Tourism portal of theGeneral information
Facts that will give you an idea of the Vladimir region
1. The Vladimir region as a subject of the Russian Federation belongs to the Central Federal District. It has a strategic position on the map of Russia, neighboring with Moscow (in the west and southwest), Nizhny Novgorod (in the east), Yaroslavl, Ivanovo (in the north) and Ryazan (in the south) regions. This ensures the tourist and investment attractiveness of the region.
The Vladimir region has a developed transport infrastructure, which contributes to the development of external relations. An extensive network of railways connects Vladimir with Moscow and other regions: Moscow-Vladimir-Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow-Alexandrov-Yaroslavl, Moscow-Murom-Kazan-Yekaterinburg. The federal highways Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod-Kazan (the route M-7 "Volga") and Moscow-Yaroslavl pass through the territory of the region. The automobile reference number of the Vladimir region is 33.
2. The territory of the Vladimir region – 29 000 square kilometers. The population of the region is about 1.4 million people, and more than 3 million people annually visit the Vladimir region as tourists. Over the past three years, the region has visited more than 8 million tourists.
3. The Vladimir region is located in the central part of the East European Plain, in the south of the Volga-Oka interfluve. The region's terrain connects both hilly areas (Gorokhovets spur), flat (Vladimir-Suzdal, Yuryevo Opolye) and lowland (Meshchera lowland) territories. Due to the sharp slopes of the hills, the region has recreational resources for the development of winter sports. The climate is moderately-continental, with a warm summer (average air temperature in July + 19˚), a moderately cold winter with a stable snow cover (average air temperature in January -12˚), pronounced transition seasons.
4. The oldest traces of human presence on the territory of the Vladimir region belong to the Upper Paleolithic (about 25 thousand years BC), as evidenced by the found ancient sites Sungir (near Bogolyubovo), Rusanikha (within the boundaries of modern Vladimir), Karacharovo (near Murom ). In the Neolithic period tribes relating to the archeological culture of Volosovo lived here, in the Bronze Age – cattle-breeding tribes relating to the culture of Fatyanovo.
Archaeological excavations speak of the settlement of the territory of the region by tribes of Finno-Ugric origin – meshchera, muroma, merya. From the 10th century the Slavic colonization of these lands began, the cities of Murom, Suzdal and Vladimir arose.
5. The territory of the modern Vladimir region in the 10th century was part of the Kievan Rus, in the 11th century – part of the Rostov-Suzdal principality. In the second half of the 12th - the first half of the 14th centuries it was the core of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, and then – the Great Vladimir principality, which was the largest political, economic and cultural center of Russia.
Eight outstanding white stone monuments of Vladimir-Suzdal architecture of the 12th-13th centuries, preserved to this day, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1992: the Golden Gate, the Assumption and St. Demetrius cathedrals in Vladimir, the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, part of the staircase tower and the gallery of the former palace of Andrey Bogolyubsky in Bogolyubov-town, the church of SS Boris and Gleb in Kideksha, the Nativity Cathedral and the Savior-Euthymius Monastery in Suzdal.
With the development of the Moscow Principality under Ivan Kalita, Vladimir's role as a capital city ceased. However, the political and cultural traditions of the Great Vladimir Principality were perceived by Moscow during the creation of the Russian centralized state. The process of accession of the Vladimir lands to Moscow actually ended in the 16th century under Ivan the Terrible. In 1565 the Alexander’s Sloboda became the center of Oprichnina and the actual residence of Ivan IV the Terrible until 1581.
6. Vladimir province existed almost 140 years (1796-1929), with the center in Vladimir (in 1778-1796 there was an independent Vladimir vicegerency). Then for 15 years the Vladimir region was part of the Ivanovo Industrial Area (until August 1944).
Therefore, despite the antiquity of Vladimir, Suzdal, Murom and other cities, the Vladimir region in its current borders is relatively young: in 2014 the region turned 70 years old.
7. The Vladimir region today is one of the most economically developed regions of the Central Federal District. In the industry structure of the region, the largest weight (up to 40%) is occupied by machine building and instrument making (the production of small arms and missile weapons, equipment for the nuclear industry, light armored railway equipment, radio communication systems and equipment, excavators, motorcycles, household appliances, electric motors, precision engineering products and etc.), as well as metalworking (metal rolling, pipes for defense orders, glassware and jewelry production).
The glass industry is developing rapidly: the Vladimir Region accounts for over 46% of the Russian output of high-quality glassware, 25% of window glass, and 21% of glass container. At the enterprises of the chemical industry, modern composite and fiberglass materials, polyurethane foams, polyester fiber are produced using unique technologies.
The Vladimir region is one of the leading Russian centers of the pharmaceutical industry, where genetically engineered medicines are produced for the diagnosis and treatment of severe and socially dangerous diseases (CJSC Generium), environmentally safe veterinary medicinal products (Federal Center for Animal Health).
In the Vladimir region, almost a third of Russian chocolate is produced ("Mon'delis Rus" in Pokrov).
The Vladimir state factory stables and the Yuriev-Polsky stud farm preserve the golden fund of the famous horse breed "Vladimir Draught-Horse".
In the Vladimir region, world-famous art crafts, such as Mstera lacquer miniature, Mstera embroidery, making crystal, etc. are developing.
8. The dynamically developing sector of the economy of the Vladimir region is tourism (7% in the GRP region). The region was among the five most visited tourist areas in Russia: tourist traffic grew by 21% in 2016 compared to the previous year and amounted to almost 4 million people.
In 2016 the first Russian tourist product "Gastronomic Card of the Vladimir Region" appeared in the region, which included branded food and agro-tourism facilities, which are a sample of quality and hospitality.
President Putin signed decrees on the celebration of the anniversary dates of two ancient cities of Vladimir land: in 2018 - the 850th anniversary of Gorokhovets, in 2024 - the 1000th anniversary of Suzdal.