VSEVOLOD III BIG NEST

Vsevolod (1154-1212) - the son of Yuri Dolgoruky and Olga - the daughter of the Greek emperor.
He had a large offspring - 12 children (including 8 sons), so he received the nickname "Big Nest".

In 1162, together with his mother and brother, he was expelled by Andrei Bogolyubsky, went to Constantinople to Emperor Manuel. At the age of fifteen he returned to Russia.
In 1169, we see him in the huge army of Andrew, who took Kyiv by storm on March 8. Vsevolod stayed with Uncle Gleb, whom Andrey imprisoned in Kyiv. Gleb soon died (1171), and Kyiv was occupied by Vladimir Dorogobuzh. But Andrei gave it to Roman Rostislavich Smolensky, and then to his brother Mikhalok Torchesky; the latter himself did not go to the devastated city, but sent his brother Vsevolod there.
The offended Rostislavichs entered Kyiv at night and captured Vsevolod (1173). Soon Mikhalko exchanged his brother for Vladimir Yaroslavich of Galicia (1174) and together with him went, with the troops of Andrei, to Kyiv, to expel Rurik Rostislavich from him.

Prince Pereslavsky: 1175 - 1207

After the victory of Mikhail and Vsevolod (Big Nest) Yurievich over their nephews Mstislav and Yaropolk Rostislavich on June 15, 1175, the brothers divided their possessions into two parts: the principality of Vladimir, where Mikhail sat, and the principality of Pereyaslavskoe, given to Vsevolod.

The city of Suzdal continues to grow spontaneously. The trade settlement, which grew up under Yuri, is significantly expanding on the eastern side, between the Kremlin rampart and the Gremyachka river.
At the confluence of Gremyachka into Kamenka, on the site of the overthrown pagan idol of Yarun, the Kozmodamian Monastery is being built
On the big Yaroslavl road behind the settlement in 1207, the Rizopolozhensky maiden monastery was founded
On the southeastern side of the Kremlin, at the confluence of the Mzhara River with Kamenka, Mikhailov Sloboda, belonging to Vsevolod's brother Mikhalka, stretched out on a wide plateau.

In the western side on the mountain, across the Kamenka River, on the Vladimir road, there is the ancient Dmitrievsky monastery with its land, received from Bishop Ephraim back in the 11th century.
Located along the elevated banks of the river side, the old tribal settlements are turning into suburban settlements belonging to the spiritual nobility of Suzdal. However, despite the territorial expansion, politically Suzdal is already becoming a secondary city.
In 1947, fragments of frescoes dating back to the 1180s, made in pink-brown tones, were discovered on the north side in the Borisoglebskaya church in Kideksha. Scientists suggest that they were created at the behest of Prince Vsevolod III, who wished to decorate the temple built by his father (Yuri Dolgoruky). Two female figures among the trees of the Garden of Eden - St. Mary and Empress Euphrosyne - are clearly visible on a white background, surrounded by tropical palm trees with red fruits, under which peacocks walk. On the south side of the temple, figures of two horsemen are visible: according to one version, these are the galloping magi, according to another, the passion-bearing princes Boris and Gleb.
In 1202, having agreed with Roman, Vsevolod gave Kyiv to Ingvar Yaroslavich of Lutsk. Rurik, expelled from Kyiv, tried to return him the following year, but was again defeated by Roman and was forced to kiss the cross to Grand Duke Vsevolod and his children, that is, to renounce seniority in the family even after the death of Vsevolod.
Later, Rurik again received Kyiv from the hands of Vsevolod, and later Vsevolod planted here Rostislav Rurikovich (in 1203) and Vsevolod Svyatoslavich Chermny (in 1210).
Kyiv belonged to Vsevolod: he could come to this city and dispose of all the district volosts.
Vsevolod sought to establish friendliness among the princes with a new property: he married his daughter to the nephew of Svyatoslavov of Kiev (Olgovich); daughter Verkhuslava married Rostislav Rurikovich of Belgorod (Rostislavovich); he married his ten-year-old son Konstantin to the granddaughter of Roman Rostislavovich Smolensky.

Relations with Ryazan

In 1207, when Vsevolod was gathering an army in order to reckon with the Olegovichs for the expulsion of their son Yaroslav from Chernigov and invited the Ryazan princes to participate in the campaign, treason was suddenly revealed in their ranks. Here is what Solovyov writes about this:
“All Ryazan really came with squads, there were eight of them: Roman and Svyatoslav Glebovichi, the latter with two sons, and their nephews, the sons of the deceased Igor and Vladimir, two Igorevichs - Ingvar and Yuri, and two Vladimirovichs - Gleb and Oleg. Vsevolod received them all cordially and invited them to dinner; the table was laid in two tents: in one sat six Ryazan princes, and in the other - Grand Duke Vsevolod and with him two other Ryazan, namely Vladimirovichi - Gleb and Oleg. The latter began to say to Vsevolod: "Do not believe, prince, our brothers: they have conspired against you with Chernigov." Vsevolod sent to convict the Ryazan princes, Prince Davyd of Murom and his boyar Mikhail Borisovich: the accused began to swear that they did not think anything like that; Prince Davyd and boyar Mikhail walked from one tent to another for a long time, and finally, their relatives, Gleb and Oleg, appeared in the tent to the Ryazan people and began to convict them; Vsevolod, hearing that the truth had been revealed, finally ordered the convicted princes to be seized along with their Duma members, taken to Vladimir, and the very next day he crossed the Oka and went to Pronsk, where the son of the deceased Vsevolod Glebovich, Mikhail, was sitting; this prince, hearing that his uncles were captured and Vsevolod was approaching his city with an army, was frightened and ran away to his father-in-law in Chernigov - a sign that he was also on the side of the captured princes and on the side of the Chernigov prince, his father-in-law: otherwise, why was it would he be afraid of Vsevolod, who is always favorable to his father? ("Russian history")
The inhabitants of Pronsk invited the third of the Vladimirovichs, Izyaslav, to be princes and refused to let Vsevolod into the city. The inhabitants of the besieged city did not have enough water and food, but they held on tight, from time to time making forays to the river for water. However, the Suzdalians guarded the gates, preventing the besieged from replenishing supplies. After a three-week siege, the pronians were forced to surrender. Vsevolod gave them Oleg Vladimirovich as a prince, and he himself went to Ryazan. The worried Ryazanians sent their envoys to meet him, headed by Bishop Arseny, who swore to Grand Duke Vsevolod that they would fulfill all his demands if he did not ravage their city. Vsevolod heeded the requests and went back through Kolomna to Vladimir. Vsevolod's demand was that the people of Ryazan give him all the other princes and princesses. The people of Ryazan obeyed, and in the following year, 1208, Vsevolod sent his son Yaroslav to reign there. The people of Ryazan swore allegiance to the new prince, but then they began to grab the Suzdal people and throw them into the cellars. Yaroslav turned to his father for help, and Vsevolod immediately responded to his call. The Grand Duke ordered the people of Ryazan to come to the river for the prince's court. The people of Ryazan came out, but Vsevolod Yurievich did not like their speeches. By order of Vsevolod, Ryazan was burned down, and its inhabitants were settled in different cities of the Suzdal region.
Since 1179, the Ryazan princes were in the will of Vsevolod.

Relations with Novgorod

Since 1203 Vsevolod arbitrarily disposed of in Novgorod. First, he planted his young son Svyatoslav there, then replaced him with Konstantin, whose reign was accompanied by unrest among the inhabitants of the city. Here is what Solovyov writes about this:
“The new posadnik Miroshkinich with his brothers and friends, relying on the strength of the Suzdal prince (Konstantin), wanted to enrich themselves at the expense of the inhabitants and allowed themselves such actions that restored the whole city against them; among the dissatisfied, apparently, was some Alexei Sbyslavich; the posadnik's brother, Boris Miroshkinich, went to Vladimir to Vsevolod and returned from there with the latter's boyar, Lazar, who brought the command to kill Alexei Sbyslavich, and the command was executed: Alexei was killed in Yaroslav's courtyard - without fault, the chronicler adds, because the usual conditions with the prince - not to execute without declaring guilt, did not exist anymore: Vsevolod ordered autocratically in Novgorod.
Discontent in Novgorod, however, grew, and Vsevolod was forced to recall Konstantin and return Svyatoslav to Novgorod. However, such a replacement did not change anything in essence in the city: the sons of Vsevolod were subordinate to their father and could not make decisions on their own. For them, either the Novgorod posadniks or the Suzdal boyars did this, giving rise to new strife in the city. Novgorodians sent people to Toropets to the local prince Mstislav, the son of the famous Mstislav the Brave, with a request to save Novgorod from Suzdal oppression. Mstislav responded willingly to the call of the Novgorodians and, having arrived in Novgorod, immediately moved to Torzhok, because Vsevolod captured the Novgorod merchants in their cities and sent his sons with an army to the Novgorod border. However, the battle did not happen. Cautious Vsevolod agreed with Mstislav. The Novgorodians returned his son Svyatoslav to the distressed father, and the Grand Duke let the Novgorod merchants go.

In 1206 Bishop Michael of Smolensk came to Vladimir to ask the Grand Duke to forgive their prince for his alliance with the Olgoviches.

Vsevolod strengthened the security of external borders. Nomads - Polovtsy disturbed the southern possessions of Russia, especially Ryazan. He drove the Polovtsy into the depths of the steppes, and their khans fled in horror from the banks of the Don to the sea.
Vsevolod reigned prudently, from his youth he strictly observed justice. Brought up in Greece, he respected the ancient customs, but demanded obedience from the princes, but without guilt he did not take away their throne, he wanted to rule without violence. Commanding the Novgorodians, he flattered their love for freedom. Courageous in battles and always a winner, he did not like useless bloodshed. He was born to reign.

DEVELOPMENT OF VLADIMIR

On the slope to the river behind the Golden Gate in the XII century. there was a wooden church of St. Nicholas, and behind it, on a high spur, were the wooden buildings of the Ascension Monastery.

Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. 1732

From the chronicle story about the great city fire of 1185, we learn that 32 churches burned down in Vladimir. The dwellings of ordinary citizens and the mansions of rich merchants and boyars were made of wood.
During the time of Vsevolod III, Vladimir-Suzdal Rus reached its peak. Construction has reached unprecedented proportions. Fortresses were built in Vladimir, Suzdal, Pereslavl-Zalessky.

In 1185, during a city fire, when the Assumption Cathedral itself was damaged, 32 wooden churches burned down; in 1192 14 churches burned down; in 1199, half of the city and 15 churches burned down in a fire.

Vladimir Detinets

A wall was built in Vladimir Vladimir citadel(internal fortress 1194 - 1196).
The Laurentian Chronicle under 6702 1194 we read: “The same summer, lay the foundation of the noble prince Vsevolod Yuryevich detinets, in the city of Volodimer, on the 4th day of June, in memory of St. Mitrofan, Patriarch Kostyantinagrad.”
This construction event of Vsevolod is among other fortifications of this time that he carried out:
- in 1192-1194. the oak walls of the Suzdal Kremlin are being renovated. Monomakh's tyn was replaced by a chopped one (connected log cabins of cages with backfilling with clay). The Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin needed repairs, which were made in 1194 at the behest of Vsevolod. Bishop John I adorned the renovated Suzdal Cathedral with an insertion into its facade of a large white stone mortgage cross with an engraved inscription "praise to the cross". After the repair, the cathedral stood for 28 years. In 1222 it was dismantled, and in its place in 1222-1225. under the son of Vsevolod, a new white stone Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God was built. The cathedral was three-domed, the most beautiful building in Suzdal of the 13th century. The building stood without damage for over 200 years;
- in 1195, simultaneously with the construction of the Vladimir citadel, Vsevolod sends his tiun to renew the fortifications of the distant Oster city and lays a wooden "city" along the crest of the ramparts of Pereslavl-Zalessky, completed in the same year.
At 40-45 m. to the north of the bell tower of the Assumption Cathedral lie underground discovered in 1936-1937. the remains of the white-stone fortifications of the Vladimir citadel, built by Vsevolod III and Bishop John I in 1194-1196. and cut off their courts and palaces from the city.
The gates of the citadel were a reduced and simplified copy of the Golden Gate. In their wide western wall there was a staircase to the upper combat platform, in the center of which stood a small episcopal stone church of Joachim and Anna, built two years after the foundation of the citadel, in 1196, by Bishop John I. Which was soon consecrated. The Laurentian and Resurrection chronicles report that this church was placed “on the gates of the Holy Mother of God”, that is, on the gates of the Assumption Cathedral. According to the later life of Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich of Vladimir, Bishop John I founded this church "in his own yard." Thus, it turns out that the gates of the citadel with the gate church of Joachim and Anna were at the same time the gates leading to the episcopal cathedral.

Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir and its bell tower - the former gate (according to the drawing of 1801)

It was an elegant building, apparently not inferior in beauty to the city's cathedrals: during the excavations, fragments of a columnar belt decorated with a portal carving, majolica green tiles of the floor of the battlefield and colored majolica thin figured tiles from the mosaic floors of the temple were found. Its vaults may have been supported by light round columns, the defective fragments of which were used by the builders in the masonry of the walls of the citadel. The walls, built of white stone and slabs of porous tuff, joined in the west with the ramparts of the Middle City, and went to the east to the Dimitrievsky Cathedral.

Based on the size of the gate, the church placed on them could have dimensions of no more than 8-9 m on the side: around it there should have been a detour of the upper combat platform. With these miniature scales, the church could not have pillars, which would correspond to the blades of the facades, most likely it was a pillarless church, similar to St. chapel-tomb of the Chernigov Spassky Cathedral, which also had wall blades. However, it can be assumed that the defective fragments of relatively light white-stone columns laid at the base of the western wing of the citadel could be related to the construction of the gate church. Did she not have round columns supporting the vaults? All this, like the question of the top of the gate church, remains in the realm of conjecture. The episcopal church had the same rich decoration as the episcopal Assumption Cathedral. The floors were covered with tiles. If we take the average area to be paved as 100 m2, the need for tiles will be expressed in the amount of 3460 pieces. This order, as far as can be judged from the surviving fragments, was executed in five workshops.
Floors made of glazed tiles first appeared in the architecture of Kievan Rus, and in the 12th century. were widely used in the architecture of Russian principalities. They are known in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, the Zarubsky Monastery, the temple and civil buildings of Belgorod, Psreslavl South, the Kiev churches of the so-called "Simeon on Kudryavets" and Nikita, the Zverinetsky caves near Kiev, further in Vladimir Volynsky, Galich, Drogichin and Grodno. In the north, they are known in Smolensk, Staraya Ryazan and in the Nereditskaya church near Novgorod. But this technique was perhaps most widely developed in the architectural monuments of the Vladimir land. The earliest glazed tiles were found by us during excavations in the Transfiguration Cathedral in Pereslavl-Zalessky, then in the Bogolyubov Palace, in the Church of the Savior in Vladimir in 1164. There are indications that similar tiles were found during the excavations of K.N. Tikhonravov near Vladimir - on Fedorovsky Hill, with which the legend about the construction of the church of Fedor Stratilat by Prince Andrei is associated. Consequently, in the construction of Bogolyubsky we have the first experience in the production and use of this finishing material. Under Vsevolod and later, this type of decoration was further developed. Similar tiles were found in the Cathedral of the Nativity Monastery in Vladimir, built almost simultaneously with the citadel (1192-1195), in the Cathedral of the Knyaginin Monastery in Vladimir (1200-1202), and, finally, in the Suzdal Cathedral (1222-1225). ). The tiles of the Gateway Church of the Detinets are closest to the tiles of the Knyaginin Cathedral, on their back side there is a convex frame, and in the center there is also a convex circle or square.
Vladimir tiles, compared with Belgorod ones, are distinguished by a greater roughness of technique and pattern; white calcareous clays of the south, giving a dense, durable shard, allowed for a minimum thickness of tiles (1 - 1.5 cm), Vladimir tiles made of roughly processed red clay are thick (up to 3 cm) and large, the color pattern does not reach the complexity and elegance of southern prototypes. Painted inside with frescoes, with floors of colored tiles and inlaid patterns, it was, however, no less magnificent building than the prince's court cathedral.
Ancient gate church of Joachim and Anna received in the 17th century. tent top. In this form, it was captured by an engraving based on a drawing of 1764 and a watercolor drawing from the “Provincial Atlas” of 1801.
Near the Assumption Cathedral were located episcopal court(1158-1160) with Church of John the Baptist(1194) and princely stone palace complex(1195-1196). The Prince's Palace was connected by passages with the white-stone stair towers of the Dmitrievsky Cathedral (1195).
The Vsevolodovskaya citadel, which encircled the episcopal and princely courts in Vladimir with stone, was not limited to the territory of the episcopal court. It went further to the east, encompassing the prince's court with the Demetrius Cathedral and, finally, joined the wall of the court Nativity monastery, which occupied the southeastern corner of the Middle City.
The monumental combat nature of the fortifications of the citadel testifies to the sharpness and intensity of the class struggle in the city, which did not go out after the uprising of 1174 and the assassination of Andrei Bogolyubsky. The “mutiny” of 1177, which Vsevolod also encountered, some kind of urban unrest associated with the terrible fire of Vladimir in 1185, when “fear, hesitation and trouble were simplified among the peasant family”, finally the fire of 1193, when half of the the fortifications of the city, and Vsevolod’s court was barely defended, but “you do a lot of evil” - all these facts speak of an alarming atmosphere in the capital. The crack in the "alliance of the townspeople and the royal power" deepened. But Vsevolod could, relying on his established power, disregard his allies. The stone armor of the citadel stood between the princely-episcopal court and the city, it guaranteed the safety of the Vladimir rulers from unexpected complications and covered their mansions and temples from the dangerous neighborhood of a combustible wooden city.

The five-domed Assumption Cathedral was rebuilt after a fire - 1185-1189.

Vladimir Assumption Cathedral

Detinets, in addition to the court of the spiritual ruler, included the prince's court at the Dmitrievsky Cathedral. It is possible that the citadel at the same time captured a larger territory from the eastern side of the Dmitrievsky Cathedral than N.N. Voronin. Much to the east of the alleged border of the citadel, between the Dmitrievsky Cathedral and the Rozhdestvensky Monastery, in 1993 a small excavation area of ​​80 square meters was uncovered. m, where an undisturbed layer of the pre-Mongolian period was found with the remains of two wooden buildings of the 12th - 13th centuries. and a collection of interesting finds. Among them were 9 fragments of stained glass, fragments of oriental glazed ceramics, a gilded copper relief overlay in the form of a dragon or, rather, a griffin, as well as a bronze icon of the 14th century. - things clearly princely use.
In Vladimir, a magnificent stone palace was built with the Dmitrievsky Cathedral (1194-1197). See Demetrius Cathedral.

CHRISTMAS MONASTERY

According to legend, the monastery was founded in 1175 by Vladimir Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky.
Under Vsevolod, a second internal fortress was built with the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin in 1192-1195.

The four-pillar, three-apse, one-domed cathedral was built in the traditions characteristic of the Vladimir-Suzdal white-stone architecture of the 12th century.

Archivolt block of the portal of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin. 1192-1196 Limestone; tesk, carving 75 x 35 x 20. In 1862, during the reconstruction of the cathedral according to the project of the architect N.A. Artleben used in the masonry of the new cathedral.

Until 1219, some other work was carried out in the cathedral, since it was in this year that the “great consecration” of the temple took place. Since 1230, the monastery had an archimandry, then it became the main monastery of the entire North-Eastern Russia.
In 1263, Prince Alexander Yaroslavovich Nevsky was buried in the monastery cathedral, whose relics were discovered in 1381.
The role of the first monastery of the Vladimir (and then Moscow) Metropolis belonged to the Nativity Monastery until 1561, when it became the second after the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
All R. 17th century stone construction began again in the monastery: in 1654 a bell tower was erected in the form of a high octagonal pillar with a tent (not preserved), in 1659 government cells were built. In 1667 the monastery became stauropegial.
Under Archimandrite Vincent in 1678-1685. stone tents were attached to the cathedral (not preserved), at the same time a fraternal building was erected. In the 2nd floor. 17th century a stone gate church of the Nativity of Christ with an adjoining refectory was being built, and another volume was added to the southeastern corner of the state-owned cells. Some 17th century buildings existed on the site of the Bishops' chambers.

Newly built Mother of God-Nativity Cathedral

See Bogoroditse-Nativity Monastery.

KNYAGININ MONASTERY

The wife of Prince Vsevolod, Maria Shvarovna, founded a monastery in the city of Knyaginin with a brick Assumption Cathedral, built in 1200-1202. Chronicles do not give accurate information about the origin of the Grand Duchess Maria. Some sources (Nesterova, Nikonov Chronicle, Book of Power) call her the daughter of the Czech Prince Shvarn, others (for example, the Ignatiev Chronicle) indicate her origin from one of the princes of the Yas tribe, who wandered around the south of Russia, possibly captured and converted to the Christian faith. Maria Shvarovna was the mother of eight sons and four daughters of Vsevolod. The reason for the foundation of the monastery was the illness of the Grand Duchess after the birth of her son John, due to which she decides to go to the monastery and accept monasticism.
The acquisition by the princess of land for the monastery is mentioned in the Nikon Chronicle and the Book of Degrees: “The God-loving Grand Duchess Maria did a deed worthy of memory: imitating the right of righteous Abraham, she bought at a price part of the land for the construction of a church and a monastery to the glory of God and the Most Pure Mother of God.”
From the book of Archimandrite Porfiry we learn the exact date of foundation of the monastery: “the stone monastery church was founded on July 15, 1200 by the Grand Duke Vsevolod himself and Bishop John I, and consecrated on September 9, 1202, probably by the same bishop.”
The life of St. George describes this event as follows: “In the summer of 1200, Grand Duke Vsevolod Georgievich held a council with his Grand Duchess Maria, and with the blessing of the blessed Bishop John I, they built a stone church in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos of the Assumption in the Knyaginin Monastery; and they made a monastery for the nuns, and provided them with all kinds of contentment and possessions.
In contrast to the white-stone buildings of this period, the cathedral was made of flat tiled brick 12-20 × 12-25 × 3.5-6 cm in size, on a strong lime mortar with 3-5.5 cm seams, which was called plintha and survived until present in the lower parts of the walls of this monument.
Seriously ill, the Grand Duchess decides to get a haircut in a new monastery. Since then, the monastery has received the name of Knyaginin and has served as the burial place of the Vladimir princesses and princesses.
Located in close proximity to the Orina Gates, the monastery probably also played a strategic role, being one of the defensive points of Vladimir.

Initial architectural forms of the XII-XIII centuries. This building has not come down to us. Most likely, as I.A. Stoletov, they repeated the established forms of the Vladimir-Suzdal churches of this period, and, in particular, the forms of the Dmitrievsky Cathedral, but with a simpler architectural treatment that corresponded both to the monastic nature of this cathedral and to the new material - brick. The temple was richly decorated at the expense of the Grand Duchess. Little is known about the fate of the cathedral in subsequent centuries. Over the centuries, it has undergone repeated alterations.

Dormition Cathedral of the Knyaginin Monastery

The surviving Assumption Cathedral of the monastery was erected on the site of the old one at the end of the 15th - beginning. 16th century
It is a powerful cube with a three-part division of facades, with a gallery and aisles at the eastern corners. Outside, the walls end with zakomaras, above which are keeled kokoshniks topped with a powerful light drum in two tiers. The Cathedral of the Assumption has undergone significant alterations several times. As a result of restoration work, the monument was restored to its 16th-century appearance. Inside the cathedral, frescoes of ser. 17th century Moscow school of painters under the direction of Mark Matveev. Scenes from the life of the Mother of God are depicted on its northern and southern walls, the figures of the apostles are visible in the altar, and on the pylons of the church, bearing vaults and a dome, the artists placed images of bishops and grand dukes. There is also a reminder of the retribution for sins - the scene of the Last Judgment.

Frescoes of the altar apse of the Assumption Cathedral. 17th century

On March 19, 1206, the first wife of the Grand Duke of Vladimir Vsevolod the Big Nest, Maria Shvarnovna, died and was buried on the northern porch of the Assumption Cathedral of “her own”, the Knyaginin Monastery.

Grand Duchess Vladimirskaya Maria Shvarnovna

In the necropolis of the Assumption Cathedral, both spouses of Vsevolod III, the wife and daughter of Alexander Nevsky, were buried, and the relics of the holy martyr Abraham of Bulgaria were also located.
On Lazarus Saturday, April 10, 1991, the solemn consecration of the Assumption Cathedral of the monastery took place. A reliquary with a particle of the relics of the holy martyr Abraham of Bulgaria, the heavenly patron of the monastery, was transferred from the Assumption Cathedral in a procession.
In 1992, on Great Wednesday, at the request of Archbishop Evlogy, the miraculous Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God, painted at the command of the holy noble Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, was brought from the Vladimir Museum of Local Lore to the Annunciation side chapel of the Assumption Cathedral of the monastery, in memory of the appearance of the Most Holy Theotokos to him. Weekly prayers were performed before the image of the Queen of Heaven.
On May 23, 1993, on the Sunday of the Blind Man, the miraculous God-loving icon of the Mother of God was transferred from the Annunciation chapel to the main church and placed in the northern part of the iconostasis.

Maryino-owner's estate

Plan of Vladimir XII-XIII centuries. (according to N.N. Voronin)

The numbers on the plan indicate: I - the city of Monomakh (Pecherny city); II - Vetchany city; III - New city; IV - child; 1 - Church of the Savior; 2 - Church of George; 3 - Assumption Cathedral; 4 - Golden Gate; 5 - Orinin's gate; 6 - Copper gate; 7 - Silver Gate; 8 - Volga gates; 9 - Dmitrievsky Cathedral; 10 - Ascension Monastery; 11 - Nativity monastery; 12 - Assumption (Knyaginin) monastery; 13 - Trading gates; 14 - Ivanovo gates; 15 - gate of the citadel; 16 - Church of the Exaltation at the Market.

Entering the Middle City fell into the center of the capital. To the right, behind the white stone wall of the citadel, one could see the golden-domed Assumption Cathedral with the towers of the episcopal court, the buildings of Vsevolod's palace on the sides of the Dimitrievsky Cathedral and behind them - the Cathedral of the Nativity Monastery. To the left was the Market Square with the Church of the Exaltation, behind which one could see the fields rising to the horizon. Ahead, on the slope of the plateau of the Middle City, lay the eastern belt of its walls with the Ivanovskaya travel tower. Behind him began the trade and craft end of the city - its settlements, where houses and temples were exclusively wooden. Here the urban triangle narrowed, and its development looked like a large village, located along the road. This impression was intensified by the wide out-of-town landscape that opened from here to the south and east. The central street passed through the white-stone arch of the Silver Gate and merged with the road to the villages of Dobroe, Bogolyubovo and Suzdal. We do not know for sure how the transverse streets were located. One might think that with the small width of the Vetchany town-posad, short alleys led out onto the main street, as now. In the Middle City, a significant area was occupied by the market, to which the streets from the north-eastern part probably converged. In the New City, apparently, there was a transverse street that ran along the ramparts of the Middle City along the ravine to the Volga Gates on the Klyazma and to the northern Medny, to Lybed. To the northwest, perhaps, there was a street from the Torgovye to the Irinin gates. The city opened with changing diverse ensembles, not only from the inside. Perhaps more important in his design were his external "façades", clearly designed for perception from far distances and different points of view. The builders of Vladimir, skillfully using the rich relief of the coastal ridge, created an urban ensemble wide open to the outside world. From the side of the Yuryevskaya road, from the fields gently raised to the north-west, the city opened slightly from above and almost entirely in all the diversity of its parts. From the hills along which the road from Suzdal descended from the east, the city seemed to be calmly rising up the mountain; in front stood the Silver Gate, behind them were the dwellings of the townspeople with a group of high chopped churches, above them in the distance lay a belt of the walls of the Middle City with Ivanovsky Gates and towers, and further and to the left the domes of the cathedrals of the Nativity Monastery and the citadel sparkled. But the main aspect of the urban ensemble was undoubtedly its southern “facade”, facing the river and the expanse of floodplains and forests, among which the road to Murom ran. From here the city was visible in all its majestic extent, reminiscent of the panorama of Kyiv over the Dnieper. On the hill from the west stood the wooden buildings of the Ascension Monastery and the Church of St. Nicholas. From the southern corner of the New City, the fortress wall descended, in order to climb steeply again from the ravine from the Volga Gate to the corner of the Middle City. In a semicircular depression behind it, on the slopes of the mountain, were the houses of the townspeople, buried in gardens, and above them, along the high edge of the plateau, were the princely courtyards with the temples of the Savior and George and the sharp roofs of the towers towered. High on the corner of the Middle City, the Assumption Cathedral rose its domes - the central link of the panorama; next to it, almost at equal intervals, were visible the smaller cathedrals of Dimitrievsky and Rozhdestvensky. Placed on the very edge of the plateau, they created a deceptive impression that the entire depth of the city was filled with similar white stone buildings. From the highest point - the Assumption Cathedral - the profile of the city slowly and rhythmically went down. The panorama of the low-lying suburb - the Vetchany city - was determined by the tops of wooden temples, which, together with the tents of the fortress towers, created a carved jagged and more fractional silhouette. The southern panorama appears especially majestic and fabulous in the early hours of dawn, when the floodplain and city heights are drowning in the milky sea of ​​swirling fog and the white-stone cathedrals flaming in the first rays of the sun seem like a fantastic vision. There is no doubt that both the “interiors” of the city and its pronounced “façade” were not a “happy accident”, but were the result of a great creative work of Vladimir city builders.

In 1206, his son Yaroslav Vsevolod Chermny, Prince of Chernigov, expelled from Southern Pereyaslavl. The Grand Duke went on a campaign; in Moscow, his eldest son Konstantin joined him with the Novgorodians, and then the princes of Murom and Ryazan. Everyone thought that they would go south, but they were deceived: Vsevolod was informed that the Ryazan princes were cheating, that they were friends with the Chernigov princes. The Grand Duke, having called them to a feast, ordered them to be seized and sent in chains to Vladimir; Pronsk and Ryazan were taken; the latter gave him the rest of her princes with their families. Vsevolod placed here first his governors and tiuns, and then his son Yaroslav. But the Ryazans rebelled against the latter, and Vsevolod again approached Ryazan with an army. Having ordered the inhabitants to leave the city, he burned Ryazan, and settled the Ryazans in the Suzdal land; Belgorod suffered the same fate (1208). Two Ryazan princes, Izyaslav Vladimirovich and Mikhail Vsevolodovich, who escaped captivity, took revenge on Vsevolod by devastating the outskirts of Moscow, but Vsevolod's son, Yuri, defeated them utterly; they fortified themselves on the banks of the river Pra (or Tepr), but Vsevolod drove them out from here too; then, with the help of Metropolitan Matthew, who came to Vladimir on purpose, Vsevolod reconciled with the Olgovichi of Chernigov and sealed this world with the marriage union of his son Yuri with the daughter of Vsevolod Chermny (1210).

Vladimir-Suzdal principality in the XIII century.

Shortly before his death, Vsevolod wanted to give seniority to his eldest son Konstantin, and put Yuri in Rostov. But Konstantin was dissatisfied, he wanted to take both Vladimir and Rostov for himself. Then Vsevolod “summoned all his boyars from cities and volosts and Bishop John I, and abbots, and priests, and merchants, and nobles, and all people” (Resurrection Chronicle) and transferred seniority to his youngest son, Yuri. The indigenous custom was violated, which led to strife and disagreements.

Vsevolod died in 1212. The relics are stored in the St. Andrew's chapel of the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir.

After the death of Vsevolod, specific principalities were formed in North-Eastern Russia: Suzdal (Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich), Pereyaslavskoe (with Tver, Dmitrov, Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich), Rostov (with Beloozero, Ustyug), Yaroslavl, Uglich, Yuryevskoe (Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich), Starodub (Prince Ivan Vsevolodovich), Rostov principality goes to Konstantin Vsevolodovich.

The main results of the reign of Vsevolod were the reprisal against the boyars of Rostov, who opposed the princely power, the expansion of the territory of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, the decoration of Vladimir with the Dmitrovsky and Nativity cathedrals, the Kremlin-detinets.
The chronicler speaks of his religiosity and love of poverty, and adds that the prince judged by a true and unfeigned judgment.

finds

Encolpion. Con. XII beginning. 13th century
White metal, casting, engraving. 13.7x7.6x1.5 cm. With remnants of yellow metal, with a cap in the form of a biconical hollow bead. With embossed images. On the front side: the Crucifixion (in the center) and the Mother of God, John the Theologian and John the Baptist - bust in medallions on the lateral and upper ends of the cross. All images are signed. On the reverse side: the Mother of God with the Child (Hodegetria?) and, on the side and upper ends of the cross, the holy warriors in medallions: George, Dmitry, Nestor (?). Inside the encolpion: brown mass with a cross-shaped depression with the remains of wood decay. Place of discovery: "Vetchany city" of Vladimir. Treasure 1993

Dmitrievsky Cathedral.
Holy Dormition Knyaginin convent.
Settlements of the developed Middle Ages of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality.

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