Next was the highlight of my mornings walk and the opportunity to finally visit St Alexsey's Russian Orthodox Cathedral which we kept driving past and which I had tried to walk back to myself on my first night unsuccessfully.

As I was back on the main university boulevard we always turned off it was very easy to get to now. Fortunately today the weather was clearing and we had picturesque clear blue skies.

The Church is untypical of our impression of Russian Orthodox Churches. The exterior is mostly brick and there are no giant onion domes.

There were two towers, both painted green, with small gold domes and crosses on top.

Outside was an older looking man with a beard sitting by the gate possibly asking for money. As I didnt look Russian he got confused so I was hoping to give him a loose bill on the way out as I wasnt able to give anything to the gypsy mother yesterday

There is a side entrance way to enter the middle of the building rather than from one end. Immediately it had a very palatial feel to it.

There was only one lady at the back managing some type of souvenir desk again. I told her I was a tourist and she wasnt bothered that I was taking pictures. I'm glad I was able to photograph this and the other Orthodox Church I had visited last night as when I got to the Tashkent Orthodox Cathedral they didnt allow any photographs there as its too touristy.

Being the main Orthodox Church for Samarkand more workmanship had gone into the building than the local one I had visited yesterday. The entire floor had an interesting tilework pattern forming a cross from each of the side doors, similar to Victorian tilework.

The upper ceiling also complimented this with another squared pattern for the full span of the roof. There was also an elaborate chandelier hanging down from the centre

The building had lots of natural light flooding in from all sides on this clear morning sky. At the back was an upper terrace with its own mural.

There were more traditional portraits of Saints with halos with lots of gold bordering

There was a very interesting mural which I couldnt make out. From my interpretation I think its a map of the Russian Orthodox world with possibly Moscow at the centre written in cyrillic. Then you have all the Russian communities across the continent to Siberia and west to the Black Sea

I could be completely wrong about this but the same painting was again in the Tashkent Orthodox Cathedral

At the front in the alcove closed off from the public I could see a painted figure of Christ and two angels blowing from either side.

As I was leaving I'd put a spare 1000 bill aside to give to the man waiting outside who indicated he wanted food. It felt safer then when I was in the bazaar as there didnt seem to be anyone else around that might have swarmed me.

I was later told I shouldnt have given him money and that he was probably an alcoholic but thats not my responsibility and I gave it out of good intent. I'd wanted to pay the gypsy woman with a child yesterday but didnt feel safe getting my wallet out then.

I now wanted to goto the Polish Church which I was told was behind the Orthodox one but which I had never seen driving by. A short distance behind you can see the spire sticking up with a cross on top so it was easy to find.

At first I thought the outer gate was locked but then I saw it wasnt. However the main doors were locked and I could only use my zoom lens to look inside. It seemed quite typical of Western European Churches and not as elaborate as the Orthodox one I just visited.

I'm glad I was able to take lots of pictures in the two Orthodox Churches in Samarkand that I'd visited yesterday and this morning. The one in Tashkent which was the nicest of the three did not allow any photographs as its much more touristy.

I dont think the two Orthodox Churches in Samarkand are considered 'tourist sites' as there are so many other places to visit the Churches get overlooked. I had taken a specific interest however to see Russian Orthodox Churches inside the Soviet Union which I'd never had the opportunity to do so before.

See also Tashkent Orthodox Cathedral
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