Churches

I’ve always felt that churches are some special kind of architecture. They are sacred because they are the God’s houses on the Earth.
They are very diverse – I haven’t ever seen two identical churches. And all of them are very beautiful.
That’s why taking pictures of churches has become a kind of my internal duty.
You may notice that many galleries are dedicated to Troitse-Sergiev Varnitsky Monastery near the Russian city Rostov-the-Great. This is something personal.
This monastery is very special for any Russian. It was erected on the birthplace of one of the most revered and beloved saints in Russia – Sergiy Radonezhsky. He’s noted for establishing numerous monasteries in medieval Russia and for blessing Prince Dmitry Donskoy when he went to fight the Tatars in the final Battle of Kulikovo field – one of the most important events in the history of Russia.
Unfortunately, in 1920s the monastery was destroyed as many other religious objects in the Soviet Union.
In 2001 abbot of the monastery Father Siluan addressed me with the request for assistance in the monastery restoration. Since that time my company took part in that by donating and by annual staff trips to the monastery to help them with a free labour. Very soon the beautiful monastery was erected on an empty field - an exact replica of the ruined one.