Task I
Read the text and answer the questions:
Hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over Russia and abroad flock to Suzdal in every season, for this really unique medieval city is a true museum town with no equal for its relics illustrating virtually every chapter in the history of Russian art.
Suzdal, first mentioned in Russian chronicles in the early 11
century, was already then a major city on the Northeastern frontier of the
powerful state of Kievan Russia. By the mid-12 century, after Kiev
had lost its significance, Suzdal was the seat of the principality of
Rostov-Suzdal, and the centre of the early Russian architecture in white
stone; thus Prince Yuri Dolgoruki built at this time the white-stone church
of St. Boris and St. Gleb in his summer residence of Kideksha, four
kilometers from the city.
After neighbouring Vladimir gained prominence, Suzdal was incorporated
within the principality of Vladimir-Suzdal, celebrated for its peerless gems
of the 12 - 13 century architecture. Thus, built between 1222
and 1225 by local craftsmen within the citadel was the Nativity of the
Virgin Cathedral, whose architecture displays the novel underivative manner
so characteristic of early Muscovite art.
In the 13 century the Tatar Batu Khan and his hordes captured the
principality of Vladimir-Suzdal, put the city to fire and sword, and took
its craftsmen away into captivity.
When Suzdal came under the Grand Dukes of Muskovy in the late 14
century, it relinquished all political significance, to become but a major
religious centre. Intensive construction in white stone, interrupted during
the Tatar invasion, was revived.
The monasteries built in the 14 and 15 centuries as fortified
outposts way beyond the earthern ramparts of the citadel were originally of
wood, but in the early 16 century were replaced by stone structures.
Intensive construction was undertaken over the 14 - 17
centuries in the city itself. The monasteries were architecturally completed
and erected within the citadel were the Bishop's Chambers, a rare specimen
of the 17 century civil engineering.
The people of Suzdal have good reason to feel proud of their master masons
and also of such illustrious compatriots as the noted 14 century
chronicler Lavrenty, the great soldier and Russian national hero Prince
Dmitry Pozharsky, the Decembrist F. Shakhovsky, and the creator of Russian
porcelain, D. Vinogradov.
Thousands of people come to Suzdal to feast the eye upon its beauties, to delight in its quiet, or to gain some notion of the mysteries of its early architecture.
1. When was Suzdal first mentioned in the chronicles?
2. Is the date of its foundation known?
3. To what powerful state did it belong then?
4. What can be said about its significance in the 11 and early
12 centuries?
5. Of what principality was it the seat of in the 12 century?
6. What was Suzdal's role in the birth of old Russian architecture?
7. What mighty prince built his summer residence near Suzdal?
8. What is the Prince famous for?
9. What kind of architectural monuments were created in Suzdal in the
12 - 13 centuries?
10. Was brick or white stone mainly used?
11. To what principality did the town belong in the 13 century?
12. What enemies captured the town and put it to fire in the 13
century?
13. When was the Yoke overthrown?
14. When was intensive construction in white stone revived?
15. Did Suzdal ever become the seat of the principality?
16. Has it ever gained any political significance since that time?
17. Was intensive construction undertaken only in the citadel during the
14 - 17 centuries?
18. Does it still look a medieval city now?
19. What do its countless works of art illustrate?
Task II
Write out 10 - 12 most important sentences about the history of Suzdal?
