Ivolginsky Datsan “Khambyn Khuree” (“Abode of the Wheel of Teaching, bringing happiness and full of joy”) is a Buddhist monastery-university, the center of the Buddhist traditional Sangha of Russia, which is the largest Buddhist community in Buryatia and one of the largest in the country.

This monument of history and architecture is located in the Republic of Buryatia in the village of Verkhnyaya Ivolga, about 36 km west of the center of Ulan-Ude, the capital city of the republic. Ivolginsky Datsan on Google Maps. Photos by: Alexandr Lipilin.

colorful Buddhist monastery

Tags: Buryat Republic · Ulan-Ude city

Gremyachiy Klyuch is a natural spring located on the right bank of the Vondiga River, about 80 km northeast of Moscow, in the Sergiev Posad district of Moscow Oblast. The temperature of the water in the spring is constant all year round (6 degrees Celsius) and is considered curative.

According to legend, the spring appeared thanks to the prayer of Sergius of Radonezh (1314-1392), one of the most highly venerated saints of the Russian Orthodox Church. Today, the approaches to it have been landscaped, a church, a chapel, a refectory, a church shop with souvenirs, and baths have been built.

very picturesque tourist destination

Tags: Moscow city · Moskovskaya oblast

Saint Sophia Cathedral is the oldest preserved stone structure on the territory of Vologda, a Russian city known for its particularly valuable historical heritage. It is one of the largest buildings of the era of Ivan the Terrible, constructed in 1568-1570s.

The Assumption Cathedral in Moscow was chosen as an architectural model. In the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Vologda, you can see preserved frescoes of the 17th century and the iconostasis of the first half of the 18th century. Photos by: Alexandr Lipilin.

beautiful old cathedral

Tags: Vologda city

The Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery is a very picturesque Orthodox monastery of the Moscow diocese, founded in 1398 and located 2 km west of the city of Zvenigorod in Moscow Oblast, about 60 km west of Moscow.

In the 15th-17th centuries, the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery played the role of an outpost of the Moscow Principality in the west. The monastery was a favorite place of prayer for many Russian tsars. The Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery on Google Maps. Photos by: Alexandr Lipilin.

beautiful monastery

Tags: churches · Moscow city · Moskovskaya oblast

The Svyato-Vvedensky Island Convent is located on an island in the middle of Lake Vvedenskoye, about 4 km from the town of Pokrov in Vladimir Oblast.

It was founded by the monks Sergius and Timothy at the very end of the 17th century. They retired to an island in the middle of the lake and built a wooden chapel and a wooden cell there. Their seclusion, according to legend, did not last long. Soon other people wishing to join them began to come here. Svyato-Vvedensky Island Convent on Google Maps. Photos by: Vadim Razumov.

picturesque island convent

Tags: churches · Vladimir oblast

The Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity in Nikitniki (the Church of the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God on Varvarka) is a great example of the Russian (Muscovite) uzorochye of the middle of the 17th century.

It was built by Yaroslavl merchants in Kitay-Gorod, a cultural and historical area within the central part of Moscow, in 1628-1651. In Soviet times, this part of the city was built up with administrative buildings, but the church was preserved and used as a museum. The Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity in Nikitniki on Google Maps. Photos by: Vladimir d’Ar.

picturesque old church

Tags: churches · Moscow city

The Holy Protection (Pokrovsky) Convent of the Russian Orthodox Church is located on the right bank of the Kamenka River in the northern part of Suzdal, a town-reserve in the north of Vladimir Oblast included in the famous tourist route Golden Ring of Russia.

Founded in 1364, it was formed in its present appearance in the 16th century, when the convent was turned into a place of imprisonment of representatives of aristocratic families who were tonsured as nuns. In the 16th-17th centuries, it was one of the largest convents in the country. Pokrovsky Convent on Google Maps. Photos by: Alexandr Lipilin.

beautiful convent

Tags: Suzdal city · Vladimir oblast

The Akhmat Kadyrov Mosque “Heart of Chechnya” located in the center of Grozny, the capital of the Chechen Republic, is one of the largest mosques in Russia and Europe. The construction of the mosque lasted from April 2006 to October 2008.

The mosque stands on the picturesque bank of the Sunzha River, in the middle of a huge park (14 hectares) and is part of the Islamic complex, which, in addition to the mosque, includes the Russian Islamic University named after Kunta-haji Kishiev and the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Chechen Republic. Photos by: Alexander Popov.

amazing mosque

Tags: Chechnya Republic · Grozny city

The Resurrection New Jerusalem Monastery is a monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church located in the town of Istra in Moscow Oblast, about 40 km northwest of Moscow.

The monastery was founded by Patriarch Nikon in 1656. According to his plan, the complex of holy places in Palestine was to be recreated near Moscow. By the end of 2016, restoration work was completed in the monastery. New Jerusalem Monastery on Google Maps. Photos by: Stanislav Konstantinov.

one of the best monasteries in Russia

Tags: Moscow city · Moskovskaya oblast

Khotkovo is a town with a population of about 21 thousand people located in Moscow Oblast, about 70 km northeast of the center of Moscow and 14 km southwest of Sergiev Posad.

The town originally appeared as a settlement near the Pokrovsky Khotkov Monastery, first mentioned in 1308. Today, the picturesque ensemble of the Pokrovsky Khotkov Convent is represented by buildings of the 18th-19th centuries. Khotkovo on Google Maps. Photos by: Vadim Razumov.

beautiful architectural ensemble

Tags: Moscow city · Moskovskaya oblast · Sergiev Posad city