Today my hosts hired a car and again provided a translator (a young lady named Olga who also translated my power point lecture yesterday) so I could go for a day out into the countryside. We went up to one of the towns in the "Golden Circle" - Sergiyev Posad – and our destination was the Trinity Lavra (Monastery) of St. Sergius which is the most important Russian monastery and the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church.
As soon as we entered the compound, Alexander appeared and offered to be my English language tour guide for "donations". So we agreed to use his services, and got a tour of the several structures, in English and Russian.
I was able to take photos everywhere but in the most sacred room, where the silver casket of St Sergius is up in an alter-like setting. There were a few ladies singing beautiful acapella chants in harmony, which gave a mystical ambiance right away. The room was only lit by candles in colored glass chandeliers. The worshipers lined up to mount the steps and kiss the silver casket, their faces lit by candlelight. The time-darkened 15th century icon paintings added to the mystical quality of the chapel. Alexander encouraged me to join the queue to kiss the casket, which I did, but I just touched my forehead to the relic. Yes his remains are inside beneath a glass cover, but the relic is tastefully covered in a bright green brocade. I have to say that when I got close to the casket I felt a powerful energy, which seemed to be the focused energy of all the worshipers who were kneeling, praying, and chanting towards the saint's remains. Definitely a sacred spot.
Then we waited at a side door to go down into a golden antechamber with the interred remains of St Nikon. Appropriately, since photos were allowed in this room, I took a photo of St Nikon's icon painting with my Nikon camera. Several beautiful icon paintings were set in rich gilt-covered decorative panels, in this opulent room.
After hearing lots of stories about the history of Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, Boris Godunov and Empress Elizabeth here, we filled up bottles with sacred water from the sacred spring (said to have healed a visiting Japanese emperor's ulcer) and went for lunch.
We ended up down the road a bit, after trying a hotel restaurant that was closed because the cook was ill. So we ended up at the Refectory Chamber Restaurant which recreated several frescoes from the monastery, on the walls of the dining room.
After a long drive back to Moscow in the rain – an hour in the countryside and another hour driving in traffic in Moscow – we met up with our host at a Ukrainian restaurant and had one more special meal together.
I returned to the hotel in the rain, and am preparing to start the tour part of this trip. Tomorrow morning – The Kremlin!
Just a suggestion—have you seen the t-shirts for the Russian Olympics? The ones I saw were a patchwork motif that was fabulous—very quilt-like. Why don’t you buy some to sell in the e-store? But please, if you like this idea, give me first dibs! I really want one of those shirts!
My husband and I have just returned from a cruise which visited St. Petersburgh. What a magnificent city and we loved the Hermitage! so much art and precious works and the decor has to be seen to be believed! Gorgeous churches and scenery to die for! Definately a lot of ideas for quilts from our visit.