The stone horse and the chapel of Arseny Konevsky description and photo - Russia - Leningrad region: Priozersky district (Topic)

The stone horse and the chapel of Arseny Konevsky description and photo - Russia - Leningrad region: Priozersky district. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photos and a map showing the nearest significant objects.

Photo and description

The horse-stone is one of the brightest attractions of the Priozersky district. It is a huge boulder of gray granite with quartz veins measuring about 9 x 6 meters, a little over 4 meters high and weighing over 750,000 kilograms. It is located on the island of Konevets (Lake Ladoga), 7 kilometers from the coastal village of Vladimirovka.

Historically, the stone is one of the rare surviving pagan sanctuaries. There is a version that pagan rituals were once carried out next to him. The shape of the boulder is vaguely similar to that of a horse's head. This is probably where its name came from.

There is a legend about that the Karelians used the island of Konevets as a summer pasture for their horses and every year they sacrificed one horse on this stone. This legend was born in the description of the life of Arseny Konevsky, compiled in the 16th century, about one century after the death of the ascetic. The author is the hegumen of Konev Varlaam.

The Monk Arseny, who arrived on the island at the end of the XIV century, according to legend, met the fisherman Philip here and learned from him about the sacrifices. Arseny found this place "thicker than a dense forest surrounded by demonic horror." The monk spent the whole night in prayer, and in the early morning he made a procession of the cross around a boulder with an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos and sprinkled it with holy water. Tradition says that evil spirits, like soot, jumped out of the stone and, turning into black ravens, flew away to the opposite bank of Ladoga, from that time received the name of the Devil's Bay (Sortan-lakhta). Along with demons, according to legend, snakes also disappeared (Konevets Island is the only island on Lake Ladoga where snakes do not live).

In honor of this event, a small wooden chapel in the name of Arseny Konevsky was erected on top of the stone. No reliable information has been found about exactly when the first chapel on the Horse-Kamen was erected. Perhaps this happened at the very beginning of the foundation of the monastery.

During the years of Swedish desolation, the chapel was destroyed and rebuilt during the reign of Hilarion only in 1815. The chapel was about 3 meters high, and there was a small gallery. Inside there were “simple work” icons and a cross made of wood.

A modern chapel with pretty window frames, decorated with saw-cut carvings, was built at the end of the 19th century, or rather, in 1895, and has been completely restored today.

The chapel is accessed by a wooden staircase. The interior is devoid of decorations, it is simple and modest: the ceiling and walls are painted with white paint. Only on the eastern wall you can see 2 icons of modern writing: one in the name of the Monk Arseny, the other in honor of the Mother of God of Konevskaya. There is a lectern for the reader in front of the icons.

From the chapel along the path you can go out onto a wide road, which, if you follow it to the left, will lead you back to the monastery. If you go to the right, then literally in a few meters you can find yourself on the picturesque bank of Ladoga. Further along the coast, the road goes to the northern tip of the island of Konevets.

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Topic: The stone horse and the chapel of Arseny Konevsky description and photo - Russia - Leningrad region: Priozersky district.