Sergiev Posad is an ideal destination for a day trip.
One of the Golden Ring cities, it played a significant role in the formation of the Orthodox Church.
The most important religious institution in Russia is the World Heritage Site of Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. Here we explore the impressive architectural ensemble including the beautiful Monastery and Cathedral of the Assumption.
We also visit a Matreshka workshop and see first hand the making of the famous nesting dolls and take lunch with the walls of a working Monastery.
The Matreshka doll
We visit one of the Matreshka workshops where we see them being made by craftsmen, and then, we make our own souvenir Matreshka dolls.
Russian craftsmen used to create Easter eggs that were put inside each other.
In Japan there was a similar doll, the Daruma. Hollow, round and modelled after Bodidharma (the founder of the Zen sect of Buddhism) the Darum doll consisted of five pieces, one inside another.
The Russian artist Sergey Malutin took the principal idea and tasked the wood turner Zvezdochkin to create a new wooden shape and thus he created the future Matreshka doll.
On Zvezdochkin’s carving he drew a girl wearing a traditional dress, headscarf and holding a hen. The girl looked very sweet and everybody loved the toy.
They gave her the popular Russian name of the time “Matrena”. People changed it to Matreshka, the diminutive term.
Trinity Lavra is the biggest Monastery in modern Russia with 17 churches and 2 cathedrals
With the aid of an English speaking Monk you will enjoy a tour of the most beautiful and iconic set of buildings in Russia.
Walking in and around the Holy Spirit Church, the Assumption Cathedral , the Duck Tower and the majestic Belltower; buildings that date between the 15th and 18th Centuries , you are drawn in the wondrous world that was Old Russia.