Day Schedule

➤Breakfast

➤Visiting the Museum of Wooden Architecture in Suzdal

➤Bogolyubovo city tour: the ruins of Prince Bogolyubsky’s castle with its Staircase Tower, the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin and the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl

➤Lunch

➤Vladimir city tour: Dormition Cathedral, Cathedral of St. Dimitriy

➤Transfer to Moscow

Start the day with the tour to the Museum of Wooden Architecture in Suzdal. It keeps numerous examples of old wooden architecture and is considered to be a little corner of classical ancient Russia. The museum was founded in 1968 on the place of the former Dmitrievskiy monastery, the oldest one in Suzdal. The wooden constructions from all over the Vladimir region were brought to the museum. Noteworthy that all buildings are actual constructions that people lived and worked in.

The tour continues to Bogolyubovo. The white-stone Church of the Intercession on the Nerl in Bogolyubovo, built in 1165 by Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky, still remains a model of beauty and harmony. The occasion for the construction of the temple became dramatic events of medieval history. The army of Prince Andrey in 1164 won a victory in the campaign on the Volga Bulgaria. But in the battle, the prince's son Izyaslav was killed. In memory of his son and the victory, gained such a bloody price, a church was built. It was consecrated in honour of the new Feast of the Intercession of the Mother of God, which was established by Andrey Bogolyubsky without the consent of the Metropolitan of Kyiv. This holiday claimed the special protection of the "Queen of Heaven" of the Vladimir princely dynasty and the Vladimir land.

Several times in history, the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl was about to be destroyed, but each time it miraculously remained intact. Currently, the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl is co-managed by the Russian Orthodox Church and the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve.

Vladimir was one of the medieval capitals of Russia, with significant buildings surviving from the 12th century. Two of its Russian Orthodox cathedrals, a monastery, and associated buildings have been designated as among the White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The founding of Vladimir is traditionally associated with a chronicle entry saying that Prince Vladimir Monomakh laid the town in 1108. The town began to grow rapidly thanks to the efforts of Princes Vladimir Monomakh and Yury Dolgoruky, who strengthened it as a foothold to protect the Rostov-Suzdal principality. Vladimir owes its heyday to Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky, who moved the capital of the principality here in 1157.

In the evening, we will come back to Moscow.