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Where to Go: Vladimir / Suzdal Why to Go: Suzdal was long sort of a repository for churches and monasteries, and an extraordinary amount can be seen here. Suzdal was also largely untouched by development, making it fabulously rural. Vladimir, while less interesting, still offers a lot (and is where the train station serving both cities is located). Budget: two-three days, about 3000 ru ($100) Sample Itinerary: You can read about SRAS's 2005 guided tour of the Vladimir/Suzdal region! Make a reservation at the Hotel Vladimir. From Moscow, dial (0922) 32-72-29 or email tour@gtk.elcom.ru. Catch the morning (7:25) elektrichka. These are “commuter trains” and will be crowded, but the ride is short, inexpensive, and feels very “Russian.” Be prepared to share the car with peasants, Russian college students, and the occasional goat. In Vladimir, go directly to the bus station and leave for Suzdal. Must-sees in Suzdal include the Museum of Wooden Architecture (see restored/replica buildings) and the Kremlin – particularly the view over the river. You’ll see so many churches you’ll wonder how they all got in this little town, as well as old women tending cows and a big statue of Lenin. Have lunch and be sure to try medovukha, the local honey mead. Catch the last bus back to Vladimir, and rest up at your hotel. The next day, see the Golden Gates, the Assumption Cathedral, and the sites that surround them. Catch the evening train (18:04) home. How to Get There: Trains leave throughout the day from Yaroslavski Railroad Station (at metro stopKomsomolskaya). Short histories: Vladimir was founded in 1108 originally as a fortress, as were all of the towns along Russia’s famous Golden Ring. Soon after it’s founding however, Kiev was sacked and Vladimir was made the capital of all Rus. Vladimir was lavished with money and artists and artisans were imported from as far away as Western Europe to give the city a splendor worthy of a capital. Thus was established the short-lived “Vladimir-Suzdal School:” a style that helped form the nucleus of principles that would help define Russian art and architecture. The city remained the capital of Rus until the 14th century, when it was usurped by Moscow. Vladimir remained vital, however, and was made the capital of its region in 1557. Today, Vladimir is best known for three buildings that survive its golden years and for its icons. The buildings include the cathedrals of the Assumption and St. Dmitry and the impressive Golden Gate, which was once the city’s main entrance through its defensive walls. Eastern Orthodoxy’s most famous icon painters from the 1500’s, Andrey Rubolyov and Danil Chorny, decorated the entire Dormation Cathedral. Besides these attractions, little else remains of Vladimir’s ancient buildings. Soviet-era buildings dating from when Vladimir first became a center for the chemical and textile industries (the infamous “white gold” days) now occupy much of the city. Vladimir is a recommended stop on the way to Suzdal, a much brighter historic gem just a short bus trip away. Business transgressions in Suzdal, according to local legend, were once punished by church fines. In the worst cases, the merchant financed an entire new church. Perhaps because they were once so wily or perhaps because they were once so numerous in once-powerful Suzdal, the number of churches now seems ridiculously disproportionate to the number of houses. In the 16th and 17th centuries alone, merchants “donated” 30 churches. The tsars and other political leaders built many more as well as a handful of monasteries and nunneries in part out of piety and in part because Suzdal became sort of repository for unwanted wives and daughters and politically dangerous males. Suzdal’s first written mention dates to 1024. As is the case with most in Russia, however, the town is likely much older. In the 12th century, it was made the capital of its region by Yuri Dolgoruky, Moscow’s official founder. For two centuries after, Suzdal was one of the most powerful towns of ancient Rus. While its power would eventually ebb away, it remained a powerful trade center under the Mongols and was one of the first to push the Mongols out. Today, its draw for tourists is architectural. Its many ancient buildings (religious, commercial, and residential) have survived WWII, Stalinist church purges and communist industrialization programs in perhaps the best condition and the highest numbers of anywhere in Russia. Well-preserved Suzdal has the feel of a real Russian village, like those you’ve read about in Gogol’s novels. Highly recommended as a travel destination, there are several traditional restaurants that still serve soup and potatoes in clay pots and several other traditional dishes in a traditional atmosphere. Make sure you taste medovukha, a sort of lightly fermented honey drink indigenous to the area. Look for it in restaurants and for sale on the streets. Horseback riding is available in the center of town, and in winter, this turns into troika rides. Also, try to time a visit to the Spaso-Yevfimievsky Monastery, to hear the bell concert. Web Resources: SRAS's 2005 guided tour of the Vladimir/Suzdal region Both cities offer official sites, with guides, info, and maps. Neither site is available in English.
www.vladimir-city.ru
www.suzdal.ru A good source of info in English on these cities is waytorussia.net
http://www.waytorussia.net/GoldenRing/Suzdal/Guide.html
http://www.waytorussia.net/GoldenRing/Vladimir/Guide.html
Official site of the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum Reserve. Upcomming events, etc.
http://www.museum.vladimir.ru/index_e.php3 Find Out More!
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