Suzdal is a town that serves as the administrative center of Suzdalsky District in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which is located along the Kamenka tributary of the Nerl River, 26 km north of the city of Vladimir. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 9,286. In the 12th century, Suzdal became the capital of the principality. Currently, Suzdal is the smallest of the Russian Golden Ring towns. It is home to Several sites listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

History

The town's history dates back to 999 or 1024, and in 1125 Yury Dolgoruky made Suzdal the capital of the Rostov-Suzdal principality. In 1157, Andrei Bogolyubsky moved the capital from Suzdal to Vladimir, from which time the principality was known as Vladimir-Suzdal. Suzdal was burned and plundered in 1237 during the Mongol-led invasions; however, it remained a trade centre afterward because of its location in a fertile wheat-growing area. Eventually, it united with Nizhny Novgorod until both were annexed by Moscow in 1392. After a decline in political importance, the town rose back to prominence as a religious center with development projects funded by Vasily III and Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century. In the late 17th and 18th centuries, wealthy merchants paid for 30 churches, which are still present today. In 1864, local merchants failed to convince the government to build the Trans-Siberian Railway through their town. Instead, it went through Vladimir, 35 km away. In 1967 Suzdal earned a federally protected status, which officially limited development in the area. In 1943, high-ranking Nazi officers captured at the Battle of Stalingrad were imprisoned within Suzdal's monastery. Today, the town serves as a tourist center, as it features many examples of old Russian architecture -mostly churches and monasteries. Despite having nearly ten thousand residents, Suzdal still retains a rural infrastructure with streams and partially unpaved streets.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Suzdal serves as the administrative center of Suzdalsky District, to which it is directly subordinated. As a municipal division, the town of Suzdal is incorporated within Suzdalsky Municipal District as Suzdal Urban Settlement.

Tourism

The primary industry of Suzdal is tourism. Suzdal avoided the industrialization of the Soviet times and was preserved many examples of Russian architecture of the 13th-19th centuries. There are 305 monuments and listed buildings in Suzdal, including 30 churches, 14 bell towers, and 5 monasteries and convents. 79 of them are federally protected buildings and 167 are regionally protected. In 1992, two of the monuments (Saviour Monastery of St Euthymius and Kremlin with Nativity of the Virgin Cathedral) were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, together with six other White Monuments in this region.

Notable buildings

Festivals

Infrastructure

There are four major hotels in Suzdal: There are also 50 guesthouses with a total number of 700 rooms. Suzdal has approximately 20 hotel rooms per 100 population (comparing to 0.2 rooms for Russia in general, or 1.6 rooms in the US). Suzdal has 13 restaurants, 10 cafes, 11 bars and 73 souvenir shops. In 1982 Suzdal became the first Russian town to receive La Pomme d'Or (Golden Apple) - a prize for excellence in the tourism industry, awarded annually by the World Federation of Travel Journalists and Writers (FIJET).

Film

More than 60 movies were filmed in Suzdal and the vicinity. Among them are:

Twin towns

Suzdal is twinned with:

Notable people

Sources