Kideksha Church

Yuri Dolgoruky built a fortified residence at Kideksha where the Kamenka joins the Nerl, and the church of Boris and Gleb he raised there in 1152 is one of the earliest surviving white stone buildings in north-eastern Rus - older than the Vladimir cathedrals, plainer, and built when the technique of dressed limestone construction had only just arrived in this region. It is squat and severe, with almost no carving, narrow slit windows and heavy walls, and it looks its age in a way the more famous churches do not. Part of the vaulting collapsed in the later medieval period and was rebuilt lower, so the profile is altered. Inside are fragments of twelfth-century fresco. Around it stand an eighteenth-century church, a bell tower that leans noticeably, and a gate, in a village of a few hundred people. It is part of the UNESCO White Monuments group and gets a fraction of Suzdal's visitors.

What you actually see

• The 1152 church - among the earliest white stone buildings in north-eastern Rus.
• The severity - plain walls, slit windows and almost no carving.
• The altered profile - vaulting that collapsed and was rebuilt lower.
• The leaning bell tower - an eighteenth-century tower noticeably out of true.

When to go

May to September. One hour. A short drive or a long walk from Suzdal, and far quieter than the town.

Honest expectations

Very small and plain - visitors expecting the elegance of the Nerl church find something much heavier. The interior opens only in dry warm weather to protect the frescoes, and often not at all. The village has no facilities.

Nearby

Suzdal is west; the Nerl runs past the church.