Suzdal — Old Russian Hollywood on the «Golden Ring»

The first mention of Suzdal in the chronicles dates from 1024. The Suzdal Kremlin started to be built in the late XI century. The fortress walls at that time were surrounded by a 30-meter ditch and high ramparts, which have partially survived to the present day. A white stone Cathedral of the Nativity has been preserved in the territory of the Kremlin since the XIII century. The town reached its full flowering in the 12th century under Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, who founded his residence four kilometers from the town, in the village of Kideksha. Since 1125 Suzdal was the capital of the principality. The white-stone Church of Saints Boris and Gleb with frescoes of the 12th century has been preserved in Kideksha until now. Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky, the son and heir of Yuri Dolgoruky, made the city of Vladimir on the Klyazma River the capital of the Grand Duchy of Vladimir, and Suzdal lost its high status forever, although it continued to enjoy the backing of the princes. Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest of Vladimir, who reigned after Andrey Bogolyubsky, founded three monasteries in Suzdal. One of them has survived to the present day. This is the Rizopolozhenskiy Monastery (Monastery of the Deposition), although its oldest surviving building dates back to the 16th century. The territory of this monastery houses the town’s highest bell tower, which offers a beautiful panorama of the surroundings.

Vasilevsky Monastery appeared between Suzdal and Kideksha in the 13th century. The monks grew their own variety of berries, «Vasilevskaya cherry», in the gardens of this monastery. This is a unique variety of cherries with big, sweet and fragrant berries. It was difficult to keep them and transport. Moreover, they were available only to the nobility. Therefore these berries were called «tsar’s» (imperial).

Suzdal has preserved the tradition of preparing a very special drink called mead. It is made on the basis of honey and yeast, and its alcohol content is 5-16%. Mead in Suzdal brewed as early as in the XI century! You can taste this drink in the Mead Tasting Hall of the Suzdal Mead Factory, with addition of juniper, mint, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, rosehip and pine buds.

As for the food, mid-September is the best time to try the most delicate dishes of local cuisine. At this time, the town hosts the Mead-Fest, a gastronomic festival with the participation of the best restaurants in the Vladimir Region. As part of the festival, the chefs prepare spicy meat in Suzdal style, that is, beef, stewed with carrots, onions and horseradish in a pot with a dough lid. It is believed that it was in Suzdal that horseradish started to be added to the food. This was unusual, since horse-radish has always been chiefly a medicinal plant in Russia. The local horseradish variety adds zest to the canned cucumbers as well. A «Cucumber Day» Festival is held on the third Saturday of July in the Museum of Wooden Architecture opposite the Kremlin. An important part of this celebration is a parade of borages, that is, the inhabitants of Suzdal who grow cucumbers, as well as tasting of salted, fried, steamed cucumbers, cucumber pies, jams and soups.

If cucumber has become a symbol of the town quite recently, the glory of Suzdal as an Orthodox center goes back several centuries. In the XVII century there were already 11 monasteries in the town. The oldest of them are Spaso-Evfimievsky Monastery and the Monastery of the Intercession (Pokrovsky Monastery) of the 14th century. One and a half kilometers long brick walls of the Spaso-Evfimievsky Monastery, with 12 towers were on a par with the Moscow Kremlin walls. Total of six churches were erected on the Torgovaya Square (Trade Square) during the 18th century! But at the end of the 18th century the metropolitan moved to Vladimir and the construction of temples ceased. Only the Posad House has survived from the residential development in Suzdal on the cusp of the XVII and XVIII centuries. This building with two roofs looks like a wooden hut, but it is built of stone.

In the XIX century Suzdal became a major center on the trade route between the southern regions of Russia and St. Petersburg. In 1811, an Empire shopping arcade (Gostiny Dvor) with a gallery was opened on the main square. Merchants gathered here in September for the week-long St. Euphrosyne Fair, named after Saint Euphrosyne of Suzdal, a nun of the Rizopolozhenskiy Monastery. This fair was the main event in the life of ancient Suzdal and lasted a week. The fair is held today as well, but it lasts only a day. Here you can buy local products and souvenirs, as well as listen to concerts and take part in competitions.

The atmosphere of a medieval town, preserved in Suzdal, captured the attention of the famous director Sergei Bondarchuk in 1962, who was looking for a place to shoot a film based on the «War and Peace» novel by Leo Tolstoy. Afterwards, other filmmakers also followed in his footsteps. Later, a film version of the «Blizzard» play by A.S. Pushkin was shot in the streets of the town. In 1965, the outstanding director and screenwriter Andrey Tarkovsky filmed here the movie «Andrei Rublev» — about the famous Russian icon painter. In the 1980s, the Hollywood actors: Maximilian Schell, Omar Sharif and Vanessa Redgrave arrived in Suzdal to feature in the TV series «Peter the Great» for the NBC channel. Total of over fifty movies were filmed in Suzdal! In 2001 the town became home for the Open Russian Festival of Animated Film, devoted to the professional appraisal of domestic Russian animation. The prestigious contest takes place every year in the middle of March.

In February Suzdal celebrates Maslenitsa (Shrovetide), with a contest for speedy eating of pancakes and fights of geese of a specially developed breed. The goose-fight tradition is more than 200 years! In early July Suzdal hosts the largest military-historical Festival «Age-old Suzdal». Its participants reconstruct one of the battles of the XIII-XVI centuries, conduct equestrian tournaments, demonstrate medieval costumes and armor, teach to do archery, fling a spear, dance and prepare ancient dishes. Clothes, things for home, ornamentals and elements of military equipment are sold at the fair. In late July, Suzdal returns to the modern age with the Blues-Bike Festival. The festival of bluesmen and bikers, started in 2009, attracts many guests to the town. On the first Sunday of August, Suzdal celebrates the Town Day. On August 19, during the «Apple Spas» holiday in the Spaso-Evfimievsky Monastery, a festival of guslars (psaltery players) takes place, which flows into the All-Russian Festival of sacred music and bell-ringing, when the best bell-ringers of the country gather in Suzdal.

Suzdal still continues to explore its historical heritage and offers its guests new entertainment in the authentic atmosphere of the ancient Russian town.

Get directions

The distance from Moscow to Suzdal is just over 200 kilometers. You can get to the town by car within three hours, or go by train to Vladimir in one hour and forty minutes and spend another hour on the way by bus to Suzdal. A ride in a bus from Moscow will take about five hours.