The source of the Volga River is located in the Tver region, 70 kilometers west of the city of Ostashkov and 260 kilometers from Tver. Near the source there is a small village of Volgoverkhovye and the St.Olga monastery. The length of the great Russian Volga River reaches 3690 kilometers. It is the longest river in Europe.
The source of the Volga River is protected by the state as a natural landmark. It is located in a swampy area at an altitude of 228 meters above sea level. There are several sources here and the most powerful of them gives rise to the Volga.
Flowing from a spring in the forest, the Volga River skirts the hill. Here the river looks like a stream. 50 meters from the source there is a local landmark – the first bridge over the Volga. Further, the river passes through large lakes: Small Verhity, Large Verhity, Sterzh, Vselug, Peno. The last major lake where the Volga River flows in this system of glacial lakes is called Lake Volgo.
There is a Shirokov Churchyard on the shore of Lake Vselug. A wooden church from 1694, similar to the churches of Kizhi Island in Karelia, has been preserved here. 20 kilometers north of Lake Volgo is Lake Seliger. Tourists come there for fishing and outdoor recreation.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a wooden chapel was built over the Source of the Volga River. This chapel is depicted in a color photo of Prokudin-Gorsky in 1910. In other photos you can see the "first bridge across the Volga" and the churches of the monastery of St. Olga.
For the first time, an Orthodox monastery near the Source of the Volga was built in 1649 by order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. However, its wooden buildings burned down in 1724. The revival of the monastery took place in 1902, when the construction of the stone Transfiguration Church began over the source.
The moment of construction of this church in 1910 is also depicted on the photo of Prokudin-Gorsky. You can climb its bell tower to see the surroundings of the place where the great Russian river originates. The monastery was named after the Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga.
In 1918, the Bolsheviks closed the monastery, but the chapel above the Source of the Volga River was preserved, and it was reconstructed several times in Soviet times. The Bolsheviks also did not destroy the stone Transfiguration Church. Photos from the 1970s show that the Source of the Volga River was a landmark of the Tver region and was visited by tourists.
In the chapel above the source of the Volga River there is a font for church services. In 1995, Patriarch Alexy II of the Russian Orthodox Church visited this place. He held a church rite of consecration of water in the chapel, and also revived the St.Olga Monastery. New cell buildings and churches were dedicated here in 1999. In 2017, the ceremony of consecration of the Source of the Volga was also held by Patriarch Kirill.
