TUMBLEWEED

A beautiful ancient town on the hills around the Konchura River, has been one of the holiest places in Russia since the late 14th century due to its magnificent Trinity Lavra of St Sergius. Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy prayed here before the final battle with the armies of the Golden Horde, Ivan the Terrible was baptised here, Peter the Great found shelter here during the Streltsy Uprising in 1698, Queen Elizabeth of Russia founded a seminary here and converted the monastery into a lavra. But not only the royalty favoured this place, Andrei Rublev painted the Trinity Cathedral on the territory of the lavra, Russian writers Alexander Kuprin and Mikhail Prishvin lived in Sergiev Posad and wrote about it, Mikhail Lermontov and Anton Chekhov visited it on various occasions. Rachmaninov and Shalyapin stayed and performed in this town.  Today, the Trinity Lavra is the largest monastery in Russia, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also an important part of the Golden Ring travel route connecting ancient Russian cities northeast of Moscow.