Friday, 19 July. At breakfast we learned that the boat had been delayed for hours during the night due to heavy fog on the Volga. Consequently, the day's scheduled had to be revised completely. Instead of arriving at Goritsky at 10:00 a.m., we would be lucky to get there four hours later. The morning was filled with another lecture on Russian art (which we skipped) and the second Russian language class. We had lunch at noon and arrived in Goritsky (@km 683) at 2:00. By this time there was no sign of fog, and it was a beautiful sunny day in the mid-70s.

Goritsky, a small village, grew up around the Resurrection Convent (1544), once used as a place of exile for women of noble families. After deteriorating almost into ruins, the convent is now being restored, but is still not open to visitors. Instead, a bus took us to the neighboring village of Kirillov, a few miles away, to see the Monastery of St. Cyril of the White Lake. It is said to date from 1397 when a pious monk (Cyril) settled here to get away from the world. However, the oldest of the present buildings, Assumption Cathedral, was built a century later. The monastery was a favorite of Ivan the Terrible, who was conceived shortly after his infertile parents prayed here for a child. It has been a museum since 1923.

Walls of St. Cyril Monastery

Monastery gate

Assumption Cathedral

Nativity Church at Krokhino

We bought a small, round wooden box in the gift shop, then had to rush to get outside at the designated time to catch the bus. But there were no buses there -- not for any of the several tour groups. After about a half hour wait, the buses finally showed up. We got back to the Tolstoy at 4:40 and it sailed immediately. At 6:20 we passed the site of the town of Krokhino (@km 714), submerged 40 years ago by a hydroelectric dam. The flooded Church of the Nativity is still standing. Dinner was at 7:00 and we took it easy for the rest of the evening.