russia: sergiev posad again

One of the best day trips Claire and I did during our first year in Moscow was to a small town called Sergiev Posad, about 80 kilometers slightly northeast of Moscow. The town (which has a surprising population of just over 110,000,) exists because a large monastery was built there, the Trinity Lavra.

The monastery was established (according to Wikipedia,) in 1337. It is still one of the biggest monasteries in the entire country, though I don't know if that means by size or by number of people living/working in the monastery. Another Wikipedia page tells me there are more than 300 monks working here.

Like most monasteries, this one started out as a simple (wooden) church, with other buildings added over time, including protective walls. It is named for St Sergius, (who is the patron saint of the Russian state. Apparently the way this monastery started and continued to grow was a model for the followers of St Sergius, they went on to build 400 other similar monasteries around the country.

The monastery was closed from 1920 to 1946, mainly because the Soviet government was not a fan of religious institutions other than the state itself. Stalin allowed the monastery to reopen in 1946, and it was the seat of the Moscow patriarchate until 1983, when that designation moved to a monastery in Moscow.

I really like the ceiling in the main church of the monastery, and I love the way light comes through the windows of this particular church.

It was easy for us to catch an elektrichka to the town; since Claire and I knew where to go it was much easier than our first visit. The weather was also better, which always makes a difference.

We walked around the grounds, looking in every building we could. Claire and I saw the onion domes of the church in the middle and felt as if the paint had faded in the last year, the blue didn't seem as bright as we remembered.

After walking all over the monaster we walked up the main street in town, going a little further than we had the year before. I finally took a picture of a mural on the side of a building, it was quite pretty.

We also took a team photo with a bust of Lenin, something I don't think we did during our first visit to Sergiev Posad. Come to think of it, I don't think we even noticed the bust of Lenin at all during our first visit.

In keeping with copying our first visit, we went back to the same cafe. I was keen to have more of the best fruit tea I've ever had, and we were hungry. I ended up ordering way too much food, but I don't regret it.

After eating and drinking we kept walking, heading to a new part of town. I'd spied another church spire, it made me curious. The church ended up being more picturesque inside than outside, (though not well lit, and quite dusty,) I'm always going to want to check out a church when I see one.

We went back to the train station and didn't have to wait long for the next train back to Moscow. Now that I've seen Sergiev Posad twice, in two different types of weather, I doubt I'll return.