Wednesday Walk in Alexander Nevsky Lavra

The Alexander Nevsky Lavra Monastery is located on the bank of the Neva River. The construction of the monastery began in 1710. Emperor Peter the Great chose the place for the monastery personally. He chose for the construction of the monastery a picturesque place near the confluence of a small tributary of the Neva River, which in those days was called the Black River, and now is called the Monastyrka River.

On the southern side, the territory of the monastery is bounded by a canal, which in the XIX century was an important transport artery. Thus, you can say that the monastery is located on an island. Usually they do not say so, because not all the land on this island is monastery territory, but when you cross the bridge over the Monastyrka River and pass under the arch of the ancient gate, you seem to overcome an important boundary and find yourself in another space, in a place where time has slowed down its run.

The Alexander Nevsky Lavra receives a lot of attention from pilgrims, and it is usually crowded near the central church of the monastery. But I decided to start my walk with a visit to the monastery's Metropolichy Garden, where there are far fewer people. But before turning to one of the alleys of the garden, I couldn't help but pay some attention to the monastery cats. However, these cats proudly ignored my "kitty - kitty" not backed up by a piece of sausage.

The monastery garden was planted in the XVIII century, work in the garden began a few years after the beginning of the construction of the monastery. Apart from the usual deciduous trees, fruit and berry trees and bushes such as apple trees, cherry trees, currants and others grew here.

Probably, in the past centuries monks used to gather fruits and berries in this garden to make vitamin variety in the menu and make preparations for winter. But now it is just a quiet garden away from the hustle and bustle of the city streets.

After a walk around the garden I returned to the central part of the island, and past the Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra I walked to the Nikolskoye cemetery. On the territory of the monastery there are several ancient cemeteries where many famous people are buried. The most famous is the necropolis of the XVIII century, where nobles were buried.

On the Nikolsky cemetery there is a small church of St. Nicholas of Myra, from the steps of this church there is a beautiful view of the Cathedral. Holy Trinity Cathedral was built in the second half of the XVIII century by architect Ivan Starov. It is a beautiful architectural monument of early classicism.

I take photos of some exquisite ancient grates and think that one day it will be possible to examine these grates and other architectural details more closely. The lattice on the gate wicket casts deep complex shadows, but the sun is hiding behind clouds and I don't have time to capture them. The weather is deteriorating and it's time for me to end my walk.

○	○
Smartphone	Google Pixel 3a
Location	Saint Petersburg, Russia

This is my entry for the #WednesdayWalk challenge by @tattoodjay.