Coastal Monastery of Saint Sergius

If you go to Peterhof by car or by suburban bus, you will pass by a monastery called Coastal Monastery of Saint Sergius. The architectural complex is sure to catch your eye. Why not make a stop on the way and visit this monastery?

The part of the monastery that starts behind the gate is free to visit. You can pass through the gate, walk in the monastery garden, admire the flowers in the flowerbeds and visit the active churches and chapels. You cannot enter the brotherhood buildings without the permission of the abbot. It is also not allowed to walk freely in the economic part of the monastery. The lands of the monastery stretch towards the bay and there are vegetable gardens on them.

The monastery is called a seaside monastery because it is located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. But the shore of the Gulf of Finland in this place is not suitable for walking. The bay is shallow and the shore is swampy and overgrown with reeds, bulrushes, grass and low bushes. An old cobbled road runs towards the bay, but it is soon lost in the coastal thickets. These places are very fond of migratory birds. The coastal area is a natural monument. Even if you are not afraid of the marshy shore, I would not advise you to walk in that direction - a special permit is required to visit the nature reserve.

The monastery was founded in the beginning of the XVIII century on the lands given by Empress Anna Ioannovna. The monastery was a famous place of pilgrimage in the XVIII and XIX centuries. In the XIX century a railway station was built two kilometres from the monastery, which made the way to the monastery less tedious. A horse-railway was built for the sick and weakened, which connected the monastery and the railway station. At the beginning of the 20th century, the legendary suburban tram line, Oranela, was built, and getting from the city to the monastery became even easier.

You can get to the monastery along the historical road even now. You can take the suburban train to Sergievo station and walk the remaining two kilometres, which is how pilgrims got there in the second half of the 19th century. You can also travel back a hundred years in your imagination - there are still trams running along the old suburban tram line. Or you can come by bus, the bus stop is located 100 metres from the entrance to the monastery.

A walk through the monastery garden is a leisurely and peaceful stroll. You feel peace and tune in to spiritual experiences. Some graves of famous people have been preserved in the monastery garden: according to tradition, part of the garden was used as a cemetery. The Chancellor of the Russian Empire Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov, the famous architect Andrey Ivanovich Shtakenshneider and other famous people were buried here. In the early XX century, after the October Revolution, the monastery was closed, but in 1993 it was decided to restore the monastery. Now this place has become a male monastery again.