The church, consecrated in the name of St. Prince Vladimir
Equal-to-the-Apostles, was built in 1785 in the area of the city
cemetery, which occupied the lands of the previously existing
Bogoroditsky Monastery.
Until the beginning of the 80s of the
18th century, Vladimir did not have a common city cemetery. Due to
the onset of an epidemic of a deadly "pestilence", a decision was
nevertheless made to equip the cemetery.
The Prince Vladimir
Church is located on the eastern side of modern Vladimir, namely on the
old city cemetery. Today it is a building, on the western side of which
there is a high three-tiered bell tower, furnished with late tents on
the northern and southern sides.
Initially, the church building
was the main volume, covered with a large vault with several slopes
under a metal roof, which was topped with an onion cupola. On the east
side, a single-part apse belongs to the volume, and on the west side - a
refectory room under a metal gable roof.
The main volume is
represented by a square, on the eastern side of which there is a faceted
apse; on the western side there is a refectory room in the form of a
rectangle, to which the rectangular tier of the bell tower adjoins. As
for the spatial and volumetric composition, the main volume is clearly
distinguished here, as well as a powerful three-tiered bell tower.
The church volume is a pillarless two-height quadrangle, which has
ceilings in the form of a four-tray closed vault with a small exit into
the drum.
Throughout the Vladimir Church, the floors are made of
wood and painted. The wall covering is made in the form of a plaster
base intended for painting. The first tier has large rectangular window
openings, equipped with wide slopes. Window openings are represented by
wooden frames and metal bars in the form of a "wave". The doorway on the
south side has a rectangular shape, while the doors are wooden, paneled
and double-sided; metal doors on the outside.
The apse is
connected to the main volume by means of a large arched opening. The
floor covering in the apse is wooden, painted. The wall covering is made
as a plaster base and is intended for painting. The existing window
openings are presented with wide slopes and resemble an onion in shape.
There are formwork above the window openings. The windows are equipped
with wooden frames and metal bars.
The refectory room has a
connection with the main volume in the form of a high arched opening.
Its ceiling is made with the help of a box vault with strippings, which
are elegantly decorated with stucco and rest on two pillars, also
decorated with stucco. In the refectory, the flooring is made of slabs,
and the walls are covered with plaster. The windows have a rectangular
shape and wide slopes, and their fillings are presented in the form of
double wooden frames, equipped with metal bars and uncomplicated
geometric ornaments.
From the west, the refectory room is
connected to the tents and the bell tower. The first tier of the bell
tower is equipped with a cross vault. The wall covering is designed as a
plaster base and is intended for painting. The floor is covered with
ceramic tiles. From the west side there is a rectangular doorway.
Doorways are wooden.
The building of the Prince Vladimir Church
is made of red brick, which is fixed on lime mortar, after which it is
plastered.
As for the decorative design of the architectural
monument, it reflects the elements of the Baroque style and traditional
classicism, clearly represented in the apse, which has a faceted shape,
which was typical for the second half of the 18th century. On the south
and north sides of the church, where the doorways are located, there are
decorations that imitate profiled triangular fronts.
The space
that surrounds the cemetery is surrounded on all four sides by a fence,
partially preserved to our time. It has an ordinary structure, which
includes pillars with decoration in the form of tented completions and
niches.