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Suzdal seems to be the most famous city on the "Golden Ring" route, it is a kind of Mecca for tourists. In 1983, when the International Travel Commentators Association was to choose the prize winner for its honorable prize "The Golden Apple" among most notable places its choice deservedly fell on Suzdal. Thus, Suzdal became the first in the USSR, and it still remains the only city in Russia that has received wide international recognition for the preservation of the monuments of national culture, their usage for developing tourism, and for promoting cultural and historical heritage.
"A museum in the open air" is a most exact description of this ancient Russian town that has about two hundred ancient monuments of secular and religious architecture clustered on the area of nine square kilometers, and the calm waters of the Kamenka river have been reflecting the silhouettes of the numerous churches for about a thousand years.
On coming to Suzdal you would hardly figure out that you are in town, for everywhere there are churches, wooden and half-brick private houses with vegetable gardens, and there is almost country-side quietness. But it is therein that the charm of Suzdal lies. Not only did Suzdal retain the spirit of olden times but it also remained within the XVIII century town boundaries.
Among architectural monuments of special interest for tourists is the Kremlin surrounded by ancient ramparts, the complexes of the Convent of the Intercession and the Monastery of Our Savior and St. Euthimius, the Museum of Wooden Architecture and Rural Life, XVIII century Possad churches, and the Gostiny Dvor (Possad Marketplace, 1811).
Today the town is an outstanding architectural museum, containing more examples of period architecture than any other Russian town, and its original architectural topography was retained. The town population is 12,000. Tourism here is high, not only because of the educational value of the locale, but also because Suzdal has preserved a picturesque timelessness which visitors find interesting as well as relaxing.
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The Kremlin. The Kremlin is located on a winding bank of the Kamenka river in the heart of the old town. Within the Kremlin are several of the most important monuments of old Suzdal: the Kremlin rampart (XI-XII centuries), the Cathedral of the Nativity (XIII-XVI centuries, its frescoes dating back to the XIII, XV, XVII centuries, and iconostasis to the XVII century), the cathedral bell tower with a tent-shaped roof (1635), the Archbishop's Palace (XV-XVIII centuries), and the wooden Church of St. Nicolas from the village of Glotovo (1766). Since the Cathedral of the Nativity is currently under restoration, its unique Golden Gates and Tsar Lantern are exhibited in the bell tower.
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Suzdal Kremlin
Cathedral of the Nativity
The Archbishop's Palace
The wooden Church of St. Nicolas
The Cross-vaulted Chamber |
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The Monastery of Our Savior and St. Euphemius (1352). Founded in the mid-fourteenth century, the monastery has strong red walls 1200 meters long, twelve towers of the XVII century, and buildings of the XVI-XVIII centuries. Since the XVIII century it was both a monastery and state prison. In 1839 Duke F. Shakhovskoy, a decembrist, passed away in the monastery jail. Three hundred and fifty detainees passed through the cells of the prison. The main building of the monastery is the Cathedral of the Transfiguration (1594) built in the traditions of the ancient white stone architecture of Suzdal. The interior of the cathedral was decorated with frescoes painted by Guri Nikitin and Sila Savin, well-known artists of the XVII century. At present the monastery is a museum complex that accommodates several museum exhibitions: "The Golden Treasury", "Book Treasures of Six Centuries", "Museum of the Arts of the Peoples of Russia", "Prisoners of the Monastery Jail".
Visitors to the monastery can also enjoy the bell ringing performed by one of the best bell-ringers of Russia. |
The Monastery of Our Savior and St. Euphemius
The Cathedral of the Transfiguration |
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The Convent of the Intercession was founded in 1364. Its structures date back to the XVI-XVII centuries, and its walls - to the end of the XVII century. The crypt of the Cathedral of the Intercession contains the tombs of royal and high-ranking women banished to the convent. Alexandra - daughter of Ivan III, Solomonia Saburova- wife of Vasily III, Anna Vasilchikova - wife of Ivan IV (the Terrible) were buried here. Evdokia Lopukhina - first wife of Peter the Great spent nineteen years of her life in the convent.
Today it is a working convent. Small cell-houses that replaced the old ones in the 1970s provide accommodation for tourists. The Refectory hall houses a stylized restaurant. This is how the church and secular life combine behind the walls of the convent.
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The Convent of the Intercession |
