The Shuldan Cave Monastery, north of Ternovka village near Sevastopol, attracts a wide variety of visitors, from pilgrims and Christian history experts to regular tourists.
© RIA Novosti . Sergey AnashkevichThe Shuldan Cave Monastery lies to the north of Ternovka village near Sevastopol.
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© RIA Novosti . Sergey Anashkevich
The Shuldan Cave Monastery lies to the north of Ternovka village near Sevastopol.
© RIA Novosti . Sergey AnashkevichThe monastery attracts a wide range of visitors, from pilgrims and Christian history experts to regular tourists. Photo: David, a 35-year-old hermit, lives at the Shuldan Cave Monastery.
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© RIA Novosti . Sergey Anashkevich
The monastery attracts a wide range of visitors, from pilgrims and Christian history experts to regular tourists. Photo: David, a 35-year-old hermit, lives at the Shuldan Cave Monastery.
© RIA Novosti . Sergey AnashkevichThere are churches within the monastery’s grounds.
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© RIA Novosti . Sergey Anashkevich
There are churches within the monastery’s grounds.
© RIA Novosti . Sergey AnashkevichThere are about 20 different premises, spread over two floors, at the Monastery. Photo: The bell tower of the Shuldan Cave Monastery.
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© RIA Novosti . Sergey Anashkevich
There are about 20 different premises, spread over two floors, at the Monastery. Photo: The bell tower of the Shuldan Cave Monastery.
© RIA Novosti . Sergey AnashkevichThe church is on the first floor. Living quarters and household facilities are on the second floor.
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© RIA Novosti . Sergey Anashkevich
The church is on the first floor. Living quarters and household facilities are on the second floor.
© RIA Novosti . Sergey Anashkevich “Shuldan” means “The One That Returns the Echo” in Crimean Tatar.
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© RIA Novosti . Sergey Anashkevich
“Shuldan” means “The One That Returns the Echo” in Crimean Tatar.
© RIA Novosti . Sergey AnashkevichHistorians are divided as to exactly when the monastery was founded.
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© RIA Novosti . Sergey Anashkevich
Historians are divided as to exactly when the monastery was founded.
© RIA Novosti . Sergey AnashkevichSome believe that the monastery was founded in the 8th – 9th centuries A.D. by icon-worshipping monks who had fled to Crimea from the central Byzantine Empire, then dominated by iconoclasm. Another theory says that these cave monasteries were built no earlier than in the 10th – 11th centuries.
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© RIA Novosti . Sergey Anashkevich
Some believe that the monastery was founded in the 8th – 9th centuries A.D. by icon-worshipping monks who had fled to Crimea from the central Byzantine Empire, then dominated by iconoclasm. Another theory says that these cave monasteries were built no earlier than in the 10th – 11th centuries.