We’ve been driving our motorhome through north-eastern Europe and are now in Russia. Last week, we drove east out of Moscow onto the first part of Russia’s Golden Ring route of medieval towns, and it was amazing. This week, we drove the second part of the Ring route, and our first stop was at an impressive 17th century kremlin.
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| The impressive walls of medieval Rostov Veliky Kremlin, Russia |
We were in Rostov Veliky (Ростов Великий), a Russian town located on Lake Nero, around 210 km east of Moscow. Rostov dates back to 862 and is one of the oldest towns in Russia. We found the Rostov Kremlin sitting beside the lake and stopped to have a look.
The Kremlin contains some impressive ancient buildings and religious structures. Favourites included the Assumption Cathedral and the Resurrection Church, built over the northern entrance to the Kremlin.
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| Assumption Cathedral and bell tower (on right), Rostov Veliky Kremlin, Russia |
The Assumption Cathedral is particularly lovely. Built between the 12th and 16th centuries, its domes are made of tin tiles that shine like silver in the sunlight.
Next to the Cathedral is a domed belfry with 13 bells. Each bell has its own sound, from the biggest weighing 32 tons, to the smallest. Bellringing is an integral part of the cultural heritage here.
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| Marg outside the Hodegetria Icon Church, Rostov Veliky Kremlin, Russia |
We also liked the Baroque Hodegetria Icon Church. Tucked into a corner of the Kremlin, this 17th century church is painted in a 3-D diamond pattern.
Overall, there are 5 ‘museum’ churches inside this kremlin, and all are impressive. Some of the interiors are elaborately painted and decorated, although many of the frescoes are authentically faded and pitted by age.
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| Onion-domed religious buildings seen from the Rostov Veliky Kremlin, Russia |
We climbed the Kremlin’s wooden tower to get a view over the town, and could see so many onion-domes from there.
The high number of domes and religious buildings is because Rostov Veliky was a major cultural and political centre in medieval Russia, and one of the first spiritual centres of the Russian Orthodox Church.
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| The 5 domes of the Saviour-on-the-Market church from the Rostov Kremlin, Russia |
We visited a few of the religious buildings, including the 17th century five-domed Saviour-on-the-Market church; the 11th century Abraham Monastery, one of the oldest in Russia; the 17th century Spaso-Yakovlevsky Monastery and Cathedral with its beautiful frescoes, and the Dmitriev Cathedral.
We were a bit monastery and cathedral-ed out by the time we’d finished!
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| A street in Rostov Veliky, Russia |
Later, driving out of Rostov, we somehow got lost. Stopping at a fuel station for directions, a big rough looking man offered to help. He gave Leigh directions by hand, but when she repeated them to see if she had it right, he shook his head and said “nyeht!” (no). Then his arm suddenly flew out! We interpreted this as “follow me”. So we did.
Speeding off in this car, we tailed him on a circuitous route. Then he stopped and signalled to drive straight ahead - what a helpful man. We gave him a New Zealand pen but were not sure if he knew where we were from, as ‘New Zealand’ was written in English.
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| Transfiguration Cathedral (1152 AD), Pereslavl Zalessky, Russia |
Eventually we arrived in Pereslavl Zalessky (Переславль-Залесский), an old and small Russian rural town famous for its many monasteries and old churches. The most famous is the Transfiguration Cathedral dating back to 1152 AD, which is one of the oldest in Russia.
It’s built of two back-to-back rows of limestone - the outer and inner walls – carved to fit perfectly together. Although we’d seen a lot of monasteries up until now, we couldn’t resist a good look around Pereslavl Zalessky. There are six monasteries (4 active), and they were all close within the town.
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| Cathedral of the Nikolsky Women's Monastery, Pereslavl Zalessky, Russia |
One place we visited and loved, was the Nikolsky Women's Monastery. Founded in the 14th century, it contains several cathedrals and churches built over subsequent centuries. The 18th century St Nicholas Cathedral is the most beautiful. The gold domes on its roof are built in a pyramid shape.
We also visited the Danilovsky Monastery with the Church of Peter the Metropolitan, St. Simeon's Church, Vladimir’s Cathedral, and the Purification Church of Alexander Nevsky (all 16 to 18 century).
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| Goritsky Monastery, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Russia |
Another interesting place was the Goritsky Monastery. It was founded in the 12th century, and includes the Assumption Cathedral which has an interesting collection of historic art.
Later, visiting the local supermarket, we found Russian people were eager to help us, especially when we were trying to work out what we might really be eating! Some speak English but most don’t. Once again, our sign language and a smile worked wonders.
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| Leigh at the Refectory, Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius Monastery (UNESCO), Sergiev Posad, Russia |
Our next stop was Sergiev Posad (Се́ргиев Поса́д), famous for its Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius Monastery, the spiritual home of the Russian Orthodox Church and the holiest pilgrimage site in Russia. It was founded in 1337 and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
There are more than 50 buildings enclosed in the monastery’s 6 metre high and 3.5 metre thick walls. It is the largest of its kind in Russia, being a combination of a fortress and a monastery, and is still a functioning monastery for men.
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| Icon wall, Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius Monastery (UNESCO), Sergiev Posad, Russia |
There are some significant icons there and beautiful artworks, which we enjoyed seeing. It’s quite a mystical place, and provided a peek into Russia’s age-old belief system.
As we walked around, we saw lots of bearded priests; old ladies (babushkas) filling bottles with holy water; crowds of believers lighting candles; heaps of people kissing icons; and many Russian tourists.
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| Our lakeside camping spot in Sergiev Posad, Russia |
Later, not finding any camping grounds, we went looking for a safe place to park for the night. Then we spotted a campervan parked by a small lake so drove there to discover a friendly French family of Mum, Dad, three children and a dog. We settled in beside them, feeling safe there.
During the night, we were woken by a pitiful meowing and scratching, but it eventually stopped, and we gave it no more thought. The next morning, we drove through the Sergiev Posad township to have a quick look at the shops.
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| Shops on the main street of Sergiev Posad, Russia |
Houses and shops grew up around the monastery and by 1782, became the town of Sergiev Posad. It now supports a population of around 111,000.
Leaving Sergiev Posad, we heard a meowing noise. How can that be? Is it that cat in the Van? It sounded as though it had become our passenger; but where? After a search, Marg lifted the engine bonnet and there lying on the engine’s fuse box, was a black furry kitten keeping warm!
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| Relieved after the kitten ran out of Vanni’s bonnet, Sergiev Posad, Russia |
Upon reaching for it, the little blighter gave us a huge fright - he jumped up, shot down the side of the engine, down the front tyre, and was gone (we hoped)! After getting our heart-beat back to normal and checking thoroughly underneath Vanni hoping that kitty was ok, we headed off out of town, sans-kitten.
Shakily, we drove onwards, having now completed our tour of Russia’s Golden Ring. Our next stop is the town of Klin, but you can read about that in the next blog.
This blog describes part of our 6-month motorhome trip around northern and eastern Europe, which began in Prague.