Trip to Sviyazhsk and Raifa Monastery

The island-town of Sviyazhsk is located near Kazan in the beautiful mouth of the Sviyaga River on a high hill with an area of ​​several tens of hectares. This is the first Orthodox city in the region, founded in 1551 by Ivan the Terrible. Among the churches and monasteries, there are those on which the outstanding Russian architects Ivan Shiryai and Postnik Yakovlev worked.

The Raifa Monastery of the Mother of God has a long history. It owes its name to the monastery of the same name on the Sinai Peninsula, founded on the site of the Jewish camp at the exit with Moses from Egypt to Israel. The Kazan Raifa Monastery is located on the shore of the lake, surrounded by century-old pines. It is also unique architecturally. Raifa is one of those rare monasteries that have been almost completely restored. Its ensemble is considered a masterpiece of architecture.

The main shrine of the monastery - the icon of the Georgian Mother of God - is still famous as miraculous and bestows healing on the suffering.