Necklace of Russian Architecture

On June 18-19, as part of the educational program “Necklace of Russian Architecture. Vladimir, Bogolyubovo, Yuryev-Polsky, Suzdal» took place. Vladimir-Suzdal land is rich of traditions and sights. It is important to note that in a certain period of history between the Kiev and Moscow periods Vladimir was the capital of Russia, and in the era of the rise of the Moscow principality the title of the Grand Duchy of Vladimir was also awarded to Moscow princes. The beginning of the formation of a centralized Russian state was laid by Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky, canonized by the Church as a saint. By his order, in the 12th century, masterpieces of white-stone architecture of North-Eastern Russia were built in the autentical traditions of Byzantine and Russian temple building: the Assumption Cathedral in the city of Vladimir, the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin of the Bogolyubsky Convent of the Nativity of the Virgin, next to which was the palace complex of the prince, where he was killed by conspirators and the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl in the village of Bogolyubovo.

By decree of Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest, at the end of the 12th century, a temple was erected in the princely courtyard in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica, the facade of which is decorated with bas-reliefs of biblical scenes depicting the playing of King David on the ten-stringed Psalter, as well as birds and animals surrounding him, gathered to listen to his saints chants to God. Dmitrievsky white-stone cathedral with its bas-reliefs is a true masterpiece of world architecture and, along with the Assumption Cathedral in the city of Vladimir and the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, are included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Register as unique architectural monuments of pre-Mongolian Russia. Students and teachers were amazed by the grandeur and uniqueness of the white stone architecture.

After visiting Vladimir and Bogolyubovo, a group of our colleagues and students went to Suzdal, where they visited the Suzdal Kremlin, the Museum of Wooden Architecture and the Shchurovo Settlement Museum Complex. The city of Suzdal is an open-air museum city, where many temples and monasteries of different centuries have been preserved. Before the revolution of 1917, there were more than 3,000 churches in the city, and the ringing of bells are simultaneously on a Sunday or a saint holiday drowned out human voices and the neighing of horses. Many films on historical themes are often shot in Suzdal.

In the city of Yuryev-Polsky, founded, like Moscow, by Prince Yury Dolgoruky, a group of students visited the Yuryev-Polsky Kremlin on the banks of the Koloksha River and St. George's Cathedral.

The educational programs of the RUDN Academy of Engineering developed by the teachers of the Department of Architecture have formed a good tradition of visiting monasteries and temples of various cities of the Golden Ring, which are of spiritual, artistic and cultural value, which is of paramount importance in the education and upbringing of a generation of modern students. Everyone can join us and share the joy of meeting Russian temple architecture.

Registration for the program:
https://www.dpo.rudn.ru/course/ozherele-russkikh-gorodov-vladimir-bogolyubovo-yurev-polskiy-suzdal/