Sergiev Posad is the only city in the Moscow region that is part of the “Golden Ring”. In its center is the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, a beautiful Orthodox monastery, whose architectural ensemble is included in the UNESCO List of Cultural Heritage Sites. Millions of tourists from different countries come here every year. We will tell you about the main attractions of the city that you can explore over the weekend.
Sergiev Posad is one of the 8 cities included in the Golden Ring tourist route. Spending a weekend in this city will be interesting for anyone interested in the history of Russia.
- Round train tickets from Moscow from 350 rubles*
- 1 night in a hostel – from 400 rubles* or in a 3* hotel – from 1,000 rubles*.
- The average bill in a cafe is 400 rubles.
- Walks around the city, travel on public transport, souvenirs – 1000 rubles.
1. Trinity-Sergius Lavra
Photo: @a.krikunovaa/@melanykefirkina/Instagram.com
Trinity-Sergius Lavra is a functioning monastery located in the very center of Sergiev Posad. In 1340 it was founded by St. Sergius of Radonezh, who blessed Prince Dmitry Donskoy for the Battle of Kulikovo.
From the railway and bus stations to the Lavra, you can conveniently quickly walk along the picturesque Sergievskaya Street to the observation deck with the best view of the Lavra. And from there it’s just a stone’s throw to the monastery.
The monastery houses the Trinity Cathedral, built in 1423, where the relics of St. Sergius rest. To venerate one of the most revered saints in Russia, people come hundreds and thousands of kilometers away. On the central square of the monastery there is a large five-domed Assumption Cathedral, founded in 1559 at the behest of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, and a bell tower built in 1770.
Address: Sergiev Posad, Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius
Lavra website: stsl.ru
Free entry
2. Monuments
Photo: @blinnayagora/Instagram.com
There are quite a lot of monuments in Sergiev Posad. The first of them can be seen right on Station Square, where Savva Ivanovich Mamontov, a Russian entrepreneur and philanthropist, is depicted in bronze, thanks to whom the city was connected by rail to Moscow in 1862. On Pancake Hill, near the observation deck, a memorial sign was erected in honor of the 700th anniversary of St. Sergius, which was celebrated in 2014. On Krasnogorskaya Square near the walls of the monastery there is a monument to Sergius of Radonezh, and opposite, on the other side of the road, there is a monument to his parents, Saints Cyril and Mary.
Here on the right side of the square you can see the monument to Vladimir Lenin (installed in 1925). In addition to its location near the walls of the Orthodox monastery, it is notable for the fact that the sculptor Sergei Merkurov made it based on the death mask of the leader, that is, the bronze figure has a real resemblance to the original.
3. Museums
Photo: Art-Baza Gallery/© Dmitry Malyshev/www.dmitry-malyshev.com
Sergiev Posad Historical and Art Museum-Reserve is located in several buildings in the central part of the city. Its collection includes more than 110 thousand exhibits from the 14th to the 21st centuries.
The sacristy of the Lavra, where precious church utensils are kept, is currently under reconstruction, but some exhibits of its unique collection can be seen in the “Horse Yard” museum complex. In the main building of the museum there is a central exhibition hall, where exhibitions of artists from Sergiev Posad, Moscow and other cities periodically replace each other.
In the local history building you can learn a lot about the modern history of the city from the end of the 19th century to the present. Among private cultural projects, we note the “Art Base” – a modern art gallery where exhibitions of paintings and photographs, meetings with authors, and creative evenings are held (Club Street). The “Once upon a time” museum of peasant life, located in a private house on Valovaya Street, is also interesting.
Sergiev Posad Museum-Reserve website: museum-sp.ru
Website of the gallery “Art-baza”: artbaza.net
4. Cafes and restaurants
Photo: Landau Cafe/@liba_uliba/@coconova/Instagram.com
For tourists tired of impressions, it makes sense to look into the cafes and restaurants located opposite the Lavra on Karl Marx Street (recently renamed Patriarch Pimen Street). Cafe “Pirosmani” is attractive for lovers of Georgian cuisine. The Peking Garden restaurant will be appreciated by those who prefer Chinese dishes. There is also a pizzeria Mario Pizza, a cafe serving European and Russian cuisine “Brynza”, decorated in the Soviet style “Varenichnaya No. 9”. Young people will love the Landau cafe, where nanochebureks and draft beer are served in an interior inspired by a 1950s physics laboratory.
Social network page of the cafe “Pirosmani”
Social network page of the Brynza cafe
Page on the social network “Varenichnaya No. 9”
Page on the social network “Landau”
Website of the restaurant “Beijing Garden”
Pizzeria Mario Pizza website
5. Walks
Photo: @olejnik_oleg/Instagram.com
You can take a walk around the Lavra and the adjacent Pafnutyev Garden (belongs to the monastery, closed to the public) with the Kelarsky ponds (skating rinks are open on them in winter). In the central part of Sergiev Posad, sidewalks are being widened for tourists and travel routes are being thought out, so walking here is convenient and pleasant. Lovers of fresh air will enjoy the city park “Skitskie Prudy”, located on Vifanskaya Street. From there it’s a stone’s throw to the Gethsemane-Chernigov monastery. Here, under the main temple, there is a cave open to the public.
6. Gethsemane-Chernigov monastery
Photo: @janetancheva/@viola1371/Instagram.com
Built at the end of the 19th century, the monastery is located on the outskirts of modern Sergiev Posad. In 1847, the famous Moscow holy fool Filippushka decided to settle a few kilometers from the Lavra and built himself an underground cell. Gradually, monks began to join him, seeking solitude. Over the course of several decades, the monastery grew; by the end of the century, a beautiful brick fence with turrets, a large Chernigov temple, and a high bell tower were built. Under the temple today there is a cave compartment – another church with an altar, located underground. Excursions are organized for pilgrims and tourists.
Address: Gethsemane Ponds street, 1
Skeet website: skit-chernigovsky.ru
7. Evening cultural life
Photo: Dmitry Zaichikov, Dubrava Cultural Center
Sergiev Posad is a small city, but it has a real, good professional theater. It is better to get to the Theater Ark by taxi (the average price in the city is 130 rubles). In addition to the usual work in the summer, in June, the All-Russian theater festival “At the Trinity” takes place here: spectators have a rare opportunity to watch performances from all over the country in one place.
There is an excellent jazz cafe in the Dubrava cultural and educational center. Musicians from Russia, the USA, Switzerland, Norway, Brazil, Germany and other countries regularly perform on its stage from September to June. It is also better to go to Dubrava by taxi.
The Theater Ark website: teatr-kovcheg.ru
Website of the cultural and cultural center “Dubrava”: radubrava.ru
* Prices for travel and accommodation are indicated at the time of writing. The cost indicated in the material and the final price may vary depending on the season and time for which tickets are purchased.
Text author: Svetlana Komina
Preview photo: Shutterstock.com
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