cathedral
St. Basil's Cathedral
Russia's most recognizable building with its colorful onion domes on Moscow's Red Square.
51 km · about 60 min drive
EuropeRussiaMoscow Oblast
Gzhel’
Moscow Oblast, Russia · Europe
About Gzhel’
Gzhel’ sits on the route: 10 minutes from Rechitsy, 51km from Moscow Kremlin.
Gzhel’ is in Moscow Oblast, Russia, with about 7,000 people. The nearest town is Rechitsy, about 5 km away.
Gzhel (Russian: Гжель, IPA: [ɡʐelʲ]) is a rural locality (a selo) in Ramensky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located 52 kilometers (32 mi) southeast from the center of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,006.
It gave its name to Gzhel ceramics as well as the Gzhelian age and stage in the ICSRead more
geologic time scale. In a broader sense, the name may also refer to a cluster of rural localities in the vicinity of Gzhel and Rechitsy. An eponymous railway station on the Moscow–Kazan line has been operating since 1912, and a different settlement also named Gzhel is located in the vicinity.
Gzhel stands on the banks of the Gzhelka River, known from the 1451 charter of Sophia of Lithuania, mother of Vasily II of Moscow, as Kzhelya. The year of Gzhel's foundation remains unknown, but it was first reliably documented in the 1784 population audit. Gzhel prospered in the end of 19th century; the 1871 population audit recorded eleven retail shops, fifteen pubs, five inns, and eighty-eight manufacturing shops. Farmland was scarce; most of the population made a living in ceramic trade or worked in Moscow. According to 1878 records, 952 local men and 177 women worked outside of Gzhel, yet the number of workers from other places was over 1,200, evenly balancing the equation. Unhealthy work environments promoted mass tuberculosis among locals and guest workers; in 1909, a privately funded free sanatorium for TB patients was built here.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to see near Gzhel’?
Within an hour or so of Gzhel’: St. Basil's Cathedral (51 km), Red Square (51 km), Moscow Kremlin (51 km), Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (52 km).
Where is Gzhel’?
Gzhel’ is in Moscow Oblast, Russia, about 5 km from Rechitsy.
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Quick Information
- Population
- 7,000
- Continent
- Europe
- Country
- Russia
- Region
- Moscow Oblast
- Timezone
- Europe/Moscow
- Coordinates
- 55.6101, 38.3940
Tags
Worth the detour from Gzhel’
4 notable places within an hour's drive.
landmark
Red Square
Vast central square in Moscow flanked by the Kremlin, St Basil's Cathedral, and the GUM department store.
51 km · about 60 min drive
castle
Moscow Kremlin
A fortified complex at the heart of Moscow serving as the official residence of the President of Russia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
51 km · about 60 min drive
landmark
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
Tallest Orthodox Christian church in the world in central Moscow, demolished by Stalin and rebuilt in the 1990s.
52 km · about 60 min drive
When to drive here
May to September
Far northern latitude: short daylight hours outside summer make long drives harder.
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