Russian Waters - Sunrise & Sunset on the Sheksna River & Millstones at St. Cyril's Monastery

Earlier this week I posted some sunrise and sunset views of the Sheksna River as we cruised into the port of Goritsy (see below) in northern Russia.  From there we drove through the countryside to the village of Kirillov to tour the 14th century St. Cyril Monastery of the White Lake.  As we walked through the monastery grounds I spotted several ancient millstones (apparently the monks did appreciate their daily bread!).  Also, in the top mosaic, lower right corner, is an old drawbridge that is still in use today.

For more watery scenes be sure to check out Watery Wednesday II .

Early morning views of the Sheksna River in the most northern part of Russia, the Vologda Region.  In 2012, I took a small riverboat cruise of the rivers and lakes of Russia from St. Petersburg to Moscow.  This day we were cuising toward the village of Goritsy where we disembarked and spent the day touring the Russian countryside.

It was an overcast morning as you can see from the grey waters in the large photo of the Sheksna.  The Vologda Region is quite commercial, with many industries such as fishing and woodworking from the forests and waters.  That old ruin just on the water's edge was more than likely a flooded church.  During the Stalin era he aggressively flooded small towns and villages to create commercial waterways to transport timber and ferrous metal out of the Vologda Region with little concern for the people or their churches.

And then by the end of the day, the skies had cleared so that this was the sunset over the waters as we left Goritsy headed toward the Volga River and eventually Moscow.

If you enjoy water photography be sure to check out Nature FootstepWaters for Sunday to see entries from all over. Or, even better, link to your own water photos.