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Cave Complex of Skanovo Holy Trinity Monastery (Nizhny Lomov)

Skanovo Village, Nizhny Lomov, Narovchat District.

In around 2 or 3 kilometres to the north-east of the Skanovo Monastery of Holy Trinity, there are caves, which in the past were a site of hermit monk's active work.

Mount Plodskaya, the mount that contains the underground passages, is surrounded by a forest. This is a picturesque location. At the feet of the mount, there is a healing spring, in the honour of Ss. Venerable Antony and Theodosius, the wonder-workers of Kiev Caves Monastery. Sometime in the past, there was an entrance to the cave labyrinth and a chapel here. On the mount top, a stone church in the honour of these saints, a chapel and several monastic cells for the brethren were built.

Old-timers say that in the beginning of the century the Skanovo caves had a very attractive appearance. The main entrance was paved in a beautiful decorative pattern. The vaulted ceilings and the walls of the caves were whitewashed, and small niches in the aisles by each cell contained lit candles.

One of Skanovo Village's resident tells us: "When I was very young, I worked at the Monastery as a gardener. Once, towards the evening, a monk showed us the caves. So we entered and saw: it was clean all over the place, whitewashed and candles were burning. They showed us the cells too. We went far down. Down there, right in a cave, there was a spring. The water was very clean. There were small benches by the spring. We approached a door. The monk did not let us go there. He said: "You mustn't. Sacred relics are kept there".

In the years of desolation, the cave church was completely destroyed.

Its bricks were taken by local workers to repair their ovens and also for the state farm's cowshed.

In August 1980, the caves were studied by a Moscow spelaeological expedition, which, after having thoroughly examined all the accessible cavities, concluded that the cave complex had artificial origins.

This is also confirmed by information published in a Penza ecclesiastical outlet ("Penzenskiye yeparkhialnyye vedomosti", vol. 13, 01.07.1877, pp. 20–21): "... John, a novice of the abode, was the first to toil digging them; he was followed by others, most notably by the monk Arsenius, who lived here almost all the time".

Throughout the centuries, the underground structures were extended and rebuilt, and new galleries and cells appeared. At the present time, the cave labyrinth consists of passages and cells organised in three interconnected tiers. In the tiers, constant temperature was observed: 11–12 degrees Celsius on the first tier, 8–9 degrees on the second tier and 6–7 degrees on the third tier. These temperatures remain constant throughout the year. The internal microclimate of the caves is unique. The underground air is healing, fresh and clean.

In the course of expedition works, the length of the underground cavities was determined, it being over 670 metres, or 2,700 feet (reduced by many cave-ins, the current length is 590 metres, or 1,940 feet).

In terms of length, the Skanovo caves are larger than the underground structures of the famous Kiev Caves Monastery (507 metres, or 1,660 feet). Speleologists state with confidence that the cave complex of the Skanovo Monastery of Holy Trinity is analogous to the caves of Kiev Caves Monastery, to Pskov Caves Monastery and to the cave complex of Varzdia, in south-eastern Georgia.

In the caves, there is a century-long silence. The inexplicable freshness of air banishes any idea of being underground, and one does not feel any fear. On the contrary, one's soul is filled with serenity and calmness. And one can't help bowing one's head in reverential silence to the memory of the monks who used to work here; they were elders who lived highly spiritual lives and did their great deeds of monasticism, they were toilers and men of fervent prayer for the Orthodox faith and for the Holy Russia.

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