The Golden Gates of Vladimir

Vladimir

Vladimir is a city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River, to the east of Moscow along the M7 motorway. Population:...

 , constructed between 1158 and 1164, are the only (albeit partially) preserved instance of the ancient Russian city gate

City gate

A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. Other terms include port.-Uses:City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods and animals...

s. A museum inside focuses on the history of the Mongol invasion of Russia in the 13th century.

The Golden Gates existed in the holiest cities of Eastern Orthodoxy

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...

 - Jerusalem, Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

, and Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

. On making Vladimir his capital, Andrew the Pious aspired to emulate these structures, commissioning a lofty tower over the city's main gate to be erected in limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 and lined with golden plaques. According to ancient Russian chronicles, the masons were invited from Friedrich Barbarossa. The main arch used to stand 15 meters tall. The structure was topped with a barbican

Barbican

A barbican, from medieval Latin barbecana, signifying the "outer fortification of a city or castle," with cognates in the Romance languages A barbican, from medieval Latin barbecana, signifying the "outer fortification of a city or castle," with cognates in the Romance languages A barbican, from...

 church dedicated to the Deposition of the Virgin's Robe and symbolizing the Theotokos

Theotokos

Theotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...

's protection of Andrew's capital.

The gates survived the Mongol destruction of Vladimir in 1237. By the late 18th century, however, the structure got so dilapidated that Catherine the Great was afraid to pass through the arch for fear of its tumbling down. In 1779, she ordered the detailed measurements and drawings of the monument to be executed. In 1795, after many discussions, the vaults and barbican church were demolished. They constructed two flanking round towers in order to reinforce the structure and then reconstructed the barbican, following the drawings made in 1779.

Literature

• Prof. Sergey Zagraevsky
  Sergey Zagraevsky
  Professor Dr. Sergéy Zagraévsky is a well-known Russian-Jewish painter, architectural historian, writer and theologian.- Biography :...
  
  . Redetermination of the reconstruction of Golden Gate in Vladimir. Chapter from the book "New researches of Vladimir-Suzdal museum’s architectural monuments". Moscow, 2008.