The Princess' Convent

By the 19th century only two monasteries remained out of a great number that once were the decoration and protection of Vladimir. One of them is the Princess" Convent which was founded in 1200 in the North-Western corner of the city by Maria Shavronova, the wife of Prince Vsevolod III. Originally the Convent hosted the Assumption Cathedral, but as it was built of bricks it did not survive the Tartar invasion and was destroyed, like many other buildings in Vladimir. It had been restored only at the turn of 15th-16th century and in the 17th century it was painted by an outstanding 17th century artist - Mark Matveev. His frescoes have been preserved and now are to be seen on the walls of the cathedral.

The Princess' monastery was re-instituted in 1992 after being closed in 1923 and the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Preserves granted the convent the oldest and the most valuable of its icons, the "God-Loving Mother of God", so you still have a chance of visiting such a marvelous and pacifying place. In order to reach the monastery, it is necessary to turn up from Bolshaya Moscow Street to Devicheskaya Street and then to pass several hundred meters to Lybed.

The Church of St. Nicolas at the Galleys

The Church of St. Nicolas at the Galleys is the smallest in Vladimir and nonetheless a very fascinating one, and its building and its history all present a great interest. The Church was built in 1732-1735 and its construction was sponsored by a rich merchant Ivan Grigoriev Pavlygin.

The Church of St. Nicolas at the Galleys stands at the foot of the hills where a landing platform on Klyazma used to be, it was this landing platform which gave the church the addition "at the Galleys". Galleys were rowing ships used in the old times and as Vladimir was a trading center, they were in abundance here. Moreover St. Nicolas is a patron saint of seamen, that is why the church is called so and is located so close to the river and the landing platform.

The chronicle mentions that already in twelfth century here stood another church also named after St. Nicolas, but it was wooden and was destroyed by time or something more powerful. But the contemporary church is not an exact copy of its predecessor. First of all it is made of stone and is built according to the traditions of its age - XVIIIth century.

A broad band of kokoshniki runs across the top of the facades and the nalichniki are particularly ornate. Adjoined to the northwest corner is an original bell-tower, shaped like a square tower with a high spire, the niches of which are set with green tiles. The ancient internal decor and wall paintings are partially preserved and are open to visitors.

The Church of St. Nicolas at the Galleys is a functioning church.

The Trinity Church

On Bolshaya Moskovskaya Street in front of the Golden Gates is located the Trinity Church, probably one of the youngest Vladimir churches as it was founded only in the beginning of the XX century (1913-1916). It was built by local Old Believers and is sometimes called the "Red Church" as it is made of red brick.

Now the Trinity Church is not a functioning one but instead it was turned into a museum. Its high, bright interior proved to be ideally suited to collections of craft items from the Vladimir region - crystal glass from Gus-Khrustalnyi, needlework and painted lacquer boxes from Mstiora. That is why this building is widely known not as a church but as "Museum of Crystal, Lacquered Miniatures and Embroidery."