No statues please, we are Orthodox

[topum]

Statues are not traditional in Orthodox Church (roadside crucifixes are a notable exception) and are never found in churches and very rarely found in monasteries' gardens. We were told that they started to appear more often recently, usually when the abbot is into "making the garden look beautiful" and could get statues made and donated to the monastery. They are still frowned upon by most people here though.

This statue looked like it was placed in this monastery's garden fairly recently. The blue paint they used on the cloak is the same they used to paint the windows and pillars of the living quarters behind.