Odintsovsky District offers a cultural and a scenic approach to planning a trip. Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery provides an introduction to the area’s history, while exhibitions, archaeological evidence and a forest hiking route offer different discoveries. Choosing your focus first can help you distinguish historical sites from a hike: at cultural sites, the founding period, interiors and architecture shape the theme; for the route, the distance and its suitability for experienced hikers set the parameters.
Monastery History and Exhibitions
Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery was founded in 1398 by the monk Savva. Savva was a disciple of Saint Sergius of Radonezh; Prince Yuri Dmitrievich of Zvenigorod, a son of Dmitry Donskoy, requested and supported its foundation. This identifies three roles in the monastery’s history: its founder, his spiritual teacher and its princely patron. These specific circumstances of its founding offer an introduction to the monastery’s history that goes beyond its architectural form.
Exhibitions in three rooms of the Tsarina’s Chambers on the monastery grounds showcase important periods in the history of the Zvenigorod area and reconstruct court life in authentic 17th-century interiors. Regional history and court life are thus both at the heart of the exhibitions. Check the current opening status of the exhibitions before your visit.
Forest and Archaeological Evidence
The Podushkinsky Forest Nature and Recreation Complex is located in Odintsovsky Urban Okrug and includes the urban settlement of Odintsovo and the rural settlement of Barvikhinskoye. The archaeological group “Odintsovskie Kurgany” is located within the complex. It comprises 19 groups of burial mounds and individual mounds, with more than 300 mounds in total, six contemporary open settlements, and five settlements dating to the era of the Muscovite State. Groups of mounds and individual mounds are thus found alongside settlements with different historical associations.
Hiking Route and Cultural Sites
The 16-kilometre route along Metropolitan Street through Maslovsky Forest is suitable for experienced hikers. It starts in Aksinino, in Odintsovsky Urban Okrug, and leads to the Church of Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki in Dmitrovskoye, in the neighbouring Krasnogorsky Okrug. The route therefore crosses a district boundary. A seven-kilometre section of the route passes through protected forests, including young pine forest. The 16 kilometres refer to the entire route; the seven kilometres refer to one section. Check the route and the path and terrain conditions before setting out.
Architecture and local connections also offer concrete starting points for choosing a cultural theme. The Grebnevskaya Church of the Icon of the Mother of God in Odintsovo is a stone church in the Classical style, dating from the early 19th century. The park grounds in Golitsyno are on the opposite bank from the Vyazyomy Museum-Estate. The available themes thus range from the monastery’s founding in 1398 to Classical religious architecture of the early 19th century.
If you are looking for a holiday rental in Odintsovsky District, first choose the focus you want to shape your stay: monastery history and exhibitions, archaeological themes, architecture or a longer hike. Then check the location of the holiday rental on offer in relation to your specific destination before planning around it.
Discover more destinations: Barvikha, Romashkovo, Kubinka, Golizyno, Odinzowo, Novoivanovskoye, Nemchinovka, Dubki, Shikhovo, Khvoynoye, Khotyazhi, Sergiyevo, Perkhushkovo, Ussowo, Vyrubovo.
For the broader travel overview: Moscow.
