How a Temple Tour Turned into a Christmas Fairytale. A Foreigner's Third Visit to Moscow / Day 6

The sixth day of our individual excursion around Moscow turned out to be completely unexpected and turned into a bright and memorable event. Initially, we planned to walk around the metro stations, but our guest, a girl named Denise from Romania, suggested changing the plans. She is a believer and visits a church in her homeland every week. Instead of a Sunday visit, she decided to go on Saturday, and the guide supported this idea. The choice fell on the church in Stoleshnikov Lane, where our guide regularly goes herself.

On this day, the church hosted a children's liturgy — a special service that is held once a month. The text of the Gospel is displayed on the screen, and the priest explains it to the children in a simple and accessible form. The service lasts about an hour, after which all the children are invited to tea with treats brought by their parents. Master classes are organized for children, which makes this day truly family-oriented. After the liturgy, the guide showed the guest the new community house, located next to the church. This is a modern three-story building with a conference hall, rooms for prayer meetings and Gospel readings.

The route then continued on foot through Petrovka and Petrovsky Boulevard towards the central market. On the boulevard, the guide and the guest noticed an unusual arch decorated with spruce branches. This place became a real haven for sparrows, who were not afraid of people at all. The guide even tried to bring her hand to one of them, and the bird stayed in place. This moment was even captured on video.

At the central market, the guest was looking for products from Central Asia. However, on the minus first floor, where such goods were previously sold, the assortment was now more modest: several points with fruits, vegetables, chocolate, but without a clear emphasis on national delicacies. After a walk around the market, they went up to the third floor to have lunch. The guest chose Adjarian khachapuri, and the guide gave preference to Indian cuisine, taking butter curry.

Considering that there was time left before the end of the tour, the guide suggested visiting the Sretensky Monastery, which was located nearby. There they examined the old church of the 17th century and the new Church of the Resurrection of Christ, opened in 2017. This church is dedicated to the new martyrs and confessors of Russia. On the territory of the monastery, they saw a cross erected on the site of executions in the 1930s. The new church impressed the guest with its modern interior and a beautiful chandelier in the center.

When the guide and the guest were leaving the cathedral, they overheard a girl talking to a security guard about a concert. It turned out that a Christmas performance was taking place in the seminary assembly hall. The hospitable girl invited them to join in, and they went into the hall. The concert was bright and heartfelt. Children's groups performed: pupils of the Sretensky Monastery Sunday school sang carols and talked about Christmas traditions, children from the orphanage sang touching songs. In total, they spent about 45 minutes at the concert.

After the performance, the guest shared her impressions with the guide, noting that the songs of the children from the orphanage sounded especially sad. This touched her, and she decided to make a donation. Together with the guide, they found the director of the orphanage, took the details and discussed the possibility of financial assistance. And so, unexpectedly, the tour turned into a touching story of kindness and support. Having finished the day, the guest returned to the hotel with new impressions and, perhaps, with the feeling that this day had become special for her.

It remains to add that this was the third visit of the beautiful Denise to Russia, and the second when she walks with an English-speaking guide of our excursion bureau. We are waiting for her, you and your guests again!