MOSCOW AND THE GOLDEN RING

The cities, cloisters, and churches that surround Moscow like a "Golden Ring" used to be the heart of Russian culture—until the October Revolution. Today, the bells of the churches can be heard chiming regularly once again, and the remaining cloisters and places of worship radiate their former splendor. This enlightening program visits the fascinating towns of the Golden Ring, including one, Susdal, that looks like it could be from a Russian fairy tale. In the Middle Ages, it was one of the most important cities in the world-larger than Paris or London-but now it has been relegated to depths of a Russian backwater. Yet, it is a typical Russian city with a Kremlin, churches, palaces, and fortified cloisters which defended the Orthodox faith at first against the Islamic Mongols, then later against the Catholic Swedes.