Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery

The monastery is built into a hillside of soft sandstone near the Estonian border, around caves that were in use before the foundation in 1473 - the name Pechory comes from the word for caves. It is unusual in two ways. It was never closed: between the wars Pechory was in Estonia, so the monastery escaped the Soviet closures of the 1920s and 30s, and after 1940 it continued to function, making it one of a very small number of Russian monasteries with unbroken life through the twentieth century. And the caves are burial galleries - about two hundred metres of passages holding some ten thousand burials, in which bodies were placed in wall recesses and, because of the sandstone's constant temperature and dryness, do not produce the smell of decay, which the monastery treats as a sign. Visits to the far caves are by arrangement and lit by candle. The complex is painted in strong colours down a ravine.

What you actually see

• The burial caves - about two hundred metres of galleries holding some ten thousand burials.
• The unbroken life - one of very few Russian monasteries never closed in the Soviet period.
• The Estonian interval - the border position that saved it from the 1920s closures.
• The ravine setting - painted buildings stepping down a wooded gully.

When to go

May to September. Two to three hours. The far caves need arranging in advance and are not part of a casual visit.

Honest expectations

Access to the deep caves is limited and must be arranged; most visitors see only the near section. Strict dress rules, enforced. Photography is prohibited in much of the complex. Pechory is a border town with checks in the area.

Nearby

Izborsk is south-east; the Estonian border is a few kilometres west.