Vladimir Suzdal Sergiev Posad Rostov

Pereslavl-Zalessky Yaroslavl Kostroma Folk Art

Vladimir

Vladimir is the town of a thousand-year history, the foundation of which is connected with the name of Kiev Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovitch. In 990-s on the high bank of a former full-flowing river Klyazma Vladimir the Baptizer founded a new fortress in analogy with Kiev. In the middle of the XII century during the government of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky Vladimir became the main city of the North- Eastern Russia, and during Tatar-Mongol invasion it became the capital for the whole country. Prince Andrei and then his junior brother Vsevolod "The Big Nest" turned the fortress into the town of gold domes and white stone. The white-stone monuments of Vladimir have preserved till today: the Golden Gates, the Assumption and the St. Demetrius Cathedrals.

Vladimir went through many remarkable heroic events. There were both victories glorified in folk legends and hard times of the Tatar-Mongol Yoke.

With Moscow rise in the XIV century Vladimir lost its former glory. Metropolitan left Vladimir for Moscow, and the citizens of Vladimir gave Muscovites the greatest sacred thing of the city -the miracle-working image of Our Lady of Vladimir. In analogy with the Vladimir Assumption Cathedral Aristotel Fiorovanty built the church in the Moscow Kremlin.

Provincial Vladimir of bygone centuries touched the souls of contemporaries by bell sounds, flavor of flowering cherry trees and quiet small streets, but at the same time it always kept grandeur of old times and beauty of historic landscape.

Despite modern Vladimir is a large industrial centre the town attracts tourists from the whole world coming to admire white-stone lace of ancient temples.

Suzdal

Suzdal seems to be the most famous city on the "Golden Ring" tourism route, it is a kind of Mecca for tourists.

"A museum in the open air" is a most exact description of this ancient Russian town that has about two hundred ancient monuments of secular and religious architecture clustered on the area of nine square kilometers, and the calm waters of the Kamenka River have been reflecting the silhouettes of the numerous churches for about a thousand years.

Suzdal is a museum town whose architectural monuments make up a magnificent, harmonious ensemble. The first mention of Suzdal is found in a chronicle under the year 1024, although it is known to have grown up on the site of a still earlier settlement. The centuries that swept over it have left their mark in the form of invaluable monuments of early Russian building art.

Today the town is an outstanding architectural museum, containing more examples of period architecture than any other Russian town, and its original architectural topography was retained. The town population is 12,000. Tourism here is high, not only because of the educational value of the locale, but also because Suzdal has preserved a picturesque timelessness which visitors find interesting as well as relaxing.

Among architectural monuments of special interest for tourists is the Kremlin surrounded by ancient ramparts, the complexes of the Convent of the Intercession and the Monastery of Our Savior and St. Euthimius, the Museum of Wooden Architecture and Rural Life, XVIII century Possad churches, and the Gostiny Dvor (Possad Marketplace, 1811).

And every hour the bell – ringer of The Bell-Tower gives magician concerts of the bell chimes for the tourists.

Sergiev Posad

Sergiev Posad (Zagorsk in the Soviet times) is one of most interesting towns in the Moscow Region. Undoubtedly, travelers are attracted to Sergiev Posad mainly by the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Laura (the Greek word "laura" means monastery), that is responsible for the fame of the town as the capital of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery was founded in the 1340s by Reverend Sergius of Radonezh, whose name was given to the town. Sergius of Radonezh, Father Superior of the monastery, played a major role in consolidating the lands of Russia under the leadership of Moscow Prince Dmitry Donskoy who won a significant victory over Khan Mamay at Kulikovo Field in 1380. For centuries the monastery has been the biggest religious and cultural center of the Russian state.

Icon painters Andrey Rublev and Daniel Chorny worked there, they decorated with frescoes the main church of the monastery - the Trinity Cathedral. The cathedral keeps the imperishable relics of Reverend Sergius. For many centuries his tomb has been the place of pilgrimage for orthodox believers. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of the monastery and its founder for the history of Russia. It is the basis that supports Russian spirituality, statehood, and national character. The Trinity-St. Sergius Laura grounds include the biggest Russian monastery, the monastery necropolis and the Moscow Ecclesiastical Academy and Seminary. There remains a historical and architectural XV-XIX century ensemble of churches, belfries and chambers.

The museum exhibition is vastly represented by pieces of ancient Russian embroidery, gold and silverware, china, glass and palace furniture. Also on display are attributes of the 17th-20th century rural life.

Rostov

People call it a miracle on Earth, a symphony in stone, the Eternal City of Russia... It rises like a vision amidst the sweeping expanses of Russia, a wonder city on the shore of Lake Nero. It was already old, one of the oldest centres of Russian statehood , rich and densely populated, at the end of the 10th century.

Fame came to Rostov in the 17th century with the construction of the Kremlin, a masterpiece of architecture arousing universal admiration. Ringed by powerful walls, it dominates the town with its white towers and cathedrals, their silvery shingled roofs and glided domes. The Church of Resurrection (1670), the Church of Savior Na Senyakh (1675), the Church of John Theologian (1683) and the passages between them are opened for visitors. Particularly attractive is the Church of Hodigitria (1698) in the style of so-called Naryshkin Baroque. Pride of place certainly belongs to the Cathedral of the Assumption with the belfry (late 16th century), the oldest of the Kremlin’s structures. While in the Kremlin, one can call at the Local Lore Museum. The icons, Rostov enamel work, cabinets, tables, distaffs and examples of wood carving displayed here demonstrate the excellent taste and high skill of Russian folk artists.

Pereslavl-Zalessky

Pereslavl-Zalessky, one of the oldest Russian towns, was founded, like Moscow, in the 12th century by Grand Prince Yuri Dolgoruki. The town lies on the shore of Lake Pleshcheyevo whose sparkling surface reminds one of a giant cut glass platter. The abundant fish resources and fertile soil had attracted man here since time immemorial.

The greatest treasures of Pereslavl-Zalessky are its architectural monuments. The oldest of them, the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior (the 12th century), was erected at the place where, as legend says, Prince Alexander Nevsky, an outstanding Russian military leader, was born. The magnificent tent-roof Church of Peter the Metropolitan (1585) is indeed an architectural rarity.

Highly impressive are the high-roofed cubiform Churches of Alexander Nevsky and the Candlemas and the Holy Virgin of Vladimir. The main structures, however, which determine the town’s architectural aspect and lend it inimitable charm, are the monastery structures. One of them, the Goritsky Monastery (the 17th century) which impresses the visitor with its multidome cathedrals and fancifully decorated gates.

Yaroslavl

As the legend goes, this town founded in the early 11th century by Prince Yaroslav the Wise, stands exactly at the spot where the Prince killed a bear, on the promontory at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl, its tributary.

Yaroslavl’s history can be traced in its architecture monuments. It was then that the architectural ensembles went up to make Yaroslavl one of the most beautiful cities of old Russia with churches rich in frescoes and ceramic ornamentation.

Among them mention should be made of the Spassky Monastery ensemble (the 13th century) and the group of the 17th century cathedrals, each of them majestic and colourful, as well as the onetime administrative buildings, the mansions of Sorokin, Matvievsky and Vakhromeyev, the Metropolitan’s See, the elegant rotunda and the remnants of Gostiny Dvor (old-time trading center) in Pervomayskaya street, all of them built in the epoch of classicism. Among its most treasured assets are the Drama Theatre, Russia’s first national theatre founded in the mid-18th century by Fyodor Volkov and now bearing his name, and the Art Museum, which possesses nearly 8,000 works of Russian painting, sculpture and graphic art.

The oldest part of the city includes the architectural ensemble of the Strelka (the place where the Kotorosl river flows into the Volga), built in 1658-68, two-story Metropolitan's Chambers (1680s), the Church of Elijah and Tikhon (1825-31), Church of the Savior -na-Gorodu (1672), and Church of St. Nickols Rublenny (of-the-logs),built in 1695. As most of the ancient Russian towns Yaroslavl was originally a wooden fortress.

Kostroma

The Central district of Kostroma comprises the buildings and structures built in a classic architectural style during the period between 1770-1830. It's a fine example of unique, monolithic urban architectural complex. Kostroma is famous with its wonderful architectural monuments, Ipatyevsky Convent (16th-17th cent.) and the Church of Resurrection on Debra River (1652). Ipatyevsky Convent is located in a beautiful place, where the Kostroma River flows into Volga. The St. Trinity Cathedral of Convent is a powerful, monumental structure beautifully ornamented and decorated with the wall-paintings of Sila Slavin and Guriy Nikitin and their team. The wall-paintings look amazingly inspiring and display fantastic artistic flair of the artists, who managed to express the richest gamut of human feelings raised by the awe of God and anxious expectation of talking with God.

Many residential houses in Kostroma are built in a neo-classical style but in the provinces this style has none of the clear-cut austerity of the metropolis, serving to accentuate the unpretentious harmony of the building and to impart to it an air of intimacy.

This combination of the monuments of old architecture and cozy provincial neo-classicism, the blend of the regular layput and the wooden houses with an intricate lacy carvings on the facades, creates the unique, unforgettable image of Kostroma.

Folk Art

ZHOSTOVO

Zhostovo is a world-famous Russian folk art center popular for its painted trays decorated with bright bunches of flowers on the black background. The skillful and talented masters of Zhostovo have turned these domestic utensils into real masterpieces of art. The style and methods of Zhostovo painted decoration have acquired peculiar traditions of folk art ornamentation and realistic still-life painting.

However, the tendency of painting bunches of flowers became leading. Today, after more than 170 years existence of the handicraft the village of Zhostovo turned into a unique center of Russian folk art. The floral designs of Zhostovo trays display beauty of nature and a cheerful, optimistic sense of life.

The best traditions of this popular folk art are preserved by modern artists of Zhostovo, who manage to unite the traditional methods with improvisation and individual talent of each master. Nowadays the works of Zhostovo artists are on display at various exhibitions and museums not only in Russia, but in many other countries of the world.

FEDOSKINO

The village of Fedoskino, one of the centers of modern Russian lacquer work, is located in picturesque surroundings of Moscow, on a bank of the Ucha. Fedoskino is a very old village; about two hundred years renowned for its miniature paintings on lacquered papier-mâché boxes. This art has been known in Russia since the late eighteenth century. Soon the Fedoskino painted boxes became popular and famous in Russia and in Europe. Practically, the production of lacquered papier-mâché articles with painted decoration has not changed significantly since the mid-nineteenth century.

A characteristic feature of Fedoskino miniature painting has always been a combination of direct painting with glazes superimposed over a gold leaf, mother-of-pearl plaque or over a ground powdered with metal dust. Today the articles are painted with a great variety of subjects on genre, literary, song, fairy-tale, historical and contemporary life themes. But even a short acquaintance with them helps one to go deep into their art, which is an art unique, with strong national roots and the traditional decorative quality, which gives it its originality.

GZHEL

There is a group of about thirty villages located not far from Moscow bearing the name of Gzhel, which has long been famous for its white-burning clay. Gzhel must have been the name of one of these villages.

The origin of this name is somehow connected with the verb zhech - "to fire, to burn". The place has always been the center of folk pottery and has played an important role in the history and development of Russian ceramic arts. Traditionally, Gzhel has supplied clay to many factories and produced excellent pottery famous all over the country.

An important feature of Gzhel pottery is integrity of form, which is emphasized by painting. However, time and development of artistic styles change the character and themes of painting. Initially, the potters produced mainly utilitarian works, but at present artists feel entitled to artistic creations which are emotionally strong and imbued with sophisticated associations, which are able not only to beautify our life but also to transform it.

The modern art of Gzhel is an active artistic trend with its ups and downs, and with the search of new ways. We may expect its flourishing and success if the masters continue to turn to the heritage of the old times and preceding periods, to find it in the source of education and inspiration and to treat it with deep respect.