Zadonsk

Zadonsk stands on the left bank of the Don at the mouth of the Teshevka — the name means 'beyond the Don river' as seen from St Petersburg. The first mention dates to 1615: 'Beyond the monastery, under the Teshevsky forest, the sloboda of Teshevskaya'. The Nativity-of-the-Theotokos monastery itself was founded around 1600 by monks of Moscow's Sretensky monastery who brought a copy of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. From 1769 the retired Bishop of Voronezh Tikhon lived in the monastery; his main works were written here. After his canonisation in 1861 and the uncovering of his relics, the town became one of Russia's main Orthodox centres, as it remains. Zadonsk received town status in 1779. The town has a secular side too: the 1781 coat of arms shows 'a tower built beyond the Don river', there are Don embankments and parks. For a traveller, Zadonsk is a stop on the way back from the south: the monastery ensemble, quiet streets and the Don water within a few minutes' walk.