In 2004 one of the most ancient monasteries of Volgograd region – Ust-Medvedevsky Spaso-Preobrazhensky Female Monastery – celebrated its jubilee. It is 350 years old now. Its history is closely connected with the steppe territory of Volgograd region. The destiny of this female monastery is connected with the history of the Great Army of Don.

In 1638 on the left bank of the river Don there were some monastic cells where old hermits lived and prayed to the God. Then later on the army government decided to make the monks move to the right bank of the river Don. Father Isajja and old hermits Joseph, Kornily and Cyrill settled down there in 1652 near village Ust-Medvedizkaya on the invitation of local people. Priest Ptakhin came to that village. And in 1780 he built a house in the mouth of the river Buerak. (This house could be seen now.) And soon a monastery was founded there. Patriarch Ioakim blessed it in 1664. And the local chronicle of 1665 said: «Sovereign Tsar and Prince Alexey Mihajlovich, <... > and ataman Korney Jakovlevich of the Army of the Don started to build Spaso-Preobrazhensky Church and Ust-Medvedevsky monastery in 7173». The church had been build for five years (from 1665 till 1670). The monastery had the following constructions: a cell for the Prior with one room; a dining room; 11 cells for lay brothers.

The monks’ property grew: in 1716 they bought from priest Samson a mill and some lands. The monastery owned some lands and some forests, it had 3 mills, 8 fishing ponds. The number of monks grew.

On the 21st of June in 1711 Antony, who had been running the monastery for 24 years, died. Before his death he appointed a new person to rum the monastery – Feodosy. Feodosy ran the monastery till his death in 1719.

When Feodosy died, Father-Superior Illarion ran the monastery till 1729. Then Father-Superior Ignaty ran the monastery till his death in 1738.

Some more names of priors were known: celibate priest Ioakim (died in 1741); Father-Superior Evfimy; Father-Superior Lavrenty (till 1775). The monastery gradually became poorer and poorer, because the villages did not have any relations with it.

The place, where Ust-Medvedizky monastery is now situated, is the third from the moment of its foundation. The water washed away the ground, the cells went down, there were cracks on the walls. In 1750 at the Easter the monastery had been washed away by water and slipped to the river Don, but the monks managed to rescue, and bishop Feofilakt or Voronezh blessed them to revive it on a new place. The monks built a new stone temple and some wooden small houses of old Don architecture (from 1754 till 1759). They grew fruit trees. Thus, wise Father-Superior Lavrenty started a quiet prayful life in the monastery.

In 1762 Voronezh theological seminary was closed and monasteries were obliged to teach children. In the monastery three parentsless children lived in 1766, who instead of training were forced to work, the prior of the monastery was fined for it of 10 roubles. And the orphans were sent to Tolshevsky monastery. But after his death in 1775 the economy of the monastery was in a very bad state, too.

In 1785 the male monastery was transformed by colonel A. I. Ilovajsky to a female monastery. Its first Mother-Superior was Alexandra (1785-1810). But soon Empress Ekatherina started a church reform: some monasteries in Voronezh, Kharkov and Kursk were closed. And in 1788 Ust-Medvedizky monastery and Kremensko-Voznesensky monastery were closed. Ten years later Ust-Medvedizky monastery and Kremensko-Voznesensky monastery were reopened.

But in any case, the monastery represented a very poor monastery with 2 small churches in the 19th century. The monastery had tiny cells. The nuns were mostly uneducated rough cassack women. In 1847 Mother-Superior Virsavia started to run the monastery.

The period of the real revival of the monastery was connected with the name of Mother-Superior Arsenia (Anna Mikhajlovna Sebrjakova), who had been running it for more then 40 years. Mother Arsenia became Mother-Superior of the monastery in January in 1864. While her running the monastery some new houses with two floors for cells were built, a four-class school for girls was founded (1867). And on the 23rd of June in 1875 she started to build a huge cathedral in the name of the icon of Kazan God’s Mother according to the project of academician Gornostaev (51567 roubles). The consecration of the temple took place in 1885. At that time archpriest Victor Avtonomov served in the monastery.

The monastery became well-known, when Mother-Superior Arsenia ran it, and her nuns were taken to run some other monasteries.

For her activities Mother-Superior Arsenia was rewarded with a cross with precious stones, with a Red Cross for war 1877-1878, with a medal in memory of the reign of Emperor Alexander the Third and in 1905 with the Bible for a monastic school. On the 21st of July in 1905 Mother-Superior Arsenia died and was buried in the temple of Saint Arseny.

Mother-Superior Arsenia and her assistants nuns Nikodima, Agnia and Victorina Quiz built a fine cave complex. May be they founded this complex on the base of already available old caves. According to old Don legends, these caves had been used as catacombs and Cossacks’ burial places – coffins with chains. May be they had been used as fortifications.

The entrance to the cave complex began in beautiful Kazansky temple. The caves should reflect a way of the suffering Christ and Maria, during the crucifixion of the Son. Some big icons there were painted by Mother-Superior Arsenia. Some cells and a temple was built in the caves. Today you can see the main relic of these caves. It is a stone of Mother-Superior Arsenia, where (according to the legend) during a pray she saw a plan of the future caves. You can see prints of the knees and palms of the nun on the stone. And now this relic is wonder-working: the person can have his wishes fulfilled after a sincere pray.

The following relics could be seen till 1917 in the monastery: the Kazan icon of the ancient letter with a icon lamp in front of it, the Vladimir icon of the ancient letter with particles of sacred relics, the icon of the God’s Mother from Athos, a tomb with parts from the coffin of the God’s Mother and with particles of some relics.

Then the terrible time of conflicts and dictatorship of force came. In June in 1918 red commander F. K. Mironov wrote to the command of North Caucasian Military District (members of the Military Council: Stalin, Voroshilov, Minin), that bombardments of monasteries do not strengthen our position. Such entertainments are impossible. There is no information what monastery he wrote about, but it is possible, that one of them could be Ust-Medvedizky monastery.

In summer of 1921 there was a children's colony there. The lay sisters helped it very much: they cleaned rooms, looked after the orphans. In 1928 the monastery was closed. 300 sisters had to leave it. The communists just threw the nuns out of their cells. The bolsheviks called them «active terrorists». Some lay sisters managed to escape from the bolsheviks and hid at their relatives" at some farms (for example, mother Raisa). There is a book written about mother Raisa's wonderful life «Nun Raisa» by Father-Superior Nikon.

The buildings of the monastery nevertheless were ruined during atheistic persecutions and the Second World War. Bogorodizkaya Church was destroyed. And after the war there was a colony for criminals at the territory of the monastery and there was a local power station in Kazansky temple. Well-known writer Eugeny Kulkin of Volgograd remembered, that when he was a child, A. S. Serafimovich told him about that monastery. He wanted to rescue the monastery and that’s why he said to the local authorities to open that power station in Kazansky cathedral of the monastery.

Some lay sisters of the monastery lived till our time: nun Varsonofia died in 1989, and nun Agafia died in 1991. Many pilgrims go to the tomb of mother Raisa in the town of Seravimovich, where she had lived together with nun Varsonofia, on the 19th of June every year.

On the 30th of August in 1991 the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church and Patriarch Alexsy the Second decided «to bless the opening of Spaso-Preobrazhensky Ust-Medvedizky male monastery in Volgograd». The lay brothers led by Father-Superior Savvin tried to restore unique Kazansky temple. In 2001 the female monastery was reopened there, Mother-Superior Georgia runs the big community now. Lay sisters remember Mother-Superior Arsenia and her life very well and they try to revive the monastery. They managed to attract attention of Moscow to the unique monument of architecture of Volgograd – Kazansky church. We hope, that it will be restored soon. You can see Mother-Superior Arsenia's small house with her cell (It is unfortunatelly in a bad state). In the local museum of Volgograd you can see some private things of Mother-Superior Arsenia – her big photograph of 1890, a woolen carpet, where she used to prayed, 3 small icons and post cards with views of the monastery.