Ryazan’

An older city, now known as Old Ryazan, was located 50 km (31 mi) east of modern-day Ryazan during the late Middle Ages, and served as capital of the Principality of Ryazan up until the Mongol invasion in 1237. During the Siege of Ryazan, it became one of the first cities in Russia to be besieged and completely razed to the ground. The capital was subsequently moved to Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky, and later renamed to Ryazan by order of Catherine the Great in 1778.

The city is known for the Ryazan Kremlin, a historic museum; the Pozhalostin Museum, one of the oldest art museums in Russia; the Memorial Museum-Estate of Academician I.P. Pavlov; and the Ryazan Museum of Long-Range Aviation.

In 2022, the Ministry of Construction published an updated rating of the new urban digitalization index. Ryazan entered the top three cities with a population of 250 thousand to a million people.