Svoboda

Svoboda (Russian: Свобода) is a very small town in Kursk Oblast, 30 km northeast of the provincial capital, Kursk. A highlight of the region is the Kursk Root Hermitage, or "Korennaya Hermitage" (Коренная пустынь, korennaya pustyn), one of the most famous monasteries of the Black Earth region.

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the Kursk Korenskaya Fair was held at the monastery walls, once the third largest market in terms of trade in the Russian Empire.

History
Legend has it that during the Tatar-Mongol invasion, hunters from Rylsk found the icon of Theotokos of Kursk, also known as the Kursk Root Icon, in the roots of a tree deep in the woods. A sacred, healing spring gushed up from the spot where they found the icon, and the hunters built upon it the first wooden chapel in 1295. The Kursk Root Monastery was founded on the same spot 300 years later, in 1597, by order of Tsar Feodor I. The original chapel was replaced with a stone church, through which the spring still flows. The hermitage was largely destroyed during the Time of Troubles and was despoiled by the Crimean Tatars. Only at the end of the 18th century did the monastery received its structural layout.



From 1708, the Kursk Korenskaya Fair (literally, Root Fair) was regularly held at the monastery’s walls, which by 1824 became the third largest in the Russian Empire after the Makaryevskaya (Nizhny Novgorod) and Irbitskaya fairs. Traditionally, the Korenskaya Fair began after the annual procession of the Kursk Root Icon, from which it acquired the power to do miracles. The procession of the icon from Kursk to Hermitage of the Root attracted thousands of pilgrims, and it is depicted in one of the most famous 19th century Russian paintings: "The procession in the Kursk province" by Ilya Repin, now prominently displayed at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

In the 18th century, a small village grew around the monastery, which became an official settlement in 1886, when the Korennaya Pustyn rail station opened up on the Moscow-Kursk railway. After the Russian Revolution, both the station and the village were renamed Svoboda — literally: "freedom." During the Battle of Kursk in 1943, the headquarters of the Central Front of the Red Army was set up here under the command of K.K. Rokossovsky.

In modern days, Svoboda has become one of the most visited tourist destinations in Kursk Oblast, and there is high quality tourist infrastructure for pilgrims here. It’s worth coming to the village to see the beautiful monastery, perfectly set against the backdrop of the forest-steppe landscape of the Chernozemye, to drink water from the numerous local springs, to just relax in nature, and in the summer to also take a dip in one of those cold-water wellsprings. On weekends and especially on religious holidays, the monastery is crowded, and it is better to come before noon.

The Kursk Root Icon
The icon itself has a very storied history! After first appearing in the roots in 1295, it was credited with many miracles. Hearing of the healing waters of the spring, supplicants from Rylsk began coming to the chapel to pray. Prince Shemyaka of Rylsk ordered that the icon be brought from the chapel to the city, but went blind after not deigning to attend the celebration. After repenting and going to venerate the icon, his sight was restored, and he then had a church commissioned to house it in Rylsk. The icon, however, apparently had other plans and mysteriously vanished and reappeared at the chapel over the spring. The Rylskians tried bringing it back again, but were thwarted by continued disappearances and reappearances at the spring, leading them to relent and be satisfied with regular pilgrimages there, as well as a famous annual procession by foot of the icon between first Rylsk and the chapel, later between Kursk and the monastery.



In 1383, the Kursk region was again invaded by Crimean Tatars, who set fire to the chapel, but legend has it that the wooden chapel would not burn. Enraged, they entered the church and slashed the icon in half, but it miraculously grew whole when the priest later brought the two halves back into contact with each other. At this point, a new and sturdier chapel was built upon the wellspring.

In 1898, the icon faced a more modernist threat when anarchists conspired to undermine faith in the church by blowing it up with a time bomb. The bomb exploded with terrific force, shattering all windows, blowing the iron door right off the hinges, splitting the marble altar, but the icon itself - even its glass enclosure - was left completely untouched. The anarchist plot backfired, resulting in more widespread veneration of the icon.

The icon along with the White Russian Army escaped the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution and was temporarily housed in Belgrade before moving further west through Europe away from Soviet advances in WWII. It found a new long-term home at the Hermitage of Our Lady of Kursk in Mahopac, New York, but today is kept at the Cathedral of the Theotokos of the Sign in Manhattan's Upper East Side, from which it frequently travels the world, including trips back to Mahopac and even to Svoboda itself for its patronal feast, the Nativity of the Theokotos.

By plane
The nearest airport is in Kursk, 33 km from Svoboda, which has multiple flights per day from Moscow. From Kursk-Vostochny airport by taxi, the journey will take half an hour and will cost ₽600-700. Another option would be to use fixed-route, minibus taxis, but then you will need a transfer at the "Railway Hospital" stop, where you can get from the airport by minibuses 81, 84 and 89.

By train
Trains from Moscow run to Kursk frequently. From Kursk's train station, you will need to get to the "Railway Hospital" stop («Железнодорожная больница») by minibus or on foot (just 1.3 km). From there, there are minibuses to Svoboda every half hour.

Lastochka trains (electric commuter trains) to Kursk and Belgorod make a stop at the Zolotukhino rail station, from which it is 17 km to Svoboda, and minibuses run every half hour.

By bus
From Kursk, minibuses to Svoboda leave from Severny Station from stop Ulitsa Dubrovinskovo (Ул. Дубровинского), and all of these also stop at the "Railway Hospital" stop («Железнодорожная больница» Zheleznodorozhnaya bolnitsa). From the Railway Hospital stop, minibuses go to Svoboda every half hour from 06:20 to 19:30. If you want to return to Kursk on the same day, be vigilant — the last minibus back leaves Svoboda rather early, at 19:00.

By car
A car is the most convenient way to get to Svoboda, especially since the majority of visitors to the Hermitage of the Roots try to bring spring water from the monastery back with them. From Moscow, take the M2 highway. Immediately after the Fatezh bypass, there will be a left turn signed to Zolotukhino and Korennaya pustyn (Коренная пустынь). From the turn to the monastery itself is a little more than 40 km. The roads are of excellent quality, so you can easily finish the 530 km trip from the Moscow Ring Road in six hours.



From Kursk to Svoboda, take the road to Zolotukhino and on to Ponyri (Поныри). This 30 km route is also along a good quality road.

From other regions, you can get here either from the M2 highway, or from Kursk. From southeastern Oryol Oblast, you could try to get there without detouring to the M2 by going through Shchigry on the road to Ponyri. But much of the Ponyri-Maloarkhangelsk section is a dirt road, which, after rains and without knowing where to turn, is best avoided. GPS is unlikely to be useful.

The main parking lot is right at the gates of the monastery, but on weekends and church holidays, it can be hard to find a spot even on the neighboring streets. An alternative would be to drive a little towards the Svoboda Rail Station and turn onto the dirt road immediately after the bridge over the Tuskar River. You can park there close to the left bank of the river and then walk to the monastery via a pedestrian bridge.

Get around
There is no transit system in Svoboda, nor is there any reason for one. The greatest possible distance between two points here would be less than 2 km, and it's all of 1 km to the bus stop coming from Kursk or Zolotukhino.

Monastery




Sculptures and memorials




Do




Those who wish can also participate in the large-scale "procession," which is held annually on the 9th Friday after Easter, in 2020, falling on June 19. The procession route is about 30 km.

On the opposite bank of the Tuskar River, they often have shashlyk picnics. This is a lot of fun and offers a great view of the monastery.

Buy




They sell high quality honey in the monastery itself towards the end of summer and through the beginning of autumn. Along with religious-themed utensils and souvenirs, you can also buy kvass, pirozhki, pizza, etc. The prices, unlike many Moscow-area monasteries, are very reasonable.

Eat
There are no standalone restaurants in Svoboda: you can either eat modestly at the monastery or more lavishly at the restaurant of the "GRINN" Inn.



Drink
Kursk, 30 km away, offers plenty of opportunities to indulge in drunkenness and debauchery. Svoboda is a spiritual center, so opening nightclubs and bars here would be an insult to the faithful. At night it is better to admire the monastery's beauty, all lit up, and to listen to the Kursk nightingale's song.

Stay safe
The iron staircase leading from the monastery square is steep, long, and lacks ramps. Climbing it can be quite difficult, especially for elderly people and people with disabilities. There are, however, benches between the spans to take a rest. You can go down to the wellsprings without having to do more stairs, along an asphalt path (though this route bypasses the monastery churches), by turning left immediately after the entrance.

Inexplicably, in the monastery often there are problems with photographic equipment - the shutter locks, fully charged batteries suddenly die, and phones seem to want to jump out of your hands and break, so proceed with cautionǃ

At the entrance to the monastery and in the parking lot there are sometimes problems with gypsies begging rather aggressively.

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