Vladimir, Russia

17th century map

The founding date of Vladimir is disputed between 990 and 1108. In the Novgorod First Chronicle, Vladimir is mentioned under the year 1108, and during the Soviet period, this year was decreed to be its foundation year with the view that attributes the founding of the city, and its name, to Vladimir Monomakh, who inherited the region as part of the Rostov-Suzdal Principality in 1093.[13] It is named there as Volodimer.[14] The chronicles also describe how inhabitants from neighbouring towns, namely Suzdal and Rostov, alluded to Vladimir as a young town.[15] Accordingly, the 850th anniversary of the city foundation was celebrated in 1958, with many monuments from the celebrations adorning the city; this enabled Nikita Khrushchev, who recently took power in the Soviet Union, to link his administration with early Russian history.

In the 1990s, a new opinion developed that the city was instead founded in 990 by Vladimir the Great, with local historians supporting the alternative foundation date and citing various chronicle sources.[16][17] Scholars reinterpreted certain passages in the Hypatian Codex, which mentions that the region was visited by Vladimir the Great, the "father" of Russian Orthodoxy, in 990, so as to move the city foundation date to that year. The Charter of Vladimir, the basic law of the city passed in 2005, explicitly mentions 990 as the date of the city's foundation.[18][19] The city administration officially recognizes 990 as the foundation date.[20]

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 ("Far-Reaching") (1154–1157).

Dormition Cathedral was a venerated model for cathedrals all over Russia

St. Demetrius' Cathedral, shown on this 2017 photo, is famous for its masterfully carved exterior, representing the Biblical story of King David.

Under Dolgoruky's son, Andrey Bogolyubsky (1157–1175) (also known as Andrew the Pious), the city became the center of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality. It had a Golden Age, which lasted until the Mongol invasion of Rus' in 1237. During this time, Vladimir enjoyed immense growth and prosperity. Andrey oversaw the building of the city's Golden Gates and the Dormition Cathedral. In 1164, Andrey attempted to establish a new metropolitanate in Vladimir, separate from that of Kiev. He was rebuffed by the Patriarch of Constantinople.[21]

Scores of Russian, German, and Georgian masons worked on Vladimir's white stone cathedrals, monastery, towers, and palaces. Unlike any other northern buildings, their exterior was elaborately carved with high relief stone sculptures. Only three of these edifices stand today: the Dormition Cathedral, the Cathedral of Saint Demetrius, and the Golden Gate. They are included among the White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. During Andrey's reign, a royal palace in Bogolyubovo was built, as well as the world-famous Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, now considered one of the jewels of ancient Russian architecture. Andrey was assassinated at his palace at Bogolyubovo in 1175.

Drawing of Mongols of the Golden Horde outside Vladimir presumably demanding submission before sacking the city

Vladimir was besieged by the Mongol-Tatars of the Golden Horde under Batu Khan. It was finally overrun on February 8, 1238. A great fire destroyed thirty-two limestone buildings on the first day alone, while the grand prince's family perished in a church where they sought refuge from the flames. The grand prince escaped, but was killed at the Battle of the Sit River the following month.

After the Mongols, Vladimir never fully recovered. The most important Rus prince (usually the Prince of Moscow, but sometimes a Tver or another principality) was styled the Grand Prince of Vladimir, but the title had become an honorific symbol of majesty. From 1299 to 1325, the city was seat of the metropolitans of Kiev and All Rus', until Metropolitan Peter moved the See to Moscow in 1325.

The Grand Princes of Vladimir were originally crowned in Vladimir's Assumption Cathedral, but when Moscow superseded Vladimir in the 14th Century as the seat of the Grand Prince, the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin became the site of their coronation. The Moscow cathedral was loosely copied by the Italian architect Aristotele Fioravanti from Vladimir's original.

After the rise of Moscow, Grand Princes of Moscow continued to build several new churches in Vladimir. Notable examples include the Annunciation Church at Snovitsy (ca. 1501), three kilometers northwest of the city, and a church in the Knyaginin Nunnery (ca. 1505), which today includes murals dating from 1648.

A view of Vladimir in 1911

Remains of the prince-saint Alexander Nevsky were kept in the ancient Nativity Abbey of Vladimir until 1703, when Peter the Great had them transferred to the Monastery (now Lavra) of Alexander Nevsky in St. Petersburg. The Nativity Church (built from 1191 to 1196) collapsed several years later, after workmen tried to fashion more windows in its walls in an effort to brighten the interior.

The city was the center of Vladimir Province, part of Moscow Governorate from its establishment by Peter the Great in 1708. Vladimir was separated from Moscow Governorate and made the center of a new Vladimir Viceroyalty by a ukase of Catherine the Great in 1778. In 1796, Paul I's administrative reform transformed the viceroyalty into the Vladimir Governorate in the same borders.

In the years 1838-1840, Alexander Herzen was exiled in Vladimir, passing through the city on the infamous Vladimirka.

In December 1858 the city began to operate telegraph. On June 14, 1861,[22] the Moscow–Nizhny Novgorod Railway began to operate through Vladimir. In 1866, construction of a running water supply was completed, with telephone lines being put up in 1887 and the first electrical power lines on December 5, 1908.

In November 29, 1898 Vladimir provincial scientific archival commission was established.

After the establishment of Soviet power, many streets were renamed in Vladimir; most of the parish churches were closed and condemned to be demolished.

In the first decades of Soviet rule industrialization occurred in Vladimir. On January 14, 1929, the Vladimir Governorate was abolished and the city became part of the newly formed Ivanovo Industrial Oblast.

On August 14, 1944, Vladimir became the administrative center of a new Vladimir Oblast carved from Ivanovo Oblast. In 1950 from the basis of the teachers' institute the Vladimir Pedagogical Institute was created. On November 5, 1952 the first trolleybus line began to operate in the city.

In 1958 the Vladimir–Suzdal Museum and Reserve was created, composed of a group of unique architectural monuments of Russian defense and church architecture. The monuments are located in three cities—Vladimir, Suzdal and Gus-Khrustalny—as well as villages of Bogolyubovo and Kideksha.

Architecture of the Soviet period is present in structures such as building complexes and polytechnic colleges, the Torpedo Stadium (built 1952), a reinforced concrete arch bridge over the river Klyaz'ma (1960), the Hotel Vladimir (1956), the Drama Theatre (1971) and others. In 1971 the city was awarded the Order of Red Banner of Labor.

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  Vladimir railway station, August 2008
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  Trolleybus ZiU-9
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  Trolza-5275 low-entry trolleybus
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  A trolleybus route #1
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  A bus route #26
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  The bus terminal in Vladimir

• Администрация Владимирской области. Постановление №433 от 13 июня 2007 г. «О реестре административно-территориальных образований и единиц Владимирской области», в ред. Постановления №169 от 5 марта 2015 г. «О внесении изменения в Постановление Губернатора области от 13.06.2007 №433 "О реестре административно-территориальных образований и единиц Владимирской области"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Владимирские ведомости", №114, 20 июня 2007 г. (Administration of Vladimir Oblast. Resolution #433 of June 13, 2007 On the Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Formations and Units of Vladimir Oblast, as amended by the Resolution #169 of March 5, 2015 On Amending Resolution #433 of the Oblast Governor of June 13, 2007 "On the Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Formations and Units of Vladimir Oblast". Effective as of the day of the official publication.).
• Законодательное Собрание Владимирской области. Закон №130-ОЗ от 10 декабря 2001 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Владимирской области и о порядке его изменения», в ред. Закона №22-ОЗ от 18 марта 2014 г. «О признании утратившими силу части 1 статьи 15 Закона Владимирской области "Об административно-территориальном устройстве Владимирской области и о порядке его изменения" и пункта 3 статьи 1 Закона Владимирской области "О внесении изменений в Закон Владимирской области "Об административно-территориальном устройстве Владимирской области и о порядке его изменения"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования (13 декабря 2001 г.). Опубликован: "Владимирские ведомости", №232, 13 декабря 2001 г. (Legislative Assembly of Vladimir Oblast. Law #130-OZ of December 10, 2001 On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Vladimir Oblast and on Procedures for Its Change, as amended by the Law #22-OZ of March 18, 2014 On Abrogating Part 1 of Article 15 of the Law of Vladimir Oblast "On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Vladimir Oblast and on Procedures for Its Change" and Item 3 of Article 1 of the Law of Vladimir Oblast "On Amending the Law of Vladimir Oblast "On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Vladimir Oblast and on Procedures for Its Change". Effective as of the day of the official publication (December 13, 2001).).
• Законодательное Собрание Владимирской области. Закон №189-ОЗ от 26 ноября 2004 г. «О наделении статусом городского округа муниципального образования город Владимир Владимирской области», в ред. Закона №108-ОЗ от 10 августа 2009 г «О внесении изменений в Закон Владимирской области "О наделении статусом городского округа муниципального образования город Владимир Владимирской области"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования (1 декабря 2004 г.). Опубликован: "Владимирские ведомости", №333, 1 декабря 2004 г. (Legislative Assembly of Vladimir Oblast. Law #189-OZ of November 26, 2004 On Granting Urban Okrug Status to the Municipal Formation of the City of Vladimir of Vladimir Oblast, as amended by the Law #108-OZ of August 10, 2009 On Amending the Law of Vladimir Oblast "On Granting Urban Okrug Status to the Municipal Formation of the City of Vladimir of Vladimir Oblast". Effective as of the day of the official publication (December 1, 2004).).
• Владимирский городской Совет народных депутатов. Решение №231 от 29 июня 2005 г. «Устав муниципального образования город Владимир», в ред. Решения №157 от 26 августа 2015 г. «О внесении изменений в Устав муниципального образования город Владимир». Вступил в силу 4 августа 2005 г. (за исключением отдельных положений, вступающих в силу в иные сроки). Опубликован: "Владимирские ведомости", №251–252, 4 августа 2005 г. (Vladimir City Council of People's Deputies. Decision #231 of June 29, 2005 Charter of the Municipal Formation of the City of Vladimir, as amended by the Decision #157 of August 26, 2015 On Amending the Charter of the Municipal Formation of the City of Vladimir. Effective as of August 4, 2005 (except for certain clauses which take effect on different dates).).