Bogolyubovo is the former residence of Prince
Andrei Bogolyubsky. Bogolyubovo (under the original name Bogolyuby)
was founded in 1158 by order of Prince Andrey in this place, since
the Nerl connected the Oka basin with the upper Volga basin. The
founding of Bogolyubov was associated by the clergy with the legend
about the appearance of the Mother of God to Prince Andrei: when
Prince Andrei was carrying the icon of the Mother of God from
Vladimir to Rostov, 10 km before Vladimir, the horses stood up, and
no means could make them go further. At this place we spent the
night. That night the appearance of the Mother of God took place,
and on this very place the Bogolyubovo and Bogolyubsky Monasteries
were founded.
Under Prince Andrei, Bogolyubovo became a city
with a permanent population, self-government, trade, crafts,
militia, posad, etc., that is, the actual capital of North-Eastern
Russia.
Research by Sergei Zagraevsky showed that in
pre-Mongol times the city was surrounded by not one, but two
contours of fortifications. The inner contour - fully or partially
white-stone fortifications with a perimeter of about 1.5 km. The
outer contour is wood-earth fortifications with a perimeter of about
2.9 km. Inside the white-stone city fortifications there was a
white-stone palace-temple complex ("castle") of Prince Andrey
Bogolyubsky.
To estimate the size of Bogolyubov under Andrei,
you can compare them with the size of other ancient Russian cities:
Kiev (the city of Yaroslav) - the perimeter of the fortifications is
about 3.5 km, Smolensk (the city of Rostislav) - about the same.
Pereslavl-Zalessky - 2.5 km, Vladimir (Monomakhov, or Pecherny,
city) - also about 2.5 km, Yuryev-Polsky - 2 km, Suzdal - 1.4 km. In
Dmitrov, Yaroslavl (Rubleny Gorod) and Przemysl Moskovsky - about 1
km, in Zvenigorod and Moscow (fortress of 1156) - about 800 m.Thus,
Bogolyubovo was one of the largest cities not only in North-Eastern
Russia, but also in all-Russian standards.
Bogolyubov's
growth stopped after the death of Andrei Bogolyubsky. In 1177
Bogolyubovo was ravaged and plundered by the Ryazan prince Gleb,
after the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars, the city finally lost its
former significance. In the 17th-19th centuries, significant
monastic construction was carried out in its central part.
After the 1917 revolution, the monastery was closed. In 1992, the
monastery was revived. Since 1997, there have been two monasteries
in Bogolyubov - male and female.
From 1945 to 1965,
Bogolyubovo was the center of the Vladimirsky district, from 1965 -
as part of the Suzdal district. In 1960 it received the status of an
urban-type settlement; since January 1, 2006 - the administrative
center of the Bogolyubovsky rural settlement.
To this day,
earthen ramparts, ditches and the lower parts of the walls and
pillars of white-stone fortifications, the remains of the castle: a
passage on semicircular arches and a square white-stone tower with a
spiral staircase, as well as the basement of the Church of the
Nativity of the Virgin (1158-1165), on which a tiered church (1751,
baroque). The gateway to the Assumption Church-bell tower and cells
were built in the 19th century. The Cathedral of the Bogolyubov Icon
of the Mother of God in the Byzantine-Russian style was built in
1866 by the architect Konstantin Ton. 1.5 km from Bogolyubov is the
Church of the Intercession on the Nerl. The architectural monuments
of Bogolyubov are under the jurisdiction of the Vladimir-Suzdal
Historical, Artistic and Architectural Museum-Reserve.
Overview of mentions of the city from early sources
The first
Novgorod chronicle: “In the summer of 6663. Coming from Kiev, the
merry and Christ-loving prince of the great Andrei Yuryevich,
without his father's command, lifted Kuchkovichi's flattery, and
erected the city of Bogolyubov, and promised the Holy Mother of God
the life-giving stones ... in the name of the holy Mother of God,
and create a city and call its name: this is a place loved by God. "
Novgorod Fourth Chronicle: "Year 6666 ... and lay the City of
God-loving."
The Vladimir chronicler: "In the summer of 6666 ...
This prince Ondreya Bogolyubovnyi hail with screech, put that church
in stone. The Nativity of the Holy Mother of God on the Klyazma
river ... and build a monastery."
A short Vladimir chronicler:
“And then Andrey Yuryevich came from Kiev and cut the Bogolyubov
city and scrub, and put two stone churches, and stone gates, and
chambers.”
Russian chronicler: "In the summer of 6666 ... And
then Andrei Yuryevich came from Kiev and cut the Bogolyubovny city
and screech, and put up two churches and stone gates and chambers."
The Ipatiev Chronicle: "He created a stone city named Bogolyuby,
just as far away as Vyshegorod from Kiev, and God-loving from
Volodymyr."
"This noble and Christ-loving Prince Andrew will be
like Tsar Soloman, as the house of the Lord God and the Church of
the glorious Holy Mother of God of the Nativity in the middle of the
city, creating a stone with Bogolyub and surprise you more than all
churches ... and build this church in your memory."
Prayer of
Daniel the Zatochnik: "Zane, master, to whom God-loving, but fierce
grief to me"