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.

History

Grand Prince Andrew the Pious, who ruled from 1157 to 1174, commissioned the cathedral in his capital and dedicated it to the Dormition of the Virgin, whom he promoted as the patron of his lands; it was first built between 1158 and 1160 with six pillars and five domes and expanded from 1185 to 1189 to match Vladimir's growing prestige, and at 1,178 square metres it remained the largest Russian church for several hundred years. Andrew, Vsevolod the Big Nest and other rulers of Vladimir-Suzdal were buried in its crypt, and it survived in part the devastation and fire of 1238, when Batu Khan's Mongol armies took the city. Its interior, painted in the 12th century, was repainted by Andrei Rublev and Daniil Chernyi in 1408, Aristotele Fioravanti took it as his model for the cathedral of the same name in the Moscow Kremlin in 1475-1479, and a tall bell tower was added nearby in 1810 (Wikipedia, Dormition Cathedral, Vladimir).

What you'll find

• 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.

Before you go

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.

Key facts