russia: a moscow monastery and old house

I'm not sure how I got motivated on a Monday morning to go see something, but I did. Not surprisingly, I got started later than I should have, but oh well, life goes on. The place I wanted to see was just a small house, called Pogodinskaya Izba. 

The name doesn't really translate, other than izba meaning the word hut.

It's a cute, wooden house, painted blue. I suppose what makes it aesthetically interesting is that it's quite small, and is in the middle of a huge, international city.

There are two reasons people want to see this house, based on the google reviews. One, the house dates all the way back to 1856, which is pretty impressive in a city like Moscow. And two, famous writers like Tolstoy and Gogol have visited the house.

Pogodinskaya izba used to be a museum, but from what I can tell, it isn't much of anything anymore, just a blue, wooden house.

Even though I was running late in getting to school, I couldn't help but stop to take a photo of a random war memorial as I ran to the metro station.

The next day was Tuesday, which meant I had the afternoon off. I spent a couple hours at school doing random stuff, but then went to the metro and rode to a stop near Donskoy Monastery.

Donskoy Monastery dates back to the end of the 16^th century, when the first cathedral was consecrated.

Fun fact, years later another cathedral was built; designed by Ukrainian masons and artisans. Another fun fact: the frescoes in the 'new' cathdral were the first in Moscow to be painted by a foreigner, Antonio Claudio.

There are a couple other churches within the walls, I think. One of them seems to be mostly to house the mausoleum of someone, though it does have a small gold iconostasis in its lower level. I will admit to being really cold when I stepped into this church, so some of my time inside was simply to get feeling back in my fingers. 

The whole monastery is surrounded by brick walls, they're really impressive. To get into the property you walk through the base of the bell tower, which is plenty impressive all by itself.

The 20^th century was not a happy one for the monastery. The complex was closed after the October Revolution, in 1917. From 1922 - 1925 Patriarch Tikhon was held in the cloister after his arrest, and he chose to stay there after his release. He was later made a saint by the church, and his relics were found after his canonization, in 1989.

Wikipedia tells me some of the buildings in the monastery served as a penal colony for children. During the Communist years of 1930-1946 the church was closed for services and instead housed a factory. I haven't found a date when the monastery started functioning as a religious organization again, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was sometime in the '90s.

There is a large cemetery area inside the walls of the monastery, some of the grave markers were quite large. I would've walked through a bit more, but everything was still covered in snow. 

Some of those buried here include former noble families like Zubov and Galitzine. (No, I don't know those names, but maybe someone reading this does.) There are no communists buried within the walls, so the families of some Russian Whites decided to have their remains repatriated from other countries and reburied here. Apparently Solzhenitsyn wanted to be buried in this cemetery for the same reason, rather than Novodevichy cemetery, which is associated with Communism.

On my way back home I was 'happy' to see the police officers keeping everyone 'safe' in the metro.