Temple Gallery Travel

London British Airways to Moscow. Departure 08.45. Arrival 14.35. Overnight Moscow.

The Kremlin has been the heart of Russia's might and power for five centuries. It contains three cathedrals that are amongst Russia's most important historical monuments. The Cathedral of the Dormition contains icons and frescoes by Dionisy (1440 - 1502) whose work we shall be studying in detail in the Ferapontov Monastery (see below - day six). The iconstasis (circa 1400) in the Annunciation Cathedral is the work of Theophanes the Greek (Feofan Grek) and the Archangel Michael Cathedral contains an icon once attributed by some scholars to Andrei Rublov as well as tombs of Russian Tsars.

The Tretyakov Gallery houses Russia's most important collection of icons. It is also worth looking at the 19th century painters; Levitan, Aivazovsky, Korovin, Nestorov, Shishkin and Vasnetsov, whose work opens the same vision of the world that we already know from Tchaikovsky and Tolstoy.

The Kremlin Cathedrals

Overnight Moscow.

A 2 hour drive to visit the Trinity Monastery.

Sergeiev is the foremost pilgrimage centre and holiest of Russia’s sacred sites. An exquisite 14th century church houses the relics of Saint Sergei of Radonezh, Russia’s most revered saint. And we remember that Rublyov’s famous icon of the Holy Trinity was originally here. One can join the pilgrims venerating the relics and singing the simple phrases of the ceaseless requiem and thus find oneself in the resonant heart of Holy Russia.

Continue on after lunch to Pereslavl-Zalessky (2.5 hours).

Overnight Pereslavl-Zalessky.

Pereslavl was founded in 1152 by Prince Yury Dolgoruky, Grand Prince of Kiev and founder of Moscow. Like other principalities Pereslavl was devastated by the Mongols.

Morning: Nikolsky Monastery Museum, (walk on Medieval Ramparts), Cathedral of the Transfiguration (12th century).

Drive to Rostov Veliky, (1.5 hours) Assumption Cathedral and Art Museum.

Transfiguration Cathedral

15th century icon of the Rostov School

Rostov was an important settlement in 862 and by the 13th century was the capital city of one of the most prominent Russian principalities. It was incorporated into Muscovy in 1474 but remained an ecclesiastic centre of utmost importance. In the 14th Century, the bishops of Rostov became archbishops, and later metropolitans. Many regard the kremlin as the finest outside of Moscow. It was ravaged by the Mongols in the 13th and 14th centuries.

Drive to Yaroslavl, (1.5 hours) Cathedral Prophet Elijah and Art Museum.

Overnight Yaroslavl.

Rostov Veliky, View of the Kremlin

Drive to Vologda (4 hours).

Vologda’s unique position on important waterways connecting Moscow, Novgorod, and the White Sea made it attractive to the principalities of Tver and the Moscow but it was the Novgorod Republic who acquired it through conquest in 1264. In 1397 it was added to the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

Overnight Vologda.

16th century icons of the Vologda School

Drive to Ferapontov (2.5 hours).

The Ferapontov Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is famous for, among other things, the programme of frescoes by Master Dionysi (d. 1502) generally considered the last great master of the Moscow School. We will also visit the nearby and no less historic, Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. The vast walled area of the monastery comprises two separate priories with eleven churches, most of them dating from the 16th century. The fortress was the largest erected in Muscovy after the Time of Troubles (1598-1613). Its walls feature numerous towers, each built to a particular design, the most remarkable are the ‘Chasuble’, the ‘Tent-like’, the ‘Vologda’, and the ‘Smithy’ towers.

Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery

The entire series of Dionysi’s frescoes are well-preserved throughout the church

All day at Ferapontov and Kirillo-Belozersky monasteries.

Return to and overnight in Yaroslavl.

Train to Moscow.
Flight to Petrozavodsk.
Museum of Fine Arts of the Karelian Republic.
Overnight Petrozavodsk.

Petrozavodsk to Kizhi, 30 minutes by hydrofoil.
Visit Kizhi Pogost. Return to Petrozavodsk for overnight stay.

Kizhi Island is an open air museum with more than 80 wooden churches, the most famous being Kizhi Pogost, today a UNESCO world heritage site. Built entirely of wood with its 22 domes there is no comparable building anywhere in the world.

Kizhi Pogost

Drive to Kem (6 hours).
Visit Cathedral of the Dormition.
Overnight Kem.

Historically the islands are known for the famous Solovetsky Monastery complex founded in the 15th century by two monks from the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, Saints Zossim and Savatti. The existing stronghold and its major churches were erected in stone during the reign of Ivan the Terrible (1533 to 1547). After the October Revolution, the islands attained notoriety as the site of the first Soviet prison camp (gulag). Today the monastery complex is a UNESCO World Heritage site and Orthodox monastic life is restored in all its glory

By boat from Rabocheostrovsk, visit Solovki Monastery.
Overnight Solovki.

Travel to Zayatsky Island by boat.
On the rim of the Arctic Circle. The islands are notable for unique fauna and flora. There are well-preserved Neolithic labyrinths.
Overnight Solovki.

Flight to Archangel.
Visit Malye Karely Open Air Museum of Wooden Architecture.
Overnight Archangel.

To learn more about Russian wooden churches see the work of Richard Davies at richarddavies.co.uk

Archangel Regional Museum of Fine Arts.
Overnight Archangel.

15th century icon, Northern School