Suzdal is a small town-reserve with a population of about 9,300 people located in the northern part of Vladimir Oblast in the center of the European Russia. It is one of the oldest towns in the country, first mentioned in written sources about 1,000 years ago.

Let’s see what Suzdal looked like in the relatively recent past, in the last years of the Russian Empire. In 1912, it was visited by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky, a Russian chemist and photographer known for his pioneering work in color photography. At that time, the population of Suzdal was about 7,700 people. Photos by: Open research project “The Legacy of S.M. Prokudin-Gorsky”.

General view of Suzdal.

back to the past

Tags: Russian Empire · Vladimir oblast

Gorokhovets, founded in 1168, is a small town with a population of about 12 thousand people located in the eastern part of Vladimir Oblast in the center of European Russia, about 159 km east of Vladimir and 86 km west of Nizhny Novgorod.

One of the oldest towns in the region, Gorokhovets is included in the list of historical settlements of Russia. On the territory of the town and its environs, a lot of monuments of church and civil architecture from different eras have been preserved. Gorokhovets on Google Maps. Photos by: Yuliya Baturina.

Cathedral of the Annunciation (1700) in Gorokhovets.

beautiful architecture of provincial Russia

Tags: Vladimir oblast

Suzdal is a town-reserve with a population of about 9,600 people located in Vladimir Oblast, about 37 km north of Vladimir.

By the abundance of monuments and the preservation of its original appearance, Suzdal is unique for Russia. You can see a large number of monuments of cult and civil architecture of the 13th – 19th centuries here. Photos by: Vladimir Lipetskikh.

Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1222-1225) and the Suzdal Kremlin.

amazing old Russian provincial town

Tags: Suzdal city · Vladimir oblast

The Svyato-Vvedensky Island Convent is located on an island in the middle of Lake Vvedenskoye, about 4 km from the town of Pokrov in Vladimir Oblast.

It was founded by the monks Sergius and Timothy at the very end of the 17th century. They retired to an island in the middle of the lake and built a wooden chapel and a wooden cell there. Their seclusion, according to legend, did not last long. Soon other people wishing to join them began to come here. Svyato-Vvedensky Island Convent on Google Maps. Photos by: Vadim Razumov.

picturesque island convent

Tags: churches · Vladimir oblast

The Holy Protection (Pokrovsky) Convent of the Russian Orthodox Church is located on the right bank of the Kamenka River in the northern part of Suzdal, a town-reserve in the north of Vladimir Oblast included in the famous tourist route Golden Ring of Russia.

Founded in 1364, it was formed in its present appearance in the 16th century, when the convent was turned into a place of imprisonment of representatives of aristocratic families who were tonsured as nuns. In the 16th-17th centuries, it was one of the largest convents in the country. Pokrovsky Convent on Google Maps. Photos by: Alexandr Lipilin.

beautiful convent

Tags: Suzdal city · Vladimir oblast

The Holy Trinity Convent in Murom, one of the oldest cities in Russia located in the Vladimir region, 129 km southeast of Vladimir, is known for preserving the relics of St. Peter and Fevronia, who are revered in the country as patrons of the family and marriage.

It was founded in the second quarter of the 17th century (1643) by the Murom merchant Tarasy Borisovich Tsvetnov. Holy Trinity Convent in Murom on Google Maps. Photos by: Vadim Razumov.

fly over the convent

Tags: Murom city · Vladimir oblast

Suzdal is a small town-reserve with a population of about 9,700 people located in the Vladimir region, about 30 km north of Vladimir.

First mentioned in the chronicles in 1024, this is one of the oldest towns in Russia famous for its abundance of monuments and preserved original appearance. Photos by: Vasiliy Nikitinskiy.

winter in Suzdal

Tags: Suzdal city · Vladimir oblast

Gus-Khrustalny is a town with a population of about 55,000 people located in the Vladimir region, about 100 km southeast of Vladimir.

In 1756, the merchant Akim Maltsov began the construction of a glass factory on the Gus River. Later, it turned into the Gusevskoy Crystal Factory and a town with the name Gus-Khrustalny grew around the factory. Photos by: Katya Utemova.

colorful glasswork

Tags: Gus-Khrustalny city · museum · Vladimir oblast

The Museum of Wooden Architecture and Peasant Life, located on the bank of the Kamenka River on the outskirts of Suzdal in the Vladimir region, is one of the most visited museums in the town.

Here you can see rare monuments of wooden architecture of Vladimir-Suzdal land. The museum is not large, it has only 17 wooden buildings: churches, a merchant’s house, peasant houses with interiors of the peasant way of life, windmills, granaries, wells.

stroll around the museum

Tags: museum · Suzdal city · Vladimir oblast

Murom is a historical Russian city first mentioned in 862. It is located on the left bank of the Oka River in the Vladimir region, 137 km from Vladimir.

This small city with a population of about 110 thousand people has a surprisingly large number of old places of worship. Photos by: Kirill Moiseev.

Resurrection Monastery founded in the 13th century.

Murom – the city of churches

Tags: churches · Vladimir oblast