- Activity of Pilgrimage Department
- Guest House attached to the church of Saint Alexander Nevsky in Alupka (Greater Yalta)
- Programme «About the Sacred Places of Taurida»
- 10 day programme with accommodation in the Guest House of the Parish of St. Alexander Nevski (The Town of Alupka, Greater Yalta)
- Routes
The Activities of the Pilgrimage Department of the Diocese of Simferopol and the Crimea
The services being provided
At present the traveling about the sacred places — pilgrimage — is getting more and more popular. One cannot but note that recently at the roads of Crimea and at different cultural objects there have appeared the buses with icons and the plates with the inscription “pilgrims”. It cannot but gladden as Crimea, as it is known, has not only the favorable climate and natural characteristics, but it is also the cradle of the Orthodoxy.
All of You know well that St. Apostle Andrew the First Called used to preach the Gospel in Crimea, there the Roman bishop Clement was exiled and accepted the death of a martyr, from the ancient Chersonese St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir brought to Rus the light of the Orthodoxy.
At present visiting the sacred places for many people is the way to finding the faith, the way to the Church. Reviving the pilgrimage it is important not to lose touch with the spiritual principles of the Orthodox Holy Tradition, to remember about the aim and deep spiritual sense of this ancient church tradition. This is why the officers of the Pilgrimage Department of the Simferopol and Crimean Diocese, arranging and conducting the trips, try to explain people from the very first minutes, what the pilgrimage is, to pay the particular attention to the subject area, selection of the objects being visited, the combination of the natural, cultic and historic monuments. Also a very important thing is that for deeper pilgrims’ acquaintance with separate objects one invites several churching accompanying specialists (according to the profile). Trip conduct regularity has an important meaning as well.
Due to Metropolitan Lazarus’s efforts the Orthodox monasteries and temples are revived and opened. It leads to the creation of new pilgrimage routes. Besides this, active joint work being done by the officers of the Pilgrimage Department with the Crimean archeologists, local history experts, historians also leads to the creation of new pilgrimage routes.
At present we have already worked out more than 50 routes about the Crimea, whose description You can find at this official site.
It should be noted that one day route duration is usually 8–10 hours, individual and group applications are accepted, in case there are group applications the departure is possible from any town of Crimea. During the travels one plans stops and rest by the sea, in the picturesque corners of the peninsula. For the pilgrims of other towns it is possible to make up pilgrimage programs, to arrange accommodation and nourishment. It is possible to conduct the pilgrimage routes and programs in the Russian, English, Greek, French and German languages.
The creation, arrangement and conduct of the pilgrimage routes helps to involve the local residents to the pilgrimage, and for the pilgrims of other towns, coming to Crimea, it will allow to make programs with diverse selection of the objects, what is interesting both for those who have already been to Crimea time and again, and also for those people who visit it for the first time.
And for more visual acquaintance with the routes arranged by the Pilgrimage Department of the Simferopol and Crimean Diocese I offer You to join us and to take part in the trips, both in one day trips, and in days-long programs.
