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Russia Regions: Golden Ring of Russia

 

 


What is the Golden Ring of Russia? 



The Golden Ring is a loop of ancient towns just outside of Russian capital offering onion domes galore, quaint wooden houses with bright, hand-carved window frames, and real head scarved babushkas.


Take a troika ride, eat a home-baked cabbage pie, and sneak a shot of vodka

 



What is so special about the Golden Ring of Russia?

 

This is the real Russia that you will not find in the big smoke. This is the fairy-tale Russia that you always imagined.

This is where you experience real life outside the city, witness the timeless beauty of Russia's gentle landscape and agrarian culture.

The appealing towns and villages of the Golden Ring - each of them - played an important part in making this region the Spiritual center of Russian Orthodoxy.



They preceded Moscow in its significance and shaped Russia's culture and traditions.


Those quaint towns of the Golden Ring retain great cultural wealth from centuries past.
That is why they draw thousands of tourists from around the world to this intriguing region of Russia. 


Vladimir, Suzdal, Rostov Veliky, Yaroslavl and Sergiyev Posad - to name a few - top the list of Golden Ring towns as the most spectacular and as the most accessible

 

 

Vladimir:

178 km east of Moscow, Vladimir today is a modern, provincial town than an ancient capital.
Vladimir contains exquisite examples of Russia's most formative architecture and great entertaining museums that all makes the city one of the key jewels in the Golden Ring.

The city boasts a majestic Assumption Cathedral, built to announce Vladimir's claim as capital of Ancient Russ

 

Suzdal:

Suzdal is the crowning jewel of the Golden Ring. This jewel of the Golden Ring dates back to 1024.

'The Jewel of the Golden Ring' is definitely a cliche, but is sums up Suzdal.
This tourist-friendly town of 12,000 is blessed with an astounding supply of over 200 historical monuments including medieval churches and monasteries.The number and variety of stunningly beautiful churches is so great that they cease to be separate sights.
So the sight here Suzdal itself.

Located 250 km from Moscow, Suzdal retains a peaceful, provincial feel, but it has a long and rich history.

 

Its heyday began in the 12th century when it was capital of the Rostov-Suzdal principality and more important than Moscow.

 

Later Suzdal became capital of a whole series of principalities. But it ended up losing its independence after being incorporated into Moscow principality.

Today, Suzdal retains the look of an ancient Russian village.
Chickens and geese roam among brightly painted wooden cottages with intricately carved window frames, and the river Kamenka meanders lazily through the town and across a rolling landscape dotted with onion domes wherever you look

 

Rostov Veliky:

Rostov Veliky (in English: Rostov The Great) is among the prettiest of the Golden Ring towns.
It is idyllically sited on shimmering Lake Nero. It is also one of the oldest, first chronicled in 862.
Rostov's main attraction is its unashamedly photogenic Kremlin. The magnificent Rostov Kremlin catches visitors off guard with its silver domes and white-washed stone walls

 

Yaroslavl:

Yaroslavl is known as the Heartland of the Golden Ring. In 2010 Yaroslavl celebrated its 1000th anniversary.

Yaroslavl stands proud on the banks of the Volga river. In the 17th century it was Russia's second largest city, and for a time (during the Polish occupation of Moscow in 1612) the country's de facto capital.

The center piece of Yaroslavl is the historic Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Saviour.
The exquisite Church of Elijah the Prophet is also the city's remarkable sight. It has some of the Golden Ring's brightest frescoes

 

Sergiyev Posad:

Being the closest to Moscow, Sergiyev Posad is one of the jewels of the Golden Ring of ancient Russia, is ideal for a quick glimpse of the Golden Ring.

Sergiyev Posad is distinguished for at least two symbols: the Monastery and the Matryoshka (nesting doll), which is said to have originated here.

 

For centuries Sergiyev Posad has been a major spiritual center of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as Russia's toy-making capital.

Being Russia's ecclesiastical centre, Sergiyev Posad's Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius attracts scores of religious pilgrims from far and wide as well as camera-wielding tourists who come to admire the magnificent monastery complex.

 

The two groups coexist peacefully, but tourists should remember this is primarily a spiritual centre, and to conform to dress rules and behavioral norms (no running, no shouting, no loud laughter, no displays of affection, no photography) in the monastery

 

Check out some of the most popular tour products for this region of Russia:

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 
 
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