Mordovia is one of the centers of settlement of the Finno-Ugric peoples. Despite its small population, the capital of the republic, Saransk, plays the role of a major financial and industrial center. Most of the tourism industries in Mordovia are underdeveloped, but historical and cultural tourism attracts many people.
The main religion in Mordovia is Orthodoxy.
There are many monasteries on the territory of the republic, thanks to which Saransk and Mordovia as a whole have become centers of Christian pilgrimage. Among them there are a large number of both ancient Orthodox monuments and modern monasteries built in the XX-XXI centuries. They represent not only historical, but also architectural value. Thousands of pilgrims come here every year, visiting several monasteries at once.
Operating monasteries in Mordovia
The most famous Orthodox male and female monasteries in the region.
Sanaksar Monastery
The monastery is one of the oldest in Mordovia. It was founded in 1659, next to the Moksha River. Not far from the monastery there is a small lake Sanaksar, which gave it its name. The status of a monastery was assigned to the Sanaksar monastery in 1765. The XVIII-XIX centuries became the period of the monastery's prosperity. Today, the site houses a sawmill and a candle-making workshop, open to pilgrims.
Address: Alekseevka village
Kazan-Klyuchevskaya desert
The first monastery on the territory of the modern monastery was founded in the 17th century, around the source where the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God appeared. In 1848, a cholera epidemic began in the nearby town of Alatyr and the districts around it. The icon, previously kept in the monastery, was enclosed around the city during a procession with the cross. After that, the epidemic stopped, and the day of deliverance from the disease is still celebrated in the monastery. Nowadays, next to the monastery cells and the temple there is a hotel that receives pilgrims every year.
Address: pos. Turgenevo
Site: turgenevo.cerkov.ru
Paigarm Paraskevo-Ascension Monastery
The monastery was founded in 1864. On its territory there are 3 miraculous springs, from which water is taken for drinking and bathing. In one of them, in the middle of the 19th century, the icon of the Great Martyr Paraskeva appeared, which later healed a wounded soldier. It was this soldier who became the founder of the wasteland, which later became a large monastery. Today there is a large stone temple, a chapel and women's cells.
Address: s. Paygarma
Site: paigarm-monastery.ru
Varsonofievsky monastery
The Church of the Intercession was erected at the beginning of the 20th century, but soon after the October Revolution it was partially destroyed. The new monastery was completely restored and opened to pilgrims only in 1996. Today, a stone church, a chapel and cells have been erected here. The monastery especially reveres the blessed maiden Daria, who was born at the end of the 19th century in a nearby village. It was she who predicted the appearance of a monastery and a temple here.
Address: s. Pokrovskie Selishchi, st. Monastyrskaya, 120 B
Site: varsonofy.ru
Makarovsky St. John the Theological Monastery
The first temple buildings, which became a place of pilgrimage, were built near the village of Makarovka in the 19th-20th centuries. But during the years of the existence of the Soviet Union, they were used for other purposes. Warehouses and production facilities were located here. Only in 1994 was the monastery founded, which became one of the central ones in Mordovia. Soon, the residence of the Saransk Metropolitan was located there.
Address: s. Makarovka, st. Nagornaya, 35
Pokrovsky monastery
The central church was built in 1915, in the village of Drakino. The parish church became a monastery only in 1998. Despite the small number of monks living here, the monastery is one of the centers of pilgrimage in Mordovia, and the monastery temple is one of the largest temples in the republic. Since the 19th century, the parish chronicle has been kept here, which later became an important element of the historical and cultural heritage of Mordovia.
Address: s. Drakino
Website: www.pokrovm.ru
Insar St. Olginsky Monastery
The temple was built with the money of the local collegiate assessor Delfinsky. The only condition set by him was the consecration in honor of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga. By 1909, the construction was completed, but the monastery was closed a few years later and was restored only in 1994. The temple of the monastery is the brightest monument of Russian architecture of the XIX-XX centuries. In our time, restoration work is underway.
Address: Insar, st. Moscow, 87
Site: vk.com/club158462048
Kurilovsky Holy Tikhvin Monastery
The Monk Seraphim of Sarov gave his blessing for the construction of a monastery near the village of Kurilovka in the middle of the 19th century. In its present form, it was opened only in 1994, after restoration work. Later, the abbess Angelina dug ponds, planted a garden and built houses for nuns and pilgrims. Today, the monastery houses the miraculous Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God.
Address: s. Kurilovo, st. Monastyrskaya, house 4
Holy Trinity Chufarovsky Monastery
The women's monastery was founded by Elder Ignatius in the second half of the 19th century. The monument dedicated to the elder was made in the form of a small stone obelisk and has survived to this day. On the territory of the monastery are located the Church of the Nativity of Christ and the Church of the New Martyrs. Pilgrims from all over the country come here, large-scale work is underway to build a stone cathedral.
Address: s. Bolshoe Chufarovo, st. Nagornaya, 1
Site: chufarovo-mon.ru
Krasnoslobodsky Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery
Initially, the monastery was called "Spasskaya Pustyn". It was founded by the elder Dionysius and local peasants in the first half of the 17th century. Some time later, after the blessing of the construction by Patriarch Nikon, the church was also erected. Today, there are several temples and a bell tower on the territory of the monastery. The icon of the Kazan Mother of God is also kept here.
Address: p. Preobrazhensky, st. Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, 1
Site: spaso-preobrashenskiy-monastir.ru
Kovyliai Holy Trinity Monastery
The first temple of the future monastery was erected on the territory of the village of Stary Kovyliai in 1875, thanks to the voluntary donations of Princess Nadezhda Bibarsova. Other buildings were soon opened. The only one that has survived to this day is a stone residential building. Nowadays, several nuns and novices live here, thanks to donations, restoration work is being carried out.
Address: s. Old Kovlyay
Website: troitzkov.jimdofree.com
Kimlyai Alexander Nevsky Monastery
The women's monastery was founded in the second half of the 19th century by the elder Fligont, on the banks of the Moksha River. After the October Revolution, the monastery was almost completely destroyed, but reconstructed in 1996. After the restoration, the monastery was converted from a female to a male one. Nowadays, there is a house church named after Prince Alexander Nevsky and St. George's church-chapel.
Address: Kemlyai village, Monastyrskaya st., 18
Site: flegontova-gora.cerkov.ru
"Life-Giving Source"
This monastery is one of the few on the territory of modern Russia that were not closed or destroyed during the Soviet era. Since 1942, it has been open. On the territory of the monastery there is a large church of the Life-Giving Source of the Mother of God, built in 1885. In the monastery church there is an icon with the relics of Theophan the Recluse.
Address: s. Zhuravkino
Site: monas-zhuravkino.pravorg.ru
Distant deserts
One of the sketes of the St. John the Theologian Makarov Monastery was founded in 2010 and blessed by the Saransk Metropolitan. Several wooden churches, a chapel and residential buildings were built here. The central building of the desert is a chapel erected over the source of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.He, according to the beliefs of monks and pilgrims, has life-giving properties and helps to cope with diseases.
Address: s. Nagornaya, 32
Near deserts
The skete is formed by almost ten churches and temples. The Near Hermitage of the St. John the Theologian Makarov Monastery was founded in 2007 with the blessing of the Metropolitan of Saransk. The skete is one of the largest pilgrimage centers in Mordovia. Every year more and more people come here who want to worship local shrines and perform divine services. A hotel was built especially for pilgrims on the territory of the monastery.
Address: s. Nagornaya, 32
