🏛 Church of the Intercession on the Nerl

Владимирская обл., пос. Боголюбово, ул. Ленина, 1Б

A 12th-century white-stone church (traditionally dated to 1165) in the middle of a floodplain meadow, a UNESCO site and one of the best-known churches in Russia.

The church stands on a man-made hill about 3 m high: the foundation together with the buried walls goes more than 5 m into the ground, as flood protection.
The building date is disputed: Voronin gave 1165, Dobrokhotov 1166, and Zagrayevsky and Timofeeva 1158.
According to legend the white stone was brought from conquered Volga Bulgaria, but petrographic analyses disprove this.
Until the 1850s even historians did not know about the church: it was not included in the album of ancient churches compiled in 1834 for Konstantin Thon.
The original frescoes were knocked off in the renovation of 1877.
In the late 1980s restorers removed the convex roof of the early 19th century.
Igor Grabar called the church “the most perfect temple created in Rus”.

Part of these routes

Vladimir: Intercession on the Nerl and white cathedrals