Churches of Russian Palestine Framed with Flowers

Architectural ensemble with magnificent churches of the "New Jerusalem" Resurrection monastery in Istra framed with spring flowers and white clouds at the end of May. The monastery on the river Istra was founded in the mid-17th century by Moscow Patriarch Nikon and developed into a single architectural complex from 1657 to 1697. An exact replica of the Church of the Holy Sepulture, the complex recreates the Holy Land of Christians and is often called "Russian Palestine." In the foreground of the picture is the Church of St. Constantine and St. Helena, buried in the ground in imitation of the prototype in Palestine, which was dug out of a cliff.

Photo #037 taken on May 30, 2008 during Moscow countryside tour to the New Jerusalem monastery with my Dear clients from Belgium, Bert Nys and Kazuko Kawabata.