The story of the golden gate. Vladimir is the gate of the Golden Ring of Russia. white stone church

The Golden Gate is located in Vladimir and is an outstanding monument ancient Russian architecture. They are part of world heritage UNESCO.

The Golden Gates were built under Andrei Bogolyubsky in 1164. In addition to the purposes of defense, the gates also had a triumphal character. They represented the main entrance to the princely-boyar part of Vladimir.

The construction was made in the technique of half-stone masonry, which was widespread in those days in Vladimir-Suzdal architecture. The clear proportions of the passage arch, which was covered by a semicircular vault, and the graceful church at the top filled the building with a majestic meaning, corresponding to its purpose.

Only the Golden Gate has survived to this day, although at the time of Andrei Bogolyubsky there were seven entrance gates in the city: Copper, Silver, Volga, Irinina, Trade, Ivanovo and Golden.

From the north and south, ramparts with deep ditches on the outside adjoined the gates. A bridge passed from the gate through the ditches, which went beyond the city limits. The height of the arch was 14 meters. Massive oak gates, which hung on forged hinges, closely adjoined the arched lintel. She has survived to this day. A wooden flooring was made along the top of the jumper, which served as an additional combat platform. The entrance to the site was through a door in the south wall. At the same level, on the other side of the stairs, there was an exit to the southern earthen ramparts. From the north, a passage led to the ramparts from the platform through a door in the wall. A staircase in the south wall led to the upper fighting platform, which had battlements in the form of loopholes. In the center of the site there was a white-stone gate church in honor of the Position of the Robe of the Mother of God.

To this day, the gates have come with strong restructuring. The ancient part of this structure is a passage arch with massive side pylons with a combat platform above them, which has survived only in fragments.

Frequent enemy invasions, devastating fires greatly distorted the original appearance of the Golden Gate. According to written sources, it was established that the repair of the gate church was carried out in 1469 under the guidance of the sculptor and architect V.D. Yermolin. In 1641, the Moscow architect A. Konstantinov, by decree of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, drew up an estimate for the repair of the gates, but work began only at the end of the 17th century.

During the great fire in Vladimir in 1778, the gates were on fire. A few years later, during the implementation of a new regular urban planning, the ramparts that adjoined the walls of the Golden Gate were dug up for the passage. The structures of the gate supports were thereby weakened, and the issue of repair became urgent ancient building. In 1795, according to the design of the architect Chistyakov, buttresses were attached to the corners of the pylons, which were enclosed in round towers. The vaults of the gates were also rebuilt, and a new brick church was erected on them. In this form, the Golden Gate has been preserved to this day.

In the summer of 1991, the residents of Vladimir met the relics of Seraphim of Sarov at the Golden Gate, which were solemnly transported from St. Petersburg to Diveevo. In the mid 1990s. above the gate were placed, as in former times, the icons of Christ the Savior and the Mother of God.

For the last 50 years, the Golden Gate has belonged to the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve. The gate church houses a military-historical exposition, central location in which a diorama occupies, which recreates the dramatic events of 1238, when Vladimir defended himself from the assault of Batu's troops.

It also presents military equipment and weapons from different times: spearheads and arrowheads of the 18th century, combat bolts from a throwing machine, a captured Polish crossbow of the 17th century, chain mail berdysh, flintlock guns from the time of Catherine, steel, blunderbuss from the time Patriotic War 1812, uniform, rifle, banners and awards of the late 19th century, Turkish captured weapons.

known Interesting Facts from the history of the Golden Gate. According to N.N. Voronina, in medieval Europe The Golden Gate had no analogues; European architecture of that time was familiar only with purely fortified tower structures, and the Golden Gates of Vladimir, in addition to defensive functions, also played the role of a main entrance, and also served a religious purpose - they housed a functioning church.

According to legend, in 1767, the carriage of Empress Catherine II got stuck in the arch while entering the city. Therefore, by her order, driveways were dug on both sides of the gate.

The city of Vladimir, which was founded in 990, has a large number of sights preserved from medieval times. One of the most important is the Golden Gate, built in the middle of the XII century and partially preserved to this day.

History of the Golden Gate in Vladimir

These gates are known as a monument of ancient Russian architecture, which is located in the city of Vladimir. They are also considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The year of their construction is 1164. This is the time of the reign of Andrei Bogolyubsky, Initially they were used as defensive structure. The gate was the main entrance to the very rich boyar and princely part of the city.

Presumably, the Golden Gate in the city of Vladimir was created by princely craftsmen. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that on one of the blocks white stone used in construction, there is a princely sign. The gates were founded in 1158, and their construction was completed at the end of April 1164, when the Church of the Rizpozheniye, located above the gates, was consecrated. During the reign of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, the city was surrounded by a rampart, and there were six more gates, these are Trade, Ivanovo, Copper, Orinin, Volga and Silver. However, only the Golden ones have survived to this day.

Golden Gate in the city of Vladimir

It is said that the prince ordered the tops of the gate to be covered with sheets of copper with gilding, which sparkled brightly in sunny weather. From the south and north, the constructed bulk ramparts adjoined the gates, next to which there were deep ditches located on the outside. A retractable bridge was built across the moat that led outside the city.

The height of the arched span was 14 meters, there were massive gates made of oak boards. They were attached to strong forged hinges and attached to the lintel located on the arch. This lintel also served as the basis for a wooden deck, which was an additional defensive battle area. Until our time, only holes in the walls have survived, where the beams for the flooring were attached.

The entrance to the site itself was made in the southern wall, inside which a stone staircase was built, it led to another flooring located above. The latter had jagged finials that served as loopholes.

white stone church

The Golden Gates in Vladimir in the center of the platform of the upper tier have a square church built of white stone, which was erected in the name of the Position of the Robe of the Mother of God. Most likely, the church was a square building of the four-pillar type with three altar apses. The building had three arched portals and a cylindrical structure with a top. The middle of the church facade was decorated with a decorative stucco belt.

Until today, the building has come with large restructuring and alterations. The original parts of the building include a wide passage arch and massive side pylons, as well as a combat platform located above them, however, preserved in fragments. The building itself was made using half-stone masonry, which was widespread in the Vladimir-Suzdal architecture of that time. The church was very similar to the temples built during the reign of Yuri Dolgoruky.

Restoration of the Golden Gate

Numerous invasions of enemy troops and severe fires significantly changed the image of the Golden Gate in Vladimir. According to a number of sources, the restoration of the church built over the gate was carried out in 1469 under the guidance of a wealthy merchant Yermolin, who was also an architect. In 1641, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich issued a decree according to which the architect A. Konstantinov made an estimate for the restoration of the Golden Gate, but all restoration work began to be carried out only in the last quarter of the 17th century.

In 1778, during a strong fire, the gate was significantly damaged. A few years later, in connection with the general urban redevelopment, the bulk shafts that adjoined the walls at the gate were removed, ensuring free passage past them. Because of this, the gate supports were weakened, and there was a need for reconstruction. ancient building. In 1795, the project of the architect Chistyakov was approved, according to which buttresses were attached to the corners of the pylons and enclosed in rounded towers. At the same time, the vaults of the gates are being shifted using the old stone, and a new brick church is being erected.

Museum "Golden Gate" in Vladimir

famous vladimir gates are an integral part of the museum-reserve, called "Vladimir-Suzdal". It includes 56 architectural monuments of the XII-XVII centuries. In the church, located at the top of the gate, there is a military-historical exposition. The main thing in it is a diorama, which shows the events of 1238, when the horde of Batu Khan attacked the city of Vladimir. The opening hours of the Golden Gate in Vladimir can be clarified on the official website of the museum, as restoration work is currently being carried out there.

And also in the museum the combat equipment of warriors, weapons belonging to different periods are widely presented. Here you can see: arrowheads and spears dating back to the 13th century, the chain mail of the Russian squad, a reed, a captured crossbow of the Polish army from the beginning of the 12th century, flintlock guns that were used during the time of Catherine II. And also a blunderbuss and a metal cuirass related to the period of the Patriotic War of 1812. The museum presents portraits and documents of Heroes Soviet Union who were originally from Vladimir.

Hotel at the Golden Gate. Vladimir

Not far from the gate itself, a cozy small hotel. Walk to them for about three minutes. It offers 24-hour check-in, comfortable rooms and free parking around the hotel. Other city attractions are also nearby.

You can book a hotel room at the Golden Gates in Vladimir by phone or through a large number of sites that provide such a service. Numerous reviews of travelers say that this hotel is the best combination of price, quality and availability of the main attractions of the city of Vladimir.

Once in Vladimir, you must definitely look at the Golden Gate, which is one of architectural gems and a monument to ancient Russian architecture. The beauty and history of this beautiful building will not leave anyone indifferent.

It is known that during the construction of the city of Vladimir, St. The Blessed Grand Duke Andrei imitated Kiev in many ways. A similar imitation of the Kiev Golden Gate, arranged by Yaroslav, was the construction of the Golden Gate, which was created by Andrei Bogolyubsky in 1164, at least, the church built on the Golden Gate was consecrated this year, at the same time as him.

According to the legend of the description of the life of Andrei Bogolyubsky, this is what a miracle happened during the construction of these gates. When the Grand Duke created the stone Golden Gates and built a church on them, then a lot of people began to converge there to admire the beauty of the building. Since the construction site was still damp, the gate fell from its own weight, crushing twelve people. God-loving Prince Andrei, blaming himself for the death of these people, fell down with tears to the miraculous image of the Mother of God, and when the gates were raised, all those crushed turned out to be alive and unharmed, through prayers Holy Mother of God.

In ancient times, the Golden Gates were part of the fortification built by Andrei Bogolyubsky around the entire city in the form of high earthen ramparts, on which strong walls rose. The ramparts adjoined on both sides to the very building of the Golden Gate and travel to the city was possible only through these gates. Thanks to these shafts, the Golden Gate in ancient times had the appearance of an irregular quadrangle, cut in the middle of the building by a huge arch with a semicircular vault (as the top of the gate, which stands out by several arshins, from later extensions, is currently represented), on top of which is placed the temple of the position of the robe of the Most Holy Theotokos . This temple (which has not survived to this day in its original form) was probably built on the model of the Annunciation Church, which was on the Kiev Golden Gates of Yaroslav, in imitation of which the Vladimir Golden Gates were erected, or was similar to the Trinity Church built on the gates to Kiev -Pechersk Lavra, Prince Nikolai Svyatosha of Chernigov in 1106, which, judging by the research of Professor P. A. Lashkarev, had some similarities with churches: Bogolyubovskaya and, in general, with monuments of church architecture of the Suzdal Principality of the XII century. Several centuries passed over this ancient building of the Golden Gate and the punishing hand of the all-destroying time kept this monument of Russian architecture in all its integrity for a long time, and only in the last century the Golden Gate underwent a significant external change.

The change in the appearance of the Golden Gate began due to the damage to the ramparts that surrounded the entire city and adjoined the Golden Gate. Our ancestors were very careful about protecting the earthen ramparts and walls that protected the city from enemy invasion. A careless attitude to the integrity of the ramparts began in the last century, and in 1729 corporal Koptev reported to the Vladimir provincial office that “on foot and horseback riders walk along the earthen ramparts of the city ... and from this considerable harm is done to the ramparts, namely, in many places the shaft turned cut, and among other things "against the Spaso-Zlatovratsky monastery (now the parish church) and on both sides of the Golden Gate, through an earthen rampart, pedestrian roads." Then and finally the ramparts were dug out from the walls of the Golden Gate for the construction of driveways; on both sides formed a square. This digging of ramparts changed the former appearance of the Golden Gate and took away from them completely the character that they had, and then caused new changes in the facade. Since the Golden Gates were built without a foundation and the side walls were supported by earthen ramparts that adjoined them tightly, then with the removal of these ramparts, cracks appeared on the walls of the Golden Gates. Empress Catherine II, who was informed about this gradual destruction of the Golden Gate, strictly forbade the destruction of this wonderful ancient building and ordered to make new extensions to the ancient walls. Instead of buttresses, four round low towers are attached to the four corners of the gate, of which a chapel is built in one. Over time, the top of the Golden Gate has also changed. The Rizpolozhenskaya church, which lowered Vladimir during the Tatar invasion, stood in a dilapidated state until 1687. This year the church was renewed and consecrated in 1691. But then, in 1778, during a severe fire in Vladimir, the roof and interior decorations and all church utensils burned down and the church again remained in complete desolation until the beginning of this century. In 1810, the temple was finally rebuilt and consecrated under the Vladimir governor I. M. Dolgorukov.

The figure of the current church above the Golden Gate has nothing to do with the buildings of temples of the XII century.

But, despite these modifications, the Golden Gate still represents a wonderful monument. ancient architecture. With careful study, one can easily distinguish the ancient walls of the Golden Gate from later additions. The ancient walls are built of white stone in the manner that was customary in stone buildings XII century, i.e. built of rubble and cobblestone; the walls on both sides are lined with white stones and filled with lime mortar; meanwhile, later buildings are exclusively brick.
It is highly desirable that this wonderful monument of antiquity finally attract the attention of archaeologists and lovers of antiquity and be restored in its original form, just as the St. Demetrius Cathedral and the Nativity Church in the Nativity Monastery were restored. It is difficult to restore the ruins of the Kyiv Yaroslavl Golden Gates, on the contrary, the Vladimir Golden Gates can be restored easily. The walls of the Golden Gate are almost all intact, mainly their inner side. The semi-circular vault of the huge arch of the gate, made entirely of white stone, supported by six white stone arcs, is especially well preserved. At the fourth of them, counting from the east side, another ancient arch, also of white stone, survived, rising from the base of the building to half of the main arch of the gate; to the pilasters from which this arch was led out, heavy door leafs pretended to be hung on huge hooks laid in the masonry and survived to this day; near the pilasters, recesses in the walls of the gate for locking the gate were also preserved, arranged so that on one side the lock was inserted into the wall, and on the other side it was brought in and lowered into another recess, for which the latter was given a special well-known form. In all arcs of the main arch of the gate, there are recesses inside the walls at the level with the surface of the lower arch.
These recesses served as a nest for the beams of the knurler arranged above this lower arch, and former place, which the Vladimirites went out to "fight from the city" with the besieging enemies. The beams of the knurler were laid loosely so that it was possible to launch steles, pour boiling water, or throw stones at the enemies besieging the city.

A stone staircase led to this platform inside the south wall, ending in a door that is still visible on the inside of the south wall. Here on this platform defenders hometown stood breastfeeding against enemies for the honor and independence of the fatherland. The hordes of Batyev approached here on February 2, 1238, in this year of disasters for the whole Russian land, and here near the Golden Gate that terrible bloody battle took place, in which all the valiant defenders of the city fell, and among the first princes Vsevolod and Mstislav, and then died freedom and honor of the Russian land.

Many other historical memories are connected with the Vladimir Golden Gate. Here, in front of the Golden Gates, Vladimirians swore allegiance to their princes, taking an oath and kissing the cross. So, under the year 1177, the chronicle says: “Volodimers (after the burial of the great Prince Mikhail, brother Andrei Bogolyubsky), remembering God and kissing the cross to Grand Duke George, going out in front of the Golden Gate, kissing the cross to Prince Vsevolod, brother Mikhailov and on his children , having planted him on his father and on his days so in Vladimir ”(S.R.L. vol. 1, 161 p.).

Here, at the Golden Gate, solemn meetings took place, arranged by Vladimirians for their princes, when they ascended the throne, or when they returned after victorious battles. So, according to the chroniclers: here St. The Blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky, who came to Vladimir from the Horde, was elected to the Grand Dukes by the Khan, amazed by his valor.

Metropolitan Kirill "all the abbots and citizens," says the chronicler, went out to meet the noble prince "from the Golden Gate and sat down and on the table of his father Yaroslav, the joy is great in the city of Vladimir." (Laurentian Chronicle, page 202).

On great holidays in ancient times, it was customary to make a procession from the Assumption Cathedral to the Golden Gate, and along the entire length from the cathedral to the Golden Gate ropes were stretched in two rows, on which veils embroidered with gold and pearls developed, so that the people passed between them, as between tapestries (Ipatiev Chronicle, page 127).

In addition to the Golden Gates in Vladimir, according to the chronicler, there were Silver, Copper, Irinins and Volga. But there are no traces left of them to this day.

Question Which towns have the "Golden Gate"? How many steps are there in the "Golden Gate" When were they built?
Description How is the present tense used?
SM date: archived

Answer 1.g. Vladimir Golden Gates. There is a staircase in the southern wall of the Golden Gates, facing the preserved earthen rampart. 64 steps, arranged in a six-meter thickness of the wall, lead to the gate church. An architectural monument and a museum. In the 60s of the XII century AD. in Vladimir, the festive entrance gates of the town - the Golden Gates - were built. These gates, even with their name, were supposed to show that the capital city of North-Eastern Rus' - Vladimir - is in no way inferior to Kyiv. At the end of the XVIII century. in connection with the implementation of the latest permanent layout of the town, the ramparts adjoining the walls of the Golden Gate were torn down. This weakened the design of the gate supports. To strengthen the gates, buttresses enclosed in round towers were added in the corners. Currently, only the basic cubic size of the drive-through gate is authentic; the gate church was completely rebuilt, and its initial forms are unidentified. The Golden Gate is a monument of ancient Russian fortification. Built of snow-white stone in 1158-1164. Andrey Bogolyubsky, Prince of Vladimir, as the main battle and passage tower of the fortress he newly made. Of the 5 outer gates of the fortress, only one, the Golden ones, has survived. , bound with gilded copper. A combat platform was laid over the jumper. At the top of the tower, above the arched gap, there was the Church of the Deposition of the Robe of the Virgin - a small variation of the white stone church. An internal staircase led to the church. The bypass around the church, surrounded by a battlement wall, served as the 2nd combat platform. - the Mongol horde: the Tatars leaked into the city not through the gate, but through a breach in the wooden wall on the rampart. the church "stood idle without singing almost all the summers." only in provincial times the building was seriously rebuilt: the ramparts were taken away from the sides, the tower was surrounded by outbuildings hiding the buttresses, and the gate church was rebuilt from brick and consecrated in 1810. The open bypass around the church turned into a closed gallery. The internal wall staircase was filled up, and was resumed only in 1870 ... http://sobory.ru/article/?object=00994Vladimir, photo: http://slavarik.narod.ru/Zolotie1.jpg (Ukr. Golden Gate) - a historical arrival in Kiev. The name "Golden Gate" is also worn by the nearby theater and Kiev metro station. The Golden Gate is the main, triumphal gate of old Kiev. They got their name from the Golden Gate of Constantinople, which performed similar functions. The Golden Gate was one of three big the city gates built under Yaroslav the Wise. The construction of the gate, together with the St. Sophia Cathedral, is mentioned in the annals under 1037. In 1240, the gate was badly damaged during the siege and capture of the town by the hordes of Batu. From the records of travelers of the 16th-17th centuries and drawings by A. Van Westerfeld (1651) it is clear that by this time the Golden Gate was dilapidated. The Golden Gate remained the gate to the city (often used for ceremonial purposes) until the 18th century, although over time it became more and more ruined. In 1832, the first measures were taken to preserve them. In the 1970s, a pavilion was built near the ruins, which housed a small museum dedicated to the history of the Golden Gate. In 1982, for the 1500th anniversary of Kiev, the Golden Gate was completely reconstructed, despite the fact that there are no reliable images or plans of how they looked in antiquity.http: //ru.wikipedia.o
Vetluzhanka date: archived
Answer The famous capital of Atlantis is traditionally called the City of the Golden Gate. Golden Gates (Ukr. Golden Gates) - a historical check-in to Kiev. The monument "Golden Gates" in Vladimir has also been preserved.
Elena kot date: archived
Answer There is one in Kyiv. These gates are restored as a monument. Around the mini-park.previously used as a check-in to the city.
OLka date: archived
Answer Jest Zolotye vorota v Kieve - glavnye triumfalnye vorota drevnego Kieva, stroitelstvo upominaetsya v letopisyax pod 1037 godom, takzhe jest vorota vo Vladimire , postroennye v 1164 godu, vsio ispolzujetsya kak pamiatniki arxitektury
Natalie date: archived
Answer Golden Gate (USA) - the strait connecting San Francisco Bay with Pacific Ocean. Golden Gate - a bridge in the town of San Francisco, passing through the Golden Gate Strait. Golden Gate (Kyiv) - a historical check-in to Kyiv.. Golden Gate - a metro station in Kyiv. Located next to the Golden Gate. The Golden Gate (Vladimir) is an outstanding monument of ancient Russian architecture. The Golden Gate of Karadag (Crimea) The Golden Gate at the Mount of Olives (Israel) The Golden Gate. A two-step rapid on the Khangarul River in Transbaikalia.

The historical monument is striking in its grandeur, despite the fact that it has not completely survived to this day. The oak doors of the gate were covered with gilded plates, for this reason the gate got its name - Golden.

The monument is interesting for its history, architecture and is definitely worth a visit. At the top of the building there is a museum with an exposition representing weapons and military equipment of past centuries - spearheads and arrowheads, weapons from the times of Catherine and the Patriotic War with Napoleon, as well as captured weapons of the 17th-19th centuries.

Your attention will undoubtedly be attracted by a small diorama with musical and announcer accompaniment, which tells about the assault on Vladimir by Batu Khan in 1238. The entrance fee to the museum is quite low, but the performance at the diorama exposition, which lasts only 15 minutes, will be interesting for both adults and children.

Golden Gate in Vladimir - address

Vladimir, Dvoryanskaya street, 1A.

How to get to the Golden Gate in Vladimir

The Golden Gate is located in the very center of the city. You can walk from the railway and bus stations in 20-25 minutes: walk two blocks along Kommunalny Spusk to Bolshaya Moskovskaya Street. Turn left and follow Bolshaya Moskovskaya street.

Within walking distance are the main attractions of Vladimir, for example, the observation deck, Assumption and Dmitrievsky Cathedrals.

Golden Gate - opening hours in 2019

Opening hours of the military-historical exposition in the Golden Gate

Daily from 10:00 to 18:00
On Saturdays, the opening hours are extended until 19:00
Third Tuesday of every month - sanitary day

Golden Gate - ticket prices in 2019

Adults - 150 rubles.
Children under 16 - free of charge
Children from 16 years old, students and pensioners (citizens of the Russian Federation and the CIS) - 75 rubles.

From the history

In 1157, Prince Andrei Bogolyubov, son of Yuri Dolgoruky, moved the capital of his principality from Suzdal to Vladimir and began to fortify the city. Around Vladimir, ramparts 5 km long were poured, and a wooden fortress wall with towers and seven gates was built. Some of them were called Golden, they were built for 6 years - from 1158 to 1164 on the western side of the wall and served as the main entrance to Vladimir.

In addition, the Silver Gates were built leading to Suzdal, Ivanovsky - to Ivanovo, Trade and Volga, Copper and Irinina gates.

According to legend, Prince Andrei, who sincerely loved the city, wanted to please the townspeople and open the Golden Gate on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The builders did not wait for the building to shrink and immediately after the masonry was completed, they hung the gate. As a result, the doors fell and crushed 12 citizens.

Then the prince prayed to the Queen of Heaven, asking her to save the victims: "If You do not save these people, I, a sinner, will be guilty of their death." Andrei's prayer was heard and a miracle happened: when the gates were raised, it turned out that all the people crushed by them remained alive and unharmed.

After the assassination of Andrei Bogolyubsky in 1174, his younger brother Vsevolod the Big Nest, who was also called Vsevolod III, took the throne.

A monument of history and architecture has come down to us in a highly distorted form. For the first time, the travel arch was probably destroyed in 1238 during the assault on the city by the Tatar-Mongol army. The gates also suffered from frequent fires, after which they were restored. The last global restructuring was the work done at the end of the 18th century.

According to legend, the reason for this reconstruction could be a large puddle in which the carriage of Catherine II got stuck. The empress was unable to pass through the arch and ordered to tear down the ramparts on the side of the span and arrange a passage for her carriage.

One way or another, but in 1795 the ramparts from the north and south of the arch were torn down, and to strengthen the Golden Gate, buttresses (vertical structures to support the walls) were brought up on both sides, disguised round towers. In addition, the vault, dilapidated by this time, was strengthened and a new Rizopolozhenskaya gate church made of brick was built over it. In this form, the building has come down to our time.

In 1991, the Golden Gate met the relics of Seraphim of Sarov, who were transported from St. Petersburg to Diveevo (Diveevsky monastery is located in the Nizhny Novgorod region).

Description

The structure is distinguished by its height and slender proportions. Huge oak doors were covered with gilded copper sheets. The wooden walls of the fortress of the New City adjoined the gate.

The height of the building is 14 meters. The golden gates of Vladimir - the main, front, they led to the richest part of the city, where the Vladimir prince and the boyars lived. Accordingly, this structure performed the most important functions:

The Golden Gate served as the entrance to Vladimir on the most solemn occasions - they were opened for important guests even after successful military campaigns.
The construction also played a defensive role, above it was a battlefield to protect the city from an attacking enemy.
The Golden Gate shimmering in the sun served as a decoration of the main entrance to Vladimir, emphasized the power and might of the prince, that is, they also performed a decorative function. There is an assumption that the gate leaves were decorated not with ordinary gold sheets, but with a gold tip according to an engraved pattern (like the doors of the Mother of God-Nativity Cathedral in Suzdal)
Considering that at the top, on the battlefield, there was a gate church, the building also had a religious significance.

The Golden Gate is made in the form of a travel arch with a hemispherical vault, around which graceful towers are arranged. A deep ditch was dug in front of the shaft, a wooden impassable bridge was thrown over it, which was burned in case of danger.

The most ancient part of the Golden Gate is the travel arch with massive pilasters (fortifications that support the arch from its two sides). The white-stone walls are made of rubble stone on a strong limestone base. By our time, the walls have gone into the ground by about 1.5 meters, which means that at the beginning of the 12th century they were even higher. The vault was built from lighter porous tuff.

Such a height of the passage arch created difficulties in the defense of the western entrance to the city. Therefore, approximately in the middle of the arch, a jumper was arranged, and loops were attached to the side for hanging panels. These loops and the groove for the bolt have survived to our time.

Although the oak gates were originally covered with gilded copper, at the present time we will not see gold on them, since the golden plates from the gates were removed and hidden by the inhabitants of the city when there was a threat that Vladimir would be taken by the army of Batu Khan. UNESCO has included this relic in the list of lost objects.

There is another version of the loss of the Golden Gate, according to which Batu Khan removed the gold and loaded it into the convoy. However, he could not take away the valuable cargo. The thin ice of the Klyazma cracked and the convoy went under water.

The Japanese offered to clear the bottom of the river, and instead of paying, take everything they find at the bottom. But our archaeologists did not agree with such conditions.

The monument of architecture was created by princely craftsmen, two princely signs of Rurikovich, preserved on the stones of the building, are confirmation of this. At present, the Rizopolozhenskaya Church is not functioning.

Golden Gate in Vladimir - official site

The exposition is part of the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve: www.vladmuseum.ru

According to historians, in the XII century the Golden Gate was a unique building not only in Rus', but throughout Europe. IN Western countries fortress towers played only a defensive role, and in Vladimir the Golden Gate, in addition to this function, served as a front entrance and an important decorative element.