One of the most popular pilgrimage sites in Russia - the Vvedensky Monastery of the Kaluga Region, better known as Optina Pustyn, is temporarily closed for parishioners.

      "From today, Good Friday, at least until Easter Sunday inclusive, we will stop the access of pilgrims," the monastery informs. Meanwhile, Optina Desert is a stauropegial monastery, that is, directly subordinate to the Moscow Patriarch.