Vladimir
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{{Infobox Russian city
|EnglishName=Vladimir
|RussianName=Владимир
|Skyline=Russia-Vladimir-Vicinity.jpg
|SkylineLegend=View of Vladimir
|LatDeg=56
|LatMin=9
|LatSec
|LonDeg=40
|LonMin=25
|LonSec
|LocatorMap
|LocatorMapLegend
|CoatOfArms=Coat of Arms of Vladimir (1781).png
|Flag=Flag of Vladimir.png
|CityDay=[[May 1]]
|FederalSubject=[[Vladimir Oblast]]
|MunStatus=Urban okrug
|InJurisdictionOf=Vladimir Oblast
|AdmCtrOf=Vladimir Oblast
|LeaderType=Head
|LeaderName=Alexander Rybakov
|Legislature=[[Council of People's Deputies of Vladimir|Council of People's Deputies]]
|Charter=[[Charter of Vladimir]]
|Area_km2=308
|Population=315954
|PopulationRank=58th
|FoundationDate=[[#Foundation date controversy|990 or 1108]]
|PostalCode
|DialingCode=4922
|Website=http://www.vladimir-city.ru/
}}
'''Vladimir''' ({{lang-ru|Влади́мир}}; {{IPA-ru|vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr}}) is a [[types of inhabited localities in Russia|city]] in [[Russia]], located on the [[Klyazma River]], {{km to mi|200}} to the east of [[Moscow]] along the [[M7 motorway (Russia)|M7 motorway]]. It is the administrative center of [[Vladimir Oblast]]. Population: {{ru-census|p2002=315954|p1989=349702}} Vladimir was one of the medieval capitals of [[Vladimir-Suzdal|Russia]], and two of its cathedrals are a [[World Heritage Site]]. It is served by [[Vladimir Semyazino Airport]], and during the [[Cold War]] Vladimir was host to [[Dobrynskoye]] air base.
==History==
===Foundation date controversy===<!--Linked from infobox above-->
[[Image:Russia-Vladimir-Assumption Cathedral-8.jpg|thumb|left|300px|[[Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir|Assumption Cathedral]] was a venerated model for cathedrals all over Russia.]]
The area occupied by the city of Vladimir has been inhabited by humans (at least intermittently) for approximately 25,000 years. Traditionally, the founding date of Vladimir has been acknowledged as 1108, as the first mention of Vladimir in the [[Primary Chronicle]] appears under that year. This view attributes the founding of the city, and its name, to [[Vladimir Monomakh]], who inherited the region as part of the Rostov-Suzdal [[principality]] in the 1093. In 1958, the 850th anniversary of the city foundation was celebrated, with many monuments from the celebrations adorning the city squares.
In the 1990s, a new opinion developed that the city is older than this. Scholars reinterpreted certain passages in the [[Hypatian Codex]], which mentions that the region was visited by [[Vladimir I of Kiev|Vladimir the Great]], the "father" of [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodoxy]], in 990, so as to move the city foundation date to that year. The defenders of the previously uncontested founding year of 1108 dispute the claims of those who support the new date, arguing that the new theory was fabricated in order to provide a reason to have a celebration in 1995.
The neighboring town of [[Suzdal]], for instance, was mentioned in 1024, and yet its 12th century inhabitants alluded to Vladimir as a young town and treated its rulers with arrogance. In the words of a major chronicle, they said that the people of Vladimir were "their [[kholop]]s and scions". In the seniority conflicts of the 12th and early 13th centuries, Vladimir was repeatedly described as a "young town" compared to Suzdal and Rostov. The [[Charter of Vladimir]], the [[basic law]] of the city passed in 2005, explicitly mentions 990 as the date of the city's foundation [http://www.vladimir-city.ru/city/info/ustav.pdf].
===Golden Age===
{{Main|Vladimir-Suzdal}}
[[Image:Vladimir demetrios.jpg|thumb|left|275px|St. Demetrius' Cathedral is famous for its masterfully carved exterior, representing the [[Biblical]] story of [[king David]]. The photo was taken in 1912.]]
Regardless of which founding date is most accurate, the city's most historically significant events occurred after the turn of the 12th century. Serving its original purpose as a defensive outpost for the Rostov-Suzdal principality, Vladimir had little political or military influence throughout the reign of Vladimir Monomakh (1113–1125), or his son [[Yury Dolgoruky]] ("long arms") (1154–1157).
It was only under Dolgoruky's son, Andrei Bogolyubsky (1157-1175), that it became the center of the [[Vladimir-Suzdal]] principality. Thus began the city's Golden Age, which lasted until the [[Mongol invasion of Russia]] in 1237. During this time Vladimir enjoyed immense growth and prosperity, and Andrei oversaw the building of the Golden Gates and the Cathedral of the Assumption. In 1164, Andrei even attempted to establish a new metropolitanate in Vladimir, separate from that of Kiev, but was rebuffed by the Patriarch of Constantinople.<ref>Janet Martin, ''Medieval Russia: 980-1584'' (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995), 100.</ref>
Scores of Russian, [[German people|German]], and [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] masons worked on Vladimir's white stone cathedrals, towers, and palaces. Unlike any other northern buildings, their exterior was elaborately carved with the high [[relief]] stone sculptures. Only three of these edifices stand today: the Assumption Cathedral, the [[Cathedral of St. Demetrios]], and the Golden Gate. During Andrei's reign, a royal palace in [[Bogolyubovo]] was built, as well as the world-famous [[Intercession Church on the Nerl]], now considered one of the jewels of ancient [[Russian architecture]]. Andrei was assassinated at his palace at Bogolyubovo in 1175.
===Decline===
[[Image:Knyagininskaya church.jpg|thumb|275px|The main church of the Princesses' Convent was built by [[Ivan III of Moscow]] to replace an old crumbling church where the consorts of the Vladimir-Suzdal monarchs had been buried.]]
On [[February 8]], [[1238]], Vladimir was besieged and taken by the [[Mongol]]-[[Tatar]] hordes under [[Batu Khan]]. A great fire destroyed 32 limestone buildings on the first day alone, while the grand prince and all his family perished in a church where they sought refuge from the fire. The bishop of Vladimir managed to escape.
After the Mongols, Vladimir never fully recovered, and even though the most important Rus prince (usually the Prince of Moscow, but sometimes of Tver or another principality) was styled the Grand Prince of Vladimir and was the tax--collector of the Golden Horde. From 1299 to 1325, the city was seat of the [[Metropolitan bishop|metropolitans]] of Kiev and All Rus, until Metropolitan Peter moved the see to Moscow. The Grand Prince of Vladimir were originally crowned in Vladimir's Assumption Cathedral, but when Moscow superseded Vladimir as the seat of the Grand Prince, the [[Assumption Cathedral]] in the Moscow Kremlin, loosely copied by the Italian architect [[Aristotele Fioravanti]] from Vladimir's original, became the site where the grand princes were crowned. Even after the rise of Moscow though, Muscovite grand princes built several new churches in Vladimir, notably the Annunciation church at Snovitsy (ca. 1501), three kilometers north-west of the city, and a charming church in the Knyaginin nunnery (ca. 1505), with murals dating to 1648.
Remains of the prince-saint [[Alexander Nevsky]] were kept in the ancient Nativity abbey of Vladimir until 1703, when [[Peter I of Russia|Peter the Great]] had them transferred to the Monastery (now Lavra) of Aleksandr Nevskyin [[Saint Petersburg|St. Petersburg]]. The Nativity church itself (1191–1196) collapsed several years later, when they tried to make more windows in its walls, in an effort to brighten the interior.
==Sightseeing==
{{Commonscat|Vladimir}}
Modern Vladimir is a part of the [[Golden ring]] of the ancient Russian cities and a significant tourist center. Its three chief monuments, [[White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal]], inscribed by [[UNESCO]] on the World Heritage List, are the following:
#The magnificent five-domed [[Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir|Assumption Cathedral]] was designed as a sepulcher of grand princes and dedicated to the holy icon [[Theotokos of Vladimir]], which had been brought to the city by Andrew the Pious. The cathedral was constructed in 1158–1160, expanded in 1185–1189, and painted by the great [[Andrei Rublev]] and [[Daniil Chyorny]] in 1408. In 1810, they added a lofty bell-tower in [[Neoclassicism|Neoclassical]] style.
#The warrior-like cathedral of St. Demetrius was built in 1194–1197 as a private chapel of Vsevolod the Big Nest in the courtyard of his palace and was consecrated to his holy patron, [[Saint Demetrius|St. Demetrius]]. For all its formal unity, the cathedral represents a truly international project of Russian and Byzantine masters, [[Friedrich Barbarossa]]'s masons, and carvers sent by Queen [[Tamar of Georgia]].
#The [[Golden Gate (Vladimir)|Golden Gate]], originally a tower over the city's main gate, was built in 1158–1164. The gate acquired its present form after having been grossly reconstructed in the late 18th century, to prevent the dilapidated structure from tumbling down.
Other remarkable monuments of pre-Mongol [[Russian architecture]] are scattered in the vicinity. For more information on them, see [[Suzdal]], [[Yuriev-Polsky]], [[Bogolyubovo]], and [[Kideksha]].
{{clear}}
[[Image:Russia-Vladimir-Golden Gate-1.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Golden Gate (Vladimir)]], 1164.]]
==Sister cities==
Vladimir is [[town twinning|twinned]] with:
*{{flagicon|England}} '''[[Canterbury]]''', [[England]].
*{{flagicon|Germany}} '''[[Erlangen]]''', [[Germany]] (since 1983).
*{{flagicon|Illinois}} {{flagicon|USA}} '''[[Bloomington-Normal]]''', [[Illinois]], [[United States]].
*{{flagicon|Florida}} {{flagicon|USA}} '''[[Sarasota]]''', [[Florida]], [[United States]].
*{{flagicon|Indiana}} {{flagicon|USA}} '''[[Marion]]''', [[Indiana]], [[United States]].
*{{flagicon|France}} '''[[Saintes]]''', [[France]].
*{{flagicon|Czechia}} '''[[Ústí nad Labem]]''', [[Czech Republic]].
==See also==
*[[Theotokos of Vladimir]]
*[[Vladimir-Suzdal]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*{{en icon}} [http://www.vladimir-city.ru/welcome/sights/?arch Official website of Vladimir]
*[http://www.vladimir-russia.net Information on the city of Vladimir (sites, attractions, tourist info, etc)]
*http://www.allvladimir.ru/
*[http://www.travelmake.com/golden_ring.html More abour Vladimir and other towns of the Golden Ring of Russia]
{{Template group
|list=
{{Cities and towns in Vladimir Oblast}}
{{Golden Ring}}
}}
[[Category:Cities and towns in Vladimir Oblast]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Russia]]
[[Category:Golden Ring of Russia]]
[[Category:Holy cities]]
[[ar:فلاديمير]]
[[bg:Владимир (Русия)]]
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[[ko:블라디미르 (블라디미르 주)]]
[[io:Vladimir]]
[[id:Vladimir]]
[[os:Владимир (сахар)]]
[[it:Vladimir (Oblast' di Vladimir)]]
[[he:ולדימיר]]
[[la:Volodimiria]]
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[[ja:ウラジーミル (ウラジーミル州)]]
[[no:Vladimir]]
[[pl:Włodzimierz nad Klaźmą]]
[[pt:Vladímir (cidade)]]
[[ru:Владимир (город)]]
[[sr:Владимир (град)]]
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[[uk:Владимир]]
[[zh:弗拉基米尔]]