Saint Matrona & The Old Believers

This morning, Moscow woke up to a beautiful blue sky. It was going to be a real winter’s day, sunny and cold. My phone was telling me that it was only -13 degrees but for a Teddy Bear like me, full of wool, this was bearable!

In record time, I got ready and headed of to the Community of Old Believers, 45mn by (teddy bear) foot. I was intrigued by a short note in my guide book about this religious center, off the beaten touristic track. On my way, I decided to stop again at the Monastery Pokrovsky dedicated to Saint Matrona.

The crowd of pilgrims was still very long so I just entered one of the churches for a little prayer and to leave a candle. I really like the peacefulness of the Monastery, far away from the bustle of the city.

To get to the Community of Old Believers, I just had to continue along the uninspiring  Nijnegorodskaya street, so I thought that this would be easy to do on foot. Things started to become challenging once I reached the “3rd ring” road. I had to go under it, crossed a junction and go under the railway line. I was asking myself if this was really a good idea. But finally when I arrived, I was simply overwhelmed by my discovery.

The territory is enriched by three different churches and other old buildings and in the middle stands the church “dedicated to the bells”.

Only one church with its colorful cupolas was open but that was enough to make me happy.

Behind it stands the cemetery.  This is a religious place for the old believers. Old believers are orthodox people who did not agree with the reforms imposed by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow in the 17th century, which were mainly aimed at aligning church rituals and the texts with the Greek  Orthodox church. The old believers were persecuted and many of them died for their faith.

Leaving this beautiful site behind me, I headed back to Taganskaya metro but this time by bus. I was now on my way to meet Russian friends at the Grand Cafe Mania on Loubyanka and I really appreciated spending a cosy afternoon in their company.

Since we had a little snack in the middle of the afternoon, I thought that I should only plan a light dinner for later on. I really fancied those delicious tomatoes produced in one of those ‘Stans’ (the Central Asian countries south of Russia), so I decided to go to Danielovski market. This is an amazing place for people who love good food. Under one roof, you can find every thing, beautiful displayed and organised.

In the metro, I even enjoyed listening to a young violinist in the metro. I was a very happy Teddy Bear on my way back home.