Location: Zelenodolsky district
At this famous monastery, one of the most revered Orthodox sacred objects is kept – the Icon of the Georgian Virgin (Ikona Gruzinskoi Bozhiei Materi). It is a highly unusual case in post-revolutionary Russia: the monastery although was totally destroyed and virtually all the churches and buildings have been preserved. The foundation of the Raifa hermitage is linked to the name of the Monk Philaret who in 1613 arrived in Kazan from Moscow to join the fraternity of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky monastery in the Kremlin. However, he found himself on the shore of the lake on the site of the present Raifa hermitage where he built himself a hut and lived in solitude praying to God. As supporters and admirers of Philaret began to appear, there was a need for a prayer house, and a wooden chapel was built. After the death of Philaret, the hermits asked for the blessing of the Kazan Metropolitan Lavrentyi for the foundation of a monastery here, which happened in 1661. The name of the monastery came from one of the gateway churches which was erected in the name of the Holy Fathers murdered in Raifa and Sinai (Raifa is a place on the eastern shore of the Red Sea).
Photo: Andrey Roshektaev
Photo: Andrey Roshektaev
Photo: Andrey Roshektaev
Photo: Andrey Roshektaev
Photo: Andrey Roshektaev
Photo: D. van Nieuwburg
Photo: D. van Nieuwburg
Photo: D. van Nieuwburg
Photo: D. van Nieuwburg
Photo: D. van Nieuwburg
Photo: D. van Nieuwburg
Photo: D. van Nieuwburg
