Settlement on the site of the present city is known from the middle of the XIV century, in the documents of the XIV-XV centuries it is mentioned under the name of the Great Sloboda, from the beginning of the XVI century - the New Village of Alexandrovskoye and Alexandrov (Alexandrovskaya) Sloboda. The proximity of the settlement to Moscow, the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and Pereslavl-Zalessky made it in the 15th century a place of rest for the Moscow princes during trips to the pilgrimage.
In the spiritual literacy of Ivan III (1504) The new village of Alexandrovskoe was bequeathed to his son Vasili, the future Grand Duke Vasily III. In 1509-1515 a large complex of several palace, four temple and a number of economic buildings was built - one of the distant residences of the prince (probably the architect was Aleviz Novy). To date, from the palace and temple complex preserved:
Troitsky (formerly Pokrovsky) Cathedral;Pokrovskaya (formerly the Trinity) church;the Church of Alexei the Metropolitan (inside the existing Crucifixion bell tower);Church of the Assumption.After the death of Basil III, Elena Glinskaya erects a series of palace buildings around the fortified wooden walls with a gate, surrounded by a moat. The son of Basil III, Ivan the Terrible, following the tradition of his father, continued to make pilgrimage trips. From 1532 to 1563 Ivan IV came to Alexandrov Sloboda more than 10 times.December 3, 1564, Ivan the Terrible from Moscow went on a pilgrimage. By December 21, the Tsar's motorcade arrived at the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. After prayers and traditional service, Ivan IV went not to Moscow, but to Alexandrov Sloboda. By the autumn of 1565 all the threads of internal management had converged in Alexandrov Sloboda. Until 1581, Sloboda was the main political and cultural center of the Russian state, the center of oprichnina. Here the king and his family were at the time of the "pestilence" - the plague that swept Moscow in 1568.
In 1569, the first printing house in Russia was brought here from Moscow. The pupils of the first printer Ivan Fyodorov Andronicus Timofeev (Nevezh) and Nikifor Tarasiev in 1578 print the Psalter in it, which repeated the first Russian textbook "The Psalms of the Curriculum", published in Moscow in 1568. In the future, the printing house printed not only books, but leaflets against Stefan Batory, distributed in "many German cities."
In the Alexandrovsky Sloboda in 1571 the royal examination of brides took place. From all over Russia, two thousand beauties came here, of whom Ivan the Terrible chose Marf Sobakin as his wife.
In November 1581, Tsarevich Ivan died or was killed in the Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. After the death of his son, the tsar left the settlement forever.At the beginning of the XVII century, the Alexander Sloboda was heavily destroyed by the Poles: in 1609 and 1611 it was seized by troops led by Jan Sapieha. The Minin and Pozharsky militia liberated the settlement from the invaders and, together with the suburban militia, moved to captivated Moscow.
Around 1635 for Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov in the Alexander Sloboda was built wooden royal palace, which existed for about 100 years. Under Aleksei Mikhailovich, the female Holy Assumption Monastery is being organized on the site of the desolate fortress.
Monuments of architecture of the ancient Alexandrovskaya settlement are included in the museum-reserve "Alexandrovskaya Sloboda".September 1, 1778 by the decree of Catherine the Great settlement was transformed into a county town of Alexandrov Vladimiro-Kostroma governorship. In 1781, Alexandrov was awarded a coat of arms, in 1788 approved the first regular plan of the city, which was the basis for subsequent buildings. Since 1796, Alexandrov - the county town of the Vladimir province.
In the beginning of the XIX century in Alexandrov and Alexandrovsky uyezd the cotton-paper industry became widespread, in the city there were the largest weaving manufactories in Russia: Troitsko-Alexandrovskaya and Sokolovskaya.
In 1870, a railway passed through the city, linking Alexandrov with Moscow and Yaroslavl, and in 1896 a railway was built to Ivanovo-Voznesensk and Kineshma. This predetermined the further development of industry.
In 1897, 6,810 people lived in the city, of whom 6,501 Russians, 87 Ukrainians, 87 Poles, 84 Jews [4].
In 1903, the railway station was built, which is one of the architectural monuments of the city.
In December 1905, in Alexandrov, there was an armed uprising of workers of local factories, lasting 5 days - so-called. The Alexander's Republic.