Dormition Cathedral, Vladimir
The Dormition Cathedral, also called the Assumption Cathedral, was commissioned by Grand Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky and erected between 1158 and 1160 as the principal church of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality, dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God. After a fire it was substantially enlarged between 1185 and 1189 under Vsevolod the Big Nest, gaining its six pillars and five gilded domes. For more than a century it served as the chief cathedral of north-eastern Rus, the place where its grand princes were crowned and buried, and it housed the revered Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God until that icon was moved to Moscow in 1395.
Architecturally the cathedral is a landmark of pre-Mongol Russian white-stone building, a cross-domed structure roughly 30.8 metres wide and 32.3 metres tall, distinguished by elaborate carved stonework and tall, slender proportions. Its greatest artistic treasure is the cycle of frescoes repainted in 1408 by the celebrated icon painter Andrei Rublev together with Daniil Chyorny, including a monumental Last Judgement; fragments of these and of the original 12th-century painting survive inside. The building was so admired that it served as the model for Aristotele Fioravanti's Dormition Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.
In 1992 the cathedral was inscribed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal. Today it functions in a dual role: it remains the active cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Eparchy of Vladimir, hosting regular worship, while also being administered jointly with the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve, which manages visits, conservation, and tours that showcase Rublev's frescoes and the princely tombs.
- Location
- 56.1269, 40.4092
- Local time
- 01:35 (Europe/Moscow)
🕘 Visiting hours
| Mon | Closed |
| Tue–Sun | 13:00–16:45 |
Visiting hours are limited around the museum-reserve schedule and church services; closed Mondays for visits. Confirm current times with the museum-reserve.
✨ Saints & blessed venerated here
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Theotokos (Dormition of the Mother of God) Saint
The cathedral's patronal dedication, commemorating the Dormition of the Virgin Mary.
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Andrei Bogolyubsky Saint
Grand Prince who founded the cathedral in 1158; canonized and venerated as a right-believing prince.
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George (Yuri II) of Vladimir Saint
Grand Prince killed at the Battle of the Sit River in 1238; his relics were translated to the cathedral and he is venerated as a holy prince.
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Gleb of Vladimir Saint
Son of Andrei Bogolyubsky; his incorrupt relics rest in the cathedral and he is venerated as a holy right-believing prince.
Care & donations
Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve
Donations support the working parish and conservation; museum admission tickets are purchased on-site or via the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve at vladmuseum.ru.
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