Suzdal is a small town on the Kamenka river, in the Russian heartland north-east of Moscow, and it is a place where the Russia of old churches and wooden houses survives almost whole. With a population of about eleven thousand, it has more than two dozen churches, five monasteries and a kremlin, all packed into a few square kilometres of low green meadows and willow-lined streams, and no factory chimney or tower block disturbs the skyline. The town was first mentioned in a chronicle of 1024, and for a time in the twelfth century it was the capital of the principality, until power shifted to Vladimir and later Moscow, leaving Suzdal a quiet backwater. That is exactly why it survived intact.
The buildings are the draw. The Kremlin, a walled enclosure on a bend of the river, has the Nativity Cathedral, with blue domes dotted with gold stars and portals decorated in white stone carving from the thirteenth century. The Monastery of Saint Euthymius, which doubled as a prison for political prisoners under the Tsars, has high fortress walls and a bell tower that rings at noon. The Pokrovsky Convent, founded in the fourteenth century, was the place where Tsars sent unwanted wives. Together with the monuments of nearby Vladimir, the town has been on the UNESCO list since 1992. There is also an open-air museum of wooden architecture, with windmills and log churches moved here from surrounding villages, which is delightful in winter under snow.
The local food and drink are an attraction in themselves. Suzdal is famous for its pickled cucumbers, celebrated in an annual festival, and for medovukha, a honey mead often served warm, along with horseradish and the thick sour cream of the region. Fresh bread and honey are sold in the market, and little restaurants serve hearty soups and dumplings.
For riders, the roads around Suzdal are gentle, passing through flat farmland, birch and pine woods and villages with carved wooden window frames. The surface can be patchy, with potholes after winter, and the old road to Vladimir, about thirty-five kilometres away, is busy with lorries. Early summer and early autumn are the best seasons, with long light and the smell of hay or woodsmoke. Fuel is available in Suzdal and in Vladimir, which is the larger city, and it is wise to check the current situation for travel and fuel before planning a trip.