The Vladimir region in the Central Federal District has an advantageous geographical location: it borders on the Moscow, Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Nizhny Novgorod regions. For several centuries in a row, the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality was the centre of Eastern Russia, and the city of Vladimir, which played a special role in the formation of the Russian statehood, was its capital.
THE LAND WITH A LONG HISTORY
The Vladimir region is a region rich in its centuries-old history, cultural heritage, and unique natural sites.
Every single thing is wonderful here! The nature is picturesque, the architecture is unique, the people are talented and hardworking, and the cities give rise to legends.
Vladimir is the gem of the Golden Ring of Russia. The city lived through the glory of the capital, the devastation of the Mongol invasion, was burned in fires and came alive again. Murom is one of the most ancient cities in Russia, a gem of architecture, and the birthplace of the epic hero Ilya Muromets. Suzdal is an open-air museum city that has preserved the indescribable flavour of an ancient Russian town.
The oldest traces of human habitation in the territory of the modern region were found near Vladimir. This is Sungir, an Upper Paleolithic ancient encampment dating back more than 25,000 years old. The most famous find here is the 'Sungir horse', a horse-shaped figurine carved from mammoth tusk and painted with ochre.
At different times, Finno-Ugric and Slavic tribes lived here. The region used to be part of Kievan Rus, the Rostov-Suzdal and Vladimir-Suzdal principalities, the Moscow State, and later even of the Ivanovo region. And only since 1944, it has been known as the Vladimir region.
Get closer to history
The Vladimir region is a land of unique historical and architectural monuments. Masterpieces of unique white stone architecture of the 12th century have been preserved here. The most famous of them are the Golden Gate in Vladimir, one of the brightest monuments of the ancient Russian architecture, and the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl in Bogolyubovo, which is often called 'a poem etched in stone'.
St. George's Cathedral of the 12th century in Yuryev-Polsky is the 'swan song' of white stone architecture, the last temple of North-Eastern Rus built before the Mongol invasion. The merchant chambers in Gorokhovets are seven out of the twenty stone residential buildings of the 17th century that have been preserved almost in their original form in Russia.
The names of many famous personalities of Russian history are inextricably linked with the region – Yaroslav the Wise, Vladimir Monomakh, Yuri Dolgoruky, Andrei Bogolyubsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Alexander Nevsky. The ancient Russian fortress Alexandrovskaya Sloboda served as the country residence of Grand Duke Vasily III, and then the residence of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The region is the birthplace of great figures, scientists, poets - M.M. Speransky, N.E. Zhukovsky, V.K. Zvorykin, V.A. Degtyarev, A.I. Fatyanov, V.A. Soloukhin, S.I. Taneev, and many others.
Architectural ensembles of the estates of noble and outstanding people who left their mark on Russian history, for example, the Suvorovs, Golitsyns, Saltykovs, Zubovs, have been preserved in the region.
Touch the nature
The nature of the region is diverse and unique. Thick forests border on swampy terrain and the vast Vladimir Opolye (high plains). The Klyazma, Nerl, Oka, and Kamenka rivers flow through the region. The natural sites of the region include the Meshchera National Park, a country of forests, rivers and the purest lakes, the Dyukinsky quarries, being a nature reserve with an unusual rocky topography, and Shirokha, a unique lake of glacial origin and the cleanest lake in the region. More than 200 plant species grow in the protected area of the picturesque Bogolyubovsky meadow, located at the confluence of the Nerl and Klyazma rivers.
Organise your leisure time
Many areas of tourism are successfully developing in the Vladimir region: pilgrimage, gastronomic, active, industrial, educational, children's, agrotourism, etc. Picturesque places offer excellent opportunities for various sports: hiking, horseback riding, water activities, rock climbing, paragliding and skydiving, etc.
Dozens of museums in the region are waiting for their guests, offering them unique expositions and exhibitions. Grand festivals and celebrations are held in the region every year. Here you can buy souvenirs of folk art, carefully preserved by masters and craftsmen: Mstera lacquer miniatures and embroidery, pottery, wickerwork, Kolchugin cupronickel, clay toys, and Argunovo carvings. You should definitely taste the famous Vladimir cherry, Suzdal mead and cucumber jam, Pokrovsky gingerbread, Yuryev tobolka, and Murom kalach.
The Vladimir region will touch everyone's feelings! And if you come here once, you will certainly want to come back again and again.
Read more useful information
