Rostov Veliky

One of Russia's oldest towns, first mentioned in chronicles in 862. Its main ensemble is the seventeenth-century Rostov Kremlin with white walls, eleven towers and the five domes of the Assumption Cathedral. The natural centre of the landscape is Lake Nero, the largest lake in Yaroslavl Oblast at 54 square kilometres. Twenty rivers flow into it and only one flows out; locals simply call it the sea.