A place where you can step over… the Volga River! (PHOTOS)
The Volga is Russia’s main river that flows through 11 regions. Its width reaches 40 km (at the confluence with the Kama River), but it starts with a width of just a meter, so you can literally hop over it!
In Russia, the Volga River has always been perceived as the country’s “wet nurse” and is considered an almost sacred river. It was usually called nothing else than the ‘Mother Volga’. It has always been rich in fish and many towns and villages have been built along its shores.
Therefore, the place of the Volga's "birth" in the village of Volgoverkhovye (literally ‘Upper Volga’) in Tver Region is considered even more special and sacred. Believers arrange pilgrimages there and a chapel was even built over the spring from which the river originates.
Back in 1649, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich ordered the construction of a monastery in the village. It has not survived to this day, as it burned down in the 18th century, but, in 1912, a new monastery was built there in honor of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga.
The first bridge over the Volga River is located not far from the spring. There is a memorial stone with an inscription that reads: “Traveler! Turn your gaze to the source of the Volga River! The purity and greatness of the Russian land are born here. Here are the origins of the people’s soul. Keep them safe. This stone was laid on June 22, 1989, for the living and future children of Russia. Look back as you leave.”
After a dozen kilometers, the Volga River will start to widen, but, there, it barely reaches a meter, so you can literally step or jump over it. And, every year, an expedition called ‘Перешагни Волгу’ (‘Step over the Volga’) comes to this remote place.
