Church of Boris and Gleb
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Kideksha
Kideksha is a village in Suzdalsky District of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kamenka and Nerl Rivers, east of Suzdal....
on the Nerl River
Nerl River (Klyazma)
The Nerl River is a river in the Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, and Vladimir Oblasts in Russia, a left tributary of the Klyazma River . The length of the river is . The area of its basin is . The Nerl River freezes up in November - December and stays under the ice until April. Its main tributary is the...
, "where the encampment of Saint Boris
Boris and Gleb
Boris and Gleb , Christian names Roman and David, respectively, were the first saints canonized in Kievan Rus' after the Christianization of the country....
had been". It was probably part of the princely (wooden) palace complex, but was only used by Dolgorukii for a few years before he left to become Grand Prince of Kiev in 1155. The village, four kilometers east of Suzdal, was an important town before it was destroyed by the Mongols and declined in stature.
The church, built in limestone probably by architects from Galicia, is a four-piered, three-apse church. It is one of the oldest in the district and one of the few churches built by Dolgorukii that is still extant. It retains fragments of frescoes dating back to the twelfth century. In the medieval period it was the site of a monastery and was then a parish church. The building has been significantly altered over the centuries. It lost its original vaulting and dome (the current roof and small dome date to the seventeenth century) and the apses are thought to be half their original height (their tops too were lost with the roof); a porch was added in the nineteenth century.
The church is a part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
"White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal
White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal
The White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal is the name of a World Heritage Site in Russian Federation. The patrimony embraces eight medieval limestone monuments of Zalesye:*The Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir ;...
" along with the seven other medieval monuments located in 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:...
and its surroundings (The Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Preserve), and belongs to the monuments of the Golden Ring of Russia
Golden Ring of Russia
The Golden Ring is a ring of cities northeast of Moscow, the capital of Russia. They formerly comprised the region known as Zalesye.These ancient towns, which also played a significant role in the formation of the Russian Orthodox Church, preserve the memory of the most important and significant...
.
The church, along with other structures built around it in later centuries - namely the St. Stephen's Church and bell-tower) appears on a three-ruble silver commemorative coin struck by the St. Petersburg Mint in 2002.