The first thing you see as you approach Goritsy is the Goritsy Nunnery, where Russian rulers sent their wives when they wished to remarry. Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great both contributed first wives. 
The monastery we visited was in Krilov, 8 km away, the Kirillo-Belozerskiy monastery or the monastery of St Cyril on the White Lake, which dates back to 1397.
It is one of the largest in Russia. In the middle of the 1600’s, the monastery served as military bastion that protected Moscow from the largest military power of the time, Sweden. It once held 1,200 inhabitants including monks, soldiers, and artisans. The monastery reached the peak of its power in the middle of the 18th century when it owned 20,00 serfs, 400 villages, huge amounts of property, and a salt mine.
The monastery was turned into a museum after the revolution, but since 1998, it has been an active monastery, today housing 17 monks.
The frescoes on the entrance gates were painted in 1545.
It sits on the banks of the White Lake.
