Belogorye, Voronezh region, monastery: description, history, how to get there. Train schedule: Belogorye Belogorye caves when you can visit

This trip took place exactly one year ago. Unfortunately, for business and worries, the hands have reached the report only now, but for us this is not a record yet - the African chronicles have been waiting in the wings for the third year, and something even more. In general, it is better late than later, so do not judge strictly, I will try to finish everything in the next day or two. Taking this opportunity, I would like to say gratitude here to all those who helped plan this trip and, first of all, Inge ( Ingusic) from the auto.ru conference and Valku from the awd.ru forum, whose advice allowed us to make our trip as rich as possible and saved us from some possible overlaps.

PART 1. BELOGORE.

We learned about the fact that there is such a place as Divnogorye only a few years ago and from that moment we were going to get out there for some more or less extended holidays, but somehow it didn’t work out. However, the time passed was not wasted. We collected information, found out that in addition to Divnogorye in the same area there is also Belogorye with Kostomarov, and on the way to these wonderful places you can see a lot. When the stars finally formed the right way on last year's May weekend, we were able to achieve our old dream.

The preliminary layout of the route looked like this:

Day 1 - Moscow-Belogorye (night in Pavlovsk)
Day 2 - Pavlovsk-Divnogorie (night in Divnogorie)
Day 3 - Divnogorie-Moscow

Possible options were considered: a cave church in the village of Kolybelka, an old mill in Kolodezhnoye, excavations at the site ancient man in Kostenki, the castle of the Princess of Oldenburg in Ramon, monasteries and springs of Zadonsk, the Galichya Gora nature reserve. In a rough draft, it all looked something like this:

Naturally, it was clear right away that it would not be possible to collect everything, but if you manage to drop in somewhere else, then why not. And although it was not yet clear where and when we would find ourselves in fact, just in case, we ordered a couple of deluxe rooms at the Don Hotel in Pavlovsk for the 1st night and an apartment in Divnogorye for the 2nd. Looking ahead, I will say that the latter turned out to be very useful.

On May 1, at 7 am, in two crews - Lesha and Galya and I in Rangejik and Sergey and Larisa in Pajer were already moving from the Moscow Ring Road along the M4. Moved, however, not for long. Already a few kilometers after the district we realized that we were not alone here in the morning, when the Don highway, unable to digest the flow of tourists, got up dead. I must say that certain difficulties with traffic were expected, but what we were not ready for was that the traffic jam would drag on, almost to Kashira. Very quickly we regretted that we had not rushed straight to Domodedovo, they could have saved a lot of time, but somehow, somewhere along the side of the road, where they could push through the highway parallel to the highway. After Kashira, there was relative space almost to Yelets, but then there was another congestion, this time due to the repair of the bridge. There were no further problems and in the free areas we, as best we could, tried to compensate for the lag behind the schedule.
We walked fast enough, but not the fastest, and at one of the sections a client caught up with us on X6. We did not have time to give way, as he was immediately besieged by a mobile traffic police post. Having talked with them in detail, the guy, apparently out of frustration, immersed him even more, because after a while he again caught up with us. Again we missed him ... Needless to say, he immediately flew into the wide open arms of the sellers of striped sticks again - to be honest, we even felt uncomfortable. Nevertheless, we are grateful to him, tk. if not for him, then we are for sure. Further, either the guy ran out of money, or realized that moving in the train mode "further everywhere" he would not go far, but the more approaching familiar silhouette in the rear-view mirror was not observed.
In the meantime, the people wanted to have a bite to eat, they did not want to go far from the track, therefore, having hammered "food along the route" into the navigator, they began to track the proposed points. Most of them turned out to be roadside tents, until at the very entrance to Voronezh they noticed an institution called "Yar". The navigator promised Japanese cuisine, and outwardly everything made a rather favorable impression - a guarded closed area, a 4 * hotel, a huge, very expressive iron horse on a pedestal, a restaurant and a sushi bar, in the parking lot in front of which there were several not the cheapest cars.

Everything in the bar is quite stylish, good design, girls in kimonos rustle. It was somewhat surprising that the menu served only contained pictures with names, but after a request, as it seemed, with some reluctance, they brought us a stapled set of sheets with a printout of the cost of the dishes. Immediately noticed that the prices are quite metropolitan, but oh well, that's not the question. I will not go deep into the topic, who will appreciate it. I was denied a non-alcoholic lime mojito, explaining that it ran out and was left with only rum! Well, then, carry it with the rum. However, the "lime mojito with rum" turned out to be a glass of tasteless soda water with ice and a bunch of mint on the bottom. Rum, like lime, was not there, but there was a large slice of lemon on the edge of the glass. Well, okay, we are not proud people, we will survive, not poisoned, and that's good. The ambush happened when Serge, who had already rolled out his lip, found neither cheese nor eel in the rolls he had ordered with eel and flodelphia cheese. More precisely, for an eel he could somehow mow a shrunken piece of skin, torn off some mackerel and lonely stuck on the side, but there really was no cheese. Another might not have noticed - eating rice in rolls is already good, but for some reason it was important for our gourmet, he says that for the sake of this cheese, in fact, he ordered everything.
Then there was a whole series with repeated requests to the waitress, to invite the manager for a conversation, after which she disappeared indefinitely in order to appear to give out another pearl, like, "but we don't put cheese, we ... smear it." There was also the appearance of a manager, who turned out to be a girl all this time sitting behind a screen, 5 meters away from us. Having issued a tirade that everything was done in accordance with the norms, and Seregin's claims were libel, she disappeared for a long time. In the midst of a discussion about cheese, a bartender appeared, trying to take the fire on himself. “Oh, old man, - I was delighted, it was already, bored, - now, that's what I need. Tell me, friend, what kind of mojito did you put on here? " The bartender stopped short, but, having gathered himself, gave out rather ingeniously that, they say, the lime is over, but the lemon is the same, there is no soda, therefore there is soda, and there should be rum, since he poured it himself. No, brother, I say, this is not how things are done, I certainly am not against lemons, but at least you would have waved your hand first, it’s not far away, and a shuttle in a kimono runs around the hall. And as for the presence of rum, try, I say, your own tincture - here's a glass. The kid did not dare to drink from the puddle ...
In short, they realized that it was more expensive for themselves to discuss further, they left money without a tip on the table, began to gather, and then they brought a replacement to Seryoga, they say, here you are, since you insist. Thank you, he said, Seryoga, you don't need it anymore, he's full. Well, then another time, the workers of the Japanese catering promised. There will be no other time, we said goodbye to them warmly.
After the meal, already on the move, we had a radio exchange of views. Kind, but naive, Lesha said that, they say, everything is not so hopeless, they try, but they just do not know how to do it, maybe they will learn. Serge and I, due to our age, less prone to illusions, were inclined to believe that they already knew what they needed, and for us, it was a pure divorce for good money. Each stayed with his own.
After heated disputes, we passed the left turn onto the bypass. They realized it, but did not return and, having entered Voronezh, went to the district along Antonova-Ovseenko and after a while went back to the M4.

Closer to Pavlovsk, we figured that we had time to see Belogorie today. We phoned "Don", said that we would be at their place anyway, but most likely rather late, and left the highway for Rossosh. The road is deserted, except for a Hammer with Moscow numbers, which periodically rushed past us, then across, for some reason immediately thought that we were going with him to the same place, but if we “know”, then he “looks for ". :)

BELOGORE

The road to the monastery from the village of Belogorye was described in sufficient detail by the predecessors. To control the entrance to the village, an aborigine was interviewed, who immediately expressed a desire to ride with us, but we decided not to bother the peasant, especially since his story confirmed what we knew ourselves. As expected, we went to the right in front of the store, then to the left onto the primer, however, when it split into two, they became thoughtful. We moved along the left branch, but after a couple of hundred meters, resting on a slightly broken descent, changed their minds and, having clicked from all sides the flowering tree on the slope, returned and left to the right.

A few minutes later we found ourselves at the barrier, next to which there were several cars in an impromptu parking lot. It is about 6 o'clock and it is still light. While we were getting ready and closing, the already familiar Hammerok flew up, and on the other hand, answering 2 questions at once - the road we rejected at the fork leads here, closing the circle and Hammerok really "looked for" the way here. :)
The territory of the Belogorsk Resurrection Cave Monastery begins immediately behind the barrier. There are practically no ground structures. There are remains of the foundations of the blown up Resurrection Cathedral and tablets indicating that the Ascension Church once stood on such and such a place. There is also a worship cross.

But numerous tourists and pilgrims do not come here for this, but to see the famous underground galleries in the body of the chalk mountains.
It is known that the first caves have existed here since the XIV century. However, the beginning of the monastery was laid much later, when in 1796 the Cossack widow Maria Konstantinovna Sherstyukova, with the blessing of the elder of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, dug the first cave of 8 sazhens and began to ascend in it.
As it often happens, when the fame of the cave hermit spread far beyond Belogorie, and thousands of pilgrims were drawn to her, ill-wishers also appeared. Maria was arrested more than once, she was forbidden to dig. Eventually, the matter even came to the attention of Emperor Alexander I, who ordered a thorough investigation of the cave digger's activities, according to the results of which, either punish or help. I will note along the way that for a modern person who is familiar with the approach practiced by historically closer rulers who think in the categories of “punish / milk”, the proposed alternative “punish / help” looks rather unusual.

Be that as it may, as a result, after a positive report from the commission, 2,500 rubles were allocated from the treasury, a very significant amount, for the construction of a cave temple in honor of Alexander Nevsky, which was consecrated in 1819. Digging of caves continued, the length of which by the end of Mary's life was just over 200 m, but later reached several kilometers, which made them the largest structure of this kind.
Now many passages are filled up, however, multi-storey underground galleries go deep down, they say, at least 70 meters. There is a legend that an underground passage used to go from the lowest tier to the other bank of the Don, but there is no confirmation of this, and all the currently known exits of underground corridors are located on a steep cliff above the Don. In a civilized way, you can get into the caves from a small area on the slope.

At normal times, access to the caves is closed by metal doors, but, as a rule, there are no special problems with visiting, you need to find a monk who will open everything and lead a tour. Naturally free.
Generally speaking, the brethren of the monastery, consisting of only a few monks, live in the neighboring farm Kirpichi, 3 km from the monastery and most of the time is in various obediences, but sometimes someone can be found in a small house on the territory of the monastery or in the Trinity Church in Belogorye.
From the barrier to the cliff, from where a path descends to the site along the coastal slope for about 5 minutes.

A couple we met said that the caves are now open and that Hieromonk Hermogen is there with a group, so we should hurry.
I will note, by the way, that knowing in advance about the absence of any kind of lighting in the caves, we prudently grabbed a sufficient number of flashlights from the house, and ... every one of them safely left in the cars, remembering this, only finding ourselves in complete darkness. They did not return, so all our underground wanderings were accompanied by lighting. mobile phones, it turned out pretty well too. ;)

Trying not to scatter too far, they went to the voices and soon met with a group of Saratov guys led by Fr. Ermogen with a long carrying lamp in his hands, but decided to independently examine what they had already gone through. After wandering around the dungeon for another half hour, after a while they heard that people were reaching out to the exit. We pulled up, and when Father Hermogen was about to lock the doors, I said that I saw several people go deep into the caves down, to which he asked to go after them, not without humor, noting that if anything, the guys would have to wander until next Sunday ... I will not presume that the last word in his mouth meant exactly the day of the week. :) I ran after the "speleologists" and brought them back to the light.

The caves made an indelible impression. The monks at one time really did a lot of work, breaking through these passages. They are still working now, because they have to put the economy desecrated by vandals in order. All the walls of the caves are cut with various inscriptions and drawings. For the first time I came across such a volume of "folk art". Looking at its depth, in literally of this word, you are amazed at the persistence and determination of the authors of the inscriptions. After all, this is not a neighboring entrance with an electric lamp at the top and a battery on the wall, and the “painting” itself requires a certain amount of “diligence”. It would be, but for a good deed ...

Now a fairly large volume of the surface is rubbed to whiteness, but there is still no end to the work.

Coming out of the caves, going down a little lower, we entered the cave temple of Alexander Nevsky, connected, by the way, with the galleries, and then, with the blessing of a very young priest from Liski, temporarily working in the monastery, they rang the bells of the portable belfry installed in front of the entrance to the temple.

We talked a little more with Father Hermogen, who turned out to be an interesting storyteller, and set off.
We drove back along the banks of the Don and after a while came out onto a large spacious plain near the Kirpichi farm.

The place is very nice and convenient for parking - an exit to the river with a gentle descent, here, next to the very bank of St. the source of Alexander Nevsky, from which, as if growing out of water, steep chalk mountains rise up with Divas protruding from them.

There was nowhere to rush, it was time for dinner. They put up a brazier, and until the second crew pulled up, which placed tripods on one of the turns of another picturesque bush, I quickly ran upstairs, from where I was almost blown away by very weak gusts of wind. But the view from there is simply amazing - a picturesque panorama of the surroundings, the Don flowing down below, the bizarre crystals of Div. The beauty…

Not far from the village of Belogorye. It appeared in 1796 thanks to the daughter of the Ukrainian Cossack Konstantin Barefoot Maria Sherstyukova. She, having received a blessing, founded a community, began to dig caves in the slopes of the mountain and became the first abbess of the monastery.

The first temple appeared in the monastery in 1819. It was consecrated in honor of Alexander Nevsky.

During the life of the abbess, she and her associates dug about 212 meters of caves (now this part of the underground passages is called "old caves"). After her death, the followers continued her work.

TO late XIX century, the total length of the caves reached 2 km, and several places of worship, including the main temple of the monastery - the large Resurrection temple in the Byzantine style.

After the revolution, the temples were wiped off the face of the earth, the monastery was plundered and ceased to exist, a grain grain was arranged in its place. The caves were gradually destroyed: until the beginning of the new millennium, anyone could enter them.

In 2003, the revival of the monastery began, the restoration of temples and caves, and divine services resumed. A shrine is kept in the monastery - a particle of the relics of the holy prince Alexander Nevsky.

I continue my story about a trip to the Rostov and Voronezh regions. In the last post, I told about a visit to the Prokhorov rocks in Rostov region... After them we moved further north along the M4 and entered the Voronezh region. It has many attractions. This time we decided to visit Belogorye, namely the Belogorsk Monastery. It is notable for the fact that it is located in a cave, and that cave was dug in a chalk mountain. And the quiet Don flows past that mountain and its banks are picturesque there! Of course, the monastery also has a pilgrim significance. I think many who move along the M4 highway will be interested in visiting this along the way. amazing place.
Comprehensive information about the monastery can be found here: www.vob.ru/monastery/voronezh/belogorie/i nd_belogor.htm
The coordinates of the monastery in Google Earth (approximate): 50 "28" 15.03 "" C 40 "02" 07.27 "" B
How to get to the monastery by car from the M4 highway. Attention to the photo.

If we are driving along the M4 to the south from Voronezh, then before reaching Pavlovsk, before the village of Aleksandrovka-Donskaya, turn right where there will be a pointer to the village of Belogorye. This entire path, indicated by a bright yellow line, is 17-18 km. The road to the village is good and the views are not bad: the hills covered with pine plantations, and the chalk mountains are already visible.

You enter the village on the way down, so you have it all at a glance. After entering, move straight until you find yourself on the site at the grocery store. Then go around the store to the right and straight along a rural street. But then, almost like in Russian epics, you have to choose. You can continue to go straight, so leave the village and go along the dirt road to the Don. There you will see something like this.

Drive even further and find yourself on a spacious sandy beach... We arrived there on Sunday and found a lot of people, it was difficult to find a place for a car. V general people know, appreciate.
But in order to get not to the beach, but to the monastery, after reaching the edge of the village, turn right (see photo 1). Turning to the right, you are still moving through the village, but then you leave it on a white with a yellow shade of primer. This is already chalk.

Do not drive by, stop right away or on the way back and collect water from the holy spring here. The water is clean, tasty and cold. Those who wish can bathe, even completely (everything is adapted for this).
Having gone further you will see the main mountain of Voronezh Belogorie.

At the top you can see something ... but more on that later. The monastery cave was dug in this mountain, but a little further.
Approaching the mountain again you face a choice. You can turn left and find yourself between the mountain and the Don. The place here is calm and, I would even say, pacifying. There are also tents on the shore (like on the beach), but there are much fewer of them. In addition to the wonderful nature, there are two attractions here: another source, which is called a saint, and the mountain itself, which can be climbed along a steep white path.

As we climbed the mountain and the views were wonderful.

And this (photo below) from the mountain is visible to the holy source.

Here is what we could see at the top of the mountain from afar. This is a cross installed on the site of the church. The church was destroyed in due time by the Bolsheviks.

Here's an even more holistic picture in the video.

Let's discuss again how to move on. Attention to the next picture.

The road leading to where we have just been, to the banks of the Don, is marked in yellow. there we climbed to the top with a cross and drank water from the holy spring. The road to the monastery, which passes through the village of Kirpichi, is marked in blue. But in red, I outlined the route which is better not to go. This is the road by which you can get to the very peak we were on, but only by car. Since this is a road, then someone drove along it, but we could not, because it goes up too steeply. If it were even, it would probably be possible to fly in at first speed, but the road is covered with deep uneven ruts and assumes only a slow ascent. So decide for yourself ... And the blue road is smoother, wider and also goes uphill, but not so steep. But most importantly, it leads directly to the monastery. And if you take the red road to the top, then, in my opinion, you have to walk to the monastery on foot.
And then we got to the gates of the monastery. the car was left at the entrance, got acquainted with the rules of stay. I don’t remember the entire list, but it was like this: you can’t talk loudly, eat chips and snapping seeds, women walk in open clothes, drink alcohol and, incorrectly, take pictures in a cave (although I saw a girl taking pictures). I do not advise taking animals from myself, and most importantly, I strongly recommend that in the summer, even if it is very hot, take a sweater or something like that. In the cave, as you can imagine, it is cool.
We go into the territory, no one meets, and without us there are plenty of things to do. After some time of confused wanderings, we find the minister, ask where to go and if today is a reception day for tourists. He kindly answered our questions and made us happy that in this moment the cave is open to the public.
And so we go and come to the stairs leading down.

Going down we find ourselves on this site.

On the left we see a chalk wall, in which the main entrance to the monastery is located, on the right - places for contemplating beautiful views from the site. Do not even think about the charm of these views from my pictures. Photography is not able to convey this beauty and a special sublime state of mind that arises in this place. But you can get some idea.

And here is the entrance to the monastery.

This entrance is probably just making a way for itself.

At first the door to the monastery was closed, and we thought that it was not destined for us ... But soon the minister came up and opened the door and said that an excursion was possible, only we had to wait for the group to gather. While the group was recruiting, we went into the first room, where you could buy candles, icons made on chalk stone and other ritual goods.
Gradually, the required number of visitors gathered, the priest came and began to conduct the excursion. First, he talked about the history of the monastery, about the spiritual feat of the cave diggers and about what we need to think about within the walls of the monastery caves.
But finally, we went to the cave. Father asked to use candles, not flashlights, inside. It really makes an important sense to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the monastery.
There is a special atmosphere inside: on the one hand, you sink lower and lower into the ground along a narrow corridor and this makes you feel uncomfortable, on the other, the white walls and floor, the monotonous voice of the priest and the people next to you illuminated by a trembling light inspire an extraordinary state of peace and reliability the world in which you live. We all, strangers accidentally united in an excursion group, here they felt some kind of closeness, warmth of communication, as if together they suddenly began to understand something that the others did not know. I will not disclose all the moments of the visit, because it is in many ways a sacrament. A cave tour is not just sightseeing. The ministers of the monastery thought it very well, turning it into a real immersion or living of a certain experience.
After Belogorye, our path lay on Voronezh.
In the end, I want to say that in the Voronezh region there are two more places like Belogorie. These are Kostomarovo and Divnogorye. There are also chalk caves, churches and monasteries in them. But each has its own history, so I dream to visit them someday too.

Belogorye is an amazing place in the south of the Voronezh region. Here, in the chalk rocks above the high bank of the Don, is the largest cave temple in Russia.

Slightly less than 700 kilometers from Moscow flew merrily to the best hits of VIA "Infected Mushroom". The high-quality road surface on the M4 highway inspires moderate optimism.
It was already dark when we drove into Pavlovsk - the closest to our destination locality with the only free room in the hotel.

Once found, the hotel in a two-story barrack on a dark, deserted street and without a parking lot did not inspire optimism. The idea of ​​illuminating the road to the entrance with the built-in flashlight of HTC One X seemed dubious. Fortunately, in Pavlovsk there was also another lodging for the night - with the modest name "Grand Hotel". Standard four-star service, restaurant, parking - and only 500 rubles more (in the original version, the room cost about 2000).

The next morning "Garmin" cheerfully took a trail through the shabby and potholed outskirts of Pavlovsk to lead us to the shore of endless water. Having spilled, the Don left its shores, hiding the flood bridges under the muddy water film. I had to drive back in disappointment - to the M4 highway, in order from there to call into Belogorye with a regular, knurled tourist route... We drink morning coffee on the bridge over the Don.

The road soon leads us to the village of Belogorye.

At the central attraction - the square between the store and the palace of culture - we meet Moscow cyclists from the "Caravan" club.

A vigorous exploration of the dirt roads in the lowland along the Don confirms the idea that the road to Belogorie simply cannot be found! Another road ended again with a flooded river. We ask the locals for directions.

It seems they understood where to go. After a couple of kilometers, the road so persistently leaves the hills in half-meter ruts into a cloudless blue sky, and after that - into deep ravines, that we decide to return again ... On the way back, to our surprise, we meet "Ten" with a sign "Monastery" and an iconostasis under the windshield. The abbot and father of the Belogorsk Resurrection Monastery were in the car. With God's help, the "ten" ahead of us effortlessly overcame several kilometers of crazy dirt roads, each of which will be impassable without MT-rubber and 33 wheels in the rain, leading us to the high bank of the Don. Here, in the endless chalk strata, there is the largest underground temple in our country.

Depth of strokes temple complex is 70 meters, it has 5 levels, and from each of them there was previously an exit to the corridor leading to the opposite bank of the Don. Currently, the length of the passages has been reduced from the pre-revolutionary 2,200 meters to 900 meters. Surprisingly, this temple was built on the initiative of a local resident - Maria Sherstyukova in the second half of the 19th century. The locals gathered together and, with the support of the church, dug up this incredible underground complex. So the Belogorsk Resurrection Monastery was born.

However, at first, outwardly, nothing really betrays his presence, except for the administrative building, shiny with fresh paint, and a monk with a scythe. All ground structures of the temple were decisively blown up in Soviet times, a gigantic dungeon was desecrated local residents... The corridors leading to the other bank of the Don were sprinkled during the Second World War. Restoration work began in the mid-2000s, and several volunteer monks are currently excavating and cleansing the dungeons. Here, for example, there was a small stone temple.

Restoration work is underway in the temple. There are three monks working, perhaps someone else is helping, but the work is not going very fast - too great destruction brought the temple into oblivion for almost 100 years.

Also, the restoration of the gate part blown up under Khrushchev is underway.

Bells

Photographing in the temple was forbidden to us, we were blessed only for a couple of shots on the balcony of one of the levels.

One of the entrances to the temple.

The abbot talks about the tragic past of this place.

Each tier offers a wonderful view of the Don and its surroundings.

View to the other side

Looking at these tunnels, reaching two kilometers in length, one is amazed at the determination and willpower of their creators.

In the chalk

What was done to the temple during oblivion? It can be clearly seen in this photo.

Around the monastery there are endless hills and fields.

Watermelon field on the high bank of the Don.

In the lowland there is a tiny village with several houses, through which the road to the monastery goes.

Most of those who come by car leave their car even before reaching this village.

Russian idyll

Chalk pillar over the Don

Wonderful views open from the high banks of the Don.

View of the spilled Don.

Passable in summer, the short road to Pavlovsk is completely flooded

That's what it is, Belogorie!

Don view

There is a cross on the mountain

Almost sheer chalk cliffs are underfoot.

Panorama of Belogorye

Having explored another short path, we arrived at the source. The source itself was closed, but the keys are gushing there from the ground right in the stream in front of him.

This place resembled mangroves on tropical islands.