The Holy Dormition Monastery at Pechory owes its existence to the ground beneath it. Founded in the 15th century in a sandy ravine near what is now the Estonian border, it grew around a system of caves in which the Dormition church itself is partly cut, and where monks and benefactors have been laid to rest for centuries in galleries that remain cool and dry all year. Above ground, fortified walls and towers wrap the hollow, and a cascade of coloured churches, belfries and cell blocks descends the slope in a composition unlike any other in Russia. Remarkably, the monastery continued to function throughout the Soviet period. Filmed in 4K, the programme follows the descent from the gate to the Dormition facade, enters the caves, and observes a monastic community whose daily rhythm has run without interruption.
