The Village of Lukina Polyana, the Town of Nizhny Lomov.
Saloleyka is one of the most famous pilgrimage destinations in the Penza area situated in the forest four kilometres east of Lukina Polyana on the right bank of the Moksha River, in the forest district of Barabanov. In the ancient Finno-Ugric language, "saloleyka" means "a small gully brook flowing in the wild forest". The Dormition Convent was founded here in 1660s and was moved to Verkhny Lomov in 1689.
The legend says that the monk Seraphim was the first to arrive here from the Tambov Region. He was looking for a place to live a lonely solitary life and he was so impressed by the beauty of the surrounding landscape that he decided to stay here. Soon monks came from the neighbouring villages and began erecting the church and monk cells here. The monk-priest Guriy (deceased in 1751) was the first Reverent Father of this Monastery (about 1705). The Dormition Church was built in 1710–1711. In 1752, the Monastery was burnt in a fire, and then restored before being abolished in 1764.
It is evident however that some monks remained here as according to legend bands of Pugachev finally destroyed Saloleyka. They killed 40 monks and when the martyrs were buried, the land began to cry with bitter tears and 40 springs appeared. If you peer into the stones on the bottom of Saloleyka you will be able to see the holy faces on most of them.
However, this legend does not entirely coincide with reality as there is another similar legend according to which this event took place during the times of Stepan Rasin and Vasiliy Us was the leader of those outlaws. It was late in the evening when Rasin's bands broke into the monastery, ravaged it and killed most of the monks and only a few of them managed to hide in caves connecting Saloleyka with the Skanov Monastery. The outlaws feasted there for several days, before loading all the valuables onto a boat, killing 40 monks and setting the Monastery on fire. However the Tsar's army caught Vasiliy Us and his outlaws on the Moksha River and defeated them and the boat sank with all the gold.
Later a chapel was built here and pilgrims often made the journey. Crowds of people would arrive on the fifty first day of Easter that is known as Whit Monday and for Assumption.
By the end of the 19th century (in 1896) there was a wooden church on Saloleyka that was attributed to St. Nicholas Church in neighbouring Lukina Polyana (that also had a Dormition side-church). In 1930 Saloleyka church-chapel was closed and two years later it was destroyed.
By the middle of the 20th century there was about 30–35 separate springs (according to an estimate in the 1990s, there were about 27 and even less remain today). They flowed along the gutters into a special well with a cross and an icon hanging over it. The water pressure was so strong in the main spring that it could throw a man several metres and it was impossible to fill your pail with water. There was a bathhouse nearby.
All these constructions were destroyed many times during the Soviet era but religious people always restored them. In the years of the drought women came here from the neighbouring villages and climbed the hill to pray to God on their knees. After some time the clouds covered the sky and the long-awaited rain finally arrived. To prevent the arrival of pilgrims, a kolkhoz bee yard was built nearby in 1959.
By the decision of the Regional Executive Committee of November 12, 1967, the Saloleyka region was proclaimed a Water Natural Monument.
Saloleyka has been gradually developing since 1996: a stone and a cross were erected in the summer of 1997 on the site of the old church and an asphalt road was laid in 1998–2000.
A large wooden chapel was built on top of the hill in 2003–2004 and small footbridges were built to every spring over the brook where they all join together. There is a changing room and a bath-house by one of the springs (a second bath-house was built later), many benches, pavilions, and there is an entrance on the west side. There are icon-cases near the bath-house where many pilgrims leave their icons.
On the inside of the pipes, you can see alluvial silver, the deposits of which can be found at the foot of the hill. People say that there is so much silver in the water that you can see silver sparkles on your skin after bathing as the water gradually collects from each spring. The water temperature is stable all the year round at 8 C.
Today it is one of the most revered places in the area. At Whitsunday or the Epiphany you have to stand in line for several hours in order to bathe in the waters of Saloleyka as there are crowds of people wishing to do the same. And according to the legend you have to bathe naked otherwise your sins will not be washed away.
An asphalt road leads to Saloleyka which branches off the Nizhniy Lomov — Narovchat motorway beyond Ust-Karemsh and is marked with a sign.
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