Breakfast in the Rusich Guesthouse
We were not to stay long in Murom, as we had a 2½-hour road transfer to Suzdal, the diamond in the Golden Ring cluster of ancient towns near Moscow. In Suzdal we were staying at the Sokol Hotel overnight, which only gave us about 24 hours to explore Suzdal. This limitation was because we needed leave Suzdal the next day at about 1:30pm to catch the 3:49pm train from Vladimir to Moscow.
Dmitri arrived at 8:30 to get us on our way. Slight hiccup. We were about 15 minutes on our way when Dmitri got a phone call — our passports were still in the hands of the Rusich Guesthouse! So back we went, picked up the passports, and had just left when Warren realised they still had his immigration card. This time we had only got about 100 metres, so there was little delay. Finally on our way, we got to Suzdal at about 11:30am.
A fond farewell to Dmitri, with whom we had had an interesting conversation on the journey, and we were checked in to the Sokol Hotel, very close to the centre of the interesting parts of Suzdal. We could hardly have had a better location!
The thing about Suzdal is that when the Trans-Siberian Railway went through at the beginning of the 20th century, Vladimir was selected as the station, and not Suzdal. This means that Suzdal effectively remained a backwater, and almost totally missed out on the 20th century. This now is its charm, and virtually the only industry here is tourism — but this is going gangbusters!
Today on the agenda are three things —
- The Marketplace (just opposite the hotel)
- The Kremlin (just beyond the Marketplace)
- The Museum of Wooden Architecture and Peasant Life (just a short walk beyond the Kremlin)
So, first, the Marketplace. On its edge is the Resurrection church, which we went into, and where Warren climbed the somewhat dubious stairs up to the top of the bell tower for some shots of the city, and where he met a gentleman doing some painting work, enjoying the refreshing wind blowing through the belfry. Suzie, in the meantime, was exploring the stalls!
And next, the Kremlin, which dates back to the 10th century, originally a fortress or citadel and the religious and administrative center of the city. Most notably, it's the site of the Cathedral of the Nativity. A cathedral was built here in 1102, but was demolished and rebuilt in 1222. Although there have been several fires, and significant remodelling over the passing centuries, this is the building that we see today! The frescoes inside date back to the 13th, 15th, and 17th centuries. There's no surprise that this is a World Heritage site!
Ilinskaya church, across the Reka Kamenka from the Kremlin
And last, but not least, The Museum of Wooden Architecture and Peasant Life. Certain similarities here to the one near Lake Baikal, but this one is entirely more recent wooden buildings that have been moved here from nearby regions. Pride of place in this museum is taken by the Wooden Church of St. Nicholas, built in Glotovo in 1766 and moved to Suzdal in 1960.
The Wooden Church of St. Nicholas (at right)
Я люблю Суздаль — I love Suzdal
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