In Pereslavl-Zalessky the Red Square is located near the Transfiguration Cathedral, the oldest church of the town. It is also near two more later churches, various museums, and a medieval defensive rampart. The Trubezh flows a hundred meters from it.
Since 12 century, the square was the center of town life. At that time it was known as the Veche Square. All buildings, including prince’s palaty were then wooden and they have not survived to this day. In 1152, in the center of the Red Square, Prince Yuri Dolgoruky laid the Transfiguration Cathedral, which was finished already under Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest.
In 1220, Alexander Nevsky was born in the prince’s palaty on the Red Square of the town. He was baptized in the Transfiguration Cathedral. When he was 20 years old, he won the battle with a Swedish troop on the Neva, after which he was known as Nevsky. In 1242, the Pereyaslav druzhina (prince’s armed force), led by Alexander Nevsky, set off from the Red Square for the battle with Teutonic knights on Lake Peipsi. This battle is known as the Battle on the Ice. The Teutonic knights were completely defeated and their expansion into Russian lands stopped.
Around the Red Square, there remained a fortified earthen rampart that protected the town. Its height is 10 meters, and the total length reaches 2.5 km. There was a wooden wall on the rampart, which got dilapidated and was dismantled in 18 century.
In 18 century, a significant part of the Red Square was occupied by the new St. Vladimir Novodevichy Convent of the Meeting of the Lord. St. Vladimir Cathedral was the main church of the convent. The Church of Alexander Nevsky is not far from the cathedral. Both churches were built in 1740 and have survived to our days.
The convent on the Red Square was closed when the diocese of Pereslavl was abolished. The walls of the convent and the bell tower were destroyed in the 1930s. However, some of these walls have survived to this day.
