Sergiyev Posad is the monastery town, it is impossible to come here and not to visit the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. Lavra is the largest active Orthodox monastery in Russia, being until 1980 a residence of patriarch. It was founded in 1345 as Trinity monastery by the son of Rostov boyar-nobleman, Bartholomew, who took monastic vows, taking the name Sergius. The monastery soon became the spiritual center of the Russian State. This was a difficult period in Russian history. Russia was under the Tatar-Mongol rule and Moscow princes were uniting the people to fight for independence. Sergius had great authority and supported consolidation of Russia, pronouncing anathema against the princes who opposed unification under the hand of Moscow. His pupils in founded 23 monasteries in North-East Russia. In 1380 Sergius blessed the army of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich before the fight against Tatar-Mongols. The Prince was able to gather under Moscow's banners the troops of all the Russian lands and defeat Khan Mamai's horde at the Battle of Kulikovo. The monastery at Sergiyev Posad was also a fortress, having once withstood a 16-month siege, when Polish forces invaded the territory of Russia and plunged it in a sea of fire and blood. The Fortress of the Trinity Monastery and its defenders, consisting of the peasants of nearby villages, heroically stood against invading armies that outnumbered defenders by ten and even twenty times. If the monastery would have fallen, it would mean the end of Rus. But the armies of the arrogant Polish leader Hetman Sapicha retreated in disgrace from the monastery walls. Russian tsars regularly performed the pilgrimage to sacred places of the Trinity monastery of St. Sergius. In 1742 the monastery received the status of a lavra by the order of Russian empress Catherine. In the end of XIV-beginning of XV centuries, several independent settlements that appeared around monastery, were united into one posad (settlement), that was called Sergiyev. In 1919 Sergiyev Posad received the status of a town. In Soviet times the town was renamed to Zagorsk, but later its original name was returned to it. Since XVI century, Sergiyev Posad is famous for a production of toys. There is an Art and pedagogical toy museum in the town, it has expositions consisting of thousands of toys. It tracks the history of toys and of the children's culture of many countries.

Top sights in Sergiyev Posad

Abramtsevo, artists’ colony on an estate approximately 30 miles (48 km) outside of Moscow that became known in the 19th century for fostering the revival of Russian folk art and traditional crafts. Abramtsevo had been inhabited for more than two centuries before Slavophile Sergey Aksakov bought it in 1843. Until he purchased the estate with a large inheritance from his father, Aksakov had been the director of the Institute of Land Surveying in Moscow. While there he had associated with literary figures and intellectuals and had become friends with writers Nikolay Gogol, Ivan Turgenev, and Aleksey Khomyakov. He invited those friends and others to stay with him at the estate, and Abramtsevo soon became a retreat, a relaxing escape from the harried urban life of Moscow. Aksakov spent long hours fishing in the nearby Vorya River and wrote his best-known works in this period, including Notes on Fishing (1847), The Family Chronicle (1856), and The Little Scarlet Flower (1858). The writers, artists, and actors who frequented Abramtsevo in the 1840s and ’50s rejected European artistic influences and embraced and cultivated Russian culture. When Aksakov died in 1859, his sons—Ivan and Konstantin, who also were writers and Slavophiles—took over the estate. The Aksakov period at Abramtsevo set the stage for the wave of Russian nationalism that was to come with the person of Savva Mamontov. Heir to a large railroad fortune, Mamontov bought the property in 1870 from Aksakov’s daughter. He oversaw the complete renovation of the estate and, in upholding and expanding the spirit of Abramtsevo, he became one of the 19th century’s leading figures in the development of a Russian national art. During the 1870s and ’80s, artists including Mikhail Vrubel, Isaak Levitan, Ilya Repin, Yelena Polenova, and the brothers Apollinary Vasnetsov and Viktor Vasnetsov flocked to the Abramtsevo colony, which quickly gained a reputation as a breeding ground for creativity and for the revival of traditional arts and crafts. The group of artists who worked there became known as the Mamontov circle. Not only did the artists develop their own work, but they also contributed to the maintenance and growth of the estate itself, frequently working on group projects, such as the building of a small church (1881–82). Its design was conceived by Vasily Polenov and Viktor Vasnetsov and drew inspiration from the medieval Russian cities Novgorod, Pskov, and Suzdal. Its interior was adorned with icons created by Repin and Mikhail Nesterov, a ceramic tile stove by Vrubel, and a mosaic floor by Viktor Vasnetsov. The church and the pavilion (1883), which was built for the artists’ children and given the moniker “The Hut on Chicken Legs” — a reference to the dwelling of Baba-Yaga, an ogress in Russian folklore—were two of the first buildings in Russia designed in the Art Nouveau style. The artists also collaborated on amateur theatrical performances. When Mamontov established the Russian Private Opera in Moscow (1885), he hired several Abramtsevo artists as set designers. The revival of traditional Russian arts and crafts instigated by the Abramtsevo group proved to be an important contribution to Russian cultural history. After 1881 Mamontov’s wife initiated active collecting of Russian folk art and sought out art that was influenced by the Russian tradition. Vrubel, for example, painted works that represented Russian legends and their characters, such as The Bogatyr (1898), and Nesterov set his paintings and drawings, many on religious subjects, in an identifiably Russian landscape. The artists prioritized the preservation of Russian culture over Western values and influences. This strong nationalistic sentiment was the foundation for the Russian branch of the Arts and Crafts movement, which the artists at Abramtsevo promoted with workshops demonstrating traditional techniques in wood carving and ceramics. Mamontov funded the establishment of a pottery workshop that opened in 1889–90. The pottery created by the Abramtsevo artists was a critical link to the general Russian populace. Headed by Petr Vaulin, artists, notably Vrubel, produced high-quality majolica (tin-glazed) wares—tiles, sculptures, vases, and the like—that soon were in high demand and sold in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other nearby cities. In addition to providing popular ceramics, the Abramtsevo artists—particularly Sergey Malyutin—crafted the first matryoshka doll (a wooden nesting doll) in 1890. Matryoshkas were then exhibited by Abramtsevo artists at the 1900 world’s fair in Paris, and they continued to be iconic of Russian culture into the 21st century. After Mamontov’s death in 1918, the estate was run by his daughter, Alexandra. By that time, the colony had gained an excellent reputation; artists, theatre figures, singers, and art historians visited the grounds to attend workshops and to observe. After World War II, Joseph Stalin put Abramtsevo under the auspices of the Russian
Abramtsevo Artists Colony

Abramtsevo, artists’ colony on an estate approximately 30 miles (48 km) outside of Moscow that became known in the 19th century for fostering the revival of Russian folk art and traditional…

The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is located in the centre of the city Sergiev Posad, Moscow region, on the Konchura river. It was founded in 1337 by St. Sergius of Radonezh. The earliest monastery building is the white stone Trinity Cathedral, built in 1422 in the place of the wooden church. It is built by Serbian monks from Kosovo, who found refuge here after the Battle of Kosovo. This is a unique historic site, one of the few cathedrals, where is preserved iconostasis painted by the great masters of icon-painting, Andrei Rublev and Daniel Chorny. Trinity Cathedral keeps the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh, and hundreds of parishioners come to worship every day there. Cathedral immortalize traditions of the Moscow architecture of XIV-XV centuries. Over time the architectural ensemble has formed around the temple. In 1744 the The Trinity monastery of St. Sergius was awarded the honorary title of Lavra. Today this is a functioning monastery, the spiritual center of the Orthodox Russia. The monastic complex consists of 45 buildings and monuments. There are about 300 priests on its territory. Saint Gate with the gate church of St. John the Baptist is the main gate of the monastery. The biggest building behind them is the Dormition of the Mother of God Cathedral. Small tent that adjoins the Cathedral from the north-west is the Tomb of the Godunovs. It keeps the remains of Tsar Boris, his wife Mary, son Theodore and daughter Xenia. Beginning from the XVII century, russian metropolitans were also buried here. A lot of treasure is kept in the monastery sacristy, among them there is a unique decorative and applied arts, gifts that kings and wealthy people have made to the monastery. The Lavra gathered a unique library of manuscripts and books for centuries. From 1814 a Moscow Theological Academy resides on the territory of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, it is the oldest higher educational institution in Russia, founded in 1685 in Moscow. Since 1940 the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is the state Museum-Reserve and it is under UNESCO protection.
The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius

The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is located in the centre of the city Sergiev Posad, Moscow region, on the Konchura river. It was founded in 1337 by St. Sergius of Radonezh. The earliest monastery…