Church of Prince Dimitry-on-Blood.
Built in 1692 to commemorate an infamous event in the history of Uglich. After he died in 1584,
Tsar Ivan the Terrible left two sons, Fyodor, who was mentally handicapped, and Dimitri, an infant.
Fyodor became Tsar, with Boris Godunov holding power as his regent. Dmitri and his mother were
exiled to Uglich and kept in captivity. In 1591, the eight-year old Dimitri was found dead with a
knife wound to his throat, murder was suspected and a number of Muscovites were killed. Boris
Godunov sent soldiers to Uglich to quell the rebellion, with more executions and most of the town
sent to exile in Siberia. The official inquiry ruled that Dimitri had been playing with knives and
suffered an epileptic fit, falling on his own knife. After Fyodor died, Boris became Tsar, ushering
in a period of Russian history known as the “Time of Troubles”, which persisted until the Romanov
Dynasty began in 1613. By the early 17th century, Uglich had become a pilgrimage site and Dimitri
had become a saint. A small wooden church was erected on the spot where he died.