Gethsemane Chernigovsky Skete

The (Gethsemane) Chernigovsky Skete (1843-7) is the Lavra's eastern hermitage 3km. A famous Moscow holy fool Philippushka who had been drifting in European Russia for 10 years as a pariah came to the Lavra and moved to the place to dig an underground reclusory like that of the Kiev-Pechyory Lavra. The caves were dug till 1851 when they included a cave temple as a wooden dugout and underpasses with monastic cells. The central cave was for prayer to become the Archangel Michael Cave Temple.

In 1852 the cave temple was donated the Chernigov Icon of Godmother. By legend, in 1869 it healed a paralized peasant woman and later showed over 100 miracles and healings. The Skete's elder was Rev. Barnabas visited in 1905 by Tsar Nicolas II for advice and blessing. Barnabas used to console people even though predicting Bolshevic terror and Orthodox revival.

The architectural ensemble center is the 5-dome Chernigovky Cathedral (1886-97) with the cave church underneath. Its 5-tier belfry rises amid the neighborhood almost equally with the Lavra's one.

Tsar Chambers

The Tsar Chambers were erected in the late 17th c. By its outside appearance the edifice matches the Refectory Church. It was used by pilgrims from the royal family. In the 18th c. the Chambers vaults were decorated with fine stucco and carvings.  

The Church Archaeological Museum and the Holy Virgin Intercession Church are situated inside the Chambers. The wall paintings were created in 1987–8 by the iconographers of the local Icon Painting School. 

The church above the gateway, dedicated to the St. John the Baptist's Nativity, was built in 1693–9. At present confessions for pilgrims and exorcism are performed in it every morning.

Moscow Theological Academy

The Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary is the highest instutute of the Russian Orthodox Church stemming from the Slav-Greek-Latin Academy (1685). The pious Empress Elizabeth who often visited the Trinity Monastery founded the Seminary in the Tsar Chambers in 1742. The Academy trains Orthodox priests.

In 1814 the Theological Academy was transferred from Moscow to the Lavra, and a new complex of buildings for school needs appeared. Its yellow classroom building was erected in 1839 and got a 3rd storey in 1884.

At present the Tsar Chambers belong to the Academy. Academy access is for its students only. 

Belfry

The Belfry (1741-69) is the Lavra's tallest building 88m high and reputed as Russia's most beautiful bell tower. Built as to classic architecture canons, the Belfry impresses with its excellently chosen 5-tier proportions, orderly elegance and harmonically compatable wall plane and arch spans. It's crowned with an unusual shell-shaped accomplishment. The clock with chimes was installed in 1905.

The Belfry was designed by architects Shumakher and Ukhtomsky, and it’s one of the tallest in Russia. It replaced the 17th-c. bell tower. Its heaviest bell weighed 65 tons. The bell choice by their tone and sound was considered superb. Before the revolution there were 42 bells. In 1930 all the big bells were thrown down and destroyed. Till 2002 there were only 23 bells. On September 4, 2002 two new Moscow-cast bells (35,5 and 27 tons) were lifted up to the 2nd tier in presence of Patriarch Alexy II. The 3rd called Tsar (72 tons) was cast in Petersburg in 2003. 

The Belfry is the monastery's latest prominent building, a finale of the unique architectural ensemble. It dominates the Assembly Square as if uniting its other constructions.

Assumption Cathedral

The Assumption (Dormition) Cathedral (1559-85) is the Lavra's biggest church. The monastery's current walls were built in the mid-16th century, as was the Assumption Cathedral rising in the complex's center. Its 4 blue onion domes around a larger gold one may look familiar - they were inspired by the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. 

In the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, who had a particular veneration for St. Sergius, the monastery was surrounded by a stone enclosure topped by 12 towers. After conquering the Tartars and the kingdoms of Kazan and Astrahan, the tsar began building a large and beautiful church for the Assumption of the Mother of God. The walls, pillars and vaults are covered with frescoes about the Church history. Most of the wall frescoes are dedicated to the Assumption of the Holy Virgin. On the pillars there are images of the most highly venerated saints of the Orthodox Church. The cathedral's magnificent frescoes were created in 1684 by 35 painters in 100 days. The frescoes cover the area of 500 m2. The 5-tier iconostasis consists of 76 icons dated back to the 16–17th-cc.. The celebrated 17th-c. painter Simon Ushakov, a royal isographer, took part in creating the iconostasis. 

The Assumption Cathedral consists of 2 temples with the holy relics of St. Filaret (Drozdov † 1867) and St. Innokenty (Veniaminov † 1879), Moscow metropolitans. By the western wall, to the right of the entrance, you can see the tomb of Makarius (Bulgakov † 1882), a Moscow metropolitan who created many outstanding works on the history of the Russian Orthodox Church and dogmatic theology.

Trinity Monastery

The monastery baptized Ivan the Terrible, the notorious Russian tsar. He fortified it into a solid fortress to defend Moscow. In the 1550s a thick wall with brick-and-stone towers substituted the wooden fence.

In 1606 the well-famed though short-termed Russian Tsar Boris Godunov with his family were buried by the Dormition Cathedral.

In 1608-10 the Trinity Monastery survived a siege by 30K Polish invaders for 16 months. This feat of arms spread the word about its defenders and won it immense prestige.

Peter the Great kept maintaing its status as a royal fortress. In 1689 he hid inside the monastery during the streltsy (royal guard) riot in Moscow.