Ivanova mountain

The ancient tract of Ivanovo Mountain is noticeable from afar thanks to the slender bell tower towering above the bend of the Nara River. These lands in the X century were inhabited by the Vyatichi tribes. Since ancient times on Ivanova Hill there was a churchyard, or a center of trade, and with the beginning of the reign of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga, one of the many points of collection of tribute was established here.

Despite the fact that the oldest written sources have not survived to our days, there is a legend that says that in the fourteenth century, St. Sergius of Radonezh, going to Serpukhov, briefly stopped on Ivanova Mountain and planted an oak tree. A huge oak stump really existed near the church, it survived until the end of the XIX century. As for the first evidence of the existence of the church, it dates back to the reign of Ivan the Terrible, when one of the documents mentions the destroyed temple of John the Forerunner.

In the XVIII century, the temple was restored, and in 1895 a new bell tower was erected. This grandiose structure is slightly inferior in height to the Moscow bell tower of Ivan the Great. Once upon a time, the ringing of a huge eight-ton bell hanging on it sounded throughout the district. Now all this remained only a memory, but even the dilapidated and lost spire of the bell tower causes sincere delight and admiration.