janaline's world journey

Spring Tulips and Church Bells in Moscow.

The entrance of the park is full of colourful flowers

Kolomenskoye is one of tMoscows most beautiful parks. Especially in spring when it is covered in colourful tulips.

The park is only a short metro ride from the center of the city, but once you are here you forget that you are surrounded by high rise buildings and only a stones throw away from Moscows industrial area. As I walked from the metro station at Kolomenskoye I thought I might have the adress wrong as I was surrounded by drab Soviet tower blocks, that looked as if it would go on forever. Before I reached the park I was confronted by a rather gaudy collection of souvenir booths, filled with the usual tourist memorabilia. But like magic this touristy tackiness disappeared as I stepped through the gate into the tranquil, rugged beauty of the park.

An old wooden church I found down by the river before going into the main part of the park
The wooden church was unfortunately completely empty on the inside

It was a beautiful sunny day but as it was during the week, the park did not feel crowded and there there werent that many people walking around taking photographs. The park is filled with beautiful wooded buildings, the above church being one of the many dotted along the river.  Parts of this park date as far back as the 15th-17th centuries but a lot has only rescently been restored. 

Moscow’s Kolomenskoye Park
One of the gates that lead to the churches in the park
Tulips is spring to me!!!

It was the start of spring the park was covered in colourful tulips and flowers, absolutely stunning. It amazed me that throughout Moscow all the flower beds were filled with brightly coloured tulipsand daffodils. 

Unfortuanetly with Spring comes the pigeons who take the opportunity to take revenge on unsuspecting people. As I bent down to take the picture on the left here one of these pigeons took aim and fired. He actually pooped all over my hand and my camera!!!

As I looked up, im sure I heard the pigeon chukkle just before he flew off, knowing there was nothing I could do. My whole camera was covered in pigeon poop. It even got into the buttons, all over the screen and into the zoom!

On the bright side, he did miss my head. They say its good luck if a pigeon poops on you, I do hope this means my pictures will turn out good!

Moscow’s Kolomenskoye Park
This was my last shot of Tulips before the pigeon pooped on my camera!!
The gate way I walked through to get to the Church of the Ascension of the Lord

I walked with my pigeon poop covered camera to a stream close by and tried my best to clean it all off. As I was bending down, cleaning my camera, my bag slipped off my shoulder and fell into the stream. Great. Now I had a filthy camera and a wet bag, dripping water everywhere.  I sat down on a bench, spreading out the contents of my bag trying to dry it in the sun.

I hoped that this was the end of my mishaps for the day and after drying most of my bags contents and cleaning my camera I felt I definitely deserved an ice cold ice-cream!

I sat down in the cherry orchard with my ice-cream, enjoying the peace and quiet around me and trying to get myself back into a good mood.

Moscow’s Kolomenskoye Park
Church of the Ascension of the Lord

 The Church of the Ascension of the Lord, is right next to the Moscow River and definitely one of the parks more striking buildings.

Moscow’s Kolomenskoye Park
The church is right next to the Moscow River
The church bells started ringing while I was standing next to it

This church was constructed in 1529-1532 to commemorate the birth of Ivan the Terrible. The mystique and stark beauty of this church is only enhanced by its contrast with the modern cityscape that spreads in the distance.

It was while standing here that it felt like my luck for the day had just turned. As I stood admiring this church the church bells started ringing. It was amazing to listen to the church bells as I gazed out over the Moscow River and the city spread out in the distance.

Moscow’s Kolomenskoye Park
Moscow’s Kolomenskoye Park
Some priests coming out of the small chapel
The arch above the entrance to the small chapel
Moscow’s Kolomenskoye Park
Church of the Icon of Our Lady of Kazan
I just love the blue and gold onion domes of this church

Personally I think that the most beautiful church in this park is the pretty Church of the Icon of Our Lady of Kazan – with its bright azure domes and gold stars. This beautiful church, built in 1644, is a familiar image of Russian religion. Especially the onion shaped domes that can be found decorating churches through out Russia.

Unfortunately, for some eason I could not enter the church, so will have to come back to explore the inside another time.

Moscow’s Kolomenskoye Park
This church was definitely a highlight of the park

28 comments

  2. Stunning pictures! Luckily your camera didn’t fall in the water! In Malaysia, it is also considered lucky if a pigeon or a bird poop on you, and one has to buy a lottery ticket after that 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  13. Glad your camera is okay!
    Found myself looking for pics of pigeon poop! “LOL”
    I was wondering if in your shot “Some priests coming out of the small chapel” if the one was pointing to some PP on the grass? 🙂 😉
    Just kidding around!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

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