Pereslavl Zalessky became the cradle of the Russian fleet in the late 17th century, when Peter the Great had a “funny flotilla” built on Lake Pleshcheyevo in 1689. President Putin visited a local nautical museum, with the Russian tsar’s very first boat as its centrepiece. The display was set up on the lake’s southern bank in 1803.
Mr Putin also went to Pereslavl’s Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral (of the Transfiguration of the Saviour) and the Convent of St. Nicholas. Later that day, he headed on for Gus Khrustalny, where he was shown around a museum of crystal and a factory producing crystal wares.