Mologa, Russia, March 16, 2018
Photo: monasterium.ru The reconnaissance-diving team of the “Flooded Holy Sites of the Mologa Region” expedition have investigated the former South Dorothea Hermitage, which is currently under ice in the Rybinsk Reservoir. The divers inspected the bell tower, tower, and one of the walls of the monastery, reports the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The South Dorothea Hermitage was founded more than 400 years ago at the confluence of the Southern Black and Southern White Rivers near the Volga River. Thousands would flock to the monastery annually. The monastery was completely flooded when the Rybinsk Reservoir was created in the 1930s and 1940s by the godless communist authorities.
Photo: monasterium.ru Researchers began to plunge into the monastery’s history last fall, conducting echolocation. The data was compared with old maps, and they were able to discern the exact coordinates of the holy habitation. The northern wall of the monastery and the bell tower are located at a depth of 16-20 ft.
The monastery was converted into a children’s camp in the 1920s, and was flooded in the 1940s. No one knew how the monastery would look now, but the divers were able to examine nearly the entire territory of the church, starting their expedition before the beginning of the ice drift, when the water is cleaner.
“The monastery was completely destroyed before the flooding, and there is suspicion, based on the remains at the bottom, that there were explosions here,” said Rybinsk city head Denis Dobryakov.
Several artifacts produced by blacksmiths were discovered, although it as yet unclear what they decorated. After experts have sufficiently studied the items, they will be handed over to a museum.
“When we go to the museum, we have a showcase, glass, and it says, ‘Do not touch.’ Even if there’s a chair standing there, you can’t sit on it. But here you can dive, here you can touch living history 400 years old,” stated Konstantin Bogdanov, the head of the “Flooded Holy Sites” project.
The experts plan to create a 3D model of the holy monastery based on what they have seen and recorded.
