Currently, the remnants of the ancient fortifications of Pereslavl-Zalessky, which are earthen ramparts, are one of the most interesting monuments of Russian military architecture.

These ramparts have been well preserved, and the gaps in them correspond to the locations of former gates.

The length of the ramparts is 2.5 km, their height reaches 10 m, the base width is about 30 m, and the crest width is 6 m. About 600,000 cubic meters of earth were required for their construction.

The ramparts were built after the construction of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral, erected in 1152-1157. In the center of the ring of ramparts is the ancient cathedral square, now known as Krasnaya. The Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral occupies a central place in the architectural ensemble of the square.

The earthen ramparts have a framework of wooden log cabins located 950 cm deep from the top of the rampart. Each log cabin is divided into two parts by intermediate walls and consists of three to four crowns made in the "oblo" technique, meaning with the ends of the logs protruding. The logs are laid without careful fitting, and oak and aspen were used as materials.

The log cabins were filled with earth, and soil was piled on top to form the rampart, which was covered with turf for strength and to prevent landslides. A wooden fortress wall ran along the crest of the rampart.

There is a version that the wooden wall consisted of "gorodnya," log cabins buried in earth, which represented the exposed framework of the rampart. A platform was arranged on the wall, fenced on the outside by "zaboroly," a parapet behind which the defenders of the fortress took cover.

The walls were additionally strengthened by chopped towers called "vezhi," which projected forward beyond the plane of the wall, allowing for flanking fire against enemies.

Each tower had its own name: Spasskaya, Karashskaya, Dukhovskaya, Alexeyevskaya, Troitskaya, Varvarskaya, Nikolskaya, Kruglay, Rozhdestvenskaya, Taynitsskaya, and Voznesenskaya. The Spasskaya, Dukhovskaya, Nikolskaya, and Rozhdestvenskaya towers were passable, meaning they had gates. The wooden walls of Pereslavl stood until 1759, after which they were dismantled due to decay and lack of necessity.