Yaroslavl

 city, capital city of state/province/region, Golden Ring of Russia, district center, City of Labour Valour

City and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located 250 kilometers (160 mi) northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl rivers. It is part of the Golden Ring, a group of historic cities northeast of Moscow that have played an important role in Russian history. Population: 577,279 (2021 Census).
Reportedly the capital of an independent Principality of Yaroslavl from 1218, it was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow in 1463. In the 17th century, it was Russia's second-largest city, and for a time (during the Polish occupation of Moscow in 1612), the country's de facto capital. Today, Yaroslavl is an important industrial center (petrochemical plant, tire manufacturing plant, diesel engines plant and many others). It developed at the confluence of major rivers, which were important for transportation and, later, for power. Because of the city's importance, several major railways and later highways were constructed to intersect here.