Kazan Bogoroditsky Monastery, Russia

On the eastern outskirts of the city is the Kazan Bogoroditsky Monastery. founded in the 16th century. The monastery is known throughout the Orthodox world for the icon of Our Lady of Kazan contained in it. According to legend, this icon appeared to a 10-year-old girl Matrona in 1579 after a major city fire. The place on the ashes was shown to her in a dream by the Mother of God. In the same year, a monastery was founded at the place where the icon was found. The very girl Matrona became the first nun of the monastery. The icon of the Kazan Mother of God is one of the most revered and is known for its miracles. It was taken during a campaign against Moscow at the beginning of the 17th century by Minin and Pozharsky, after which a list appeared in Moscow from the icon of the Kazan Mother of God. Every year in Kazan many pilgrims come to venerate the icon, and the day of its acquisition is now an important church holiday. The original icon was lost in 1904. She was kidnapped from the cathedral by the thief Chaikin, who, after being caught, claimed to have destroyed her. In the 20s of the 20th century the monastery was abolished. It was revived only in 1994. Today, the Exaltation of the Cross Church of the monastery contains the Vatican copy of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God, handed over in 2005 by the Pope. The current architectural ensemble of the Kazan Bogoroditsky Monastery dates back to the 19th century. The only monument of the 17th century that has survived to this day is the St. Sophia Gate Church. The main monastery church – the five-domed Kazan Cathedral of the Mother of God – was erected in the late 18th – early 19th centuries on the site of an ancient cathedral of the 16th century. Its height is 44 m. Next to it were the St. Nicholas Church of the early 19th century, which has not survived to this day, and the Exaltation of the Cross Church of the late 19th century, which stands to the north of the main cathedral. The monastic complex is closed in a semicircle by the Rector’s and Nikolsky buildings of the first half of the 19th century.

According to Clothesbliss, the two banks of the Kazanka River are connected by several dams and the Millennium Bridge, which opened in 2005. The bridge was built for the millennium of the city, but by 2005 only the first stage of the bridge was opened, the second stage was commissioned in 2007. Now it is the highest bridge in Kazan. It consists of two bridges standing side by side, each of which has one-way traffic in three lanes. There is a sidewalk on the bridge for pedestrians. Its length, together with road crossings, is 1524 m. Two ancient monasteries are of interest

in the right-bank part of Kazan. Zilantov-Assumption Monastery was founded in 1552. It is considered one of the most beautiful architectural complexes of the city. The monastery is located on the Zilant Hill, where after the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible, many soldiers were buried. In Soviet times, the monastery was badly damaged. Today, on its territory, the All Saints Church of 1890 and the Rector’s Building of 1808 have been preserved from ancient buildings. In addition, the recently erected Trinity Cathedral is interesting in the monastery – an exact copy of the eponymous cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The temple-monument of the Savior Not Made by Hands is attributed to the monastery, which was built in the 19th century over the mass grave of soldiers who died near Kazan, who participated in the capture of the city under Ivan the Terrible. The temple was badly damaged during the creation of the Kuibyshev reservoir, since 2005 restoration work has been carried out in it. The temple was built in the form of a truncated pyramid and decorated with Greek porticoes and columns.

On the right bank of the Kazanka, it is also worth visiting the Kizichesky Vvedensky Monastery. The monastery was founded in 1691. It is interesting in the well-preserved gate of Vladimir Church, built in the Russian Baroque style, and fraternal cells.

In the right-bank part of the city on its northern outskirts there is Lake Goluboe. It is known for containing a deposit of silt spring mud, which is used as a healing factor in local sanatoriums. The mud of the Blue Lake is characterized as low-mineralized, freshwater, slightly sulfide, medium-ash, slightly acidic. With its help, they carry out the prevention of diseases of the circulatory system, nervous system, digestive organs, respiratory organs, as well as urological and gynecological diseases. In addition to silt mud, local sanatoriums use local mineral waters of sodium chloride composition, which are strong brines enriched with bromine, boron and iodine, and sulfate-bicarbonate-magnesium-calcium mineral waters for treatment. There are two sanatoriums in Kazan – the sanatorium “Livadia” and sanatorium “Kazansky”, and 30 km west of Kazan, upstream of the Volga River, in the village of Vasilyevo, the sanatorium “Vasilevsky” was opened.

From Kazan, water excursions are arranged upstream of the Volga River. During a short trip, tourists can see picturesque coasts with diverse vegetation and many islets. One of the largest gray heron colonies in Russia nests in the area of the village of Vasilyevo at the mouth of the bag river.

Kazan Bogoroditsky Monastery, Russia