Vladimir

  Vladimir is a particular town of Russia. It owes its fame to white-stone architectural monuments dating back to the twentieth century. As legend said it was founded in 1108 by Prince Vladimir Monomakh. The historical significance of this ancient town arose from the fact that in the middle of the 12th century as Kiev lost its dominant position Vladimir emerged as a new political and cultural center. It was here that ideas of a new unification of Russian lands were born and one of the small settlements in the region – Moscow – was destined to become the capital of the new state. Up to 1432, Grand Princes of Russia were crowned in the Vladimir Cathedral of the Assumption of Holly Mother of God. Today, Vladimir is a major administrative, industrial and cultural center with a population of about 350,000 residents. The main entrance into Vladimir was the western gate, called in accordance with the ancient tradition the Golden Gate. It now stands in the middle of the road and has become a sort of emblem of the city. Dating from 1163, the gate is of exceptional interest as an extremely rare surviving example of mediaeval military engineering.The amazing beauty of the Vladimir Cathedrals – the Assumption and St. Dmitry – became a model of the architecture for the other towns and, first of all, for Moscow.
The Assumption cathedral is the construction of the 12th century. The cathedral was more than just a setting for services and preaching. In its precincts chronicles were written and the first library in the city appeared. Of exceptional artistic value are the 15th century frescoes still to be founded inside the cathedral. They are the work of Andrei Rublev, one of the greatest Russian artists. The cathedral is a burial place for some of the Princes of Vladimir-Suzdal principality. The Assumption Cathedral is still a functioning church today. Standing slightly to the east of the Assumption Cathedral is the Cathedral of St. Dmitry. It is a small building, but exudes a sense of monumental grandeur.
What set the cathedral of St. Dmitry apart from the other buildings of its time are its extremely rich white-stone carvings.
A number of other architectural monuments have been converted into museums. The high, bright interior of the early 20th century Trinity Church near the Golden Gate proved ideally suited to collections of craft items from the Vladimir region – crystal glass from Gus-Khrustalny, needlework and painted lacquer boxes from Mstiora.