It was 9am when the train pulled into Moscow rail station. Waiting outside was a coach which would be our transport for the next few days.
We drove through Moscow and on to Sergiev Posad about 70 miles North East of Moscow. We are here to visit to visit Trinity Lavra one of.the most important religious centres in the country. This Lavra (senior monastery) was founded in 1340 by St Sergius and went on to become the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox church.
The Lavra monastery
The entrance into the complex is through this arch which is decorated with friezes
At the heart of the monastery is the gold domed Trinity Cathedral. Built in 1423 it is the oldest surviving building. Within the southeastern corner of the church a memorial service for St Sergius goes on all day every day. The inside is festooned with icons.
The Cathedral of the Assumption was finished in 1585 with money left by Ivan the Terrible in a fit of remorse for killing his son.
Nearby is the Chapel-at-the-well built over a spring that is said to have appeared during the Polish seige of 1608-10
The five tier baroque bell tower is the highest in Russia at 88m. It once had 42 bells, the largest of which weighed 65 tonnes.
A number of options for lunch but I went with D and P to the Pilgrims' restaurant where I had soup, bread and salad for 140R (£2). It was made by the monks and tasted delicious.
In the afternoon we went to an art and crafts studio for a Matryoshka painting session.
Thankfully they were pre drawn so we just had to paint them.
We thoroughly enjoyed the session.
My finished matrostoshka
We were all pleased with the results. We all came away proudly holding our dolls.
In the evening we all went to a Georgian restaurant. Delicious red wine and food. But once again I made a mistake with my drink order.. I thought I had asked for a large glass of wine but this horn of wine arrived! What you can't see from this photo is that the glass has a serrated edge so as I drank from it some of the wine didn't make it to the mouth and just dribbled down my chin!
The monastery is quite impressive!
ReplyDeleteWow what amazing buildings. What a difference in architecture with that of the communist 60's. It is so good these were not destroyed when religion was banned.
ReplyDeleteTalk about ornate! Wow! And your monastery lunch does look delicious. I laughed about the horn of wine. Loved this post. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe interior of that first church dazzels me, a bit too much! Good they have the monuments well preserved.
ReplyDeleteThat Cathedral was amazing and glad you could take photos. The matrostoshka dolls looked fun to paint. Yours was adorable and glad you could keep them.
ReplyDeleteThat horn of wine was a hoot. Who would have thought?
What a lot of gold and precious stones adorn those churches. It's surprising they survived the Soviet period. Weren't monasteries closed then?
ReplyDeleteAnd your doll - did it have smaller ones inside? You did a wonderful job painting it.
Trinity Cathedral is quite severe on the outside, but the icons inside are totally spectacular and over the top!
ReplyDeleteTha Cathedral is wonderful... so glad these beautiful buildings were not lost to political strife.
ReplyDeleteWhat gorgeous churches and cathedral. The architectural details are exquisite.
ReplyDeleteWow - stunning!
ReplyDeleteStaff no doubt amused by the English woman dribbling wine. I think you did really well with your doll.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful buidlings. I'm sure the painting workshop was a nice way to relax after all the travelling and sight seeing and with all that wine I expect you slept well.
ReplyDeleteI’m really enjoying reading about your trip to Russia (and looking at your photos)!
ReplyDeleteThe church with lots of gold was quite impressive. The food always looks delicious and the horn of wine must have been quite an experience. Who would have guessed....