Sergiyev Posad

The Golden Ring — Sergiyev Posad

The journey around the Golden Ring of Russia begins at Sergiyev Posad, located 75 km from the capital. Sergiyev Posad is the only city in the Moscow Region that is included in the Golden Ring. The city is firmly connected with the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh, who founded the Trinity-Sergius Lavra here. Now it is the largest monastery in Russia, the greatness of which began with a small church cell built by the ascetic brothers Bartholomew and Stefan.

The Lavra Ensemble includes more than 50 buildings and is one of the most interesting attractions of the Golden Ring. The authors of the project of the new Yaroslavl museum "The Golden Ring” show-model recreated Sergiyev Posad in miniature. You can get acquainted with the models of cities on the museum’s website. Or better – come and see it live!

Cities of the Golden Ring of Russia and their attractions — Sergiyev Posad

The cities of the Golden Ring of Russia and their sights annually attract more than 300 thousand tourists, and the foreigners even make the greater part of them. Due to transport accessibility, this tour is also popular with the Moscovites who plan trips to ancient cities on New Year's holidays and summer vacations.

The white-stone walls of the monasteries with golden domes for centuries have been keeping the secrets of the Russian history.

The foundation of Sergiyev Posad dates back to 1337, its history is strongly connected with the name of Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy, who received the blessing of Sergius here. This city is called the Spiritual Heart of Russia, and Ivan the Terrible was baptized here.

So what are the sights in the city of Sergiyev Posad?

The very first construction of the ensemble of the monastery of Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is the Trinity Cathedral made of white stone. Built in 1422, it is an example of Moscow white-stone architecture of the 14-15th centuries. The iconostasis of the Trinity Cathedral is the work of icon painters Andrei Rublev and Daniil Cherny, famous for their craftsmanship.
Representatives of the noble families of Russia drove through the Holy Gates, the main entrance to the Trinity Lavra. Now the gates are open to all tourists every day. The Red Tower is standing proudly above them.
The Baptist Church, erected at the personal expense of the merchant Grigoriy Stroganov in 1699, was consecrated in honor of St. John the Baptist. The church is a bright representative of the Stroganov sub-style of the Moscow Baroque style. The church has preserved a tiled oven of the 17th century.
The Healing Spring was accidentally discovered during the repairs of 1644. Later a chapel was built over it.

Sergiyev Posad is one of the most interesting places to visit as part of a tour around the cities of the Golden Ring of Russia. The largest operating bell that weighs 72 tons can be found in Sergiyev Posad. The city was honored by a visit of Alexandre Dumas in 1858. Théophile Gautier also spent several days here.

What to see in Sergiyev Posad

There are sights to visit in Sergiyev Posad apart from the religious ones.

The Toy Museum is located in a century-year-old mansion. Toys from Germany, France, England and Switzerland are stored here. But the museum is famous for the exhibition of toys that belonged to the children of Emperor Nicholas II. There is a hypothesis that the first traditional Russian nesting dolls appeared precisely in Sergiyev Posad.
The first building of the Krasnogorsk shopping malls, built in 1902, was burned down in the fire of 1920. And the modern building was completely renovated in 2014.
The old monastery hotel, the oldest of the city's hotels, stands on the banks of the White Pond. The hotel building was erected in 1822 at the direction of Lavra Filaret, but the revolution of 1917 completely destroyed the building.
In 1920, the former stables were turned into the Museum complex "Horse Yard" and now keep a number of valuable objects from the Lavra.
The history of the Pafnutievsky garden dates back to the 17th century. There used to be a greenhouse, where the monks were engaged in the growing of peaches, grapes, strawberries and other fruit.
In ancient times, barns with millstones were standing at the Kelar pond. During the time of the power of the Soviets, they tried to rename the pond into the First Public one. The Kelar pond is one of the few preserved and cared for. Most of the dams defending the Lavra from enemies were drained.
Opened in 2015, the exhibition hall “Bells of Russia” immediately became the calling card of the city.

In 1954, the House of Artists was built for lovers of painting and photography. It hosts a variety of exhibitions, in which, in addition to paintings, you can meet the works of talented masters of graphics and photography.

You can go to one of the cities of the Golden Ring of Russia for a weekend. Sergiyev Posad is the closest to Moscow, so you can get there by local train, long-distance train or even by car with fellow travellers. Travel time by train will be about 1,5 hours.