The beautiful Monastery of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, Pechersky, Russia

*WS 83: the beautiful Monastery of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, Pechersky, Russia*

Pechersky is a small village town near to the Russia/Estonia border, and about 50 km west of the bigger town Pskov. Located here is the Monastery of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. The monastery was officially founded in 1473. It was expanded greatly in the 16th century with 2-m thick walls built around the complex and it withstood many assaults by the Germans and Swedes. It is now a big monastery with some 90 monks. There are some 10 chapels here, some just shallow caves cut into the hill slopes. 

We made a day-trip from Pskov to Pechersky in 2011 to visit the monastery, all because it was claimed that this monastery is the only one in Russia which has been functioning uninterrupted since its founding, including the period of regional wars, World Wars and the oppression during the communist Soviet Union days. We were not disappointed as the buildings and settings here were beautiful.

The 1st photo shows the road called "Bloody Path" from the St Nicholas Gate,  with a fellow tourist from Hong Kong. Women need to put on a simple covering over the head to enter the monastery. The 3rd photo shows the main church. There was nobody speaking English here so we did not know the names and functions of other buildings, but all beautifully painted and decorated.

A side story on this trip* 

To go to this monastery we were told to take a certain number bus from the Pskov bus station. The journey was to take about 80 to 90 minutes. So in the later part of the journey, I went up to the driver showing  him the name of the place we wanted to disembark. The expressionless driver just nodded his head. I did this at least 3 or 4 times. In actual fact the destination was the last stop. But we didn't know. At the bus station the driver nodded at me, finally smiling cheekily. 

In front of me in the bus was an old farmer who continued to engage me to converse with him. But a chicken and a duck how to converse? He carried a small basket with some apples and other fruits, and continued to push some fruits to me. I finally accepted an apple. He also went up to the last stop and at the terminal building I met him again. I gave him a bag with several scones. He was really happy. 

By the way, his apple was terrible, sour like hell.