Yuryev-Polsky

Yuryev-Polsky lies northwest of Vladimir in a region of open fields. Its name recalls Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, traditionally credited with founding the town in 1152, and distinguishes it by its setting among the fields. Its earthen ramparts and the Cathedral of Saint George bear witness to its early princely history.

The town was the center of a principality from 1212 into the middle of the fourteenth century. The cathedral was rebuilt in 1230–1234, before the Mongol invasion; the town was captured in 1238 and suffered further devastation in 1382 and 1408. In the sixteenth century Moscow's rulers assigned Yuryev as a source of revenues to Tatar service princes. Polish-Lithuanian troops devastated the town in 1612 during the Time of Troubles. Its churches and monastery preserved a visible connection to its earlier history.