---
title: "The Trinity-Sergius Lavra — Church history"
description: "The spiritual centre of Russia founded by St Sergius. The Orthodox Church calendar, icons, prayers, lives of saints and Church history on spas.life."
url: "https://spas.life/en/orthodoxy/history/place-trinity-lavra"
language: "en"
---

Holy places

# The Trinity-Sergius Lavra

The spiritual centre of Russia founded by St Sergius.

## History

Founded c. 1337; in 1422 the stone Trinity Cathedral was built, for whose iconostasis Andrei Rublev and Daniil Chorny painted icons. The monastery withstood a sixteen-month siege in 1608–1610. It received the status of lavra in 1744. Closed in 1920, it was returned to the Church in 1946.

## Today

A working monastery, the Moscow Theological Academy and a Patriarchal residence. The relics of St Sergius rest in the Trinity Cathedral, where Rublev's “Trinity” has also been kept since 2024.

## Related

- [Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Sergiev Posad](https://spas.life/en/orthodoxy/places/trinity-lavra)
- [St Sergius of Radonezh](https://spas.life/en/orthodoxy/history/saints/sergius)