Walks Around Vladimir with Venichka Erofeev

10 points6 km1.5 hours

This walk around Vladimir is anything but typical. At every stop you'll find short stories about architecture and history — and the company of Venedikt Erofeev, the Russian writer who lived and wrote here. He is the author of the scandalous prose poem “Moscow–Petushki”, a bedside book for every Soviet and post-Soviet intellectual. The editors do not recommend or promote drinking alcohol.

Route author

Elena Andreeva

Things to do

📜 Learn the city's history
📚🎬 Recall films and books

Route points (10)

Vladimir Railway Station
🏟️ Architectural landmark · 🚂 Railway station
Vladimir Railway Station
Points will be available after purchasing the route
Patriarch's Garden
🌿 Public garden or park

Patriarch's Garden in Vladimir

Point on route “Walks Around Vladimir with Venichka Erofeev”

Point 10

Patriarch's Garden

🌿 Public garden or park

Cherry Orchards

Tourists who come to Vladimir for its famous cathedrals often make a pleasant discovery: the Patriarch's Garden, one of the most poetic corners of the city. Just a few minutes' walk from the center, you find yourself on a steep slope where green terraces step down to the river, with plenty of soft grass (in summer, of course). The garden dates back to the late 16th century. It was laid out at the Monastery of the Nativity of the Mother of God as a place for the clergy to rest. Fruit was grown here, but the garden was famous above all for its local cherry varieties, which later became the region's calling card. Legend has it that Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky started the famous Vladimir cherry, and a monument to this symbol of the city stands at the garden entrance.

Thoughts on Worldly Things

If you've come in the warm season and the weather is calling you outdoors, don't forget to bring a copy of “Moscow–Petushki” to read on a bench. Where else should you read it, if not in the shade of cherry trees? And if after the chapter “Serp i Molot – Karacharovo” you can't sit still either, it's all up to you: you're almost in the center, and there are plenty of cozy, pretty places to eat nearby. Enjoy your meal! In that chapter, Venichka shows the Lord what he has — a bottle of cheap pink fortified wine — and asks whether this is really what his soul longs for. The Lord answers with a question of His own: why did St. Teresa need her stigmata? She didn't need them, but she desired them. Delighted, Venichka agrees that it's just the same with him: he desires it, but doesn't need it at all. He waits to see whether the Lord will say anything more, but the Lord stays silent.