Vladimir Sights
The main sights of Vladimir can be seen if you walk along Moskovskaya Street which is the main traffic artery of old Vladimir. A gate was set up in its western part in the 12th century named the Golden Gate. There was also a Silver Gate set up in the east. Unfortunately, it did not last out, but the Golden Gate welcomes guests of the city coming from the Moscow direction. The construction took ten years starting in 1154 when Andrey Bogolyubskiy was the Prince. The old reliable technique was used: the walls consisted of a strong white ashlar frame, and the inside was filled in with rubble (large crags) mixed with very strong mortar.
Originally, the gate walls were 5 ft higher but they sank in with time. The idea of the ancient architects was for them to become part of the defensive system of the fortress. The combat platform was used to fire at the enemy and pour hot tar and cast stones from above. Now there is an observation platform there from which you can imagine what the city looked like 800 years ago. Another one is on the top of a water tower situated at the Kozlov Wall. It is called Old Vladimir. By the way, the Kozlov Wall is the south fortification of the city. Ground walls and ditches were built around the city in 1158 through 1164. They were very powerful reaching over 4 miles in length and 30 feet in height and crowned with castellations and towers on the top. However, the ground walls were deserted later and finally filled up with ground. The part which is to the south of the Golden Gate was bought by a merchant named Kozlov, hence the name of the wall.
If you walk along Bolshaya Moskovskaya Street, you can see Herzen teacher’s college there. Next are shopping arcades built in the 18th century. Merchants’ shops used to be there. Tourists can also see a monument set up on the 850th anniversary of Vladimir in the Sobornaya Square. It looks like a truncated trihedral pyramid carved of white stone. Stages of Vladimir’s history are allegorically represented there: a warrior with a sword, a worker with a tractor model in hand, other sculptures and bas-reliefs. This is also, at Sobornaya Square, where the entrance to the Assumption Cathedral is. When entering, tourists pass through a bell tower built in 1810 in place of the wooden one which had burned down after being hit by a lightning. Archeologists found out that this used to be the location of a white stone gate which was the entrance to the court of the prince and the bishop. However, in the 12th century a warm church was built above the gate.
The Assumption Cathedral used to be small and had only one dome. The walls were decorated with reliefs. Andrey Bogolubskiy painted the temple outside (frescos decorated the walls both inside and outside then). He painted peacocks which stood for resurrection and profits holding rolls with texts praising the Mother of God. These wall paintings remained till the present time, however the rest was destroyed by the fire of 1185 which wiped out nearly all the internal beauty of the temple. Prince Vsevolod Big Nest decided to restore the temple however he wanted it to be completely different. As a result, the space of the cathedral doubled. It also got a new altar part, galleries around the temple with four domes in the corners. New frescos were painted inside. As a result, the cathedral became five-domed. However, the new fire of 1238 made church masters work again on the Assumption Cathedral. The following internal adornments remained intact: ten-feet figures of profits Artemiy and Amvrosiy painted on the eastern sides of the south-west columns of the church, monumental crosses and parts of ornamental painting on the walls and vaults of the temple.
In 1408 Prince Vasiliy Dmitriyevich made a decision to renovate ramshackle frescos of the cathedral. 38 y.o. monk Andrey Rublyov and his friend Daniil Chorny got to work. They painted the entire cathedral. However it was not possible to keep the decoration up until now either. Nowadays we can only see a part of the frescos and not what they looked like back then. Rublyov and Chorny’s works are interesting because the artists did not follow the patterns. For instance, the Doomsday series was painted on vaults and columns rather than on the west wall as required by iconography. The center of the composition features a figure of Christ sitting on a throne. The image was called Christ at Head and placed on the vault of the middle nave. The Virgin Mary, John the Baptist and first people — Adam and Eva are praying for the humankind in front of him.
Another merit of Rublyov’s was the painting of the huge iconostasis. Now the icons from this structure are in Tretyakov’s Gallery and the Russian Museum. Rublyov and his team were done quite fast, by 1410.
The Office Building erected in 1785 through 1790 is called Chambers by the people. This name appeared because this is where administrative and governing bodies used to be such as courts, archives, regional administration and others. This building is situated deep in the Lipki park. Next to it can be seen Dmitriyev Cathedral which was under restoration when this article was being written and tourists were admitted in small numbers and only by prior appointment. The Principal Court used to be inside.
This temple is world-famous for its stone carvings. There are over 600 bas-reliefs which feature the life of King David. Also mythical species of plants and animals can be seen there. Unfortunately, not all reliefs survived: some were replaces, others disappeared altogether. Scientists have been trying to understand for many years if those bas-reliefs have a meaning. There has not been a definite answer yet. By the way some of the researchers believe that it is not King David who is depicted there but his son Solomon. He is considered and ideally wise ruler, so Vsevolod might have more likely chosen him. This is the theory of Mr. G.K.Wagner, the author of a monograph about sculpture of Vladimir-Suzdal Russia.
Besides the figure of Solomon or David one can see a throned man with a child on his lap on the facade facing the town. Four men kneel toward his feet. Probably, this is the image of Vsevolod Big Nest himself who ordered to start the construction of Dmitriyev Cathedral, and the child in his lap is none other than his son Vladimir.
The other, southern facade which faces the Klyazma, has the bas-relief titled Alexandr the Great Ascension. It is believed that Vladimir masters borrowed this plot from medieval Russian story Alexandria. From the Greeks, the sculptor adopted the well-known saga about Heracles which is depicted on the west wall of the temple.
The inside decorations of the cathedral are also enigmatic and colorful. Nowadays only parts of the following frescos can be seen: Doomsday; Paradise; The Righteous Walk to Paradise. Also, there are icons in the temple, including the most famous and expensive one brought from Solun portraying St. Dmitriy.
Fans of church architecture can also visit the Rozhdestvenskiy Monastery which was laid down simultaneously with the Dmitriyev Church. However, nowadays it cannot be seen as it was originally built, regrettably. Only the following buildings remained: the Christ-Nativity Church (17th century), the Saint Gate in the north (built: 1607, rebuilt: 1866), monks’ and hospital cells situated along the south wall of the cathedral, the archimandrite’s house and cells of the servants in the north part of the monastery. At the present time the temple has been transferred into the property of the Russian Orthodox Church and is the residence of the Vladimir-Suzdal bishop.
You can also look into peculiarities of architecture of the Nikita Martyr Church and Saint Trinity, visit the Princess’s Convent situated on the banks of the Lybed river and founded by Princess Maria Shvarnovna, the wife of Vsevolod Big Nest. It is a nunnery which became the tomb of Russian princesses. For example, Maria Shvarnovna, Vsevolod’s second wife Anna, his daughter Yelena, Alexandr Nevskiy’s wife Alexandra and daughter Yevdokia and many others were tombed there.
Numerous museums are telling a lot about the culture and history of this city. Tourists who like souvenirs can visit the early fair which works nearly daily. It is called Crystal, Laquer, Embroidery. Of course, you can buy everything there. The Vladimir Central Prison museum has biographies of some inmates.
Actually, this building used to be a prison where many famous exiles were held such as N.Ruslanova, V.Shulgin, Z.Fedorova, V.Bukovskiy, N.Sharanskiy and others.
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