Cherepovets is an industrial city in Russia's Vologda Oblast, built around one of the country's largest steel plants. The Severstal steelworks dominate the skyline and the local economy, and the city has the no-nonsense character of a place that works for a living. It is not a conventional tourist destination, but travellers passing through the Vologda region may find it a useful stop.
The most interesting thing about Cherepovets is the Vereshchagin Estate Museum on the outskirts, the birthplace of Vasily Vereshchagin, the great 19th-century war painter whose massive canvases of battles in Central Asia and the Russo-Turkish War hang in Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery. The house has been restored as a museum. The city centre has a pleasant enough stretch along the Sheksna River, and the local history museum covers the region's pre-industrial past.