anchor-ice

[anchor-ice]

leaving for saint petersburg tomorrow morning, so here's to the end of the monastery quest! 10/10, lots of notes, will probably go again

here's our expedition leader and some lopsided church domes (a cat jumped on my knees halfway through)

[anchor-ice]

tiny wolves all over the town

gotta catch them all!

[anchor-ice]

possible hidden treasure? 👀

There is no access to the southern part of the basement. The builders have looked at the walls and assume that the masonry there is newer than in the rest of the cathedral And the idea is that during the civil war the nuns hid some icons or other attributes of worship behind a new wall!!!!!!! Rev. Mother gave a blessing to break through the wall and check, but it will most likely be after our team leaves 😔

[anchor-ice]

goats!!

[anchor-ice]

old army ruins nearby

[anchor-ice]

how it started/how it's going

[anchor-ice]

sunset

[anchor-ice]

Some history!

[anchor-ice]

It's so interesting to see your monastery quest stuff!!!! How did you get into it? Did you just ask or is there a program or something??

There's a volunteer project called restavros, they turned 35 this year! Every year they organise 10-15 expeditions to help monasteries/churches all over Russia

You just pick where you want to go, get in contact with the orgs, pack your things, buy a train ticket and go! Easy

They are based in Moscow so they have their headquarters there (and I very much am not, 1200km from me to them) but that was fine as well, we just arrived separately and met on location 🫡👍

[anchor-ice]

BELL TOWER MY BELOVED

Video won't upload from mobile so I put it up on Google drive

Tumblr when I fucking get you-

Anyway, we were allowed to climb the bell tower together with the ringer, here's him playing and the view from up top 🫡

[anchor-ice]

monastery quest my beloved

our progress for today (the pile of bricks was also removed later)

our task is to carry the rubble from the monastery basement so that the builders can get to the walls

the monastery was taken by the red army in 1921, turned into soldier's quarters and later left into disrepair

the drainage system that kept the water from the basement got blown up while the churches above were being destroyed, and the basement got flooded

after 70 years of being submerged the bricks crumbled so much that the walls above were nearly collapsing, threatening to bring the whole cathedral down

now the water is being kept away by pumps and the builders are fixing the gaps left in them

my back is very sore...

incredible ghost stories moment: we found this pile of horseshoes left by the red cavalry! (also some human bones 💀)

last year's team members also told me they found machine gun ammo..... sailor reference?

anyway, i'm having such a blast, this whole place is so interesting and my stay here is incredibly pleasant so far

(also the food is really really good! the sisters here keep goats and we get fresh milk, cheese, butter, tvorog and kefir every day! absolutely delicious🙏)

[anchor-ice]

WAHHHHHHH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!! KISSING EVERY DRAWING MWAH MWAH MWAH!!!!! 💋💋💋

Currently at a very damp monastery basement but. When I get back. I owe you one. Please tell me what character(s) would you like me to draw!!

@anchor-ice 's ocs!! their designs are PEAK 🤌

[anchor-ice]

I need to climb the bell tower. it's calling to me.

[anchor-ice]

ahhhh i'm enjoying my monastery quest so much fr fr

washed the chapel today (with all the things in it, had to climb a ladder to get to the tops of the silver icon frames and the feeling of smearing a wet soapy rag over a priceless historical artefact is truly one of a kind)

then my group finally arrived (pleasant people! fun banter! good to work with!) and we went on to clear a shed from the logs and put the logs to dry in a different shed

my back.... but nothing beats a satisfaction of a job well done + a tasty dinner afterwards!

(the food is so good. man. so good!)

+ the monastery has like a bajillion cats (i've seen at least 6 do far), GOATS!! for the milk and the butter and the kefir etc and an incredibly lovely dog who guards the equipment sheds (she was so excited to see new people!!)

the nuns are so good to us as well 🙏

truly an incredible experience, i'm so glad I decided to go insane this year and do whatever comes to mind

to be continued!

going on my own monastery quest for 2 weeks.... no new digital art until the 25th at the very least but maybe i'll have time for some pen sketches 🫡

[anchor-ice]

Hi! Today I turned 19 and I'd like to share my recent works that I am still proud of

I don't regret a day that I eventually came here in search of social media for myself. Thank you.

[anchor-ice]

i'm in!

going on my own monastery quest for 2 weeks.... no new digital art until the 25th at the very least but maybe i'll have time for some pen sketches 🫡

[anchor-ice]

if you like my drawings and want to support me you can leave me a tip on boosty!