Luga district is deservedly called the sunniest and most romantic in the Leningrad region. In these picturesque places on the peninsula of Lake Cheremenets there is the St. John the Theologian Cheremenets Monastery. The remains of the luxurious noble estates scattered in its vicinity keep the secrets of their high-ranking owners. And the lake itself has long been considered an anomalous zone and a place of power.
Walking to the island
Previously, the Cheremenets Monastery stood on an island, and it could only be reached by water transport. In the second half of the 19th century, the island was connected to the mainland by a bulk dam, and it turned into a peninsula. Now it is possible to walk to the gates of the monastery.
Today, the entrance to its territory is blocked by a barrier and an old railway carriage with painted church domes. The guard here is a shaggy dog sleeping peacefully in the booth. While I was trying to examine the tailed guard, an old man with a gray beard, dressed in a black robe, appeared from the trailer. When he learned that I wanted to visit the monastery, he took an old push-button telephone out of his pocket and gestured me through: "I'll call you now, I'll warn you about you."
The path leads to a hill on which there are two snow-white temples: the small Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, which is more than three hundred years old, and the five-domed St. required bricks for the construction of a local state farm). The monastery has been leading a new history since 1998. It was then that the first work began to clear the territory of the island and restore the temple complex.
In 2018, its 540th anniversary was celebrated in the monastery revived from the ruins. According to the recollections of the monks, the restoration work proceeded extremely easily. And the erection of the domes on the main cathedral was marked by a miracle. These complex works were carried out in February. A strong wind was blowing, and everyone was worried whether it would be possible to raise and install the domes in such conditions. However, at the most crucial moment, the wind suddenly died down. The installation of the domes took not two or three days, as is usually the case, but only ten hours. As soon as the work was completed, the wind returned. A couple of days later, a February rainbow appeared over the new domes. Recently, a long-awaited iconostasis was installed in the church of St. John the Divine.
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Adventures of the Apostle of Love
The peninsula itself is small, you can go around it in less than half an hour, inhaling the aroma of freshly baked bread coming from the monastery bakery. The monks also make delicious goat cheese and pasta (entrepreneurs from St. Petersburg helped to equip a small pasta factory). You can buy these dishes in the refectory. And in the monastery shop local souvenirs are presented - postcards, magnets, icons.
Today, many guests come to the monastery, among whom are both experienced travelers and pilgrims. Everyone strives to see one of the most ancient and revered shrines of the Leningrad region - the miraculous icon of the holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, who is called the Apostle of Love. The icon impresses not only with its beauty and rather large size, but also with its history. According to the monastery legend, back in 1478, a peasant peasant Mokiy from the village of Rusynya, Novgorod province, found this icon on the island while fishing. At that time, the army of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III was preparing to engage in battle with the obstinate Novgorodians. Hearing that a wonderful icon appeared nearby, the prince took it as a sign from above and ordered to establish a monastic monastery on this place in honor of his heavenly patron Saint John.
However, there is an opinion that, in addition to the religious mission, the monastery monastery on the border area was supposed to perform a defensive function. It is not for nothing that the main cathedral of the monastery is so similar to a medieval castle, and the warriors became the first inhabitants there.
The eternal crypt and masonic rituals
Among the sights of the monastery island there is a cemetery where representatives of such famous families as Glinka-Mavrins, Ushakovs, Elagins, Nashchokins, Apraksins, Pushkins are buried. During the Soviet period, the cemetery fell into disrepair, the crypts were destroyed. However, one Gothic crypt from the late 19th century has survived. According to legend, everyone who wanted to destroy him died of a heart attack or received serious fractures of the limbs. As a result, the gloomy structure gained notoriety among the vandals and gradually fell behind.
PHOTO OF THE AUTHOR.
Under this crypt-chapel is the grave of Matushka Alexander Polovtsov, a famous industrialist, a prominent statesman and public figure, State Secretary of Alexander III, at that time one of the richest people in Russia. His estate in the village of Rapti (now - named after Dzerzhinsky) was on the other side of the Cheremenets lake. It is for trips to the monastery cemetery to the grave of ma UFO parking
In addition to religious pilgrims and history buffs, the vicinity of Lake Cheremenets attracts ufologists and adherents of the supernatural, since this area is included in the list of anomalous zones in Russia. And locals pass from mouth to mouth amazing stories about unusual phenomena that have been happening here for many centuries. These are stories about a purple glow that supposedly emanates from the lake in summer, about red fireballs flying over the reservoir, and about the healing properties of the water of the lake and its springs.
In addition, ufologists, relying on information that the lake was formed many thousands of years ago as a result of a fracture of the earth's crust, believe that this place has a powerful underground energy, which "guests from extraterrestrial civilizations use as fuel for their aircraft." About this in the late 1990s - early 2000s. the local regional newspapers repeatedly told, publishing articles under the titles "UFO refueling point was found under the Luga" or "UFO dives into Cheremenets lake".
Personally, I, relaxing on the shore of this lake, framed by beaches with white quartz sand, did not see a single flying saucer. However, I received a powerful charge of vivacity and good mood.