The island is flooded by Nikolai Guryanov. Unforgettable trip to Belov island in Pskov lake. "If we are with the Lord

March 10th, 2017 , 09:01 pm

The Talab Islands are a group of three islets in Lake Pskov north of the confluence of the Velikaya River. Sometimes they are called "Pskov Iceland", they have a lot in common with the distant northern islands. It has its own special climate in every sense - both geographical and human, there is a separate consciousness, a characteristic island mentality, there are signs and beliefs, up to the “hidden people”, there is also a sacred fish: the Icelanders have a whale, and Talabs, like their southern mainland Setuk neighbors, is ... a smelt.


Getting to them is both difficult and not difficult. An easier option, by car you need to get to the village of Bolshaya Tolba, from there on a shuttle boat to the islands. The boat has a schedule and it does not run every day. It is even easier to order an aqua taxi in Pskov right away. I took the more difficult route. Sitting on the shuttle bus 142 (goes 2 times a day) in Pskov, I drove to the village of Bolshaya Tolba. The boats did not go, I negotiated with the fishermen who go to the island I need (such as an aquastop).

In the photo, at the confluence of the Tolba River into the lake, travelers are escorted by old electric poles with icons, blessing "on the sea floating."

The tiny island of Zalita on the Pskov Lake - part of the Talab archipelago - is known to the whole world. He became famous thanks to the holy life of the elder Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov, who lived on this island for more than 50 years and served in the church of St. Nicholas. He was called the "living saint". The recluse from Zalit predicted the liberation of Russia from communism, the canonization of the tsar, the death of the nuclear submarines Komsomolets and Kursk. There are legends about the special spiritual vision of the priest, as he was called on the island. Using photographs, he searched for missing people, rescued hostages from bandit captivity, cured the terminally ill, and saved them from misfortunes.
In the photo, in front of the temple is the Royal Garden. According to legend, Alexander I sent an oak sprout with his subordinates, the sprout was planted The tradition took root The last person to plant a tree was Vladyka Arseniy in 1907. And so the Royal Garden appeared on the island of Zalit. It mainly consisted of chestnuts and lindens.

The reputation of a miracle worker came to him when Igor Stolyarov, who escaped from the Komsomolets nuclear submarine, found the old man. Years later, a sailor from Siberia, who had survived a terrible accident, came to Zalita. And he immediately recognized in Father Nicholas the same old man who appeared to him when the sailor who got out of the hold was losing consciousness in the icy waters of the Atlantic. The gray-bearded old man called himself Archpriest Nikolai and said: "Swim, I pray for you, you will be saved." And disappeared. A log appeared from somewhere, the coast guard and rescuers soon arrived. "Then it became known that there was no person with that name among the crew members. Perhaps it was midshipman Viktor Slyusarenko, who really managed to grab onto the sinking capsule, held out until the rescuers arrived And then came to faith in God.

The island stretches for 1.5 km in length and reaches 600 m in width. If earlier several thousand people lived on Zalit, now there are about 200 permanent residents, and in summer, thanks to summer residents, the population increases to 1000 people. Crowded on weekends due to pilgrims. Today, Zalit Island attracts more and more tourists with its unusual way of life. A cult place among pilgrims is the grave of Father Nikolai. The 93-year-old archpriest Nikolai Guryanov died on August 24, 2002 on the island of Zalita in Lake Pskov.

The local exoticism of the island also lies in the fact that, walking along the street, you can see painfully familiar (from the “box”!) Faces. Not to mention the fact that these places have long been chosen by the famous throughout Russia artist Pyotr Ossovsky, the honored artist of Russia Anatoly Kulinich, his colleague Sergey Smilga, as well as the prima of the Mariinsky Theater (St. Petersburg) Olga Stronskaya and the domestic "Boni Tyler" bought a house here - Olga Kormukhina. Ludmila Putina visited Zalit several times. We also saw Valentina Tolkunova and Nina Ruslanova here. The former All-Russian prosecutor Valentin Ustinov visited the island. Of the other statesmen, Lyubov Slizka more than once shone here.

In the old days, Zalita Island looked neatly trimmed, like a country lawn. And all because cows worked as “lawn mowers”. Two hundred heads chewed grass. Now there are no cows, coastal waters are becoming swampy and the ecology is being disturbed.

View from Zalit Island to the smallest Talabenets and Fr. Belov's name.

The islands were inhabited for a long time and bore the names Talabsk (Zalit), Talabenets and Upper (named after Belov). From here, from the Talab Islands of Lake Pskov, Peter the Great gathered shipbuilders to build a Russian flotilla. We read about this in the epic legend “Antichrist”: “From the Talab Islands and from Lake Peipsi, many shipbuilders and assistants were brought to the city to rule ships against the Swedes in the meadow, on the Great River, near Stepan’s Church.”

During the years of the revolution, the population was divided into whites and reds. Representatives of the Soviet government under the leader of Ivan Zalita were in the minority and a detachment of whites who arrived to help defeated the Bolsheviks, and the most zealous revolutionaries were tied up and drowned in the lake. When Soviet power was finally established on the islands, as a punishment to the inhabitants, the islands were renamed in honor of the revolutionaries I. Zalit and I. Belov

Monument to the revolutionaries on the island.

Village street.

Club with a monument to Ilyich.

Cross in honor of the Talab regiment. The inscription on the cross: "To the warriors of the Talab regiment and to all those who died for God, the Tsar and the Fatherland in the Civil War of 1918-1920." First, the battalion, and then the regiment, was formed from the fishermen of the archipelago who were dissatisfied with the Bolsheviks and joined Yudenich's "white" northwestern army.

In 1854, a stone chapel was built in honor of St. Nicholas in memory of the miracle from the image of the saint, which was during the fire on July 6, 1853. The chapel was erected for the "unquenchable burning of oil."

Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was first mentioned in cadastral books in 1585-1587, that one empty yard place "came up under the church." The first temple was wooden and was built by local residents, who, as now, were fishermen. During the attack of the Swedes in 1703, the Verkhneostrovsky monastery, founded around 1470 in honor of the First Apostles Peter and Paul, ven. Dosifey Verkhneostrovsky, commemorated October 8/21 (in 1584 the monastery was assigned to the Pskov-Caves Monastery, and in 1764 it was abolished, the temple was turned into a parish church). Probably, the St. Nicholas Church on Talabsk was also damaged. In 1792 a stone church was built. It was built according to tradition from the Pskov limestone slab.

Frescoes written by an unknown author have been preserved in the temple to this day. In 1939, the temple was closed after a severe ruin. All furnishings have been destroyed. Where the icons were taken is unknown. In 1947, the temple was reopened for worship. Here Father Nikolai served as the rector of the temple.

The spirit of a fisherman is felt even in the temple, instead of a foot mat-net. By the way, the bell of St. Nicholas Church on the island of Talabsk serves as a sound beacon for fishermen who are on the lake in heavy fog or snowfall.

The cross was erected in honor of the service of the elder Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov.

The island is crowded in summer.

Monument to the wars of the Great Patriotic War.

Grave of Elder Nicholas.

Entrance to the cemetery

You can always buy freshly smoked pike or zander bream.

The island is clean, every yard is buried in flowers.

There is a school, a nine-year-old. Last year, 8 guys came on September 1st.

Books from the library.

I looked into the store in the hope of seeing a "rolling ball". But, the assortment allows you to drink and eat. They also bake their own bread and buns at the store. They count in the old fashioned way, on the abacus.

A smoking shop of a private trader.

The main - and only - occupation of the islanders has always been fishing. Fish - the famous Pskov smelt - was sent to St. Petersburg, Moscow, Riga, Warsaw. Talab smelt was dried in special ovens, of which there were more than a hundred on small islands. From 160 to 300 pounds of fish were sold annually, which allowed the inhabitants of these scarce and agriculturally barren lands to live quite comfortably. Local fishermen were among the suppliers of the imperial court.

Aleksandrovsky Posad - this is how the Talabsky Islands began to be called under Alexander I in the flesh until 1917. About the collective farm-millionaire, with a third of the total catch in the Pskov-Chudskoye reservoir, they wrote in newspapers and made documentaries. The footage of the chronicle is a brilliant iridescent fish sea in lake nets.

The islanders have their own secrets. More precisely, they will not call them secrets, but in their speech, if you listen carefully, strange references to "them" appear from time to time. For modern Icelanders, “they” - huldufolk (hidden people) - is something that goes without saying, they don’t talk about it much, but they don’t hesitate to mention it. Here, on Talabakh, it is not customary to talk about “them” with strangers. Nevertheless, respect for them is in the blood of the islanders. Less than a hundred years ago, people lived here according to the Way, somewhere it was written down, but everyone knew it as a set of unspoken rules: how to build a house, what not to do, and, in particular, how to ask permission ...

In winter, when the lake freezes, communication with the mainland is simplified. On the ice by sled or by car.

Once on the islands in Soviet times there were strong fish farms, the collective farm was considered a millionaire, they went on iron seiners, caught plenty of smelt, but now there are few fish, collective farms have collapsed, most fishermen have nothing to do. But there are still several successful private traders here: they are friends with the hidden people, they respect them, they go out to the lake for fish in a strange course, they do something for a short time near Talabenets (the smallest island), but no one, except for them and their children, knows what they are doing there.

And I stood for an hour at the pier and found the right boat, went to the Bely Island.

July 22nd, 2016

The Talab Islands are a group of three islets in Lake Pskov north of the confluence of the Velikaya River. Sometimes they are called "Pskov Iceland", they have a lot in common with the distant northern islands. It has its own special climate in every sense - both geographical and human, there is a separate consciousness, a characteristic island mentality, there are signs and beliefs, up to the “hidden people”, there is also a sacred fish: the Icelanders have a whale, and Talabs, like their southern mainland Setuk neighbors, is ... a smelt.


Getting to them is both difficult and not difficult. An easier option, by car you need to get to the village of Bolshaya Tolba, from there on a shuttle boat to the islands. The boat has a schedule and it does not run every day. It is even easier to order an aqua taxi in Pskov right away. I took the more difficult route. Sitting on the shuttle bus 142 (goes 2 times a day) in Pskov, I drove to the village of Bolshaya Tolba. The boats did not go, I negotiated with the fishermen who go to the island I need (such as an aquastop).

In the photo, at the confluence of the Tolba River into the lake, travelers are escorted by old electric poles with icons, blessing "on the sea floating."

The tiny island of Zalita on the Pskov Lake - part of the Talab archipelago - is known to the whole world. He became famous thanks to the holy life of the elder Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov, who lived on this island for more than 50 years and served in the church of St. Nicholas. He was called the "living saint". The recluse from Zalit predicted the liberation of Russia from communism, the canonization of the tsar, the death of the nuclear submarines Komsomolets and Kursk. There are legends about the special spiritual vision of the priest, as he was called on the island. Using photographs, he searched for missing people, rescued hostages from bandit captivity, cured the terminally ill, and saved them from misfortunes.
In the photo, in front of the temple is the Royal Garden. According to legend, Alexander I sent an oak sprout with his subordinates, the sprout was planted The tradition took root The last person to plant a tree was Vladyka Arseniy in 1907. And so the Royal Garden appeared on the island of Zalit. It mainly consisted of chestnuts and lindens.

The reputation of a miracle worker came to him when Igor Stolyarov, who escaped from the Komsomolets nuclear submarine, found the old man. Years later, a sailor from Siberia, who had survived a terrible accident, came to Zalita. And he immediately recognized in Father Nicholas the same old man who appeared to him when the sailor who got out of the hold was losing consciousness in the icy waters of the Atlantic. The gray-bearded old man called himself Archpriest Nikolai and said: "Swim, I pray for you, you will be saved." And disappeared. A log appeared from somewhere, and soon the Coast Guard and rescuers arrived."

The island stretches for 1.5 km in length and reaches 600 m in width. If earlier several thousand people lived on Zalit, now there are about 200 permanent residents and in the summer, thanks to summer residents, the population increases to 1000 people. Crowded on weekends due to pilgrims. Today, Zalit Island attracts more and more tourists with its unusual way of life. A cult place among pilgrims is the grave of Father Nikolai. The 93-year-old archpriest Nikolai Guryanov died on August 24, 2002 on the island of Zalita in Lake Pskov.

The local exoticism of the island also lies in the fact that, walking along the street, you can see painfully familiar (from the “box”!) Faces. Not to mention the fact that these places have long been chosen by the famous throughout Russia artist Pyotr Ossovsky, the honored artist of Russia Anatoly Kulinich, his colleague Sergey Smilga, as well as the prima of the Mariinsky Theater (St. Petersburg) Olga Stronskaya and the domestic "Boni Tyler" bought a house here - Olga Kormukhina. Ludmila Putina visited Zalit several times. We also saw Valentina Tolkunova and Nina Ruslanova here. The former All-Russian prosecutor Valentin Ustinov visited the island. Of the other statesmen, Lyubov Slizka more than once shone here.

In the old days, Zalita Island looked neatly trimmed, like a country lawn. And all because cows worked as “lawn mowers”. Two hundred heads chewed grass. Now there are no cows, coastal waters are becoming swampy and the ecology is being disturbed.

View from Zalit Island to the smallest Talabenets and Fr. Belov's name.

The islands were inhabited for a long time and bore the names Talabsk (Zalit), Talabenets and Upper (named after Belov). From here, from the Talab Islands of Lake Pskov, Peter the Great gathered shipbuilders to build a Russian flotilla. We read about this in the epic legend “Antichrist”: “From the Talab Islands and from Lake Peipsi, many shipbuilders and assistants were brought to the city to rule ships against the Swedes in the meadow, on the Great River, near Stepan’s Church.”

During the years of the revolution, the population was divided into whites and reds. Representatives of the Soviet government under the leader of Ivan Zalita were in the minority and a detachment of whites who arrived to help defeated the Bolsheviks, and the most zealous revolutionaries were tied up and drowned in the lake. When Soviet power was finally established on the islands, as a punishment to the inhabitants, the islands were renamed in honor of the revolutionaries I. Zalit and I. Belov

Monument to the revolutionaries on the island.

Village street.

Club with a monument to Ilyich.

Cross in honor of the Talab regiment. The inscription on the cross: "To the warriors of the Talab regiment and to all those who died for God, the Tsar and the Fatherland in the Civil War of 1918-1920." First, the battalion, and then the regiment, was formed from the fishermen of the archipelago who were dissatisfied with the Bolsheviks and joined Yudenich's "white" northwestern army.

In 1854, a stone chapel was built in honor of St. Nicholas in memory of the miracle from the image of the saint, which was during the fire on July 6, 1853. The chapel was erected for the "unquenchable burning of oil."

Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was first mentioned in cadastral books in 1585-1587, that one empty yard place "came up under the church." The first temple was wooden and was built by local residents, who, as now, were fishermen. During the attack of the Swedes in 1703, the Verkhneostrovsky monastery, founded around 1470 in honor of the First Apostles Peter and Paul, ven. Dosifey Verkhneostrovsky, commemorated October 8/21 (in 1584 the monastery was assigned to the Pskov-Caves Monastery, and in 1764 it was abolished, the temple was turned into a parish church). Probably, the St. Nicholas Church on Talabsk was also damaged. In 1792 a stone church was built. It was built according to tradition from the Pskov limestone slab.

Frescoes written by an unknown author have been preserved in the temple to this day. In 1939, the temple was closed after a severe ruin. All furnishings have been destroyed. Where the icons were taken is unknown. In 1947, the temple was reopened for worship. Here Father Nikolai served as the rector of the temple.

The spirit of a fisherman is felt even in the temple, instead of a foot mat-net. By the way, the bell of St. Nicholas Church on the island of Talabsk serves as a sound beacon for fishermen who are on the lake in heavy fog or snowfall.

The cross was erected in honor of the service of the elder Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov.

The island is crowded in summer.

Monument to the wars of the Great Patriotic War.

Grave of Elder Nicholas.

Entrance to the cemetery

You can always buy freshly smoked pike or zander bream.

The island is clean, every yard is buried in flowers.

There is a school, a nine-year-old. Last year, 8 guys came on September 1st.

Books from the library.

I looked into the store in the hope of seeing a "rolling ball". But, the assortment allows you to drink and eat. They also bake their own bread and buns at the store. They count in the old fashioned way, on the abacus.

A smoking shop of a private trader.

The main - and only - occupation of the islanders has always been fishing. Fish - the famous Pskov smelt - was sent to St. Petersburg, Moscow, Riga, Warsaw. Talab smelt was dried in special ovens, of which there were more than a hundred on small islands. From 160 to 300 pounds of fish were sold annually, which allowed the inhabitants of these scarce and agriculturally barren lands to live quite comfortably. Local fishermen were among the suppliers of the imperial court.

Aleksandrovsky Posad - this is how the Talabsky Islands began to be called under Alexander I in the flesh until 1917. About the collective farm-millionaire, with a third of the total catch in the Pskov-Chudskoye reservoir, they wrote in newspapers and made documentaries. The footage of the chronicle is a brilliant iridescent fish sea in lake nets.

The islanders have their own secrets. More precisely, they will not call them secrets, but in their speech, if you listen carefully, strange references to "them" appear from time to time. For modern Icelanders, “they” - huldufolk (hidden people) - is something that goes without saying, they don’t talk about it much, but they don’t hesitate to mention it. Here, on Talabakh, it is not customary to talk about “them” with strangers. Nevertheless, respect for them is in the blood of the islanders. Less than a hundred years ago, people lived here according to the Way, somewhere it was written down, but everyone knew it as a set of unspoken rules: how to build a house, what not to do, and, in particular, how to ask permission ...

In winter, when the lake freezes, communication with the mainland is simplified. On the ice by sled or by car.

Once on the islands in Soviet times there were strong fish farms, the collective farm was considered a millionaire, they went on iron seiners, caught plenty of smelt, but now there are few fish, collective farms have collapsed, most fishermen have nothing to do. But there are still several successful private traders here: they are friends with the hidden people, they respect them, they go out to the lake for fish in a strange course, they do something for a short time near Talabenets (the smallest island), but no one, except for them and their children, knows what they are doing there.

And I stood for an hour at the pier and found the right boat, went to the Bely Island.

At the crossroads of history

The Talab Islands were named after the first settler Tal, a fisherman from the Chud tribe. Researchers believe that the islands were inhabited as early as the 11th century. The main - and only - occupation of the islanders has always been fishing. Fish - the famous Pskov smelt - was sent to St. Petersburg, Moscow, Riga, Warsaw. Talab smelt was dried in special ovens, of which there were more than a hundred on small islands. From 160 to 300 pounds of fish were sold annually, which allowed the inhabitants (and there were once up to 5 thousand of them on the islands) of these poor and agriculturally barren lands to live quite comfortably. Local fishermen were among the suppliers of the imperial court.

They went fishing in boats of a special design: the “troenka” (that was the name of the boat, because it was made in just three days) never turned over, which made it possible to fish in any weather.

By the way, it is known that from here, from the Talab Islands of Lake Pskov, Peter the Great gathered shipbuilders for the construction of the Russian flotilla. We read about this in the epic legend “Antichrist”: “From the Talab Islands and from Lake Peipsi, many shipbuilders and assistants were brought to the city to rule ships against the Swedes in the meadow, on the Great River, near Stepan’s Church.”

Located near the northwestern borders of the Russian state, the islands have repeatedly suffered from restless neighbors who have encroached on Russian lands. Here, in 1581, Pskov peasants with their property took refuge during the siege of Pskov by the Polish king Stefan Batory. At the same time, Ivan the Terrible sent archers to the islands to try to enter Pskov, besieged by the Poles, on boats. The Talab Islands became an important strategic foothold, since Stefan Batory, having neither ships nor boats, could not attack the islands and drive out the archers from there. In winter, when the lake froze over, the way to the island was open. Having reached the islands, however, the soldiers of the Polish king did not find people - only livestock, fishing tackle and about 200 boats: the Russians managed to cross the ice to Gdov.

And in 1703, the Swedes attacked the islands and burned the Peter and Paul Monastery on the Upper Island. The monks, however, did not suffer from the adversaries, they left along the underground passage under the church, the exit from which, as they say, is somewhere on Dosifeeva Hill.

In the civil turmoil of the early 20th century, a whole regiment of 732 people was formed from the inhabitants of the islands, which, by decision of the elders of Talabsk, became part of the northwestern army of General Yudenich. In the winter of 1919-1920, the North-Western Army retreated with fighting to the borders of Estonia, where, on the Narva River, the Talab regiment, covering the withdrawal of the army, was shot simultaneously from two sides: from the right bank - by red units, and from the left - by their former allies - Estonians . Until the spring, the bodies of the Talabians were found frozen in the ice.

To establish Soviet power on the islands, the Bolshevik government sent two commissars: Comrade Zalit and Comrade Belov. It is not known in what ways they tried to subordinate the freedom-loving fishermen to the Soviets, only the fishermen drowned the commissars in Lake Pskov. But the authorities nevertheless strengthened themselves on the islands and, as a warning to the islanders, gave their islands the names of the dead commissars: Talabsk Island was renamed Zalit, and Upper Island - in the name of Belov. Only the tiny and uninhabited Talabenets retained its ancient name. The new names, however, have not taken root too much, so that the inhabitants, and official documents, and local history literature call the islands either by their original names, or by newly imposed ones.

Hope Island

In 1703, the monastery suffered from the Swedes, but after the Swedish defeat, it did not stand in ruins for long: already in 1710, the hieromonk of the Pskov-Caves Monastery rebuilt it. During the time of Catherine the Great, in 1764, the monastery, like many others, was abolished, while its temple was turned into a parish church. In the dungeon of the church, just under the altar, under a bushel lie the holy relics of the founder of the monastery - the Monk Dositheus.

The temple is stone and strong. But time and the Bolshevik hard times have done their job: the temple needs to be repaired. About 25 years ago, a small herd of local cows easily walked around the churchyard. Now in the temple of the former Peter and Paul Monastery they again serve the Lord. The priest of the temple, Father Sergius, has been serving here with the blessing of Elder Nikolai Guryanov since 2000. His parish is small - half the population of the island (now only 38 families live on the island). Father Sergius lives in hope, with God's help, to repair the temple and restore the monastery. The restoration of the temple and the revival of the monastery, of course, need money. And Orthodox donations are coming. But, according to Father Sergius, “it’s not the money that matters, it’s all about the people…”.

Father Sergius invites everyone who wants to come to the island to work for the glory of God: “Material assistance, of course, is needed, but if there are no people, there are no those for whom all this is done, then everything will be devoid of any meaning. The Orthodox would have come and worked, each to the best of his ability. But the most important and effective thing in everything is common prayer.”

The restoration of the temple invisibly changes the appearance of the island, the air is saturated with grace, which is felt by every newcomer to these places of the Pskov land.

And it is believed that the hopes of Father Sergius, with God's help, will come true.

Island of Faith and Love

The stone temple became in 1792. According to tradition, it was built from the Pskov limestone slab. Frescoes written by an unknown author have been preserved in the temple to this day.

In 1842-1843, the current chapel was built at the temple in honor of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Hodegetria" of Smolensk in memory of the miraculous deliverance from the cholera epidemic that swept the inhabitants of the settlement. The Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God appeared in a dream to a certain parishioner of the St. Nicholas Church with the command: “Front Me with the procession around the entire settlement, and then the cholera will stop.” In a sleepy vision, this man was shown the place where this holy icon had been kept until that time, namely, in the attic of one of the town's houses. Everything was done according to the word of the Mother of God, and the epidemic stopped.

In 1939, the temple was closed after a severe ruin. Reopened in 1947. But divine services are performed only in the Smolensk chapel.

Father Nikolai Guryanov was born on May 24, 1909 in the village of Chudskiye Zakhody, Gdov district, St. Petersburg province, into an old pious merchant family. As a boy, he served at the altar. In the 1920s, their parish was visited by Metropolitan Veniamin of Petrograd and Gdov, now glorified as a holy martyr. Father Nikolai spoke of this event in the following way: “I was still a boy. Vladyka served, and I held his staff. Then he hugged me, kissed me and said: “How happy you are, what is with the Lord…””.

In the 1930s, Father Nikolai Guryanov walked the thorny path of confessors and New Martyrs of Russia: in 1929, he, then a Leningrad student, was arrested for speaking out at a meeting against the closure of one of the nearby churches. This was followed by camps and exile, but it was then, during severe trials, that he met many ascetics of the Orthodox faith, whose example largely determined the path of his further service to God and the Church.

The beginning of the pastoral ministry of Father Nikolai Guryanov coincided with the Great Patriotic War. On February 8, 1942, he was ordained a deacon by Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky), and on February 15, 1942, he became a priest.

Father Nikolai served his first liturgy at the St. Nicholas Church on the island of Talabsk in 1958, on the feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos.

They went to the Talab elder both to strengthen their faith and to ask for advice in a difficult everyday situation. And he, according to the recollections of those who visited him, "perceived each person as a priceless gift of God." And above all, he taught love. He said that the main thing for a person is to “keep faith and acquire love, for the impoverishment of love and faith are signs of the approaching Second Coming”, that one should “rejoice and pray”, rejoice that “the Lord loves us so much, only we do not understand this joy". Mother Elisaveta, the abbess of the Spaso-Eleazarovsky Pskov Monastery, recalled: “Batiushka always knew how to unite all people with his love. This is probably the most precious feature and the most significant property of the great old man. And this determines his height, the greatness of his spirit, that he really united everyone into one with his love and instilled this love in everyone. And Father Nikolai also taught humility: “Visible humility is important, visible and deplorable, visible from chagrin, and don’t blame me.”

The father, adviser and comforter is gone, but the Orthodox still go to the island, so that, bowing to his grave, lighting a candle in front of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God in the temple, praying, gain new spiritual strength, strengthen in love and faith.

rest island

Talabenets Island - the smallest of the islands - is deserted and naked. But it is here, sitting on a rocky shore and looking at the waters of Lake Pskov that go beyond the horizon, at the gray low sky above it, that the whole truth of simple and discreet beauty is revealed. And I recall the saying of the Optina elder Ambrose: “Where it is simple, there are a hundred angels, and where it is tricky, there is not a single one,” which Father Nikolai Guryanov liked to repeat.

In the Pskov region there is a wonderful place where tourists and pilgrims from all over the world go - these are the Talab Islands, which are located on Lake Pskov. Locals say that having visited here at least once, a person falls in love with these places for life. We decided to test this hypothesis and on one of the warm July days we went on a fascinating trip to one of the islands of the Pskov Sea - Belov Island.

The most famous way to get to the famous Pskov Islands is by ferry crossing from the village of Bolshaya Tolba, which is located 28 kilometers from Pskov along the Gdovskaya highway, and we went there.

The sign is barely noticeable from afar, so if you go without a navigator, you can easily slip through it.

Leaving the car in Tolba itself is not a problem. There is a paid fenced parking on the pier, as well as free parking along the road and at the pier itself. As the locals assured us, there had not been a single case of car theft here in 20 years, so we left our car right on the pier without hesitation.

If you do not have your own car, then you can also get to Tolba by suburban bus number 142, which runs from Pskov from the stop st. Rokossovsky. In addition, there are excursions to the Pskov Islands from Pskov and St. Petersburg, but we prefer to travel on our own - it’s more interesting and there is no time limit.

There is no direct exit from Tolba to Lake Pskov: the path to the lake lies through the small and winding Tolbitsa River.

It is worth noting that there are three ways to get to Belov Island:

1. By public transport - a boat for 170 rubles (price for July 2018, children under 10 years old are free)

2. On a motor boat with private cab drivers for 1500 rubles (up to 5 people)

3. On a pre-ordered transport that transports excursion groups.

We decided to save money and went on a boat. True, he does not go every day, departure from Tolba is scheduled:

— Wednesday, Friday 8:00, 10:00, 16:00

— Saturday 10:00

— Sunday 13:30

The full schedule of the boat "Talabsk"

The first stop on our way was the island of Talabsk (Zalita). It is worth noting that most tourists and pilgrims go here, as here is the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, in which the elder Nikolai Guryanov served.

But the purpose of our trip was precisely Belov Island, or, as the locals call it, Upper Island, no less interesting, but less visited, so we went further.

Well, we have reached our goal. As I wrote earlier, unlike Zalit, Belov is a less populated island, so quite a lot of tourists come here with tents and bowlers. We, in view of the presence of two small children, decided to stay at the rector of the local church Father Sergius who kindly provided us with a guest house. You can also ask him to conduct a tour in the church of Peter and Paul, as well as order a meal from local fish.

Having cooled off a little after a long journey, we set off to explore the island.

As I mentioned in my story, most of the Upper Island is not inhabited, so you can enjoy plenty of wildlife.

Repeatedly there are warning signs that the island is a nature reserve. By the way, therefore, construction on the island is prohibited. If you decide to build a house on the shore, then this is unlikely to work out, because no one will give permission for this, the only option is to buy an existing building with a plot. This option is quite real, passing along the main street of the island, we met houses with a “for sale” sign.

But we didn't come for that, so we continue our journey.

The first thing that catches your eye is cleanliness. Even taking into account the fact that tourists with tents stop here almost every weekend, there is practically no garbage on the western part of the island (it is not inhabited) at all. Apparently very cultured vacationers come here.

The beauty of nature here is simply indescribable. The contrasting combination of stone coastlines, steep slopes and tall trees will delight even the most sophisticated traveler. This is the beauty of untouched nature!

If you are ever on Belov, then be sure to watch the sunset - an indescribable sight.

Waking up in the morning, we first went to the east coast of the island. There we wanted to check one interesting statement: the fact is that even before the trip to the Talab Islands, I found an interesting note on the Internet from an extreme tourist who claimed that from Belov Island to Zalit Island you can go along the spit, and you will have to swim only 200- 250 meters and even laid out a GPS tracker for this path. In this case, the maximum depth will be no more than a meter.

Well, as it turned out, there really is a scythe there. And I definitely walked along it for 100 meters, I didn’t risk it further, but I probably should agree with the statement of this “extremal”!

How to return from the island

This was the end of our trip, but since we arrived on the island on Sunday and left on Monday, it was pointless to rely on “public” transport - on this day it simply did not “walk”. It seemed to us that the only option left was to go to the eastern beach and look for a "motorboat" (it's not a problem to find them - you can wait on the beach or contact the locals). But we were lucky, there was a ship carrying an excursion group on the pier, and for a small amount of 500 rubles, its captain kindly agreed to take us to the “mainland”.

Our impressions

We spent just a day on the Pskov island, and received such a boost of energy, as if we had been at sea for a week. There is such peace, silence, clean air ... We just fell in love with this place and I think we will come here more than once!

A. Demkin
Holy places of the North-West of Russia.

2012, Andrey Demkin,
Reprinting or other full or partial reproduction of the material is permitted only with the written permission of the authors.

Elder Nikolai Guryanov.

1. Elder Nikolai Guryanov - one of the great Pskov elders.

Father Nikolay(Nikolai Alekseevich Guryanov May 24, 1909 (in investigative documents born in 1910) - August 24, 2002) - one of the four great Pskov elders, whose contemporaries we were lucky to be: this is the archpriest Valentin Mordasov(1930 - 1998), archimandrites John Krestyankin(1910-2006) and Lev Dmitrochenko(1932-2008). Father Nikolai became famous throughout Russia for his miraculous gifts of providence and healing. His predictions about the near future of Russia are known.

His words were honest and did not depend on the political situation either in Soviet or post-Soviet times. Father Nikolai Guryanov, for his prophecies about "the coming power in Russia" (voiced in 1997), in the last years of his life was essentially imprisoned in his cell and isolated from parishioners by "camouflage uniformed cell-guards". ( Source: Elder Nikolai Guryanov. Biography. Memories. Letters // St. Petersburg. - Art of Russia, 2010. - P. 208-209). The elder himself prophesied that the last years of his life he would live in his cell "like in a prison." In 1998, the land and house of Father Nikolai Guryanov in Talabsk were taken over by the "Orthodox Security Brotherhood" from Moscow ( written from the words of a young man who introduced himself as the son of the head of this brotherhood, who receives pilgrims in the house of Fr. Nicholas on Zalit Island). Since then, people in camouflage have appeared in the house, who, by the way, to this day maintain and protect the house and shrines of Father Nikolai Guryanov.

On August 24, 2005, the administration and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Pskov tried to prohibit the movement of boats to the island of Zalita, so that people who arrived on the memorial day of Father Nikolai Guryanov could not get to the island. But, as the elder Nikolai himself said:

"If we are with the Lord,

Antichrist can't hurt us."

Nikolai Guryanov was born on May 24, 1909 in the village of Chudskiye Zakhody, Gdovsky district, Pskov province (now the village of Zakhody in the Gdovsky district). As a boy, he served at the altar. In the 1920s, their parish was visited by Metropolitan Veniamin of Petrograd and Gdov, now glorified as a holy martyr. Father Nikolai spoke of this event in the following way: “I was still a boy. Vladyka served, and I held his staff. Then he hugged me, kissed me and said: “How happy you are, what is with the Lord…””.

Nikolai Guryanov graduated from the Gatchina Pedagogical College and the first year of the Pedagogical Institute in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), taught mathematics, physics and biology at school. He also served as a psalmist at the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Remda, Seredkinsky District, Leningrad (now Pskov) Region. In 1930, Guryanov was expelled by decision of the Leningrad District Court outside the RSFSR for counter-revolutionary activities. In the spring of 1930, he arrived in the village of Sidorovichi in the Rozvazhevsky district of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1931, the "deacon Mikola Guryanov" was arrested for disrupting the re-election of the village council, spreading rumors about the war and hindering collectivization. Nikolai Guryanov was also guilty of teaching the youth Divine songs, that "he sang them with them, recruited youth into the church choir, and also advised them to go to church." In case No. 8 of the Ukrainian GPU, his testimony was preserved: “I never engaged in counter-revolutionary work and did not agitate anyone against the Soviet regime. I have nothing more to say. N.Guryanov».

After serving his sentence in a camp near Kiev (dopr No. 2 from March 31, 1931) and spent three years in exile in Syktyvkar, Komi ASSR. After his release, he could not get a residence permit in Leningrad and taught in rural schools in the Tosnensky district of the Leningrad region. Father Nikolai Guryanov was rehabilitated in "case No. 8" only in 1989. Information about investigative case No. 8 was found in the archives of the KGB-FSB by the sisters of the Novo-Tikhvin Convent in Yekaterinburg.

During the Great Patriotic War, he was not mobilized into the Red Army, since from childhood he suffered from rheumatism of the joints and was not fit for military service. Father Nikolai ended up in the occupied territory. On February 8, 1942, he was ordained a deacon by Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky), who was under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. In 1942 he graduated from theological courses, served as a priest in the Holy Trinity Convent in Riga (until April 28, 1942). Then, until May 16, 1943, he was a usher in the Holy Spirit Monastery in Vilnius, and was rector of the church of St. Nicholas in the village of Gegobrastu, Panevezys deanery (Lithuania).

In 1952, by decree of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I, he was awarded a gold pectoral cross. In 1956 he received the rank of archpriest. In 1958, Father Nikolai was transferred to the Pskov diocese and, at his personal request, was appointed rector of the church of St. Nicholas on the island named after Zalit (Zalitskaya volost, Pskov district). Father Nikolai served his first liturgy at the St. Nicholas Church on the island of Talabsk in 1958, on the feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos.

In 1988, Father Nikolai Guryanov was awarded the miter and the right to serve with the Royal Doors open until the Cherubim was sung, and in 1992 - until the Our Father was sung.

People from all over Russia went to Father Nikolai Guryanov both to strengthen their faith and to ask for advice in a difficult everyday situation. He, according to the recollections of those who visited him, "perceived each person as a priceless gift of God." And above all, he taught love. He said that the main thing for a person is “to keep faith and acquire love, for the impoverishment of love and faith are signs of the approaching Second Coming”, that one should “rejoice and pray”, rejoice that “the Lord loves us so much, only we do not understand this joy". And Father Nikolai also taught humility: “Visible humility is important, visible and deplorable, visible from chagrin, and don’t blame me.”

On August 24, 2002, Father Nikolai reposed in the Lord. Then Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) consoled the mourners: “Don't cry! Now Father Nikolai is praying for us at the throne of heaven.”

2. Photos from a trip to Talabsk (Zalita Island).

The path to the island of Zalita (Talabsk) to Nikolai Guryanov starts from the pier in the village of Bolshaya Tolba. The boat "Talabsk" leaves from here. On it you can get to the island. Zalita (Talabsk) and the islands named after Belov (Upper). The islands are named after two Bolsheviks who established Soviet power on the islands. They were executed by drowning in a lake in 1918.

If you are unlucky and you have a break in the boat schedule or on a day off, then you will be taken to Zalita Island by boat. There is "Uncle Yura", "Uncle Misha" and other carriers. Rates depend on the make and year of your car, weather conditions and the market situation on a particular day. On different days we were told prices from 250 to 700 rubles per person. If someone goes on their own business, they can take it for 100 rubles per person. A trip to Zalita Island by aquataxi from Pskov for a group of 10 people is estimated at 10 tr.

In order not to get on a break or a day off, study the timetable for the boat to the island of Zalit and Belova. A trip on the boat "Talabsk" with a stop at Belova Island cost us 300 rubles per person. One way trip to Talabsk - 110 rubles.	The boat enters Lake Pskov along the Toblitsa River. Along the banks you can see pillars with images, and on the river - muskrats and gray herons. Even in the warmest weather, take warm windproof clothing with you - it blows quite a bit on the water.
View of the island of Zalita from the boat: the famous power line pylon is visible, which has become a secular symbol of the island. The ancient version of the name of the island "Talavsk". The inhabitants of the island were called "Gars" - big strong men. And who else could be a good fisherman? Talabsk before the October Revolution of 1917 was famous for its smelt and dried ("sluggish") fish.	View of the bell tower of the St. Nicholas Church in Talabsk, where Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov served. In 1939, the temple was closed after a severe ruin. In 1947, the temple was reopened for worship, but only in the Smolensk chapel. By decree of Bishop John (Razumov) dated October 21, 1958, Father Nikolai was appointed rector of the church. Here he served for forty-four years (1958-2002).
The boat "Talabsk" arrived on the island. Filled. Pilgrims descend to the shore.	They say that Talab craftsmen used to spend only three days building one fishing boat "troenka". Such a boat made it possible to fish in any weather - it is almost impossible to turn it over by the wave and wind. Even Peter I used Talab shipbuilders to build a fleet for the Northern War.
The scheme of the island. Filled with indication of shrines and two Soviet monuments. Next to the pointer is a memorial cross "To the Warriors of the Talab Regiment and to all who died for the Faith and Fatherland in the Civil War of 1918-1920." It was installed on July 7, 2007.	During the Civil War, the Talabsky regiment of 732 people was formed from the inhabitants of the islands, which, by decision of the elders of Talabsk, became part of the North-Western Army under the command of General Yudenich. The regiment was commanded by General Boris Sergeevich Permikin. In the winter of 1919-1920. The North-Western Army retreated with fighting to the borders of Estonia, where on the Narva River the Talabsky regiment, covering the retreat of the army, was shot simultaneously from two sides: from the right bank - by red units, from the left - by their former allies - Estonians. Until the spring of 1920, the bodies of the Talabians were found frozen into the ice of the Narva River. A year later, a year later, the Talabians made their way one by one from different places to Poland to General Permikin, in order to again become under his banner. The fighters of the Talab regiment who remained in Russia were repressed and shot by the communists in 1934-1937.
In 1854, a stone chapel was built in Talabsk in honor of St. Nicholas in memory of the miracle from the image of the saint, which was during the fire on July 6, 1853. The chapel was erected for the "unquenchable burning of oil." For some reason, the current doors to the chapel are made of plastic with double-glazed windows. Probably, the benefactors wanted to put "the most-most" according to their concepts.	Icons in the chapel of St. Nicholas.
Burnt house opposite the chapel of St. Nicholas. From under the corner of the house beats a spring. But for some reason, no one on the island of Zalita pays attention to this source. But, I think, it was not by chance that the house burned down and the source opened.	Favorable view of the Pskov (Talabskoe) lake from the island of Zalita. It is better not to pay attention to the sanitary condition of the coastline. It seems that the people who run this island have not cared about anything for a long time.
The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was first mentioned in cadastral books in 1585-1587. The first temple was wooden and was built by local fishermen. During the attack of the Swedes in 1703, when the Verkhneostrovsky monastery was badly damaged, the St. Nicholas Church in Talabsk was probably also damaged. In 1792 a stone church was built. It was built according to tradition from the Pskov limestone slab. Frescoes written by an unknown author have been preserved in the temple to this day. In 1842-43, the current chapel was built in honor of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Hodegetria" of Smolensk, in memory of the miraculous deliverance from the cholera epidemic that swept the inhabitants of the settlement.	In the church of St. Nicholas there is a revered miraculous image of the Mother of God "Blessed Sky", which has the second name "Smolensk" and is celebrated on the day of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God on July 28. One parishioner of St. Nicholas, during the cholera epidemic, the Mother of God appeared in a dream and commanded: "Front my image with the procession around the entire settlement, and then the cholera will stop." In a sleepy vision, this man was shown the place where this holy icon had been kept until that time, namely, in the attic of one of the town's houses. Everything was done according to the word of the Mother of God, and the epidemic stopped. Abbess Tabitha from the Holy Spirit Convent in Vilnius took the blessing and began to sew the robe of the Mother of God on blue velvet. In 1960, after two years of labor of the abbess, the robe was finally put on this holy icon of the Most Holy Theotokos.
A commemorative cross erected, as the inscription says, "in commemoration of the service on this island of the elder Archpriest Fr Nikolai Gurianov", next to the church.	Lane from the temple to the house (cell) of Father Nikolai Guryanov.
View of the chapel of St. Serapion of Izborsky over the holy source of the Mother of God. The stones in front of the house are not just cobblestones, but ancient stones, split by drilling. The same stones are found on the Upper Island (Belova), next to the ancient cromlechs (structures made of vertically placed stones).	Pigeon feeder at the house of Nikolai Guryanov's father.
Entrance to the cell of the elder Nikolai Guryanov.	Commemorative portrait of the elder Nikolai Guryanov.
The image on the wall of the cell of the elder Nikolai Guryanov.	Icons of Father Nikolai Guryanov.
Lord have mercy, Lord, I'm sorry. Help me God Bring your cross. You passed with love Your thorny path You carried the Cross silently Bursting chest. And crucified for us You endured a lot Prayed for enemies He grieved for his enemies. I'm weak at heart The body is also weak, And sinful passions I am a criminal slave. I am a great sinner On the earth's path I grumble, I cry... Lord, forgive me! Help me God! Give me strength, So that my passions Extinguished in my heart... Help me God! With a generous hand Send down patience Joy and peace. I am a great sinner On the ground... Lord have mercy, Lord, forgive me! Wise thoughts of the elder Nikolai Guryanov †Live simply - you'll live to a hundred. †We must have pity on unbelieving people and pray that the Lord will deliver them from enemy darkness. †Rejoice and thank God that you were born in Russia, that you are Orthodox. †The goal of our life is eternal life, eternal joy, the Kingdom of Heaven, a clear conscience, peace - and all this is in our heart. Elder Nikolai Guryanov's answer to many questions about the future contains numbers 0,1,2 and 6. And he used to say this: "Live in peace until the year of the fourteenth." Troparion to the Righteous Nicholas of Pskovoezersky Tone 4: Divine Grace exceedingly rich to the bearer, Orthodox Faith Confessor, love of Christ inexhaustible vessel, the image was thou of abstinence. On the Island, like in a quiet haven, you moved in, having loved the only Christ with meekness and humility, and now rejoicing with the angels, Righteous Father Nicholas, pray to christ god save our souls. Kontakion to the Righteous Nicholas of Pskovoezersky Tone 3: Like a phoenix blooming at the source of the waters, like a fragrant krin in the midst of worldly adversity, heir of the Grace of the ancient Saints, Father Nicholas, our comforter, pray to God to save us. Talk about Elder Nikolai Guryanov at monastery forum. 3. The geographical position of the holy spring and the features of the road. The holy spring is located in the Pechora district of the Pskov region. The exact location is indicated on the map. Talabsk coordinates: 58°00"00" N. sh. 28°01"10" E d. How to get to Talabsk (Zalita Island): Can be reached by car, moving from St. Petersburg along the R-60 highway 3 km after Elizarovo (turning coordinates (N 58 ° 01.125 "E 28 ° 12.502") - turn right. Then go to B. Tolba. On the central square (bus ring) turn left and to the pier, then - to the island by boat. By bus No. 142 from Pskov: Healing. Which saint in what cases to pray?Orthodox prayers for different occasions.