A three hour local-train ride away from Moscow is Suzdal - a provincial town with an absurd number of architectural and cultural jems. Unsurprisingly, it is popular with Russian and foreign tourists, though was anything but crowded.
The town had its own monastery, dozens of churches, and collossal walled complexes, the purpose of which we could only guess. Suzdal even has its own Kremlin, which is remarkable considering the small size of the town, but reflects its importance in the region historically.
There was also an open-air museum of wooden architecture, which had collected many 17-19th century buildings from the surrounding area. The churches were particularly spectacular.
They had a fantastic smell inside too, and were surprisingly warm and cosy. We spent some time sheltering from the cold wind and taking in the atmosphere.
Dani and I also found a peasant house that is almost exactly the scale of construction that we would one day like to build for ourselves - 8 metres by 5 metres internal dimensions.
During our stay, we were in our first paid accommodation for the trip, in a homely B&B housed in a wooden building typical of the town. It was the same price as we would have paid for two beds in Suzdal's hostel dorm, and was certainly more comfortable and friendly.
The embellishments on the house are commonplace in the area, and I got really excited about the carved wooden decorations around the windows, so decided to make a photo study of them. Below is a small selection of the pictures.
There was also an open-air museum of wooden architecture, which had collected many 17-19th century buildings from the surrounding area. The churches were particularly spectacular.
They had a fantastic smell inside too, and were surprisingly warm and cosy. We spent some time sheltering from the cold wind and taking in the atmosphere.
Dani and I also found a peasant house that is almost exactly the scale of construction that we would one day like to build for ourselves - 8 metres by 5 metres internal dimensions.
During our stay, we were in our first paid accommodation for the trip, in a homely B&B housed in a wooden building typical of the town. It was the same price as we would have paid for two beds in Suzdal's hostel dorm, and was certainly more comfortable and friendly.
The embellishments on the house are commonplace in the area, and I got really excited about the carved wooden decorations around the windows, so decided to make a photo study of them. Below is a small selection of the pictures.
