Sergiev Posad tour

A visit the Trinity-Sergius Lavra can be not only informative, but also fun adventure. Once inside the monastery, you can take a journey back in time and observe the history of the formation of Russian stone architecture from the 15th to the 18th centuries. In addition to the most famous attractions – the Trinity Cathedral, the Assumption Cathedral and the Bell Tower, there are more than 50 various buildings on the territory of the Lavra that were constructed with different purposes: the Smolensk Church decorated in the Baroque style, the tomb of Boris Godunov, the Tsar’s Palace, built especially for the second Russian tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, and many other architectural masterpieces. And of course, for nearly seven hundred years of existence, the Trinity monastery has collected many wonderful stories and legends that our professional guide will deliver to you in the most captivating and fascinating way.

In the interior of the Cathedral your attention will be drawn by a huge wooden-carved gilded iconostasis which organically fits into the scale of the building and its overall interior space. Behind it you will see high up areas for the choristers. During the chanting of the monks, parishioners feel that their voices come “as if from heaven.” And, of course, one cannot ignore the magnificent fresco paintings that cover vaults, walls and pillars of the Assumption Cathedral

The Trinity Cathedral is the main cathedral, the first stone building and the oldest surviving construction of the Trinity monastery. The white stone Trinity Cathedral is one of the most important monuments of early-Moscow architecture. It was the Trinity Cathedral that started the formation of a unique architectural ensemble of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

The inner space of the Cathedral has a surprising integrity. Soft diffused light coming from the top ten (instead of traditional eight) narrow windows of the dome, slowly and thoughtfully allows you to contemplate the amazing iconostasis and gorgeous fresco paintings. The cathedral, among other things, is famous for the fact that the Trinity by Andrei Rublev was painted especially for it. Near the southern wall next to the iconostasis you will see the tomb of the founder of the monastery, St. Sergius of Radonezh, which attracts queues of pilgrims from all over Russia.

Sergiev Posad State History and Art Museum houses one of the largest collections of Russian art. The museum was founded in 1920 on the basis of art treasures of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Later the museum was enriched with collections of the local ethnographic museum and the Moscow Museum of folk arts and crafts. Expositions and exhibitions of the museum provide a unique opportunity to get acquainted with monuments of Russian culture from 14th century to our days.

Today the Museum collection comprises more than 110 thousand exhibits that include icons, medieval manuscripts and early printed books, monuments, pictorial and ornamental embroidery, gold and silver objects, works of painting, graphics, folk and contemporary applied and decorative art. Most of them are presented in the expositions, housed in four buildings in the center of the city within walking distance from each other.

*Optional visit