Alexandrov is a town with a dark and fascinating past. In the sixteenth century it was the personal residence of Ivan the Terrible, who moved his court here in 1564 and made it the capital of the oprichnina, the terror regime in which he set up a private force to crush the boyars and, as he saw it, treason. From this place, the tsar ruled his country for seventeen years, and the Alexandrov Sloboda was the center of a system of fear. It is now a museum complex, the Alexandrov Kremlin, with a church, a bell tower, a refectory and the remains of fortifications, all tucked behind a wall in the middle of the town.
The chief monument is the Trinity Cathedral, built in the early sixteenth century and later redecorated, and the Assumption Convent, which was a center of religious life long before and after Ivan. One of the more poignant details is the connection to women. Several royal women were forced to take the veil here, and some are buried in the convent. In the twentieth century, the poet Marina Tsvetaeva spent time in the town, and the literary connection is remembered in a small museum.
The town lies on the border between Moscow and Vladimir regions, on gentle country of fields and forests, and it is a stop on the route of the Golden Ring of old Russian towns. The roads are mostly good, with moderate traffic, and the nearby back roads toward Suzdal, Yuryev-Polsky and Pereslavl are quiet and pleasant. Weekends in summer bring tour buses and Muscovites, so a weekday visit is calmer. Spring is muddy, and winter is cold and snowy.
Practical matters are easy. Alexandrov has about sixty thousand people, a number of fuel stations, shops and cafes, and a few hotels. It is a good place for a pause between Moscow and the Golden Ring towns to the north and east. The kremlin has opening hours and an entrance fee, and it is best to arrive in the morning.
Sit on a bench near the cathedral for a while. The silence behind the walls is thick, and the history seems to hang in the air.