The Golden Gate - a monument of military architecture and the centre of the city defenses in the 12th century -houses the Military History Exhibition of the museum.

The central item of the exhibition is the diorama Decisive Assault of Vladimir by Batu Khan in February, 1238. It recreates in detail the scene of the siege and is accompanied by a light-and-music program, whose sound track is done in four languages.

Weapons from different periods can be seen here: 13th-century battle bolts of the Vladimir citadel cross-bow, a chain armor, battle axes and an arbalest of the early 17th century, flintlocks of the Suvorov’s army, a steel cuirass of the 1812 Patriotic War period, a Russian soldier’s uniform, regalia and captured Turkish arms of the late 19th century.

The names of such outstanding military leaders as Dmitry Posharsky, Alexander Suvorov, Peter Bagration and Nikolai Stoletov are connected with the region of Vladimir. Among the exhibits dedicated to them is, for instance, a portrait of Suvorov painted during his life-time, and a Minin and Posharsky bas-relief designed for a mausoleum on the grave of Prince Posharsky (the mausoleum was demolished in the 1930s).

The former upper defensive platform of the Golden Gate houses the Gallery of Heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia, representing materials about 160 heroes from the Vladimir region.

At the beginning of the Gallery there is a portrait of the famous pilot N. Kamanin, who was among the first to receive the Golden Star of Hero of the Soviet Union. His earphone helmet, navigation devices and photographs tell you about a legendary operation on rescuing the crew of the Chelyuskin icebreaker in 1934. On display in the Gallery are also personal belongings of military leaders and soldiers, renowned for their heroic deeds on the fronts of the World War II.

The exhibition also shows samples of small arms created during the war by outstanding designers from the town of Kovrov of the Vladimir region.

The Gallery is completed with the materials about those Vladimir citizens, who received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union after the war – a submariner V. Shishkin, test pilots I. Zhukov and A. Fastovets, a pilot and cosmonaut V. Kubasov, who took part in the joint Soviet-American Soyuz-Apollo space flight in 1975.

The last Hero of the Soviet Union among Vladimirers was F. Kuznetsov. Two times he was recommended for this award during the World War II, but received the title only in 1990 - 45 years after the war.