fine Art Museum