“The Best of Russia” July 7 - 20, 2013 Honorary Leader of the Pilgrimage: His Grace Michael (Dahulich), Bishop of the Diocese of New York and New Jersey. Please join us in our travel to the most inspiring holy places and magnificent monuments and museums of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Pskov, Novgorod and Valaam.

Please note that the following itinerary has tentative dates that may change. Updates will be posted as soon as confirmed dates will be available. Please keep checking back or contact Fr. Ilya Gotlinsky for more information. Thank you for your interest and we hope to see you in our pilgrim group.

Itinerary

Day 1, Sunday, July 7, 2013

Group gathers at the Dulles/JFK Airport.

Day 2, Monday, July 8, 2013

Arrival to St. Petersburg - Airport Pulkovo 2. Transfer to the hotel. Check in and some time to rest. Based on the time of the arrival - evening tour of the city. Supper at the hotel.

Day 3, Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

We will start our day with a visit to Smolenskoye Cemetery where famous Russian Saint and heavenly patron of St. Petersburg, St. Xenia is buried. After our visit to Smolenskoye Cemetery we will continue with the exploration of the State Russian Museum, which houses the most comprehensive collection of Russian Art from its Byzantine Origins up to the present day. The museum always offers a lot of temporary exhibitions for an additional cost. Practically adjacent to the Museum stands the famous "Savior of the Spilt Blood," or Holy Resurrection Cathedral, that was built to commemorate Russian Tsar Alexander II who was mortally wounded on that very place by terrorists. Magnificent by all means, it is nicely decorated on the outside with tablets on which Tsar Alexander's laws and orders are inscribed, along with the dates of the most important events that had taken place during his reign. The inside of the Cathedral is completely covered with mosaics. There are over 21 thousand square feet of mosaics inside and outside the Cathedral. Near by Souvenir market present wonderful opportunity to shop for presents and various memorabilia. At the end of the day we will visit Alexander-Nevsky Lavra, a beautiful monastery that at one point was one of the biggest and famous in Imperial Russia. We will tour the grounds of the Monastery, including the magnificent Cathedral of the Holy Trinity that houses relics of St. Alexander Nevsky and the cemetery where many famous Russian artists, writers and actors are buried.

Day 4, Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

We will start our day by a visit to St. John of Rila Monastery on Karpovka River. It was founded by Saintly Priest John of Kronstadt. Here, in the convent he found his resting place as well. From there we will continue onto the State Hermitage, once the Winter Palace of the Russian Tsars, which houses one of the world's largest collections of Fine Arts. Countless artifacts on exhibit cover the evolution of Art from the Neolithic time and Ancient Egypt up until the beginning of the 20th century. After lunch we will visit splendidly decorated Cathedral of St. Isaac, one of the world's largest domed Cathedrals. Never a parish church, it was built as a dedication to the Heavenly Patron of Peter the Great, St. Isaac of Dalmatia. The cathedral is very Western in style, but adorned with truly Eastern lavishness. The panoramic view of St. Petersburg from its observation deck around the dome is truly magnificent. Tonight we will embark on a cruise boat for Valaam.

Day 5, Thursday, July 11, 2013

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

One of the most famous Russian Monasteries that is located on the islands of Valaam Archipelago has a tremendous importance to all Orthodox in America. It is from here, toward the end of the 18th century that a small group of monks left on a missionary trip toward far away Alaska. For its prestige and importance monastery was nick-named the "Athos of the North". Desecrated during the Soviet times, monastery is now largely restore and once again serves as a refuge to those who seek to serve Heavenly Master in the most perfect way. We will visit several sketes of the monastery, will see the main compound and will walk to the pristine woods of the islands.

Day 6, Friday, July 12, 2013

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Upon our return from Valaam we will continue to explore the city and its vicinity. Today, after breakfast we will start with the exploration of SS. Peter and Paul Fortress that is located in the very heart of St. Petersburg. The day when the ground was broken to build this first stronghold in the newly regained Russian lands became the birthday of St. Petersburg. After a visit to the fortress - which also serves as a final resting place for the Russian Rulers of the Romanov dynasty - we will travel by hydrofoil for about one hour to Peterhof - yet another splendid suburb of St. Peterburg. After lunch, we will Tour of the Historical State Park "Peterhof" with its world famous Golden Palace that is surrounded by a Park with arcades of golden fountains. We will finish our day in Peterhof with a stop at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral, an Orthodox Architectural Masterpiece build in Neo-Russian style. This church is also famous for an interesting ceramic iconostasis and rich decoration of the interior. In the evening we will transfer to Novgorod where we will stay for two nights.

Day 7.  Saturday, July 13, 2013

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Novgorod, is a quiet, clean, typical provincial city of Russia's North-West. But its thousand year history is it truly unique. After breakfast at the hotel, we will depart for a visit to the main attraction of Novgorod, the Medieval Kremlin. The buildings of the Novgorod Kremlin date back to the 11th -16th centuries. The most special of them all is the Cathedral of St. Sophia, built in the 11th century, and which has survived largely intact trough its thousand year history. In addition to the Cathedral, we will visit several historic and art exhibits in the museums of Kremlin. After Lunch we will visit the Market square, the central point of the Medieval city's commerce and interaction. A number of churches in close proximity to each other serve as a tribute to the piety of Novgorod's tradesmen. From the Market place, also known as Yaroslav's court, we will walk down Il'ina street for a visit to Znamensky cathedral. This church was build in dedication to the famous miracle working icon, our Lady of the Sign (Znamenye), the paladin of Novgorod. The nearby Transfiguration church (13th century) still contains some of the original frescoes painted by renown Medieval iconographer Theophanes the Greek. Late in the afternoon we will visit monastery of St. Varlaam of Hutyn'. It was founded by St. Varlaam (+1192) in the 12th century and is one of the oldest and most revered pilgrim destinations in Novgorod.

In the evening an optional boat ride on Volkhov River can be organized for you to enjoy the splendid panoramas of the city.

Day 8. Sunday, July 14, 2013

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

We will start our day by attending Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of St. Sophia

After the service we will travel to the outskirts of the city to visit St. George Monastery - arguably the oldest Russian Monastery with the Cathedral of St. George dating back to the 11th century. Then we will continue on to Vitoslavitsi, the museum of Wooden Architecture that has the finest collection of the wooden architecture of the Russian North. There are a lot of wooden churches, houses, barns and wells. These wooden monuments have been brought from various regions of Russia for preservation purposes as well as a display of a variety of wooden architectural styles. From there we will to another important medieval center of Russia - city of Pskov.

Day 9, Monday, July 15, 2013

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Today we will start with an exploration of the Holy Trinity Cathedral situated in amidst picturesque fortifications of the Pskovan Kremlin. From there we will proceed to the state historical museum with its excellent Icon collection, and a special chamber with various Medieval ecclesiastical artifacts. Then we'll continue to explore the treasures of Pskov - among them two splendid jewels -  Mirozhsky monastery and Church of St. John the Baptist, both built and consecrated in the 12 century. In the evening we will plan to attend Vespers for the Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul at one of the local Churches.

Day 10, Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

In the morning, after breakfast we will visit Ancient Monastery of Pechori (Pskov Cave Monastery) that Lord spared from Communist desecration. Monastery was wounded at the entrance to the system of the underground tunnels that at one time were channeling the waters of an underground river. For past several hundred years these "God made caves" were used as the monastic cemetery and partially as the hermit cells. After pilgrimage to the caves and venerating miracle working icons in the monastery churches and chapels, we will visit ancient town of Izborsk for inspiring walk though the ruins of medieval fortress to the icy-cold shower in the Holy Springs. Time permitting, we will visit a small village of Vybuty, believed to be the birth place of the Russian equal-to-the-apostles princess Olga. Tonight we will embark on the train for an overnight travel to Moscow.

Day 11, Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Upon our arrival to Moscow, we will travel some miles east to a small village of

Semhoz to visit a church built on the place where Fr. Alexander Men, famous Russian Missionary and religious writer was assassinated. From here we will continue to a near by town of Sergiev Posad, to visit famous Holy Trinity Lavra (Monastery). The monastic settlement here was established by St. Sergius in the 14th century and became the single most important spiritual center of all of Russia. We will have time to explore the territory of the monastery, with a number of churches, and adjacent territory with a number of little shops. After lunch we will visit a very special place in Butovo. Here, on the place of the NKVD-KGB killing fields a memorial complex was build to commemorated thousands of innocents who perished from the hands of the Godless Communist regime.

Day 12, Thursday, July 18, 2013

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

We will start our day by a visit to Sretenskiy Monastery, one of the oldest and most venerable monasteries in Moscow. From here we will proceed to Moscow Kremlin. Kremlin (kremlin is a general term used to described the strongly fortified central part of the Medieval Russian City). Moscow Kremlin is a true Pride of Russia. Among many other special attractions here we will visit Uspenskiy (Dormition) Cathedral, once the place of the installation of the Russian Patriarchs and Crowning of the Tsars. The Patriarch's Palace contains some unique Artifacts, and the Museum "Oryzheynaya Palata" (the Armory yard) has the "Pearls" of Russia's treasures. After Kremlin, we will visit the Red Square - with its iconic "picture of Russia," the famous Cathedral of St. Basil.  Later in the afternoon we will visit Donskoy Monastery - historically important place, the "jail" and resting place of the Russian Patriarch Tikhon.

Day 13, Friday, July 19, 2013

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch.

We will start our day by a visit to SS. Martha and Mary Convent, established by Grand Duchess and Royal Martyr Elizabeth. Just a short walk from here, there is the Tretyakov gallery that houses a very fine collection of Russian art from the 10th to the 20th centuries. In the attached museum church we will see the miracle-working "patron" Icon of Russia, Our Lady of Vladimir.  After Lunch we will visit the largest functioning Orthodox Church in the World, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. This magnificent building was demolished in the 1930s and has been rebuilt in recent years, becoming a symbol of changes in the country and the resurrection of the religious life in all of Russia. After visit to the Cathedral we will continue to the Arbat Street, famous Moscow pedestrian zone, place of art galleries and one of the prime places for souvenir shopping. The bus will pick us up for transfer to the hotel at 9:00pm

Day 14, Saturday, July 20, 2013

Meals: Breakfast. Transfer to the airport. Departure back home.