Photo: Shesmax, CC BY-SA 3.0 
Photo: Сержант Пеппер, CC BY-SA 3.0 
Photo: Gzen92, CC BY-SA 4.0
Road to the Lavra
Дорога в Лавру
A 120 km walking road from the Moscow Kremlin to the Trinity Lavra of St Sergius in Sergiev Posad, built by volunteers for pilgrims and hikers, with stamps collected at key points on the way.
At a glance
- Starts in
- Moscow Kremlin
- Ends in
- Trinity Lavra of St Sergius, Sergiev Posad
- Length
- 120 km
- On foot
- ≈ 5–6 days
- Countries
Russia
About the trail
The Trinity Lavra of St Sergius in Sergiev Posad, north-east of Moscow, is the most important monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church and has drawn pilgrims from Moscow for centuries. The Road to the Lavra brings back the old idea of reaching it on foot, leading for about 120 km from the Moscow Kremlin through the city and the countryside of Moscow Oblast to the monastery.
Walkers collect stamps at key points in a travel document known as a podorozhnaya gramota, which can be obtained at the Iverskaya Chapel and the Bogoroditse-Rozhdestvensky Monastery in Moscow. The route can be walked in one go or in parts, over anything from a single day to about eight days, depending on the walker's aims and fitness.
The road is being built by volunteers under the leadership of Eldar Orudzhev, with donations going to a non-profit centre for the creation and development of ecological roads. According to its website, the route is about 120 km long and is meant for pilgrims, tourists and anyone who enjoys walking.
No source gives the days on foot, so they are worked out from the length at 20–25 km a day.