While cycling through the Samara region, I often encountered old churches in small villages—some already ruined, others dilapidated, and still others restored—dating back to the days of Tsarist Russia. The beauty of a bicycle is that in one day you can easily travel to the very edge of the region and back again, and in two days—a weekend even more so. This post is a distillation of my cycling trips through the Samara region over the past two years.
The Kuroedovskaya Church is located practically on the border of the Samara and Orenburg regions, near the village of Arkhat in the Pokhvistnevsky District. If you Google it, you can even find a short video about it. We stumbled upon it quite by chance during a bike ride through the Buzuluk Forest.
Perhaps the most famous dilapidated Orthodox church for Samara residents is located in the village of Osinovka in Samara Luka. According to some commission, this church cannot be restored.
Church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Burning Bush" in the village of Nikolskoye, Bezenchuk district.
Let's return to Samara Luka. The Church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Novinki. It was restored, but unfortunately, not fully restored.
Let's move to the south of the region, to the Khvorostyansky district, to the village of Yelan. The old Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin. I had the chance to see this place during the three-day "Cultural Monuments of the Samara Region" bike race.
The only wooden church from Tsarist Russia I know of is the Church of the Archangel Michael in Pavlovka, Sergievsky District. This year, we drove past it once with friends while on a 240-kilometer loop, but we weren't in the mood for photos. Then a good friend of mine made a special trip there and put together a pretty good report from that trip.
The same church. View from the inside. The wall frescoes are still visible. It's a miracle this temple is still alive today.
The Church of Our Lady of Kazan in the village of Kanuyevka, Bezenchuk District. Fortunately, this church has been restored in recent years, and services are now held there regularly.
Church of the Intercession in the village of Elkhovka, Elkhovsky district.
Dergachi village, Krasnoarmeysky district. Church of the Archangel Michael.
One of the most beautiful churches in the Samara region is the Church of the Archangel Michael in the village of Vilovatoye, Bogatovsky District. It was recently completely restored.
Church of Cosmas and Damian in the village of Musorka, Stavropol region.
Let's return to the Bezenchuk district. The village of Perepolovenka and the Church of St. Olga.
Let's move back to the south of the region, to the village of Abashevo in the Khvorostyansky District. Just two years ago, the "Faith, Hope, Love" church was in disrepair, but by spring, services were already being held there in full swing.
Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the church; Google and Yandex didn't help. The church is located in the village of Alekseyevka. Services are held only on holidays.
The remains of a wooden church in the village of Pokrovka, Borsky district.
Cosmo-Domianskaya Church in the village of Syezzhee, Bogatovsky District. As of the summer of 2014, it is undergoing restoration.
Unfortunately, I don’t know the name of this church. If anyone knows, please tell me.
This is just a small part of what you can see in our region. But there are also some very beautiful old estates, some abandoned, some still standing. There are also the homes of merchants and other nobles of Tsarist Russia. There's an ancient settlement of the Belogorsk culture in the Samara Bend. And much more.
We also have a Department of Tourism in the Samara Region, and it's unclear what it does. It would be great if they created some kind of database of all the attractions in the Samara Region and, for example, launched a series of TV programs about them. They could also create tourist routes (hiking, cycling, driving), as is done in most European countries. In my opinion, this would be of interest to many. Weekend tours have recently become increasingly popular in our region.
Source: travel.ru