A small church not far from the Rostov Kremlin is the Church of the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God. The only one of the 22 churches of Rostov Veliky that remained active during Soviet rule and one of the city's oldest parish churches, it was built in the 18th century.
The church dedicated to the Tolga Icon is modest and austere - simple white walls, ordinary paned windows, a slate roof. And only the silvery onion dome of the main and only cupola and the tall bell tower indicate that this is a church.
The church keeps the holy relics of the wonderworker Blessed Ioann Vlasaty, a locally venerated saint. In addition, there are ancient icons here from the 14th-16th centuries, beautifully preserved to this day.
The Tolga Icon of the Mother of God, in whose honor this cozy church was consecrated, protects the lands of Yaroslavl. According to legend, the Bishop of Rostov and Yaroslavl once stopped for the night on the bank of the Volga, at the place where the Tolga River flows into it.
At night a wondrous light appeared to him on the opposite bank, he took his staff and walked toward the light. A bridge across the river appeared before him, and after crossing it he saw the Mother of God floating in the air with the infant Jesus in her arms. The bishop knelt and prayed until morning, and then returned to his companions.
When they were preparing to continue their journey, they discovered that the bishop's staff had disappeared, and the people sent to find it found the staff and an icon of the Mother of God beside it. A monastery was founded on this spot, and the Tolga Icon began to be venerated in the Yaroslavl lands, with people asking it for protection from drought and pestilence.
