The Volga embankment stretches for 800 meters from the Rybinsk Bridge to the building of the Water Utility company. The Volga Park, where the embankment continues, is located behind it. In the 19th century, business activity was in full swing here: barges were unloaded and loaded, merchants made deals. Now the embankment is a beautiful park area, where many attractions of Rybinsk are located.
A walk along the Volga embankment of Rybinsk can be started from the famous Rybinsk Bridge. It has two beautiful arches and is very photogenic. You need to climb it to see the Volga embankment from above. The bridge offers the most beautiful view of Rybinsk and the Volga.
Next to the bridge is the Transfiguration Cathedral, one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Russia, built in the classical style. In the 1930s, this cathedral was planned to be demolished, since according to the first project, the Rybinsky Bridge was planned to be built on the site of the cathedral. However, the implementation of the plans was prevented by the WWII. The builders returned to the project in 1946, but they decided to lay the bridge 150 meters downstream, which allowed the cathedral to be preserved. By that time, it was dismantled to the middle, but already in 1963, the domes of the Transfiguration Cathedral were restored.
Next to the cathedral, a huge building of the New Grain Exchange, built in 1912, rises above the embankment. It now houses the collections of the main Museum of Rybinsk, which is called the Rybinsk State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum.
Near the Exchange there is a pier where ships that make cruises along the Volga from Moscow to Astrakhan are moored. In recent years, the tourist attractiveness of Rybinsk has been increasing, so more and more ships are stopping here. The old town of Rybinsk recreated the appearance of the Volga city of the era of tsarist Russia. The signs of the shops and cafes are made in the style of the 19th century, which gives the streets of the city a special appeal.
Behind the building of the Old Exchange is the main walking area of the Volga embankment. Various sculptures are installed here. The largest is a sculpture of a Barge Hauler. In the 19th century, Rybinsk was the barge hauler’s capital of Russia, although Repin painted his famous painting "Barge haulers on the Volga" in Samara. The need to overload huge volumes of grain and the hauling of barges in the shallow waters of the Sheksna and Volga required the labor of the barge haulers.
Nearby there are sculptures and art compositions: a Seiner, a Reconciliation Bench, Ostap Bender and a street boy, a monument to Lev Oshanin. In the center of the Volga embankment is the St. Nicholas Chapel. It was built in 1867. In the Soviet years, it was not destroyed, but used for other organizations.
The embankment ends near the Monument to the Victims of Radiation Disasters. The building of the Northern Water Utility is located here, but it can be bypassed. The Volga Park starts 400 meters away. There is a continuation of the Volga embankment, as well as a large sandy beach where people swim and sunbathe in summer.
