[singlepic id=717 w=320 h=240 float=left] On my second to last day in Moscow, Alena and I decided to go for a day-trip to Sergiev Posad. Sergiev Posad is one of the “Golden Ring” towns, and is only about an hour and a half away from Moscow. For about 100 Roubles, you can get a one-way ticket. Already the train ride was quite interesting.

Instead of tele-shopping, all you need to do in Russia is travel with a local or regional train – you can get anything on those trains. Usually guys present you with the tools you may need to handle your live – starting with knives over to shoe polish, lamps or massage balls. This way, the train ride never gets boring!

Sergiev Posad is famous for its monastery Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra, which was founded in 1345 by one of the most venerated Russian saints, Sergius of Radonezh. The monastery is until today the mos important spiritual centre of the russian-orthodox church. It is famous for its golden and blue domed churches.

As a religious and cultural centre, which is since 1993 on the Unesco World Heritage List, it attracts a lot of tourists and pilgrims. Most famous is the small trinity chapel, which was built in 1422 and hosts the grave of Saint Sergius. Ìn a small chapel you can get fresh water, which is said to have healing powers.

The monastery also hosts the worls largest church bell. It weighs 72t and is 4.5 meters high and was instlled in 2004. After the October Revolution led byLenin, the monastery was closed in 1919, but it was returned to the church in 1946 by Stalin. Until 1988 it was the seat of the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, before the Patriarch returned to Moscow. This shows the importance of the monastery for the Russian Orthodox Church.

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In any case, the many chapels and churches of the monastery, with their wonderful icons are definately worth a day trip. And if you are so lucky, to have such wonderful weather as we had, it will be a lasting experience. But look for yourself !