Sunday New Jerusalem Monastery

Kazan is an interesting tourist city. There are many places in it.
To which a tourist trail has not yet been laid. One of them is the Resurrection New Jerusalem monastery. It is located on a high precipitous shore of Lake Sredny Boar, in the middle of an ancient park. Once there was a residence of Kazan khans. According to legend, Queen Suyumbike came here on boats with a numerous retinue. Peacocks and deer roamed the shady alleys. And there grew strange trees and flowers. During the excavations, ancient burials of the Bulgar nobility (grave slabs of the 13th-14th centuries) were discovered.

The Orthodox history of the settlement begins from the middle of the XVII century. Kazan Metropolitan Laurentius founded the monastery in imitation of the Resurrection New Jerusalem Monastery on Istra. Only the Resurrection Cathedral, the Chambers of Bishops, the Gate Church, the dilapidated fraternal buildings have survived to this day. In 1754, the monastery was closed, and a few years later Catherine the Great handed it over to the hierarch under a country house, which became known as the “Hispanic Dacha”. The main historical value of the monastery was the archive, which was destroyed by the Bolsheviks in 1918.

As befits a country palace, it was a luxurious park. It had fountains of artesian water. In the center was a gazebo, from her rays diverged eight alleys.

The highlight of the park is an ancient pine tree that is more than 250 years old! According to legend, it was a gift of Catherine II. It is known that the park loved to walk young Leo Tolstoy, who in his youth lived in Kazan. The park was always open to citizens, then it was considered the best country park in the vicinity of Kazan.

After 1917, the monastery was built by a breeding station, and people lived in some of them. Nowadays, the monastery is slowly reviving.

When it is restored, this holy site will be the largest tourist attraction.