Ivanovo Oblast

Ivanovo Oblast (Russian: Ива́новская о́бласть, Ivanovskaya oblast) is a region in Central Russia, which borders Yaroslavl Oblast to the west, Kostroma Oblast to the north, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast to the east, and Vladimir Oblast to the south.

Cities

 * (Иваново) – the capital of the region is also a former world capital of the textile industry; for the hundreds of thousands of women who worked in the textile industry, Ivanovo has been called "The City of Brides".
 * (Кинешма) – the second largest city in the region has a prominent cathedral and several estate-museums, including that of the great 19th century composer Alexander Borodin.
 * (Па́лех) – a town famous for its 19th century school of icon and mural painting and for its contemporary lacquer-painted miniatures.
 * (Плёс) – an exceptionally pretty town of the Golden Ring and also the smallest, home to the Isaac Levitan House Museum
 * (Шу́я) – visit nearby Nikolo-Shartomsky Abbey, one of Russia's largest monastic communities and home to the world's largest freestanding bell tower.
 * (Старая Вичуга) – a small town with a neglected but nonetheless grandiose palace of Count Tatishchev.

Talk
Everyone speaks Russian; few speak much else.