Day 01
Valday Town Walk and Iversky Monastery Visit
- 09:30: Morning meeting at the railway station and transfer to the Valday Visit Centre.
- 12:00-14:00: Lunch at the cafe in the Visit Centre. Check-in to the room.
- 15:00: Guided walking tour "Streets of the city tell..." Valday is an ancient provincial town with a rich history of origin, formation, and development. The first mention of the Valday settlement dates back to the 15th century, and its roadside location has left a vivid imprint on its growth. Postal stations, lively troikas, a central position between Moscow and St. Petersburg, and famous personalities all form part of its story. Historical Valday is an ancient tract with a hilly landscape, Valday Lake with a monastery, and Valday gingerbreads. A walk through the central streets of modern Valday allows you to immerse yourself in the past of the county town, even if only briefly, and to feel like its resident, not just a guest. Do you want to know the cost of a bundle of Valday gingerbreads, where A.S. Pushkin stayed, and why the "Tsar-Podkova" is included in the list of Russian records? Then you must walk with a guide along the route "Streets of the city tell..." During the tour, you will see Narodnaya Street with former merchant houses, the dam of Valday Lake, the central square of Valday with the Trinity Cathedral, the monument "Tsar-Podkova" next to the souvenir shop, and Ekaterinskaya Church, home to the bell museum.
- 16:40: Departure for a tour of the Valday Iversky Monastery. Travel time: 15 minutes. Duration of the tour: 1.5 hours (40 minutes with a guide plus free time). One of the spiritual centres of the Novgorod land is the Valday Iversky Holy Lake Monastery, an architectural monument of the 17th-19th centuries. The golden glow of its domes and the ringing of bells present Valday in a different light. The Valday Iversky Monastery was the first monastery built after the Time of Troubles. It was founded in 1653 by Patriarch Nikon, the executor of church reforms that led to a schism among the Old Believers. Located on Selvitsky Island, the monastery rises above the waters of Valday Lake like a guardian. During the tour, guests can visit the main temple of the monastery complex - the Iversky Cathedral - and explore the gateway churches of Philip of Moscow and Archangel Michael, as well as the fraternal, abbey, and steward buildings. One of the highlights of the visit may be an introduction to the stone carving, wood carving, and tiles preserved since the 17th century.
