The ecological trail "The Road to the Temple" is the easiest route in the Meshchera National Park. The route is 1.2 kilometers long. The main goal of the route is the large Church of the Holy Trinity in the village of Erlex, which is located on the banks of the Pol River.
The route The road to the Temple begins near the turn from the auto road that leads from Gus-Khrustalny to the village of Urshelsky. After driving 20 km from the city, you need to turn right (road sign "Abbakumovo village") and park right next to the road. An ecological trail (road) begins here, which leads through a mixed birch and pine forest. You can drive along this road by car, but tourists must walk to see the beauty of the nature of the national park.
Near the village of Erlex, the road goes to the bank of the Pol River, which at this place overflowed into a wide swampy lake. It is very picturesquely overgrown with reeds and low willows, and then the huge Gusev swamp begins. For a long time, industrial peat extraction was carried out in it.
On the bank of the Pol River, you can see the embankment where the old Ryazan Road passed, which connected Ryazan and Vladimir. There is a sign on the embankment that a road passed here, and you can walk along it to get closer to the wooden piles left over from the 19th century bridge. After looking at the bridge, go back to the sand glade and walk towards the church.
The bell tower of the Church of the Holy Trinity rises above the trees. Now it seems amazing that such a large church was built in an abandoned village in the middle of a swamp. However, in the 19th century, the Ryazan Road was an important transport artery connecting Vladimir and Ryazan. In those years, the village of Erlex was a postal station where people could change horses and have a rest. This village was first mentioned in the chronicles of 1676.
The construction of the stone Trinity Church in Erlex began in 1825 with the money of the merchants Panfilov. Despite their success in trade, for many years they actually remained serfs of the Yusupov princes. In the 19th century, the Panfilovs founded a small glass factory, of which there were many in the vicinity of the city of Gus-Khrustalny.
The church was built in the classical style. The height of the bell tower reaches 75 meters. There was a cemetery next to the church, which has been preserved to this day. Many representatives of the Panfilov family, who were elders of the village of Erlex until the 20th century, are buried there.
The decline of the village of Erlex began at the beginning of the 20th century, when in 1901 a narrow-gauge railway was built connecting Ryazan and Vladimir. It was laid around the Gusevsky swamp, so the delivery of goods along the old Ryazan Road stopped, and people also did not want to travel along this road through the swamps.
The Bolsheviks did not destroy the Church of the Holy Trinity in Erlex. It was closed in 1938, but in 1946 it was opened again. Nowadays, services are still held in the church, although there are practically no residents living in the village permanently in Erlex. For tourists, this route and the church among the marshes are of great interest.
