Fodor's Expert Review Cathedral of the Assumption

The huge, boxy outline and golden domes rise high above the Klyazma River. After a fire in 1185, the cathedral was rebuilt, only to burn down again in 1237 when the Mongols attacked the city. The town's residents took refuge in the church, hoping for mercy. Instead, the invaders burned them alive. The cathedral was again restored, and in 1408 the famous medieval painter Andrei Rublyov repainted the frescoes of the Last Judgment, which in themselves make this impressive monument worth a visit. Ivan the Great (1440–1505) had his architects use this cathedral as a model to build the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. The cathedral also houses a replica of Russia's most revered icon, the Virgin of Vladimir; the original was moved from here to Moscow in 1390. Andrei Bogolyubsky is entombed here.