The Golden Ring
Church & Foodie roadtrip
Northeast of Moscow lies "The Golden Ring"of ancient Russian cities.
We visited: Vladimir, Suzdal, Ivanovo, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Rostov, Paraslavl and Sergiev Posad (a.k.a. The Russian Vatican).
So as the title indicates, this self-guided tour was ALL about churches (kremlins, monasteries, convents, etc.) and food. That is the main focus of the photos as well. We started to realize this very early on and so we made a bet as to how many pictures of different churches we would take. Craig said 85, I said 100. Who will win the bet?? I do NOT include most of the names and dates of all these as the trip would have needed to be much longer for that.
(excerpts below from "Express to Russia" website)
Vladimir:
Population: 345,373 (2010 Census)
Founding date (disputed) either 990 or 1108. There was a Mongol invasion in 1237 and again attacked and overrun by the Mongol-Tatars in 1238 where, as with most medieval towns, a great fire destroyed many of the limestone buildings. The Grand Prince escaped - later to be killed in battle, but his family perished in a church where they sought refuge from the fire.
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1st church picture - in Vladimir
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The Golden Gate of Vladimir (constructed 1157 - 1160 &1185 - 1189 after fire)
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Not a church, but a cool museum
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#2
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The excalibur umbrella...Craig is not the chosen King
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| #3 |
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#3 up close
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| #4 |
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There are many bronze statues in the area
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| #5 |
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We don't see this kind of ornate architecture in Canada
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#6 St. Demetrius Cathedral (1193 - 1197)
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| #7 |
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An ancient telephone booth - it actually still works too!
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As does this fire truck
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Ok, so Craig had some weird stops scheduled on this tour including this Spoon Museum which we had to drive on some roads of thick ice to get to. This was also a theme of the trip... quirky museums as well as roads and sidewalks covered in thick ice & pot holes.
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This sign says:
Spoon Weather
If the spoon is wet... it's raining 🌧
If the spoon is dry... it's not raining ⛅
If the spoon casts a shadow... it's sunny 🌞
If it's hard to see... it's foggy 🌫
If the spoon is swinging... it's windy 💨
If it's frosty... it's cold ❄
If the spoon is moving up and down... there's an earthquake 🌎
If there is no spoon... the museum is closed 😕
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And others from around the world
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Canada!
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Sudzal
Population: 10, 535 (2010 census)
35 kilometers from Vladimir is the town of Sudzal, which is one of Russia's oldest towns. Although it's the smallest of the Golden Ring towns, it was my favorite and it has more than 40 historically important monuments and 200 architectural sites - several of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
It was founded in and around 999 and at one point had 40 churches for only 400 families.
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| #8 |
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| #9 |
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| #10 |
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| #11 |
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| #12 |
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| #13 |
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| #14 |
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| #15 |
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| #16 |
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#17
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| #18 |
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Another thing we could have focused on taking pictures of are these ornate, colourful wooden houses. They are strewn throughout Russia and especially in the Golden Ring towns/cities. Unfortunately many of them are in really bad shape and in need of a lot of repairs.
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This one is not as cute or colourful, but still an example of the wooden houses.
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| #19 |
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The Princess' chariot 👸
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In the same park were these odd, carved wooden structures
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Another thing I believe every place in Russia has is at least one war memorial
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Our 1st hotel suite - Mirros Hotel Sudzal. It was a huge, private suite and it was so lovely and quiet there. I woke up to the sounds of birds chirping instead of traffic noise.
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Nice big bathroom!
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I think every town and city in Russia has a Lenin statue
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#20 - well, technically a bell tower, but part of a convent. Twice I tried to climb up this, but both times it was closed (despite the hours sign saying it was open)
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| #21 |
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This one is quite well maintained and cute colours
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Do I count these as two? I think so... #22 & #23
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#30
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#31 - The Kremlin as we were leaving Suzdal
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#32 - this counts! One of the "while driving" shots
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#33 - also while driving
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#34 - Ivanova - on the way to Kostroma
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| #35 |
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| #36 |
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Same #36
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| #37 |
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| #38 |
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#39 on the road between Ivanova and Kostroma
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| #40 |
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Another "on-the-go" moment of the lovely birch forests that line the side of the highway
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Kostroma
Population: 268,742 (2010 consensus)
Founded in1152 or some say 1213
Named after the Slavic Goddess Kostroma. This town was also taken over by the Mongols in 1238 and devastated by a great fire in 1773. The Romanov's frequently visited the city and had a special connection to it.
Hotel Ekaterina Kostroma
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Our lovely suite. This was my favorite hotel
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Mural on the wall on the way into the dining room
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Even the washroom signs were fancy!
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The hotel's namesake - Catherine the Great
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| #46 |
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| #47 |
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| #48 |
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| #49 |
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This one I had to give Craig because I missed that it was not only avocado, but tons of little cucumber pieces.
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Avocado and grapefruit? Different.
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This tuna was delicious!
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Yaroslavl
Population: approx. 600,000
Founded in 1010 and destroyed by the Tatars in the 13th and 14th centuries, but then restored and rebuilt and remains an important cultural and political center.
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#50 Svyato-Vvedensky Tolgsky convent in Yaroslavl
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This is a picture of a picture of the whole complex (#50)
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| #51 |
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We at lunch at "Penati" in Yaroslavl- it was truly excellent! Food was reasonably priced, beautifully presented, very flavorful and service was excellent! Can't ask for more than that! Highly recommend it!
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Craig wasn't too sure about the whole "foam" thing, but it was good!
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How pretty is that? It is salmon with crusted goat cheese. When it was brought to the table it had this fancy glass dome and he dramatically lifted it off and smoke came out. Very cool.
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Shared this pavlova dessert which was so flavourful. Only 290 Rubles ($4.80 Cdn)
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| #52 |
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| #53 |
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"I love Yaroslavl"... and Craig
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| #54 |
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| #55 |
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| #56 |
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| #57 |
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| #58 |
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| #59 |
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| #60 |
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| #61 |
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| #62 |
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Same #62 - just the little part jutting out on the left
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Royal Hotel Spa & Wellness - Yaroslavl
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I'll count this as 1 - so #63
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Dinner at the hotel in Yaroslavl
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Craig's soup that he really loved - I think it was a form of goulash
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white fish with potatoes. Simple, but good
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Sorry, blurry salmon
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The hotel buffet the next morning. A good selection
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| #64 |
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| #65 |
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A huge oil refinery on the way out of Yaroslavl. This is just a very small part of it.
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Rostov
Population: approx. 32,000
This town was also ravaged by the Mongols in the 13th and 14th centuries and again by the Poles in 1608. It is known for manufacturing enamels (also called porcelain enamel) which is made by fusing powdered glass to another material at very high temperatures.
See example below.
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#66 Rostov Kremlin
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still #66
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#66 still
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Wave honey! ✋
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last one of #66
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| #67 |
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| #68 |
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| #69 |
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| #70 |
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#71 Nikitsky Monastery
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part of #71 - they were very strict about me wearing a cover over my very lose track pants. My hoodie was sufficient for a head covering
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| #72 |
Pereslavl-Zalessky
Population: approx. 42,000
Founded in 1152
It too was devastated numerous times by the Mongols between the mid-13th century and the early 15th century and also invaded by the Poles in 1611.
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A new version of the old, detailed, wooden houses - this is some sort of aluminum siding
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#73 Love the symmetry... normally they tend to be asymmetrical
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| #74 |
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Lunch in Pereslavl at Fisch-Herberg
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huge beer stein in restaurant
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Craig's little fish
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This was my meal... it kinda looks like dessert here, but it is a tomato stew of some sort on bottom and that's two pieces of white fish on top
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Well, I hope you enjoyed this "church", "food" and "wooden house" tour of the Golden Ring in Russia. As for our bet, I guess Craig won with a guess of 85, unless it's closest without going over and then I win with a guess of 100! Oh wait....that means he still wins....I guess I'll concede this win to Craig! 😎
It was a lovely tour with my hubby. Just him and I on the road together. I can see how this is a popular tour. I personally favoured Suzdal (it was quaint) and I could see how beautiful it would be in the summer months.
Which one was YOUR favorite?
xo
P.S. Day trip to Kolomna
114 kms from Moscow is the ancient city (1177) of Kolomna. The name may originate from the old Russian word for "on the bend" as it located on a sharp bend of the Moscow River.
Like other ancient cities in Russia, it has a Kremlin. Much of the surrounding wall was removed in the 18th century to be used to construct other public buildings.
It's not listed as one of the "Golden Ring" cities despite having a Kremlin and well-preserved churches and monasteries, but I'm still including it in our Golden Ring tour.
Population: approx. 115,000 (2010 census)
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Remaining parts of the Kremlin walls
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We enjoyed some Kalachi - famous bread from the region
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Our lovely lunch... well, other than what I lovingly referred to as the "house fire smoked vegetables". They were pretty gross! (not shown in pictures... would give me flashbacks).
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Craig's Tiramisu
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Other than the horrific traffic we got stuck in (a bit on the way there and definitely on the way back), we enjoyed our little day trip.
