Day 9. Sunday, June 01, 2008.
This morning we will spend getting to the city of Vologda that Russian Tsar John the Terrible envisioned to be the northern-most capital of Russia ever. That city at times is justly called the “sleeping beauty of Russia”. Vologda will “treat” us with its monumental Kremlin Cathedral, collection of church antiquities, icon gallery that can compete with the world famous icon collections of St. Petersburg and Moscow, the splendid church of St. John in Roschenie and the picturesque Spaso-Prilutskiy Monastery.

Day 10. Monday, June 02, 2008.
Today we’ll be spending in rural Russia – the legendary Belozerye or country of the White Lake. Being remote and distant from all major Russian cities, this land still is invaluable in Russian state, church and art history. Our trip here will be rewarded with visits to the town of Kirillov and the village of Ferapontovo. Kirillov is the location for one of the most famous and important Russian monasteries in all of Russia, that of St. Cyril of Beloozero or of the “White Lake”. It is functioning as a museum now, although the faithful are allowed to worship in a little church on the monastery grounds, where the relics of its founder St. Cyril are.  Besides being a place for pilgrimage, the monastery has a very important icon collection on display in the museum and in two churches that are converted into exhibition halls. This remote place has such a magnificent collection that the visit here is absolutely “a must”. In the village of Ferapontovo, another monastery still has awe-inspiring and well-preserved frescoes by Dyonisios, one of the most famous and talented medieval Russian iconographers. The state of art and quality of preservation of these frescoes earned Ferapontovo the name of Northern Sistine Chapel. We will get on the train in Cherepovets, a modern industrial city where, prior to our departure for St. Petersburg, we will have a supper after a brief visit to a small, but unique in many respects, collection of Russian icons that represent the Russian “northern style”. 

Day 11. Tuesday, June 03, 2008.
Upon arrival to the Northern Russian capital - the glorious city of St. Petersburg we will explore the State Russian Museum and the Cathedral of the Savior “on the Spilled Blood” (a splendid example of 19th century Russian mosaic art). From there we will continue to the Modern Icon Gallery, where you’ll be able to purchase some modern icons and iconographical supplies. From the gallery we will go to the Cathedral of our Lady of Kazan. Later in the afternoon we will transfer to the Ancient City of Novgorod.     

Day 12 - Wednesday, June 04, 2008.
Novgorod for centuries was the rival center to all of the Russian capitals and cultural centers. The magnificent remnant of this splendid glory can be seen till the present day. We will start our exploration of the city with several surviving churches on the former site of Novgorod’s market place, after that we will see the Grand Icon museum, perhaps with the most icons on display anywhere in Russia. After a visit to St. Sophia’s Cathedral, also in Novgorod Kremlin, you’ll be given a choice to visit Novgorod Treasure Gallery at Granovitaya Palata or to go back to study the treasures of Novgorod Icon Museum some more. In the afternoon we will see Transfiguration Cathedral with some frescoes done by Theophane the Greek, Znamenskiy Sobor, with some good 17th century frescoes, the Church of St. Theodore the Stratylates, also with frescoes from the 14th century and the Church of St. Simeon the God-receiver in the former Zverin Monastery.

Day 13 - Thursday, June 05, 2008.
Today we will start our day with a visit to the restorers’ workshop. People from that workshop literally saved dozens of square feet of frescoes from the churches in and around Novogorod that were ruined during WWII and that were considered to be lost forever. We will see some restored churches, among them Church of Our Savior on Nereditsa, Church of the Nativity on the Red Field (Rozhdestva na Krasnom pole), the Annunciation Church (Blagovescheniya na Myachine). Besides that we will see St. Anthony of Rome Monastery, St. George’s Monastery with its famous 11th century cathedral and the Museum of Wooden Architecture “Vitoslavlitsi”. Following that we will transfer to another ancient Russian city of Pskov, in medieval times the western-most outpost of the Russian Lands. 

Day 14 - Friday, June 6, 2008.
After transferring to the ancient Russian city of Pskov, we will start with a visit to the Holy Trinity Cathedral with its fascinating 17-18th century iconostas, historical museum with its excellent icon collection, and special chambers where many more icons that are never seen on general display are stored. Then we’ll continue to explore the treasures of Pskov – among them Mirozhskiy monasteries with 12th and 13th century frescoes. Mirozhskiy Monastery also hosts the monastic icon workshop and a church with another white stone frescoed iconostasis completed by contemporary iconographer Fr. Zenon. After that we will visit the most ancient church in Pskov – the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (12th century) where another famous Russian iconographer – Fr. Andrei Davidov tried to recreate icons and frescoes in a style that would be contemporary to the cathedral’s founding age.      

Day 15 - Saturday, June 7, 2008.
Today we will explore the Byzantine Collection of the State Hermitage, and then the largest church of St. Petersburg - St. Isaac’s Cathedral. Late in the afternoon we will make a couple of stops on Vasilievskiy Island to see the Cathedral of St. Andrew and historical Smolenskoe Cemetery. In the evening you may attend a folk show, a ballet/opera concert or just have some quiet time during a boat ride on the canals of St. Petersburg.

Day 16 - Sunday, June 8, 2008.
Departure back home.

Important: the itinerary may be adjusted to satisfy the interests of the group to the best extent possible; i.e. services, rest, additional time spent in the places where the most important collections of ecclesiastical art are housed. Accessibility of some of the monuments is also subject to weather conditions and restoration works as ancient frescoes are very fragile and need special climate control regime.