The Golden Gate

This is a rare monument of ancient Russian fortification.The building was constructed of white stone in 1158-1164 by Vladimir Prince Andrey Bogolyubskiy as the main combat and entrance tower of the fortress, сreated by him. Of the five outer gates of the fortress, survived only the Golden.

The building is a high, massive tower cut wth the 14 meters arch with the arched crosspiece in the middle. Under the arched crosspiece the oak gates were attached, bound in gilded copper. Above the arched crosspiece a fighting platform was made. At the top of the tower, above the arched doorway the Church of the Position of Reese virgin Mary was placed in – a miniature variation of the white stone Church. The stairs inside the wall led to the Church. The bypass around the Church, surrounded by battlements, served as the second fighting platform. The battle tower, The Triumphal arch and the Church - everything was combined in a simple, but vivid and expressive architecture of the Golden gate, the main gate of the new capital of the North-Eastern Russia, which was Vladimir by the time of Andrei Bogolyubsky.

The earthen embankment of the town fortress compressed the tower with two sides, taking the weight of the gate Church above. In 1238 The Golden gate withstood the impact of the mongolian horde and did not put a shame on itself:the Mongols rushed into the town not through the Golden gates, but through the hole in the wooden wall on the earthen enbankment. Despite the fire of the time of war and peace, decrepitude and minor repairs, the image of The Golden gate remained almost without being changed until the end of the XVIII – the beginning of the XIX centuries, however, the gate Church “was standing without singing in it for many years”.Only in the provincial time, the building was seriously rebuilt: the shafts on the sides were taken away, the tower was surrounded by the buildings that hided the buttresses, and the gate Church rebuilt of brick and was consecrated in 1810. The open bypass around the Church turned into the closed gallery. The stairs inside the wall were filled in, and resumed only in 1870.

Currently, The Golden gate is a part of Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Preserve, listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO.

In the monument of the military architecture of the XII century – The Gold gate, which was the centere of the city fortifications, placed the military-historical exposition.

The central part in it takes the diorama «The final siege of Vladimir by Khan Batiy”s forces on the 7-th of February, 1238 ». In exposition you can see the weapon and ammunition of different ages. The materials about the outstanding generals are represented here, the rare exhibits attract attention. Around the central exhibition hall the gallery of Vladimir heroes is located. The main place in the gallery took the relics of the Second World war. The materials about the Vadimir residents who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in the postwar period, complete the exposition.

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