Blog about Urals

things to see in Urals: Kolpaki, Verkhoturye

Recently documentary series “the Ridge of Russia” appeared on russian TV. They tell russian history related to the Urals region and show its wonderful places. One of them is the mountain Kolpaki – natural reserve and the favourite point for people looking for wild nature of Urals.

After we saw this mountain on TV, we decided to go there and without “putting it in the cooler” for the time, on early Saturday morning we set out.

The mountain Kolpaki is situated not far from the border between the Sverlovskaya area and the Perm region. Additionally an idea arose to add one more point to our travel route – the ancient rural town Verkhoturye, founded in the end of 16th century, an orthodox center of Urals.

When we crossed the border between Sverdlovsk and Perm area, we saw the monument, which divides Europe and Asia. The monument is situated on the hill near the road and consists of the big white stele with continents’ names. Although the pathway to the monument is regularly cleaned we weren’t lucky and had to climb up over snowdrifts, that was really cheerful. The monument is very old and unfortunately entirely painted by local vandals.

the border between Serdlovsk and Perm areas

the way to Europe-Asia monument

We found the road to Kolpaki mountain after several losses of our way and consultations with locals. Several cars with people were already staying near the mountain. They went to the nature reserve to relax. They told us that climbing the mountain is about 300m by foot over the forest path and we began climbing.

It wasn’t difficult to climb the mountain, but it seemed to me that we went up about 1 km. When we climbed to the top of the mountain the amazing view took our breath away.

the view from Kolpaki mountain

The same time we understood why the mountain is called Kolpaki (Caps in translation to english). The reason is the form of rocks on the top of the mountain. They look like caps.

caps

peak

wonderful Urals forest

Coming down was easier than climbing up. We enjoyed walking over the virgin snow-clad forest.

After a short rest and a meal in the roadside cafe we moved further. It was about 200km to Verkhoturye and we arrived there in the evening.

the Saint Nicholas monastery

The first thing attracted our attention was the Saint Nicholas monastery with its beautiful church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Later we were told that it’s the third biggest church in Russia after the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow and the Isaak Cathedral in St.Petersburg. The divine service was on in the church, so we decided to visit the monastery next day and went to the nearby hotel to have a rest.

On Sunday morning we began our historically informative tour over Verkhoturye. First of all we we visited the Saint Nicholas monastery founded in 1604 by hieromonk Iona. A young monastic novice agreed to be our guide and to lead us over the territory of the monastery.

Up to the beginning of the 18th century the monastery acted very important part – it was the only missionary point for West Siberia. That’s from the orthodoxy spread over all the wide region. In the beginning of the 18th century the monastery found the relics of Saint Simeon Verkhotursky – one of the most famous russian saints and became a widely known pilgrimage shrine.

Unfortunately from four churches of the monastery only three have been saved till nowadays, they are the church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, undoubtedly a gem of the monastery; the Transfiguration church and the church of Simeon and Anna. The fourth church was destroyed during the revolution and instead of it there is the Saint Nicholas church on its place. There is also the museum in the monastery and for small gift to charity somebody from novices will be glad to tell the history of this place.

the church of Simeon and Anna

church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

In a five-minutes walk from the monastery there is a citadel founded in 1598. First of all it was a wooden fortress with administrative and utility structures, such as the house of a general, the treasury house and the church. During the century after its foundation the fortress was destroyed by fire several times, and finally in 1698 by the decree of Peter I the stone construction began. The fortress with walls, towers and the Trinity cathedral even nowadays adorns the town.

the Trinity cathedral

We were allowed to climb the bell tower of the cathedral – it has a really wonderful view of the town and outskirts.

in the bell tower

Verkhoturye town

panorama of Verkhoturye

The last point of our trip was the village Merkushino famous for the beautiful modern church – the cathedral of archangel Michael. It was built in 2004 on gifts of local private entrepreneurs. And it was very interesting for us to compare old churches having the centuries-old history with the modern church. Also on our way to Merkushino we met other interesting churches and took their pictures.

on the way to Merkushino

The temple of all saints who lit up in Siberia

the cathedral of archangel Michael

Leaving this place we understood why it is called the orthodox center of Urals – the big amount of unique churches amaze with their beauty, acting monasteries with its holy founts and miracles make this land a very attractive place for believers and connoisseurs of the ancient beauty.