Saturday: Sergiev Posad: Abramtsevo Estates, Banya, Sishlik

A driver picked us up in a 15 passenger Mercedes van and drove us about an hour Northeast of Moscow to the guesthouse belonging to Svetlana in Sergiev Pasad (Zagorsk during the Soviet Era named after a Revolutionary friend of Lenin.) Svetlana has run a tour of the area as well as a banya (Russian sauna) in her house for several years, but two years ago, her house burned down, and her husband was killed trying to rescue things from the fire. She has been rebuilding the house with the purpose of making it into a guesthouse. The house is in the very center of town, right across the street from the Lavra Monastery, the most important monastery in the country, yet it is very private. Built on a hill, the lower level, containing the kitchen, the dining room and a small living room, is very Russian. This looks out into the yard and is underground in the front. At the back of the yard is a stream with a hill behind that. On the right is a large wooden privacy fence with a beautiful cast iron fence over the river. To the left of the backyard is an enormous cliff giving her yard almost complete privacy. The yard contains a natural spring which isn’t covered and a brick barbecue for making shashlik. The upstairs looks more European with 3 spacious guest rooms, a large living room, and a bathroom. Above that is the third level which Svetlana hasn’t finished yet. If she has enough business for another level, she will turn it into guest rooms. Otherwise she will turn it into office space and rent it out.


After Svetlana showed us our rooms she invited us downstairs for blinis and tea. The blinis were served with raspberry and blueberry jam. Next on the agenda was a trip to the nearby town of Abramtsevo where we toured the estate built in 1847 by Sergey Aksayov, a famous writer of fairy tales and nature stories. In 1870 the house was sold to an industrialist who was a great supporter of the arts. Several houses around were built to teach students different skills such as woodcarving and pottery. Most of the paintings in the Tretyakov Art Gallery were painted here. Svetlana told us Aksayov’s story “The Scarlet Flower”, a Russian version of “Beauty and the Beast,” in front of Baba Yaga’s house, a small house which used to be on chicken legs but has now been better stabilized.






The main house on the estate.

Formerly the kitchen, now used to display artifacts from the area.

I'm not sure what this building was originally used for, but it now has a display of tile that was created here. Most of the tile from the Tritikov Art Gallery was created here.

This was the house where woodcarving was taught.

This bench, about a hundred years old, was made by students here.

Murray, Chrissie, Monica, Kristen, Enid, and Jessi

Sveta our hostess and guide on the left

2 cousins: Kristen and Chrissie

Watch out, Rufus! You've got competition.

The church on the estate.

Baba Yaga's house.

Front and back.

Dinner was served around 2 PM. First we had bread or blinis with meats, cheese, and vegetables. Then we had a homemade chicken soup. Finally we had spaghetti or a potato, onion, and mushroom dish. We played the customary game of telephone for about an hour afterward.

In the afternoon Kristen and Chrissie played badminton, Murray studied Spanish, and Monica, Jessi, and I walked over to the monastery. First we climbed to an overlook where we had a lovely view of the monastery and saw the typical wedding party in the typical inebriated condition visiting historical sites. Then we walked down to the monastery to look through the stalls of Russian things for sale in front of the cathedral. After purchasing a few last minute things, we put our scarves on and went inside to attend a church services at a few of the cathedrals.

At 6 we had a banya. First we started in the sauna where we baked at around 90 degrees Celsius in Eucalyptus and mint flavored steam. After we beat each other with twigs covered with oak leaves, we jumped in the icy cold pool. Then we took a rest at the table and repeated the procedure two more times. Monica had brought mud from the Black Sea, but we didn’t have time to use it before we needed to get ready for the shashlik. (Russian shish kebab)Svetlana’s nephew had fired up the barbeque and cooked chicken wings and chunks of beef. After supper we had apple pie and tea while we played games in front of the fireplace inside.