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Dmitrievsky Cathedral in Vladimir – one of the oldest churches in the country, an amazing example of pre-Mongol Rus architecture. Its walls are adorned with hundreds of carved reliefs. They depict King David, Hercules, and even Alexander the Great. One can admire this beauty for hours.

The cathedral was built at the end of the 12th century on the orders of one of the most famous princes in Russian history – Vsevolod III, known as the Great Nest due to the number of his children (it is believed he had eight sons and four daughters, which is a lot even by medieval standards) – originally intended solely for the family of the ruler of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality and for honourable guests, not designed for a large number of worshippers.

The chronicles report that the church was built by Russian architects without "masters from Germany." However, modern researchers believe that it could not have been done without foreigners – the engineering designs used in construction were too complex and innovative for that era. The Dmitrievsky Cathedral survived several fires in the 16th and 17th centuries, yet it stood firm and, remarkably, managed to preserve its greatest treasure – the stone carvings. In 1837, it was decided to restore the church to its original appearance. Unfortunately, during the restoration, the galleries that surrounded the building on three sides and provided access to the upper floor were demolished. They were considered a new construction. Later, it turned out that these galleries had been built in the early 13th century. When the mistake was discovered, it was already impossible to restore them.

After 1917, the church retained its status as a monument of Old Russian art. A museum was opened. In 1992, it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The Prince's Cathedral in Vladimir is known as one of the first white stone churches in Rus. Until then, flat bricks (plinfa) were mainly used in construction, but by the end of the 12th century, builders began to use smoothly hewn limestone slabs for church construction. Such structures impressed contemporaries with their majesty and extraordinary whiteness.

The main exhibit of the church is the ancient frescoes. They were created in the 90s of the 12th century by Greek masters. The exact origin of the artists is not documented (historians suspect they came from Thessaloniki), but local masters assisted the foreign icon painters. Of the paintings, the composition "The Last Judgment" has been best preserved. In one area of the ceiling, the 12 Apostles and holy angels are depicted. In the southwest vault, the paradise garden is painted, in the centre of which the Mother of God is surrounded by the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The faces of the figures are astonishingly realistic, with an emotion evident in each of them.

📍 Coordinates of the location (map point) available here

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