Here are some pictures of a church I found on my walk. I had seen the spires before from the bus and so on and decided to go investigate. I don't know what it is called but it was really beautiful in the full sunlight.
This is St. Demetrius Cathedral. It once stood inside the city's Kremlin and was the personal church of Grand Prince Vsevolod "the Big-nest." (He apparently had an exceptionally large family, but mainly I just wanted to type "Big-nest.") It has a whole bunch of rather odd carvings in the white limestone; mainly a series of mythical Greek and Old Testament heros and prophets, something that is almost unheard of in the Orthodox tradition.
This is the Uspensky (Assumption) Cathedral. It was originally built in the middle 12th century. It was rebuilt and enlarged at the end of that century after fire damaged the existing structure. For about three hundred years it was the catherdral where the Grand Princes (the predecessors to the Tsars) were crowned. Think of it as the Russian equivalent of Westminster Abbey. It also served as the model for the Uspensky Cathedral that stands inside the Kremlin in Moscow and was the coronation site of the Tsars.
These last two of are separate churches around the center. The one on the left dates from around the middle 18th century and stands outside a monastary on Bolshaya Moscovskaya, the main street of the city. The other is quite a bit older but in better shape, and stands on a little back street about a hundred yards to the east of the American Home.
This last one is close to the American Home behind the last church. It is a little terrace going down the bluff toward the river. Somewhere down there at the bottom are some houses, the railroad tracks, and the Klyazma River.
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