Mount Levitan rises above the Volga river in the Eastern part of the Ples. Perhaps this is one of the most picturesque places in the Ples. On the top of the mountain, there is a wooden Church of the Resurrection and a monument to the artist Isaac Levitan, who glorified Ples in his paintings.
Previously, this mountain was called Petropavlovsk, but in the 20th century, it was called Mount Levitan. At its foot, next to the river Shohonka is Behind-the-river Quarter - a historic residential part of the Ples. After passing by authentic Russian wooden houses on the Embankment of Volga, you can climb up the mountain using a large staircase. It`s called "the Trail of Levitan".
In the 16th century, a wooden Church of Peter and Paul was built on the mountain and the old believers` cemetery was located around it. Russian artist Isaac Levitan and his friends Alexey Stepanov and Sofia Kuvshinnikova, also artists, sailed along the Volga river in the summer of 1888 in search of beautiful Russian landscapes where they could draw inspiration. They found them in Ples, rented a mezzanine here in a merchant`s house and stayed until the end of the navigation, when Levitan was able to paint his favorite autumn landscapes.
The Church on top of the mountain became a special subject of Levitan`s inspiration. It is depicted in several paintings by the artist, including the most famous: "Above eternal rest." We should admit that the artist did not draw the landscape in Ples, but on lake Udomlya, in the Tver region. However, the image of a wooden Church is from Ples. It can be seen in many of Levitan`s paintings.
Levitan was so inspired by the beauty of the Ples and the landscapes of Russian nature that his friends found here that they came here again for the next two summers. Thanks to them, Ples became so famous. Residents of Ples later erected a monument on the mountain in front of the Church, and the mountain itself was named "mount Levitan".
The Church of Peter and Paul, which Levitan painted on many of his paintings, has not been preserved. It was burned down in 1903 by a lightning strike. In 1962, a wooden Resurrection Church (1699) was brought to this place from the village of Bilyukovo. According to its layout, the Resurrection Church is exactly similar to the Church of Peter and Paul that stood here before.
