The Holy Kazan Convent in Kolyupanovo is surrounded by birch groves and silence broken only by the sound of wind in the leaves or the singing of birds. To find Kolyupanovo, just enter “Holy Kazan Convent Tula Region” into your GPS. Plan your route and make sure to visit!
The Holy Kazan Convent and the village of Kolyupanovo are located very close to the ancient town of Aleksin. You can get here by car, as part of a pilgrimage tour, or by train from Tula. Taking a bus is possible too. To do this, you should depart from the Aleksin bus station along routes 107, 128, 117, 123 or 126 and get off at the stop Povorot na Avangard. Public transport ticket prices are quite low.
The Kazan Convent is not the only landmark and shrine in Kolyupanovo. There is also the Miraculous Spring of St. Euphrosyne. You can meet people who come there with bottles just to get some water. When visiting the spring, pious citizens are advised to attend the Liturgy at the Holy Kazan Convent or venerate the local shrine with the relics of Euphrosyne. Remember to turn off your phone. It is not allowed to take pictures and make noise in the convent.
In general, this place combines two completely different miraculous stories. One is associated with the appearance of a temple on this spot, and the other with the life of the Holy Eldress Euphrosyne. In 1995, by the Decree of Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus Alexy II, a new Holy Kazan Convent appeared here.
Legends have it that the temple in honor of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God existed here before the foundation of the village of Kolyupanovo in the 16th century. It was made of wood and had grown significantly dilapidated by 1695. Then it was rebuilt. During the reign of Catherine II, the wooden church burned down, and the construction of a new one was not allowed. It was hard for the residents of Kolyupanovo to travel to the neighboring village for church services. It was there, in Fomischevo, that the temple icon of the Kazan Mother of God, which survived the fire, was located. The diocese was deaf to the petitions of the parishioners. But this continued until the icon of the Kazan Mother of God disappeared from the temple in Fomischevo. It was found on a birch tree near the burnt-out ruins in Kolyupanovo. This phenomenon happened more than once, and this interested the local landowners, who insisted on blessing the construction of a new church. In 1783, the temple of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was erected at the Bobrishchevs-Pushkins’ account.
The Holy Fool in Christ Euphrosyne came to live in Kolyupanovo 62 years later. She spent the last 10 years of her life there. During this time, she managed to do many miracles in the name of Christ and dug a miraculous well, to which pilgrims travel from all over Russia today.
The village of Kolyupanovo is the perfect place for the Holy Kazan Convent. Even though it came to pass hundreds of years later, nuns, a monastery, and two churches, Trinity and Kazan, appeared here eventually.
