Excursion "Toplovsky Women's Monastery"

In the last century, this Greek village was called Toplu, which means “place, country, area”. Nearby, on the slope of Mount Karatau, is the Toplovsky Trinity-Paraskevievsky convent. The fate of this monastery is very interesting.

The monastery is located in a picturesque place: around - a forest through which you can see the cliffs, near a very beautiful valley of the Wet Indol River. In the Middle Ages, Christians built their shrines here. Until now, in the vicinity of Topolevka, the ruins of the ancient Greek church, in which in the XIX century services were held on the day of St. Prophet Elijah, and the Armenian church, it stands on top of a steep-sided hill and is clearly visible from the road. The church was built and existed in the XVI-XVIII centuries, when Armenians lived here. After the Armenians left these places in 1778, the temple was abandoned. Above the entrance there was an image of the Mother of God with the Child, inside on the right there was an icon of the Archangel Gabriel. In 1905, the temple was restored by the monastery.

The place for the Toplovsky monastery was chosen by Archbishop Innocent during his trip to the Crimea.

Archbishop Innocent (Ivan Alekseevich Borisov) (1800-1857) was born in the city of Yelets, Orel province. He began his studies at the Voronezh and Sev seminaries. In 1823 he graduated from the Kiev Theological Academy and took the post of inspector of the St. Petersburg Seminary, and then rector of the Alexander Nevsky Theological School. On December 10, 1823, he received tonsure at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and was ordained hierodeacon, and in 1826 he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. Since 1825, Archimandrite Innocent was an inspector of the Kiev Theological Academy and an extraordinary professor, and since August 27, 1830 he became rector. For theological lessons and published works in 1829 he received the degree of doctor of theology. Archbishop Innocent was famous for the art of the orator: he read lectures by heart, understandable to everyone, with a fascinating, loud and sonorous voice. For his excellent sermons he was called Russian Zlatousto.

Passing Simferopol, the minibus will transport the group along the Simferopol-Feodosia highway to Topolevka. On the way to the windows of the bus you will see many wonderful Crimean landscapes, and from the accompanying story of the guide you will learn about the Crimean Orthodox shrines, how Christianity was established on the peninsula, about miraculous icons and springs, about revered saints and martyrs, as well as many other interesting things about the history of Crimean Orthodoxy.

And here you are in the village of Topolevka. Here, in a very picturesque place – surrounded by rocky mountains – is the famous Toplovskiy Trinity-Paraskeviyevsky convent. A tour of the vast monastery territory will be conducted by nuns. With their help, the group will get acquainted with the temples of the monastery – the Church of the Monk Martyr Paraskeva and the Temple in the name of the icon “All Who Sorrow Joy”.

Next – a trip to the healing spring Chokrak-Saglyk-Su (in Tatar – “source of living, healthy water”). In fact, around this source, revered by both Christians and Muslims and widely known even outside the Crimea, a holy monastery was created in the middle of the XIX century. It was named after St. Paraskeva, whose icon was found near the spring. Today, both the monastery and the healing spring within it attract a huge number of pilgrims. From all over the Crimea on an excursion to the Toplovsky Monastery go tourists, vacationers, but first of all - believers who want to worship the shrines of the monastery and try the miraculous healing power of the source Chokrak-Saglyk-Su. Around the source there is a covered font, which can be visited all year round. You can also bathe in healing water, for which, going on our excursion, take towels and shirts with you (the font is not a beach, and swimsuits are inappropriate here!). And bring the bottles, because you will want to take the holy water with you. As well as amazingly tasty baked bread and buns baked in the monastery, which do not stale for two weeks! At the end of your stay in the Holy Toplovsk land you can visit the cave of St. Constantine.

What's in:
- Transfer (there and back), guide
- Visit to the Toplovsky Women's Monastery;
- Visit to the Petro-Pavlovsk Cathedral.