Top Things to do in Central Russia
The 10 Best Free Things to do in Central Russia, Russia
Discover the best top things to do in Central Russia, Russia including The Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, Gefsimansky Chernigovsky Skit (convent), Holy Trinity Convent, Yaroslavl Embankment, Boris and Gleb Monastery, Vysotsky Monastery, Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, Monument to White Bim Black Ear, Cathedral of the Assumption (Uspensky Sobor), Lipetsk Diocesan Holy Dormition Monastery.
Restaurants in Central Russia
1. The Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1,449 reviews
The Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra “In the land of Moscow and all over the world there is no other monastery equal to this one…” - Archdeacon Paul of Aleppa
Reviewed By israroz - Ra'anana, Israel
One of the highlights of our trip to Russia, (my wife’s and myself, her sister, and my brother in law) was without any doubt our trip to the Golden Ring and especially to The Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra church in the city of Sergiev Posad which is considered to be one of the most important religious centers in Russia and a pilgrimage site especially to believers in Orthodox Christianity. Since we arrived with our “private” guide who had “pre-arranged” personal guidance for us, so we “got” a young guide from the church staff who took us under his wings and led us to all the interesting places (and they are many) throughout the site. Explained to us the history of the place from its inception to the present day. Starting from the entrance area with the arched door and the amazing frescoes on the walls and ceiling and later all the spectacular sites (and they are many). In conclusion a most amazing place NOT 2 B MISSED.
2. Gefsimansky Chernigovsky Skit (convent)
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 237 reviews
Reviewed By Jedai79 - Singapore, Singapore
On 8 June 2018, nearing the end of our 19-day Russian trip (on a free & easy basis), my partner was really tired of seeing onion-structures, so we decided to book a cab to go to Tchaikovsky House Museum (it was a must for me!) and Sergiev Posad. Unlike the Croatian road trip we did end 2016 where we went to Plitvice Waterfall; drove past the mountainous terrain of Slovenia and some parts of Croatia; walked along the seaside promenade of Split; walked round the old city of Dubrovnik; went to the holy town of Medjugorje; walked to a castle along the seaside in Trieste (Italy); ventured up hilly cobblestone-paved roads to view the small town, Rovinj; went to lakes; Predjama Castle nestled in a cave; Postojna Cave; visited the mystical Mostar, for the 19 days in Russia, we visited almost the same kind of churches/palaces, we didn’t get a chance to see a variety of things. Not that Russia does not have the above that we mentioned for our Croatian road trip but those places were far from Moscow and St Petersburg and we can’t drive because we can’t remember the letters in Russian language. (Cyrillic, we think...) After referring to TA reviews, we decided on this place in Sergiev Posad. My partner wanted something SPECIAL and Gefsiansky Chernigovsky Skit did not disappoint him. Most tour groups would take tourists to Vladimir and Suzdal but we love Sergiev Posad. All the above are part of the Golden Ring. On 8 June 2018, it was a rainy day. The drive from Tchaikovsky’s House in Klin to Sergiev Posad plus a lunch stop was no more than 2.5 hours. Still had the onion-structure. After walking into the church, we could not find the entrance to the “caves”. We had to ask the lady who was selling candles for direction. She said 800 Rubbles, so we thought it was 800 Rubbles/pax and we were gonna pay 1600 Rubbles. She was so honest that she said it should be 800 Rubbles for two visitors. We could not see any signs there and she could have walked away with the extra money we had wanted to pay her. Thank you! She got one of the seminary student (he dressed like a friar from the Catholic religion) who was talking to her then to take us to the “caves” which were hidden by the Church. How this Church was built round the caves was something we didn’t understand. After walking into a fairly huge praying area, we thought that was the end of our tour. Then, the seminary student who was from Yugoslavia led us through another door, walked down some steps, walked through some dark narrow paths (most of them were fitted with lights, seminary student knew where all the switches were). There were small prayer rooms. Finally, he guided us to the stream. Stream water has been drawn into taps where we could get to drink the water. The religious paintings on the walls of the cave were done by seminary students quite recently. After the tour, we left church and were greeted by a nice pond with ducks swimming in it. Very peaceful and serene. If we have a chance to return to Russia, we’d like to see nature and not churches/palaces all the time.... Gefsimansky Cheenigovsky Skit was memorable. We did not have the time to visit other places of interest in Sergiev Posad. May be we should return to Sergiev Posad one day....
3. Holy Trinity Convent
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 222 reviews
4. Yaroslavl Embankment
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1,777 reviews
Reviewed By kazaNina2015 - St. Petersburg, Russia
One of the most important Russian little charming cities , the capital of Golden ring, I recommend to stay in this city at least for 2 days , as it’s so nice to study about Russian history ( city is more 1000 years old!!!! ) and you can see this city on the Russian note ( guess which one ) Really impressed
5. Boris and Gleb Monastery
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 96 reviews
6. Vysotsky Monastery
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 178 reviews
Serpukhov Vysotsky monastery was founded in 1374 by St. Sergius of Radonezh at the request of Serpukhov specific Prince Vladimir the Brave. The monastery served as an important spiritual center of medieval Russia and a powerful fortress at the southern turn of the Moscow Principality. The fate of the Holy monastery is closely connected with the fate of Russia - it was besieged and ravaged by enemies, also there were times of prosperity and desolation. At the beginning of the twentieth century, due to contemporaries' opinions, Vysotsky monastery was one of the most comfortable abodes of the Fatherland. With the advent of Soviet power in 1918 of the monastery went under the provincial concentration camp. In 1928 Vysotsky monastery was finally closed. For decades, the ancient and once glorious abode was dilapidated and destroyed. In 1991 Vysotsky monastery was returned to the Orthodox Church, the revival of the ancient monastery began again.
7. Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 572 reviews
Reviewed By GrandDaddyDom - Tucson, United States
We visited the monastery on our day trip prior to our visit to the Kubinka Tank Museum. The trip took about 1.5 hours to the monastery from central Moscow. The history of the monastery is fascinating. The Orthodox monastery was ordered to be built in 1398 by Prince Yuri and was finally built in the 15th century. The prince had wanted now St. Savva of Storozhi to start a monastic structure on the Storozhi Holm (Watching Hill). In 1650 Tsar Alexis had a residence built here and the large bell tower with a clock was also built. The cathedral does not allow photography and you should dress respectfully since this is an operational cathedral. The cathedral has 17th century paintings and the remains of 15th century frescoes and a five tiered iconostasis. The Bolsheviks ransacked the monastery and it was left in ruins until restoration started after 1985. The relics of St. Savva of Storozhi were returned to the monastery in 1998 and when we were there many Orthodox faithful were observed honoring the relics of the saint. There is a statue of the saint outside the monastery in a small park area. Outside the gate to the compound is a large map showing the locations of every feature of the site. There is an overlook on the start of a path around the outside walls. The view below is spectacular and I now know why this location is called "Watching Hill". There is a snack shop cafe outside the walls of the monastery that was closed when we were there.
8. Monument to White Bim Black Ear
9. Cathedral of the Assumption (Uspensky Sobor)
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 682 reviews
Reviewed By CityCruncher - Eton Wick, United Kingdom
Hello I have just visited Smolensk Beautiful City with many attractions The Cathedral is an excellent building with 6 kls of wall around the building Inside the Cathedral is the best one I have visited This is the training place for all Bishops Priests in Russia Plenty of Museums ,many attractive buildings Train route to Europe direct to Paris Frankfurt Plus Belarus Maldova Hungary Ukraine Minsk etc all direct Bullet train to Paris 19 hrs sleeper if required Roads very good to all cities including Moscow 4 hrs drive or 5 hours I train Well worth a visit Paul Bainbridge City Cruncher
