Church of the Intercession in Perevoloki

The Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Perevoloki is a ruined 18th-century church in the village of Perevoloki, Syzransky District, Samara Oblast. It stood on a hill at the neck of the Samara Bend (Samarskaya Luka), where the Volga and the Usa rivers come closest to each other. The old church was closed and destroyed in 1936. In the 1990s a new brick Intercession church was built near its site, and at the foot of the hill flows a revered spring known as the Tears of the Virgin.

History

Perevoloki was founded around 1680, in the days of the free Zhiguli Cossacks. The name comes from the portage (volok): boats were dragged overland here between the Volga and the Usa, cutting dozens of kilometres off the way around the Samara Bend.

The Church of the Intercession was built in the early 18th century. It stood on high ground and could be seen from the Volga for many kilometres. Merchants travelling along the river stopped here to pray for success in trade and left donations to adorn the church.

In 1936 the church was closed and destroyed. In the 1990s, through the efforts of the priest Vladimir Semenov and the villagers, a new brick church was built in the village, also dedicated to the Intercession of the Mother of God.

The Tears of the Virgin spring

According to local tradition, the spring at the foot of the hill where the church stood appeared in 1936, the same year the church was destroyed. The villagers called it the Tears of the Virgin (Slyozy Bogoroditsy). The spring was consecrated in 1999, and a water-blessing service has been held here every year since. In 2006, at the initiative of the rector, Father Viktor, the spring was restored and landscaped with funds from the Samara Oblast government.

Legends and accounts

Villagers say that an underground passage runs beneath the old church, once used by robbers and fishermen to move about in secret. There is no evidence to confirm it.

Only oral accounts remain of what happened to the parishioners in the 1930s. Local residents speak of repression against believers, but no official records of executions inside the church in 1936 have been found, and this part of the church's history remains unclear.