Ilovli and Olkhovka riches

Volgograd region is rich in amazing natural and historical monuments. A significant part of them is in Ilovlinsk and Olkhov districts. Our way to the area!

Ilovlya is both a pure river and a settlement that used to be a Cossack village. Near Ilovlei there is a museum "Cossack Kuren", where you can get acquainted with the life of the Don Cossacks and their buildings, as well as taste Cossack specialties - churns and plaster.

The road then takes us to the famous chalk mountains running on the right side of the Ilovli River - it seems grass and juniper grow right on the snow - so dazzlingly white chalk! In the future, we are waiting for the wonderful Olkhov caves, hollowed out, according to legend, by monks hermits in rock during the Tatar-Mongol yoke. These caves "sing" and stretch for kilometers deep into the chalk. They hide a lot of secret passages and secrets, so you can move there only with a candle and accompanied by monks of the Kamennobrodsky monastery, located nearby, which you will also visit. After the caves - inspection of healing springs - silver, radon and hydrogen sulfide, the road and cross of Alexander Nevsky, as well as giant oaks aged from 300 to 400 years.

Olkhovka is one of the tributaries of Ilovli. Moving along the riverbed to the north, we will get to the village of Gusevka, where the Gusevsky convent is located. There you will see one of the main Wonderworking icons of the Volgograd region - the icon of the Akhtyr Mother of God - and you will be able to stock up on healing water from a source containing a large amount of silver.

After that, you can have a picnic on the banks of Ilovli, admire the steppe and floodplain nature of this fertile land, photograph an amazing contrast - snow-white chalk mountains and green floodplain of the river - and before all this is a short shot!

Summary of the excursion: a visit to the open-air museum "Cossack Kuren" near the village of Ilovlya, a visit to the chalk mountains, Olkhov caves and the Kamennobrodsky monastery, giant oaks, the road and cross of Alexander Nevsky, a visit to the Gusevsky Akhtyr monastery and the Wonderworking icon of the Akhtyr Mother of God, drinking holy water containing a large amount of silver.