Sergiyev Posad

On Saturday I was able to take an unexpected "excursion" (road trip) to the city of Sergiyev Posad.  In this city there is a medieval monastery that we were able to tour.  The monastery was founded in 1345, and the first stone building was built in 1422.  For those of you who are not that good at history...I was touring buildings that were built 70 years before Columbus came to America.  Completely Amazing!

For more information, you can look here:  Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius.

I don't think my photos will be able to do it justice, but here are a few:

The main cathedral.  It was built by Ivan the Terrible.   The blue on the onion shaped domes signifies that it is dedicated to Mary.  The small building with the crowd out front is people who were in line for holy water.  (Small is a relative term, it was still at least two stories high!)  

Inside the Main Cathedral.  Every inch was painted in frescos that were painted about two hundred years before the USA became a country.  They are very dark from age, but completely incredible!

The Main Gate - entrance.  This had murals of the monastery's history throughout.  

This is the Refractory.  Inside was the monk's dining hall (fanciest dining hall I've ever seen!), and also a cathedral.  This was built by Peter the Great.  When he was a small boy his older sister tried to have him and his brother murdered so that she could rule the country.  He and his brother hid in this monastery during the night when the soldiers came through.  As an adult, he had this building built to thank them for saving his life. 

The inside of the Refractory.  This is where they would eat.  Incredible!  Up in the front was the cathedral. 

The Cathedral within the Refectory.  It is traditional for these five rows of paintings to be in the cathedrals at the main alter.  All are framed in carved wood from solid tree trunks and painted gold.  

There are several styles of art I see often in the cathedrals here.  This is one example.  It is gold and silver, and then the face and hands are behind the metal are painted.  

There are 12 cathedrals in this one monastery.  Some were damaged during the October revolution when the tzars were overthrown.