SUZDAL
Micha Jelesavic
John Sloan
Suzdal is located on the river Kamenka 35 km north of Vladimir. It was
first mentioned in the chronicles due to an uprising there in 1024, but was
only a small settlement until the mid-11th century. The name shows its
Fino-Ugric origin. Prince Vladimir came to Suzdal from Kiev in 990 to establish
a missionary bishopric. Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise came with tyroops from
Kiev. He put his son, Vsevolod, in charge of Suzdal but Vsevolod didn't go
there. Instead, he sent his son, Vladimir Monomakh to collect the tribute. When
Vsevolod died, Vladimir Monomakh was in charge and he fortified the town with
the ramparts that are still seen. From 1096 Suzdal was called a town. By then
it had a fortified kremlin with earthen walls. The Cathedral of the Assumption
was the first stone building in this part of Russia, but the original has not
survived. In 1108 Vladimir Monomakh began a new fortress at Vladimir. His son,
Prince Yurii Dolgoruki, made Suzdal his capital in 1125. But he built a new
palace and fortress at Kideksha, 5 km from Suzdal, where the church of St Boris
and Gleb still stands. After he died, Andrei Bogoliubski moved the capital to
Vladimir to escape the rebellious boyars. This increased the rivalry between
the two towns. In 1194, Andrei's brother, Vsevolod III, Bolshoye Gnezdo, who
succeeded him rebuilt and refortified the kremlin with new towers. He built the
new Cathedral of the Assumption. In 1222-1225 Georgi II, the son of Vsevolod,
rebuilt the cathedral again and named it to the Nativity of the Virgin.
Suzdal was destroyed along with the other main Russian towns in 1238 by the
Mongol invaders. By 1328 the rebuilt city was strong enough to lead in the
struggle against the rising power of Moscow. The Suzdal princes united with
Nizhni-Novgorod in a new principality. Finally Grand-Prince Vasilii annexed it
to Moscow. The city remained a religious center. During this period there were
many monasteries founded. Among them were the Deposition of the Robe, the Holy
Trinity, St Alexander, the Intercession of the Virgin (1364) and St Basil. The
Monastery of Our Savior of 1352 became the Savior and St Euthimius after its
holy abbot. There are still more than 50 churches and secular buildings from
the 12th to 17th centuries. These date from before 1238 and after 1500, with
nothing in between. At the end of the 16th century a major restoration enhanced
the kremlin, town walls, monasteries and other buildings. Grand Princes Vasilii
III and Ivan IV built huge stone walls and fortress towers around the
monasteries, but the present walls date from the 1600's. And they repaired the
Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin in the kremlin. These were in turn
damaged by the invading Poles in the 1600's and by fires. But in 1573 Suzdal
had only 400 families. Still there were 7 wooden churches in the kremlin, 14
more within the town and 27 more in the monasteries. From the Polish attack
1608-11 only 78 families survived, and 251 homes were destroyed. The town
suffered from a Crimean Tatar attack in 1634 and a huge fire in 1644. In
1654-55 plague cut the population from 2400 to 1200. The town was heavily
damaged by fire in 1719. After that several wooden churches were rebuilt in
stone. The civic building, market arcade, dates from 1811-16.
Near Suzdal in Kideksha village is the church of Sts. Boris and Gleb, built by Yurii Dolgoruki in 1152.
It was the first limestone building in the northeast region. But the original
church has been altered by now. It is in the form of a single cube with three
apses and single dome. But the dome now dates from the 17th century. In the
12th century it had a very large helmet shaped dome. Yuri attacked and sacked
Kiev in 1149 but was forced to retire back to Suzdal at which time he built his
fortress and this church. The fortress controled traffic on the Nerl between
Suzdal andVladimir. The river connected to the Klyazma and Oka, then to the
Volga, so was a strategic route. Now by the original church there are also the
Church of St Stephen with a low roof dating from 1780 and the double arched
Holy Gates with small dome and a tent shaped bell tower.
The Vasilievski (St Basil) Monastery, founded in
early 13th century, is also near the Kideksha Road. Its cathedral and other
stone buildings and white walls date from the 17th and 18th centuries. The
Znamenskaya Church, built in 1749, is also near the road from Vladimir into
Suzdal.
The Suzdal kremlin, with its partially preserved
11th century earthen walls that originally were topped by wooden palisades and
towers, is adjacent to the Kamenka River. It
originally stood 10 meters high with a circuit of 1,400 meters. The river
protected three sides and on the eastern side a 8.5 meter deep - 35 meter wide
moat defended the fortress. Parts of the earthen city wall are also preserved
to the east of the kremlin.
The Rozhdestvenski (Nativity of the Virgin) Cathedral, built from 1222-1225, is inside the kremlin.
There is also an excellent and extensive historical museum. The cathedral is
built on the site of an earlier church erected by Vladimir Monomakh. The nearby
belfry was built in 1635. The bishop's palace dates
from the same period. There are other churches in the kremlin and many more
just outside. On a hill within the town stands the Rizopolozhesnki
(Deposition of the Robe) convent built in 1207. Its original wooden walls were
replaced by stone in the 17th century. Possibly its most famous structure is
the beautiful Sacred Gate. The 60 meter high
belfry in the wall was built in 1813-19 to
commemorate the victory over Napoleon. It is the tallest structure in town.
The Alexandrovski Monastery is located on the left bank near the river. It
was founded in 1240 by Alexander Nevski. A part of its white walls remain.
Inside is the Voznesenskaya Church and belfry built in 1695.
The Spaso-Efimievski (Our Savior and St Euthymius) Monastery, founded in
1352 by Boris Konstantinovich (Grand Prince of Suzdal and Nizhnigorod), is
directly on the high bank of the Kamenka. It also contains museums. It was also
a fortress with high walls over 1 km long with 12 powerful
towers. The Russians defended this fortress from
Tatar attack in 1445 until they were overwhelmed. It was in this battle that
Grand Prince Vaslii I was captured. He later became friends with his Tatar
captors, was blinded by rival Russian claimants to the throne in Moscow, and
used extensive Tatar assistance to overcome his enemies. Like most early
fortifications in Russia the original walls were earthen with a palisade. The
present brick walls dating from the 17th century
(1664) are 6 meters thick and 8.5 meters high on the northern, eastern, and
southern sides, but 7.5 meters high on the western side, above the river. The
powerful entrance tower of 23 meters height on the
southern side protects the Holy Gates. Near it is theBlagoveschenskaya
(Annunciation) Gate Church, dating from the 17th
century. Inside is the Spaso-Preobrasheniya Cathedral (Transfiguration), constructed in 1594 on the
site of an earlier church. That was the Church of Our Savior begun as the first
stone building in the city in 1507 over the grave of Yevfimy and completed in
1511. It became the southern chapel of the new cathedral. Beside the cathedral
is the Refectory Church of the Assumption with a tent roof of the oldest type
dating from 1525.. Next to it is a fine bell tower
from the 16-17th centuries. The oldest part is the 9-sided column. The Suzdal
Prince Dmitrii Pozharski, the hero of the relief of Moscow in 1612, was buried
by this cathedral. There was a prison in this monastery that originally housed
prisoners of Catherine II. During World War II it was used to hold Field
Marshal von Paulus after his surrender at Stalingrad.
On the opposite bank of the Kamenka is the Pokrovski (Intercession)
convent, originally built in 1364 to commemorate the
escape of Andrei from death on the Volga. But all the original buildings are
gone. It was rebuilt by Vasilii III in the16th century. Apart from two 17th
century towers in the north wall, its present fortified walls and nine towers
date from the 18th century. This convent was the place for exile of many famous
Russian noble ladies, among them the wives of Vasilii III, (Solomonia
Saburova), Ivan IV (Anna Vasilchikova), and Peter the Great's first wife,
Evdokia Lopukhina. Tsar Vasili Shuiski's second wife, Maria, along with their
daughter Anastasia was sent there when Vasili was killed. Many boyar class
women also spent their lives there. Inside the walls are the Pokrovski
Cathedral with its 4 pillars, 3 apses, 3 domes above the Kokoshniks, built in
1518, the belfry from 1515, and the refectory, the Blagoveschenskaya
(Annunciation) Gate Church, and the Zachatievskaya Church, all built by
Vasilii III in 1518. The Church of the Conception of the Virgin dates from 1551
and was built by Ivan IV in memory of his daughter, Anna. Outside the convent,
next door, is the Church of St Peter and Paul built in 1694 with its 5 domes.
Other prominent churches in and around Suzdal include: St Stephen's (1870),
Sretenskaya (Purification of the Virgin) Church (17th cent),
Kosmo-Damianovskaya (1725), Uspenskaya (17th cent), Nikolskaya (1720-39), Voskresenskaya (1732), Kazanskaya
(1739), Vkhodoierusalimskaya (1686), Pyatnitskaya (1772), Predtechenskaya
(1720), Krestovaya (1765), Skorbyashenskaya (1750), Tsarevokonstantinovskaya
(1707), Lazarevskaya (1667), Smolenskaya (1707), Tikhvinskaya (17th cent),
Petropavlovskaya (1694), Nikolskaya (1712), Bogoyavlenskaya (1755), Ilinskaya
(1788), Borisoglebskaya (17th cent), Spasskaya (17th cent),Preobrashenskaya (1756), and Voskresenskaya (1766).
For many more views of Susdal please go to the complete listing of
photos.
Return to Rus
city. For the history of Crimea and important places there please go to
Crimea. Return to
Xenophon main page.
