We’ve mentioned the Golden Ring of Russia at least a handful of times now and you might be wondering what exactly it is. No, it’s not just the name of the G Adventures tour we were on, though that would be a good guess! It’s actually a scattering of old Russian towns, about 10 to be exact, northeast of Moscow that are collectively known as the Golden Ring of Russia. The ring stretches up toward the Volga River and the towns are like open-air museums of glittering onion domes and medieval fortresses serving as stone chronicles of Russia’s history.
Golden Ring of Russia
The Golden Ring of Russia is known for its astonishing number of churches, convents, and monasteries. Hermit monks followed the example set by St. Sergius after he set up a monastery at Sergiyev Posad in 1340. The monks, seeking salvation in nature, headed north from Mosocow and built more than 150 monasteries in just 100 years.
The Russian Orthodox Church was mostly abandoned during Soviet rule, though believers have returned to religion over the last 20 years and taken up a country-wide restoration. Some of the best examples and most picturesque villages in all of Russia lay along the Golden Ring. It’s also an area that has preserved many of the artistic traditions, like painting the lacquer boxes and making the Pavlovsky Posad wool scarves that Russia is so famous for.
Though we didn’t visit all of the towns of the Golden Ring of Russia, we got a good taste of what life is like outside of hustle and bustle of cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg. We enjoyed the Russian countryside, listening to concerts of bells put on by the town bell-ringer, and indulged in many of the rich traditional Russian foods. We’ll tell you more about each of the cities and villages we visited along the Golden Ring, but for now enjoy a few pictures.
Vladimir was founded by Vladimir Monomakh, Grand prince of Kiev, in 1108
A stunning sunset over the summer Church of the Entry into Jerusalem (1707) and the winter Church of St. Paraskeva (1772)
Monastery of Archangel Michael in Yuryev-Polsky
A WWII monument frames the Assumption Cathedral in Yaroslavl
The starry onion domes of the Cathedral of the Nativity in Suzdal
Our trip to Russia was sponsored in part by G Adventures. As always, all opinions are entirely our own.
Kay says
Beautiful churches!! “A stunning sunset” photo is amazing!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Thank you! The light was just absolutely incredible that night.
Val says
Wow!! That sunset is gorgeous!! What a lot of churches…
Kay says
Those buildings are just beautiful, and the sunset photo – amazing. I’m pretty sure these pictures are going to start giving me dreams of going to Russia…on top of the other hundred places I’m dreaming of going!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Thanks, Kay! It rained most of our Golden Ring route, but we had that one amazing sunset in Suzdal. It had been completely gray earlier in the day and the buildings just came alive in the light.
Jennifer says
Earlier in the day it had looked like the sky was going to burst at any moment. We had dinner and came outside to the most AMAZING light.
Stef says
Wow the last church is so beautiful, love the stars!
Iain Mallory says
That must have been a great adventure, I’ll have to look into the Golden Ring, slightly unfortunate name though haha.I love the sunset image, but great pics of churches.
Marina K. Villatoro says
The buildings look as though they are out of a russian colorful fairy tale.
Andrea says
I’ve never heard of this before! Looks like a beautiful tour
Heather says
Ooh, pretty! Can’t wait to read about these places in more depth!
Leigh says
That’s a lot of onion domes! What a fascinating country to visit. It intrigues me way more than most but I view it as a very difficult place to visit. Did you learn any Russian before you went?
Jennifer Dombrowski says
We intended to learn some Russian before going on the trip, but time got away from us. We ended up being to focused on just getting the visa situation straightened out! We did have a handy phrase sheet to help out with essential words. And we were lucky to find helpful people that spoke English when we were at a total loss.
AngloItalian, Follow Us says
We almost went to Russia last year, almost because at the end we didn't make it. It looks an interesting country to visit, we might try again another time.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
It’s definitely an interesting country to visit. Just requires some advance planning for most nationalities. Hope you guys do make it to Russia one day!
Devlin says
All of your russia posts have really been making me “want to go to there”. How hard is the visa process? I can’t say I’ve looked into it much though I do remember it being pretty ridiculous a few years back. Has it gotten a bit more laxed? Or was it that you guys were with a tour group?
Mandy says
Wow, your photos are just amazing! I love the 2nd and 5th ones especially. I’d love to go to Russia one day but I believe the visa is £200!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
The visa was quite expensive, but we thought it was worth it for all we saw on our trip!