A lavra or laura is a type of monastery consisting of a cluster of cells or caves for hermits, with a church and sometimes a refectory at the center. Lavra monasteries operate within the Orthodox and other Eastern Christian traditions; the name is also used by some Catholic communities. The term in Greek initially meant a narrow lane or an alley in a city.
Andrei Rublev was a Russian artist considered to be one of the greatest medieval Russian painters of Orthodox Christian icons and frescoes. He is revered as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and his feast day is 29 January.
The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is a lavra and the most important Russian monastery, being the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is situated in the town of Sergiyev Posad, about 70 kilometres (43 mi) to the northeast from Moscow by the road leading to Yaroslavl, and currently is home to over 300 monks.
Nikolo-Perervinsky Monastery is the southernmost historical monastery of Moscow. It is dedicated to Saint Nicholas the Miracle-Worker. It is situated at south of the district of Pechatniki between the Moscow river and the Lublino railroad classification yard.
Saidnaya is a city located in the mountains, 1,500 m (4,900 ft) above sea level, 27 km (17 mi) north of the city of Damascus in Syria. It is the home of a Greek Orthodox monastery traditionally held to have been founded by Byzantine emperor Justinian I, and where a renowned icon of the Virgin Mary is revered by both Christians and Muslims to this day. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Saidnaya had a population of 25,194 in the 2004 census.
August 14 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - August 16
A stauropegion, also spelled stavropegion, is a monastery or a parish which depends directly on the primate or on the Holy Synod of a particular Church, and which is not under the jurisdiction of the local bishop. The name comes from the Byzantine tradition of summoning the Patriarch to place a cross at the foundation of stauropegic monasteries or parochial churches.
The Holy Mountains Lavra of the Holy Dormition is a major Orthodox Christian monastery on the steep right bank of the Siverskyi Donets River. The name comes from the surrounding Holy Mountains; the Holy Dormition is another term for the death of the Virgin Mary.
Saint Porphyrios (Bairaktaris) the Kafsokalyvite (Greek: Όσιος Πορφύριος ο Καυσοκαλυβίτης; secular name: Evangelos Bairaktaris was a Greek Athonite hieromonk who became widely known for his gifts of spiritual discernment. He was canonised as an Eastern Orthodox Saint by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the 27th of November 2013.