Assumption Cathedral Vladimir

The Assumption cathedral was built between 1158 and 1160 for Andrei Bogolyubsky in white limestone, enlarged after a fire in the 1180s, and for a century and a half it was the principal church of the Rus lands - the place where grand princes were crowned, and the model Ivan III sent for when he wanted a cathedral built inside the Moscow Kremlin in the 1470s, so Fioravanti came to Vladimir to study it first. It is part of the UNESCO group of White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal, listed in 1992. Inside, on the western vault, are the surviving frescoes Andrei Rublev and Daniil Chorny painted in 1408 - a Last Judgement in which the composition is notably unfrightening, with the saved processing calmly, which is characteristic of Rublev and unusual for the subject. Much of the rest of the interior decoration is nineteenth century. The cathedral stands on a bluff above the Klyazma with a viewpoint beside it.

What you actually see

• The Rublev frescoes - the 1408 Last Judgement on the western vault.
• The 1160 building - white limestone, and the model for the Moscow Kremlin cathedral.
• The UNESCO listing - part of the White Monuments group since 1992.
• The bluff - the cathedral above the Klyazma with a viewpoint alongside.

When to go

May to September. One to two hours. Under two hours from Moscow by fast train, which makes it a comfortable day trip.

Honest expectations

An active cathedral, so services close it for periods and photography is restricted. The frescoes are fragmentary and in low light. Much of the interior is nineteenth-century repainting over the medieval work.

Nearby

The Golden Gate and Demetrius cathedral are in the city; Bogolyubovo and the Nerl church are east.