Vladimir is one of the oldest and most historically important cities in Russia. Founded in 990, it served as the capital of medieval Rus' in the 12th and 13th centuries, before Moscow took over that role. Today it is a mid-sized city of around 350,000 people, about 180 kilometres east of Moscow on the main road to Nizhny Novgorod — an easy day trip from the capital by train.
The reason to visit is the cluster of 12th-century white-stone monuments, which rank among the finest examples of pre-Mongol Russian architecture. The Assumption Cathedral (1158), with its original frescoes by Andrei Rublev, the carved Cathedral of Saint Demetrius (1194), and the Golden Gate (1164) are all UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Together they give a vivid sense of how powerful Vladimir was before the Mongol invasion of 1238 devastated the city.
For something darker in Vladimir's history, the Vladimir Central Prison — "Vladimirsky Tsentral" — was one of the Soviet Union's most notorious political prisons, holding foreign spies, dissidents, and prominent victims of the Great Terror. It is still operating today.
Vladimir is usually visited as part of the Golden Ring — the circuit of ancient towns northeast of Moscow. Nearby Suzdal, just 35 kilometres to the north, is the other essential stop and even better preserved.