Suzdal (Russian: Су́здаль) is a town in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, situated north-east of Moscow, 26 kilometers (16 mi) from the city of Vladimir, on the Kamenka River. Population: 11 357 (2002). The history of the town dates back to at least the year 1024.This little quiet town is a real gem, one of the most beautiful in the Russian Golden Ring collection of citeis and towns. In the 11th century Suzdal became the very first forepost of Christianity in the North-Eastern Russia and significantly affected the religious life in Russia until the end of 19 century. The town was destroyed by Mongols in 1238. Later Suzdal became the capital city of Russian prince Yury Dolgoruky who is considered to be the founder of Moscow. The second destruction of Suzdal came with the Polish invasion in the 17th century. Here you can find over 100church and secular buildings dating from the mid-12th to the mid-19th century crowded into a area of 9 square km.

After a decline in political importance, the town rose in prominence as a religious center with numerous monasteries and a remarkable ratio of churches to citizens: at one point, forty churches for four hundred families. Today, the town operates as an important tourist center, featuring many fine examples of old Russian architecture — most of them churches and monasteries. Walking through the town one might get the feeling that every third building is a church. Although having over ten thousand residents, Suzdal still retains the look and feel of a small village with streams and meadows everywhere nearby, and chicken and livestock a common sight on the city streets, some of which are unpaved. This juxtaposition of stunning medieval architecture with its pastoral setting lends Suzdal a picturesque charm, and in the summer artists and easels are a common sight. In March, the Suzdal tourist centre is home to the Open Russian Festival of Animated Film. The Cathedral of the Nativity in Suzdal is one of the eight White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal, a World Heritage Site.

Main points of interest: The Saviour Monastery of St. Euthymius or Spaso-Yefimiev Monastery (founded in 1352) with its twenty-towered white walls is the Suzdal's biggest monastery. The Refectory Church of the Dormition is considered the first tent-shaped church in Russia built of stone. Since the time of Catherine the Great it was used as a state prison. St. Lazarus Church was built in 1667 by the townspeople. The Kremlin of Suzdal contains several streets of houses, some churches, the Nativity of the Virgin Cathedral (1225, rebuilt in 1530)) with its dark-blue, gold-spotted cupolas and beautiful frescoes of the 13-17th centuries. The enormous doors of the cathedral (the Golden Gates) with designs of gold on the black background of the bronze tablets are a priceless example of medieval Russian art. There are five monasteries in Suzdal. St. Basil's Monastery was founded by Alexander Nevsky in the thirteenth century. There is an open-air museum of wooden architecture similar to the one in Kostroma with its old peasant houses, a waterwell and two magnificent wooden churches od the 16th and 18th centuries that had been brought to the museum from far away corners of the Suzdal province. Boris and Gleb Church of 1152 was the first white-stone building in the North-Eastern Russia. There are also many 18-19th-century historical buildings in Suzdal.