Vladimir

Vladimir, a town of Russia, capital of the government of the same name known in history as Vladimir-on-the-Klyazma, to distinguish it from Vladimir in Volhynia. It is picturesquely situated on the Klyazma and Lybed, i18 m. by rail E.N.E. of Moscow. Pop. (1884) 18,420; (Igloo) 32,029. The city is an archiepiscopal see of the Orthodox Greek church. The Lybed divides it into two parts. Extensive cherry orchards occupy the surrounding slopes, and in each is a small watch-tower, with cords drawn in all directions to be shaken by the watcher when birds alight. The kreml stands on a hill and contains two very old cathedrals - the Uspenskiy (1150; restored in 1891), where all the princes of Vladimir have been buried, and the Dmitrievskiy (1197; restored in 1834-1835). Several churches date from the 12th century, including one dedicated to the Birth of Christ, in which St Alexander Nevski was buried. The "Golden Gate" - a triumphal gate surmounted by a church - was built by the grand duke Andrei Bogolyubskiy in 1158.

Vladimir was founded in the 12th century. It first comes into notice in 1151, when Andrei Bogolyubskiy secretly left Vyshgorod - the domain of his father in the principality of Kiev - and migrated to the newly settled land of Suzdal, where he became (1157) grand prince of the principalities of Vladimir, Suzdal and Rostov. In 1242 the principality was overrun by the Mongols under Batu Khan, and he and his successors asserted their suzerainty over it until 1328. During this period Vladimir became the chief town of the Russian settlements in the basin of the Oka, and it disputed the superiority with the new principality of Moscow, to which it finally succumbed in 1328. In the 14th century it began to decay.