First published: 29/04/24.

Tarquinio_Superbo 4.5

White Monuments Of Vladimir And Suzdal

White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal (Inscribed)

White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal by Tarquinio_Superbo

WHS includes 2 cities (Vladimir and Suzdal) and two villages (Bogolyubovo and Kideksha). Getting to Vladimir is quite easy from Moscow (train or bus), or from Kazan, where 2 other WHSs are located. We took a night bus from Kazan. It did not stop in Vladimir itself, but dropped us off on the highway near the city. After crossing the highway through a upground pedestrian crossing, we had to wait for a bus to the center of Vladimir on the other side of the highway. You need to get off directly at the Golden Gate stop (the first WHS facility). It is enough to go through the gate and continue walking along the main wide street: Bolshaya Moskovskaya to reach two cathedrals: the Assumption and Dmitrievsky. All three monuments: two churches and a gate, this is all that remains from the architectural heritage of ancient Vladimir before the Mongol period (all are included in the core area "White monuments). In addition to them, you can visit the Princess Convent, but it was built much later and is not included in the core area. All other buildings in Vladimir are not of particular architectural or historical value and, in general, give the city a rather depressive aura. From Vladimir, you can take a city bus that stops on the main street next to the Dmitrievsky Cathedral to the village of Bogolyubovo to visit the Bogolyubsky Monastery. The monastery itself is well preserved, but the core area includes not its main cathedral, but the small Church of the Nativity of the Virgin. Not far from Bogolyubov monastery is the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl. To get to it you need to cross the railway tracks and walk along the stream for about 20 minutes. All churches are museums, and, unfortunately, in winter they close quite early, so I advise you not to waste a lot of time in Vladimir and go straight to Bogolyubovo.

The next day we took a shuttle bus departing from Vladimir station to Suzdal. Immediately upon arrival at the Suzdal station, located far from the center, we took a taxi to get to the village of Kideksha, where the Church of Boris and Gleb is located. It is very small, so it only takes 5-10 minutes to examine the outside and inside. We asked the taxi driver to wait for us and it was a very right decision. Suzdal is very rich in monuments of ancient Russian architecture: endless churches, cathedrals, monasteries and ancient walls, but only two objects are included in the core area. We started our visit of Suzdal with the Monastery of Our Savior and St. Euthumius. On its territory there are many interesting ancient buildings: churches, bell towers, chambers, but the most beautiful and, in my opinion, the best preserved WHS object is the Transfiguration Cathedral. Inside you will find magnificent frescoes and, if you are very lucky, a concert of religious music (a capella). If you have 2 days planned to visit Suzdal, then I advise you to buy a general Pass to view all the monuments of the monastery. Otherwise you cab get a singl ticket to visit only the territory and the Transfiguration Cathedral. After the monastery you can walk along the river through the main square to visit the Suzdal Kremlin. Along the way you will come across other churches and monasteries (many of them are open to the public). The territory of the Kremlin, in my opinion, is inferior in beauty to the territory of the monastery of Our Savior, although in the Kremlin you will see a wooden church moved from the nearest village. The main pearl of the Kremlin is the western gate of the Nativity Cathedral, made in the 13th century using the fire gilding technique, for obvious reasons, stored inside the cathedral-museum.
The White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal are certainly a wonderful World Heritage Site. These are one of the few cities where you can feel the special spirit of Ancient Rus' even in our time.

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