Suzdal

The history of Suzdal is closely connected to that of Vladimir--it was a rival fiefdom in medieval times. Today it is quite a small city; in Soviet times, it was designated as a historical area, so growth and industry were prohibited and the buildings were kept in their original state. People do live there, so I assume they get a government pension to supplement their tourism income. (There is a large market and several small ones selling handicrafts to tourists plus some restaurants and museums.)

It is half an hour from Vladimir by local bus. We took a day trip there and simply walked around and took pictures. I've shown them below in no particular order.

These last two are of another "open-air museum of peasant architecture." Fine wooden buildings were moved here from elsewhere to preserve them properly. I liked it better than the one outside Novgorod because it is organized more like a real village rather than simply a cluster of buildings. For instance, there were small crops planted of traditional foods along with the associated granaries, stables, etc.

As with most Russian museums, it costs $5 more to take pictures, so the only pictures we took were from outside the walls.