🏛 Cathedral of St Demetrius (Dmitrievsky Sobor)

Владимир, Большая Московская ул., 60

The court cathedral of Vsevolod the Big Nest (1190s), its walls covered in white-stone carving: beasts, griffins, King David.

Vsevolod the Big Nest dedicated the cathedral to his patron saint: at baptism the prince was named Dmitry.
The walls are decorated with about 600 reliefs, which is why the cathedral is called a "white-stone book".
The south facade shows "The Ascension of Alexander the Great to Heaven", a subject rare for a church.
The cathedral was the prince's house church and was connected to his palace by galleries.
During the 1837–1839 "restoration" ordered by Nicholas I, the galleries and stair towers were torn down as supposed later additions.
Oak tie-beams about 20 cm thick are set inside the walls.
In 2011 the first liturgy in many decades was held here, but the cathedral remains part of the museum.

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