Suzdal

Suzdal (Суздаль, ˈsuzdəlj) is a town that serves as the administrative center of Suzdalsky District in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which is located on the Kamenka River, north of the city of Vladimir. Vladimir is the administrative center of the surrounding oblast. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 9,286. Suzdal is one of the oldest Russian towns. In the 12th century, it became the capital of the principality, while Moscow was merely one of its subordinate settlements. Currently, Suzdal is the smallest of the Russian Golden Ring towns, but it has more than 40 historically important monuments and 200 architectural sites. Several of these sites are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The town's history dates back probably to 999 or 1024, and in 1125 Yury Dolgoruky made Suzdal the capital of the Rostov-Suzdal principality. Suzdal began to function as a capital at the time when Moscow was still a cluster of cowsheds. In 1157, Andrei Bogolyubsky moved the capital from Suzdal to Vladimir, from which time the principality was known as Vladimir-Suzdal. Set in a fertile wheat-growing area, Suzdal remained a trade centre even after Mongol-led invasions (Suzdal was burned and plundered in 1237). Eventually, it united with Nizhny Novgorod until both were annexed by Moscow in 1392. After a decline in political importance, the town rose in prominence as a religious center with incredible development projects funded by Vasily III and Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century. In the late 17th and 18th centuries, wealthy merchants paid for 30 charming churches, which still adorn the town. Thus, Suzdal reached a remarkable ratio of churches to citizens: at one point, 40 churches per 400 families. In 1864, local merchants failed to coerce the government into building the Trans-Siberian Railway through their town. Instead it went through Vladimir, away. As a result, Suzdal was bypassed not only by trains, but by the 20th century altogether. Furthermore, in 1967 Suzdal earned a federally protected status, which officially limited the development in the area.