# Suzdal

Suzdal is a historic town in Russia, known for its well-preserved medieval architecture and picturesque landscapes. It is part of the Golden Ring, a group of ancient towns with deep cultural and religious significance. The town is famous for its white-stone churches, monasteries, and wooden architecture. Suzdal has a peaceful, rural charm with no modern high-rise buildings, preserving its old-world feel. It is a popular tourist destination for those interested in Russian history, Orthodox heritage, and traditional crafts.
Suzdal (Russian: Суздаль, IPA:) is a town located along the Kamenka tributary of the Nerl River, 26 km (16 mi) north of the city of Vladimir. The town serves as the administrative center of Suzdalsky District in Vladimir Oblast, Russia. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 9,286.
In the 12th century, Suzdal became the capital of the principality. Currently, Suzdal is the smallest of the Russian Golden Ring towns. It has several sites listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

## History

The town's history dates back to 999 and 1024. In 1125, Yury Dolgoruky made Suzdal the capital of the Rostov-Suzdal principality. In 1157, Andrei Bogolyubsky moved the capital from Suzdal to Vladimir, from which time the principality was known as Vladimir-Suzdal. Suzdal was burned down and plundered in 1237 during the Mongol-led invasions; however, it remained a trade center afterward due to its location in a fertile wheat-growing area. In 1341, it united with Nizhny Novgorod until both were annexed by Moscow in 1392.
After a decline in political significance, the town regained prominence as a religious center, with development projects funded by Vasily III and Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century. In the late 17th and 18th centuries, wealthy merchants funded the construction of 30 churches, many of which still stand today.
In 1864, local merchants failed to convince the government to build the Trans-Siberian Railway through their town. Instead, it went through Vladimir, 35 km (22 mi) away. In 1967, Suzdal earned a federally protected status, which officially limited development in the area.
In 1943, high-ranking Nazi officers captured at the Battle of Stalingrad were imprisoned within the monastery in Suzdal.
Today, the town serves as a tourist center, and contains many examples of old Russian architecture. Much of its rural infrastructure and partially unpaved streets has been preserved.

## Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Suzdal serves as the administrative center of Suzdalsky District, to which it is directly subordinated. As a municipal division, the town of Suzdal is incorporated within Suzdalsky Municipal District as Suzdal Urban Settlement.

## Tourism

The primary industry of Suzdal is tourism. Suzdal avoided the industrialization of the Soviet era and thus preserved much of its 13th-19th century architecture. There are 305 monuments and listed buildings in Suzdal, including 30 churches, 14 bell towers, and 5 monasteries and convents. 79 of them are federally protected buildings and 167 are regionally protected.
In 1982, Suzdal became the first Russian town to receive La Pomme d'Or (Golden Apple) - a prize for excellence in the tourism industry, awarded annually by the World Federation of Travel Journalists and Writers (FIJET).
In 1992, two of the monuments (Saviour Monastery of St Euthymius and Kremlin with Nativity of the Virgin Cathedral) were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, together with six other White Monuments in the region.

### Notable buildings

* The Kremlin is the oldest part of Suzdal, dating from the 10th century. It is a predecessor of the Moscow Kremlin. In the 12th century, it was the base of Prince Yury Dolgoruky, who ruled the northeastern part of Kievan Rus' and founded an outpost, which is now Moscow. A posad (settlement) to the east became home to the secular population, such as shopkeepers and craftsmen, while the Kremlin (fortress) proper was the home of the prince, the archbishop, and the high clergy. Within the Kremlin, the Archbishop’s Chambers house the Suzdal History Exhibition, which includes a visit to the 18th-century Cross Hall, which was used for receptions. More exhibits are provided in the 1635 Kremlin bell tower (Russian: Звонница) in the yard.
* The 1.4-kilometre-long (0.9 mi) earth rampart of the Kremlin encloses a number of houses and churches, including the Nativity of the Virgin Cathedral. The cathedral, characterized with gold and blue domes, was constructed in 1222–1225 by Yury II on the site of an earlier church built around 1102 by Vladimir Monomakh. It was built of light tufa with limestones for details. In 1445 the cathedral collapsed and was rebuilt in 1528–1530 with the upper structure and drums being constructed of new brick. The original 13th-century door from the cathedral is now on exhibition in the Archbishop's Chambers.
* Saviour Monastery of St Euthymius, was founded in 1352 to the north of the town centre on the high bank of the Kamenka river. It was built under the order of the Suzdal-Nizhniy Novgorod prince Konstantin. The monastery was planned as a fortress and was originally enclosed by a wooden wall, later destroyed by the Poles. Today's reddish brick walls of the Suzdal monastery were erected over four years, from 1640 to 1644. The fortifications have 12 towers constructed to house artillery power. Later in 1766, with Catherine the Great's orders, the monastery became a prison, which had a reputation for severe punishment of prisoners. In 1905 the prison closed; however, it later served as a prison again during the Soviet Era.
* The Wooden Church of St. Nicholas, originally built in Glotovo in 1766 and made entirely of wood, was moved to Suzdal in 1960 to become part of the Museum of Wooden Architecture and Peasant Life. The church is elevated off the ground about a story high from when it was moved across the country.
* St John the Baptist Church, built in 1720, at the same time as the Wooden Church of St. Nicholas. It was constructed with white plastered walls and wooden supports.
* St Alexander Convent, built in 1240 by an unknown architect. The princesses of Suzdal, Mariya and Agrippina, were buried here in the 14th century.
* Intercession Convent [ru], founded in 1364. In its centre stands the Cathedral of the Intercession, an add-on built in 1518, financed by Moscow's King Vasili III. The interior of the cathedral is plain white stone, with no paintings nor stained glass. The church houses the burial vaults of 20 nuns of noble birth. An art museum containing works created in the 16th and 17th centuries is connected to the cathedral.

### Festivals

* Open Russian Festival of Animated Film, held annually in March since 2002, with the support of the Russian Ministry of Culture.
* Cucumber Day Festival with folk music performances is celebrated by locals on the second Saturday of July, every year since 2001.

## Film

More than 60 movies were filmed in Suzdal and the vicinity. Among them are:
* Andrei Rublev (USSR, 1966)
* Bratya Karamazovy (USSR, 1969)
* Finist, the brave Falcon (USSR, 1976)
* The Shooting Party (USSR, 1978)
* Tema (USSR, 1979)
* Yunost Petra (USSR, 1980)
* Charodei (USSR, 1982)
* Dead Souls (USSR, 1984)
* Peter the Great (USA, 1986)
* Tsar (Russia, 2009)

## Twin towns

Suzdal is twinned with:
* Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany, since 1988
* Cles, Italy, since 1991
* Oberlin, United States, since 1991
* Windham, United States, since 1992
* Évora, Portugal, since 2006
* Loches, France, since 2011
* Shangrao, China, since 2012

## Notable people

* Solomonia Saburova (1490–1542), the first wife of Grand prince Vasili III of Muscovy, canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as St Sofia of Suzdal
* Dmitry Pozharsky (1577–1642), national hero, granted the title Saviour of the Motherland for routing the Polish invasion
* Eudoxia Lopukhina (1669–1698), Tsarina, the first wife of Peter the Great, banished to the Intercession Convent of Suzdal
* Dmitry Vinogradov (1720–1758), chemist, the founder of the Imperial Porcelain Factory, Saint Petersburg
* Aleksei Gastev (1882–1939), revolutionary, trade-union activist and a pioneer of scientific management in Russia
* Sergei Shirokogorov (1887–1939), founder of Russian anthropology
* Vasily Blokhin (1895–1955), chief executioner of the NKVD (Soviet Secret Police) during the Great Purge and World War II
* Yuri Modin (1922–2007), KGB controller for the "Cambridge Five"