Kostroma’s main attraction, this is where a young Mikhail Romanov was holed up before going to Moscow to ascend the throne of Tsar. Founded around 1330, over the years the monastery has played host to Catherine the Great and Nicholas II. Unlike most monasteries, the Ipatievsky is no nonsense being centred on two main exhibits: the Troitsky Cathedral and The Romanov Chambers. We have seen many churches in our day, but the Troitsky is impressive, extraordinarily well preserved in a mid-17th century Moscow style and doused in gold, its walls covered in frescoes and holy depictions and covered by a five-domed roof. The young Mikhail Romanov lived with his mother in the Chambers until 1613.