Suzdal
The best-preserved town on the Golden Ring, its white stone monasteries and onion domes set in riverside meadows.
Overview
About 220 kilometres north-east of Moscow, Suzdal is the most intact town on the Golden Ring, with dozens of churches and monasteries for fewer than ten thousand residents. Its kremlin, the Spaso-Yevfimiev monastery and the museum of wooden architecture are the best known, the Kamenka river runs through the town, and the riverside meadows flower in summer. Bell towers look out over a skyline of onion domes and monastery walls.
History
First recorded in 1024 and capital of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality in the 12th century, it prospered through church and monastery building in the 16th and 17th and is now a focus of Golden Ring tourism.
Highlights
- •The Spaso-Yevfimiev monastery
- •The Suzdal kremlin
- •The museum of wooden architecture
- •The Kamenka meadows and bell towers
Practical tips
- •The town is made for walking and cycling
- •Winter snow is beautiful but the ground ices over
Practical information
- Best time
- May-September
- Tickets
- Monasteries about RUB 300-500 each
- Opening hours
- Roughly 9:00-17:00
- Local food
- Medovukha, pickled cucumbers, blini
- Getting around
- Train from Moscow to Vladimir, then about 40 minutes by bus.
- Visa
- A visa is required; apply about a month in advance.
Traveller reviews
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