Travel Guide Uleyma ())

The monastery of St. Nicholas of Uleyma was founded in the early 15th century. In the early 17th century, the Pole Sapiega dug the foundations of the cathedral, which collapsed, crushing fifty monks and two thousand peasants who had taken refuge there. Before the advent of the USSR, the place had become a spiritual and cultural Mecca. Today, the monastery belongs to the group of "old believers" which is a split of the Russian Church following the reforms of Patriarch Nikon in the 17th century. They live in great poverty and the monastery is falling into disrepair, despite the ambitions of the monks to make it a spiritual center for their sect.