The embodiment of a combination of completely incompatible concepts — antiquity and modernity — can be observed in the city of Suzdal. The population of the city is only eleven thousand people.

Suzdal is a city with a rich history. There are many attractions here. You can’t see everything in one day.

  • Not far from the bus station, on the outskirts of Suzdal, is St. Basil’s Monastery . The monastery was founded in the eighteenth century by Prince Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko.
  • The monastery was built as a defensive fortress, then it became a monastery for monks. In the beginning, the monastery was for men. In 1916 became female. It was closed in the twenties. The premises were given over to warehouses. In the nineties of the last century, the monastery was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church.
  • The oldest part of the city is the Suzdal Kremlin . It was built to protect the city from enemies. In the twelfth century, a wooden fortress was built, fortified with an earthen rampart and hidden by a wall, the length of which is over one and a half kilometers.
  • The fortress was the prince’s court and the residence of the bishop, and the cathedral was the burial place for princes, boyars and higher clergy. In the center of the Kremlin Square in the seventeenth century, the building of the Bishops’ Chambers was erected — a whole complex of buildings for housing and household needs.
  • The main part was called the Cross Chamber, which was used to receive important guests. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, all the wooden buildings of the fortress were destroyed by fire.
  • However, the main buildings still survived. Nowadays, the Suzdal Kremlin is a museum where you can visit various exhibitions.
  • The Nativity Cathedral is the oldest building in Suzdal. The temple was rebuilt twice. The second time it was rebuilt after the invasion of the Tatar-Mongol. From the former grandeur of the temple, only the carved relief has survived to this day.
  • Being in the Suzdal Kremlin, it is worth paying attention to the wooden St. Nicholas Church . A church was erected in the village of Glotovo, Yuryevo-Polsky district, in the eighteenth century. In the twentieth century, the church was moved to Suzdal.
  • Only wood was used in the construction of the church. This church became the first exhibit in the museum of Russian architecture and peasant life. The museum is located in the open air and recreates the village street in great detail.
  • You can see both the small house of a poor peasant and the large houses of wealthy peasants. The situation in the houses was recreated in accordance with the life of past centuries.
  • The Museum of Wooden Architecture often hosts various holidays and festivals. A large number of people from different cities come here.
  • On the banks of the Kamenka River, there is a male Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery . From all sides the monastery is surrounded by powerful fortress walls.
  • The monastery was built as a fortress. At the entrance to the monastery there is a small park with a monument to Dmitry Pozharsky.
  • There are ten museums in the monastery. With a guided tour you can visit the monastery belfry. Vocal ensembles perform on the territory of the monastery, concerts are held.

During the reign of Catherine II, a prison for apostates was built in the monastery. Nowadays, there is a museum on the site of the Suzdal prison. It is located at the farthest end of the monastery.