A short distance from Veliky Novgorod, on the banks of the Volkhov, the Khutyn monastery grew from the hermitage of Varlaam, whose memory drew pilgrims to the site for centuries and whose relics remain its focus of devotion. The ensemble is dominated by the church of the Saviour's Transfiguration, a broad white mass with a spreading dome, flanked by a refectory church and a belfry, the whole set in open country where the river light does much of the work. Rebuilt and restored across its long history, the monastery is today an active community. Filmed in 4K from the ground and from the air, the programme reads the ensemble against the river landscape, enters the churches, and follows the pilgrims for whom Khutyn remains a destination rather than a monument.
