In 1340 St Sergius of Radonezh founded this lavra (senior monastery), which soon became the spiritual centre of Russian Orthodoxy. St Sergius was credited with providing mystic support to Prince Dmitry Donskoy in his improbable victory over the Tatars in the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. Soon after his death at the age of 78, Sergius was named Russia’s patron saint.
Spruced up on the occasion of St Sergius' 700-year anniversary in 2014, the monastery is an active religious centre with a visible population of monks in residence. This mystical place is a window into the age-old belief system that has provided Russia with centuries of spiritual sustenance.
Built in 1423, the squat, gold-domed Trinity Cathedral (Троицкий собор) is the heart of the monastery, as well as its oldest surviving building. The tomb of St Sergius stands in the church's southeastern corner, where a memorial service for him goes on all day, every day. The icon-festooned interior, lit by oil lamps, is largely the work of the great medieval painter Andrei Rublyov and his students.
The star-spangled Cathedral of the Assumption (Успенский собор) was modelled on the cathedral of the same name in the Moscow Kremlin. It was finished in 1585 with money left by Ivan the Terrible in a fit of remorse for killing his son. To the left of the main entrance is the rectangular tomb of Boris Godunov, the only tsar not buried in the Moscow Kremlin or St Petersburg’s SS Peter & Paul Cathedral. Another notable grave is that of St Innokenty, known as the 'apostle of America' for founding the Russian Orthodox community in Alaska.
Nearby, the resplendent Chapel-at-the-Well (Накладезная часовня) was built over a spring that is said to have appeared during the Polish siege of 1608–10, in the Time of Troubles. The five-tier baroque bell tower (колокольня) – at 88.5m, the highest in Russia – took nearly 30 years to build (from 1741 to 1770), and once had 42 bells, the largest of which weighed 65 tonnes.
The sacristy (ризница), behind Trinity Cathedral, displays the monastery’s extraordinarily rich treasury, bulging with 600 years of donations by the rich and powerful – tapestries, jewel-encrusted vestments, solid-gold chalices and more. At the time of research it was unavailable for tours due to restoration works, with no set date to reopen.
The huge block with the ‘wallpaper’ paint job is the Refectory Church of St Sergius (Трапезная церковь преподобного Сергия), so called because it was once a dining hall for pilgrims. Now it’s the Assumption Cathedral’s winter counterpart, holding morning services in cold weather. It's closed outside services, except for guided tours. The green building next door is the metropolitan’s residence.
