Description of the attraction
The Raifsky Bogoroditsky Monastery is the largest of the active male monasteries in the Kazan diocese. The monastery is located 27 kilometers from the city of Kazan, on the banks of the Sumy, or Raifskoye, lake and is surrounded by forests. The Raifa monastery was one of the first built on this territory after the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible.
The Raifa Monastery was founded by the hermit Filaret in the 17th century. During a wandering through the cities of the Volga region, in 1613, the monk settled in a cell he built on the shores of Lake Sumy. The monk's life was spent in solitude. Since ancient times, the forests surrounding the lake were considered sacred by the local population (Cheremis). Sometimes they came to the lake and performed their pagan rites. They spread the news about an Orthodox monk who had settled by the lake. Soon Orthodox Christians began to gather near Filaret. A chapel was built under the leadership of Filaret. In 1661, a copy of the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God was brought to the chapel, the original of which is in the Krasnogorsk Monastery near Kholmogory. From the 17th century to the present day, this icon has been the main shrine of the Raifa Monastery. It is to her that pilgrims come to the monastery every year.
Filaret died in 1659. Kazan Metropolitan Lavrenty in 1661 blessed the foundation of the monastery. The name of the monastery was given in honor of the place on the Red Sea, where Christian monks died at the hands of pagans. The monastery was surrounded by a pagan population and it was decided to call it the Raifa Mother of God.
After the wooden buildings of the monastery burned down in 1689, they began to rebuild it from stone. In the years 1690-1717, battlements and towers were built around the monastery. In 1708, the Church of the Holy Fathers was erected, in Raifa and Sinai who were beaten. In 1739-1827, a small church was built (only seven worshipers) - Sophia.
In 1835 - 1842, according to the project of the architect of Corinth, the Georgian Cathedral was built in the style of classicism. In 1889 - 1903, a gate bell tower was built, the height of which is 60 meters. The bell tower became the tallest structure in the monastery. In 1904-1910, the Trinity Cathedral was erected in the neo-Russian style by the architect Malinovsky.
In 1991, in the Raifa Monastery, opened after restoration, the first service was held in the Georgian Cathedral. There are about sixty monks in the monastery. There is a school - a shelter for orphaned boys.
