Saint Sergius monastery Photo

Photographer’s Note

The cathedral of the Assumption in the Trinity monastery of St. Sergius has a central golden cupola surrounded by four blue star-sprinkled domes.

At left of the cathedral is the entrance to the bell tower (1769), at right the Chapel of the water source of St. Sergius (17th century) and a small dome covering the water.

Ivan the Terrible commissioned the cathedral in 1559 to celebrate his defeat of the Mongols at the battle of Kazan. It was completed 26 years later.

Sergius and his brother Stefan founded the monastery in 1342 in an uninhabited forest, thirty five miles northeast of Moscow, now the city of Sergiev Posad, and dedicated it to the Trinity. When Stefan left, Sergius lived as a hermit. His piety attracted disciples who in 1353 made him abbot.
Destroyed by the Mongols in 1408, Trinity was reestablished by Sergius's disciple Abbot Nikon.
By the 1640s Trinity housed 240 monks organized in a social order that was a microcosm of Russian society. It controlled numerous subsidiary monasteries and owned over 570,000 acres of tilled land, 100,000 serfs, and many urban properties throughout European Russia. The original communal order became relaxed, and wealthy monks controlled their own property. As of 1561, Trinity's abbot held the rank of Archimandrite, senior to the heads of all Russian monasteries.

In 1993 UNESCO recognized the ensemble as a World Heritage site.

cd70, holmertz, lebjohnson, asajernigan, Uhu, phwall, bukitgolfb301, Vasa, ChrisJ, Longroute, patdeph has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

pajaran (2745) 2009-11-01 2:24

Pozdrav.
Odlican trenutak, dobre boje, dobar tekst, fotografija je rekla sve. Dobar rad i lepo za gledanje.
Prijatan dan, uspeh, Paja.

cd70 (633) 2009-11-01 2:26

Hello Paul,
Très bel ensemble architectural, avec des lignes bien droites. Le cadrage est très soigné, bravo !
Cyrille

alin-m (871) 2009-11-01 2:30

Interesting view of this nice church.Good photo.Best regards.Alin.

holmertz (9430) 2009-11-01 2:40

Hello Paul,
Fantastic buildings and a nice composition with a lot of action among the people standing in groups or moving up and down the steps.
Regards,
Gert

embryss (110) 2009-11-01 3:25

Dag Paul,

Mooie architectuuropname. Perfecte cadrage. Het groepje mensen in de hoek rechtsonder staat binnen de beelduitsnede op de juiste plaats.
Groetjes,

Marcel

darek1978 (11153) 2009-11-01 3:49

Hi Paul,
An excellent framing for this typical and beautiful architecture with its details nicely displayed in a good sharpness. Splendid work!
Thanks for sharing,
Darek

lebjohnson (475) 2009-11-01 5:10

Hello Paul,
This beautiful church was caught at exactly the right moment for light and exactly the right place for composition. The people are the final perfect touch. Thank you for beautifully showing me a place I may never see in person.

Regards,
Lois

asajernigan (14004) 2009-11-01 5:35

Paul,
I like your composition here including the steps in the foreground creating a nice diagonal. The people add a nice sense of scale for the scene. The lighting and colors are great with excellent sharpness and DOF.
TFS,
Asa

kevinos (6923) 2009-11-01 7:42

This is such wonderfully Russian and improbable architecture, Paul. I love its grandeur and extravagance. You picture is carefully framed, balancing the various elements very nicely.I think you have exposed for the best, taking into account that the facade is in shadow.Regards kevin

diomed (3639) 2009-11-01 8:32

Hi Paul,
very nice architectural complexe captured in a daily life scenery, dynamic and animeted. Interesting POV, great sharp.
Nice evening
Antonio

sacimar (7271) 2009-11-01 9:20

Hi Paul,

beautiful monastery, I like the architecture, specially the domes, good perspective and nice details, good job,

Best regards

Sergio

Uhu (7354) 2009-11-01 12:26

Never was there. Always wanted to be there. But in tens of times when I was in Moscow, and even when I travelled by car north from Moscow - never had a chance to see Troitza. Shame on me.
Great photo - and quite a nice story as well!

phwall (5512) 2009-11-01 17:26

Hi Paul,
An interesting note accompanies this well arranged capture.
The foreground steps create an interesting pattern of light and shade that lead to the monastery building. It's good to see people strolling about taking in the splendid buildings.
Very much a splendid TE image.
Regards
Peter

ghilain (1714) 2009-11-01 23:17

Hello Paul,

Prachtig gebouw! Zeer mooi ingelijst en goed licht!

TFS

brigitte

sacavem (8203) 2009-11-02 14:27

Olá Paul,

A excellent architecture picture, lovely construction of these cathedral, the sharpness and clarity are good! Very well subject! TFS.
Filipe

bukitgolfb301 (4490) 2009-11-02 14:58

Hello my dear Paul

What is another wonderful shot!
Perfect tight framework/composition and fine pale color coordination are excellent as usual!
I like the shape of Russian Church. Anyway congratulation on your masterpiece!
Thanks for sharing and best regards,
Have a nice Tuesday !

Takero

lousat (15202) 2009-11-02 15:00

Hi Paul,i'm always fascinating from the orthodoxian architechtures,and this is another fantastic spectacle of colors...you work very well whit the difficult light for a best result as possible,impressive sharpness too.My best compliments,have a nice day,Luciano

gunbud (27695) 2009-11-02 18:01

Hi Paul,
Beautiful capture of this lovely Russian Church.
Love how the blue and gold onion dooms compliment each other and the sharpness of the foreground steps that lead so evvectively towards the magnificent architecture.
Regards, Tom

ifege (1655) 2009-11-02 22:21

Another good Moscow photo Paul - showing off not only the centre piece but also the surrounding buildings. Nicely composed and good sky. My only suggestion would be to get rid of that distracting power cable in the gap between the buildings.
cheers
Ian

Vasa (5230) 2009-11-03 2:06

Bonjour Paul,

cette belle photo entre dans une galerie, deja tres riche, des eglises en Russie, dont j'ai fait une collection discrete a part. Ta note fait quelque chose et je te remercie beaucoup, ami. Meilleures amities,

Branko

ChrisJ (69840) 2009-11-03 4:31

Hi Paul

I like the repetition of the cupolas, the blue vs yellow & the adherence to the rule of three. Good sharpness & upward pov. Tfs!

Longroute (9087) 2009-11-04 2:16

I like how you included the stairs at the left which creates a very good sense of depth. I didn't know this outstanding church which is really very photogenic. Your composition is very alive both for the colours and the dynamism created by the diagonal of the immaginary line that goes from the building at the left and the group of people at the bottom right.
An excellent document and photo.

Best regards,
Donato

patdeph (17560) 2009-11-05 9:07

bonjour Paul
j'aime beaucoup l'architecture et les couleurs féériques de ces églises russes!Celle-ci resplendit sous le soleil et le ciel bleu!
Amicalement
Pascale

xavshot (62079) 2009-11-05 11:29

Bonsoir Paul
belle mise en valeur de cette architecture et de la richesse de ces toits. Beau rendu des couleurs.
amicalement
Xavier

anokutan (7453) 2009-11-21 8:37

Hello Paul,
An excellent framing for this typical and beautiful architecture with its details nicely displayed in a good sharpness.