Russia

2 New beautiful cards from Russia. One is of Novodevichiy Monastery (it means New-girls Convent - a fitting name for a women's monastery?) in Moscow. My sender, Margarita-Mardji writes: "It was founded in 1524 as ordered by Grand Prince Basil III. It was built as a fortress at the bend of the Moscow River. The architectural ansemble of the monastery comprises the fortress walls, Smolensk Cathedral, a refectory, the residential, household and church premises, dated to the end of the 17th century." Oh, the beautiful onions domes! I do miss seeing them! It looks very beautiful and fully restored. When I was there so long time ago, the monastery didn't exist, but one little chapel. There is a large cemetery grounds by this moanstery where a lot of famous and important Russians are buried. It used to be more of a museum than a church back then.

This beautiful card came from the city of Ufa, the capital of Bashkor-tostan (Башкортостан). It is an autonomic republic within Russia, located between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains. Bashkirs are people with their own language, culture and religion. Some of them are the followers of Islam, some are Orthodox Christians. My uncle lived and worked on the railroad there, and his family is still in Ufa. So, it was very nice to see this beautiful Orthodox church on the postcard. This is the Cathedral of the Birthday of God's Mother, a very Orthodox looking chapel.

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