Visit the Breathtaking Plyos Town - Russia

Visit the Breathtaking Plyos Town - Russia

Russia is a gigantic country, the largest in the world in fact, stretching from Europe to the Pacific Ocean. And it is not only large in size, it is also enormous in its cultural diversity and the peoples who inhabit it. In reality, Russia is a federation of several republics, each with its own unique and distinctive history and culture.

This immense variety of cultures is reflected in several aspects, which makes Russia a country with enormous landscapes and a great architectural variety.

The source of inspiration for the great landscape painter Isaac Levitan, Plyos is a city of medieval origin located on the banks of the river Volga that has 2000 permanent residents and since it was founded by slaves in the 10th century it had only been known for its excellent smoked bream and its prized products.

Located 395 kilometers away from Moscow, Plyos is a small city, one of the smallest in Russia. With a population of 2,500 inhabitants, the city has nine churches, five museums, a theater, and a handful of multi-colored wooden houses spread across the wooded hillsides. Narrow streets lead to the Volga, also narrow at this point in its course, the main river of Russian geography and culture.

If you would like to escape to a very cute location, this is for you.

The most famous mansion in Plyos is a house with a mezzanine on the banks of the Volga, the former property of the merchant Solodovnikov. In 1888 Isaac Levitan, 28, lived here with his friend Sofya Kuvshinnikova.

Plyos, a medieval merchant town on the Volga with only 2,000 permanent residents, has hardly received much attention since it was founded by Slavs in the 10th century.

Fast forward to 2017, and we see Plyos occupying an increasing share of Russian national interest. On the one hand, Dmitry Medvedev has regularly spent his vacations at a sprawling resort just a few kilometers from the city's main road - a resort complete with a ski and chairlift, an artificial lake, multiple helipads, and a fence. Six meters high to hide everything. Officially, it is a government-owned, guarded residence.

And Medvedev is just one of a growing number of prominent local tourists. The former Russian ambassador to Washington has a country house in Plyos (the city is equidistant from the two largest Russian metropolises).

No wonder, the country's wealthiest businessmen are reopening their weekend homes.

So what draws the Russian elite to this burgeoning Hamptons on the banks of the Volga? Plyos' rebirth is the result of a crusade by a (very wealthy) man: Alexey Shevtsov. When the Soviet Republic collapsed in 1991, Shevtsov weathered the bumpy economy and became one of the country's most renowned financial consultants.

What exactly is it which is driving all of these wealthy and notable upstanding citizens? From our side, we think it’s the secluded beauty of Pilos, people say it carries a wonderful feeling of calmness to rest a while along the lake - an idyll in the small city that feels authentic in its calmness. A wonderful escape.